Tuscany Il Ristorante, Westlake Village

We go to Tuscany almost every week and think it's outstanding. The service is wonderful and friendly. The food and ambiance are excellent. We highly recommend it!

We ate at Tuscany on a Tuesday night in August 2007, a year after our first visit to the restaurant. We called an hour in advance and had no trouble getting a reservation for three, and there were lots of empty tables. On our previous visit on a weekend, we had to wait for a table even when we had a reservation and the place was packed. With warmly painted pink walls and low lights, Tuscany feels womb-like and comfortable – the appealing ambiance overcomes any specific decoration you would notice. Domenico, the maitre d’, seated us and started up a playful banter. We were served bruschetta to start and our server sent Domenico back to help us with a wine selection. On his recommendation we went with a Santa Barbara pinot noir (around $55) which turned out to be a great pairing for the pastas we ordered. The two tomato-lovers in our party ordered the special salad of the evening, heirloom tomatoes with onion, sweet balsamic vinegar and a liquidy fresh mozzarella topping. It exceeded our expectations and was one of the more unique and flavorful salads I’ve had. The caesar was also a hit with my husband. I ordered the pennette rigate alla puttanesca, small pasta quills dressed in a potent spicy tomato sauce with Nicoise olives, capers, onions and garlic. My husband had the classic spaghetti carbonara, and our friend had lobster ravioli with sun-dried tomatoes and tarragon. The entrees were so rich and the servings so large that none of us could finish our meals, and we had come hungry. Dinner for three with one bottle of wine totaled $140 (before tip). One last note is that it was difficult to find a bottle of wine for under $100, and many of those above $100 ranged well above, into four figures. As you can see from the total for our dinner, food prices were not exorbitant.