Bianca

Bianca, Culver City: The Verdict

Bianca is not primarily the Italian restaurant you may have heard about in Culver City — the drinks program here is the main reason serious diners and wine lovers keep coming back. With 600 bottles in inventory, 90 selections on the list, a $21 corkage fee, and strengths across Mexico, Italy, and France, the wine program punches well above what you would expect from a casual neighbourhood spot. The cuisine pricing sits at the $$ tier (a typical two-course meal between $40 and $65, not including beverages), which makes this one of the more defensible value propositions on the Westside for a dinner with real drinking ambition.

That said, Bianca ranked #359 in Opinionated About Dining's Casual North America list in 2025, up from #345 in 2024 — a tracked climb that signals consistent kitchen execution and not just a one-year fluke. This is a venue worth booking for a special occasion if your benchmark is experience quality at a price that doesn't require a pre-dinner conversation about the budget.

The Wine Program: Why It Matters

The wine list is the centrepiece of any serious visit here. Wine Director Sergio Golfo (who is also an owner) and Sommelier Jazmin Franco manage a 600-bottle inventory with 90 active selections. The $$ pricing tier means the list has a genuine range , not just entry-level pours and high-margin prestige bottles , and the $21 corkage fee is low enough that bringing a special bottle from your own cellar remains a viable option without feeling punitive. The focus on Mexico alongside Italy and France is deliberate and relatively uncommon in Los Angeles Italian dining rooms; if you want to work through Mexican wine alongside Mediterranean food, this list gives you the platform to do it. For a deeper look at what else Los Angeles is pouring, see our full Los Angeles bars guide and our full Los Angeles wineries guide.

Food and Format

Chef Anyer Tovar leads the kitchen under a French and Mediterranean designation , broader than the Italian branding suggests. Lunch runs Tuesday through Sunday, 9 am to 3 pm. Dinner is available Thursday through Saturday, 5:30 to 9:30 pm. Monday is closed. The limited dinner window (three nights a week) is the most important logistical detail to hold: if you are planning a special occasion, your date options are Thursday, Friday, or Saturday evenings. Sunday is a daytime-only proposition. Google reviewers rate the experience 4.4 across 508 reviews, a signal of consistent delivery rather than polarising ambition.

For context on where Bianca sits in the broader Los Angeles Italian conversation, consider that venues like Osteria Mozza, Angelini Osteria, Antico Nuovo, Bestia, and Bottega Louie each occupy different positions on the price-to-formality axis. Bianca's $$ cuisine pricing and OAD casual ranking make it the option to choose when you want genuine wine depth and tracked kitchen quality without the $$$+ outlay those others can require.

Special Occasion Suitability

For a celebration dinner, the Thursday-to-Saturday dinner service is the right frame. The wine program gives you real flexibility , a sommelier-guided selection from 90 bottles, or bring your own for $21. The $$ cuisine pricing keeps a two-course dinner accessible even when you add a serious bottle. This is a better fit for intimate dinners of two or small groups than for large parties requiring a dedicated private space, though capacity data is not available to confirm maximum group size. If a celebration dinner with a strong wine component at a price below $65 per head for food (before drinks) is what you need, Bianca is among the clearer options on the Westside.

For broader planning across the city, see our full Los Angeles restaurants guide, our full Los Angeles hotels guide, and our full Los Angeles experiences guide. If you are comparing Italian at this level internationally, 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong and cenci in Kyoto represent what the format looks like at higher price points in other cities. For fine dining benchmarks elsewhere in the US, Le Bernardin in New York, The French Laundry in Napa, Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Smyth in Chicago, and Emeril's in New Orleans give you a cross-country reference set.

Booking and Practical Details

Booking difficulty is rated Easy. Given the three-night-per-week dinner window, book ahead rather than assuming walk-in availability on a Friday or Saturday. Lunch (Tuesday through Sunday) is the lower-stakes option if your schedule is flexible. No dress code data is available, but the OAD casual ranking and $$ price tier suggest smart-casual is the right call. Website and phone contact details are not currently listed in our database , check Google directly to confirm current reservation method.

Quick reference: Italian/French/Mediterranean, Culver City | $$ cuisine, $$ wine | Dinner Thu–Sat 5:30–9:30 pm; Lunch Tue–Sun 9 am–3 pm | OAD Casual North America #359 (2025) | 600-bottle list, $21 corkage | Google 4.4 (508 reviews) | Booking: Easy