C & O You Need to Go
On the Beach in Venice, California
C&O Trattoria
Do you like listening to Frank Sinatra? Dean Martin? Louis Prima & Keely Smith? Do you like good wine? Great pasta? And low prices? Then you’ll love C & O! But we warn you, go on a weeknight because on weekends the crowds line up along the sidewalk!
The nice thing about C & O is that it’s casual but delicious; romantic but fun, and simple but sweet. With those wonderful romantic songs from Ol’ Blue Eyes & Company playing in the background! Oh, and the portions are humongous. Luckily, they offer half portions for the salads and pastas. The surprise is that even the half portions are big enough for two!
There’s a choice of wine and beer on the menu, although a lot of folks opt for the “honor wine bar.” Scattered along the walls are jugs of Chianti, where you can fill your glasses as often as you like. How to keep track? A crayon on your paper tablecloth! The waiter draws a little bald man – and you add hairs every time you have a glass! Beware! In a very short time, that little caricature can go from Gandhi to Don King!
Even before your food arrives, the waiter brings out the delightful and delicious killer garlic
rolls. They’re small bites of heaven. It’s hard to resist filling up on them, but you must…because that’s only the beginning of a huge repast!
On our recent visit, we split a half order of the chopped salad. It was fresh and delicious, with lettuce, tomato, corn, broccoli, garbanzo beans and mozzarella cheese, which we got on the side (a huge portion of it—could have taken it home to make a pizza).
We also asked for the balsamic dressing on the side. It was wonderful; we just like pouring it ourselves.
After our salad, we had a bowl of vegetable-filled white bean soup. Mmmm mmm good—and this was nothing like Campbell’s. Real home-made Italian soup. There were all kinds of delicious-sounding pastas on the menu, but when we heard our waiter announce the specials, we couldn’t resist. We ordered the caramelized short ribs and substituted their mashed potatoes for the special orzo pasta with vegetables that came with their other special.
The entrée arrived, and our taste buds did somersaults! It was enough for two, and they were 
gracious enough to bring us two plates. We finished off every morsel, licking our lips, and with smiles on our faces.
We had absolutely no room left for dessert, but of course we had it anyway! C’mon, who can say “no” to chocolate cake drizzled with chocolate sauce and accompanied by dollops of fresh whipped cream?
Luckily, C & O is right near the beach, so afterwards, take a romantic stroll to walk off the dinner—and steal a kiss from your love!
C & O actually stands for “Cheese & Olive” – but we think it should stand for Cooing and Oohing! C & O—make sure you G-O!
C & O Trattoria
31 Washington Boulevard
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 823-9491
www.cotrattoria.com
Written by Marilyn Anderson
