Stella Barra Pizzeria & Wine Bar

How lucky we were to find ourselves in Santa Monica on a Sunday (pizza night in our world!) We walked over from the pier for dinner at Stella Barra, checked in, and were seated quickly (although we later got a notice from Open Table about not showing up for our reservation which is always humiliating, especially when it's not true. :/) It's a comfortable space with really delicious Neapolitan-style pizza options. I had a glass of the Chianti D.O.C.G. wine to start (when in Rome...) which helped from the experience nicely. And for my pizza, I ordered the Spicy Giardinera & Olive Pizza. This was a little out of the box for me as at a new-to-me pizza place I typically order a margarita or basic cheese pie to get a baseline of what they can do. I'm glad I ventured out as this was super tasty with a perfect crust. Saved a couple slices for lunch the next day and felt like a millionaire. My wife had the Shaved Mushroom Pizza on Gluten Free Crust. Also really tasty and with just about the best gluten-free crust we've had. Most places have a token, probably frozen standard gluten-free crust that is used so they can cover their bases. This one is made in-house, and although not quite the same as their regular crust, was crispy, chewy and a really thoughtful offering for gluten-free folk. Our kid had buttered pasta and fries (dinner of champions.) The fries were super guided and we helped ourselves to our share of them. We'd order from her a lot of we lived in Santa Monica. Really really well done Neapolitan pizzas.

Went here on a Saturday night after visiting Santa Monica Pier and beach. Made a reservation for 7:30 arrived at 7:10 and was seated promptly. Must admit felt a little foolish as I had called earlier requesting a nice table after reading another Google review. Wasted the hostess's time on the phone as she made every effort to be accommodate me with table selection. Atmosphere is great and it doesn't matter where you sit in the place. You have your choice of indoor or outdoor, high top or low top and bar. After being immediately seated was immediately greeted by our server who immediately brought water for the table and a bottle for refills. Server took our order when we were ready and food came promptly out. What amazed me was that every dish we had ordered was piping hot with steam coming out of it. Can't really say that I experienced that before. We ordered an appetizer of rice balls which were four miniatures which were truly delicious, an order of garlic knots, truffle fries, and three entree's, pasta, chicken parm, and Pappardelle Bolognese. All three everyone enjoyed. You won't have any complaints about the portions either. Overall an extremely pleasant dining experience and definitely a recommend to go to if you are in the area.

It's been a while since I've been here. Pizzas are still super yummy. We ordered the butternut squash with bacon and the prosciutto and egg pizzas to share. Service is not as attentive as before. Today the staff seemed distracted. Noise level a bit loud. This is a cash LESS place, so bring your credit card. Parking down below in the building is free with a validation for the first 90 minutes.

Above average Italian restaurant serving homey cuisine in a decent setting. On my most recent visit we ordered the happy hour fires, meatballs and regular menu chopped salad and pizza. Fries are amongst my favorites (big shoestring fries fan) and the pizza was also excellent. Very well executed dough provides plenty of chew and is quite fragrant. Definitely will revisit and just found out that they validate for the underground parking instead of having to try to find metered street parking.

This place is incredible. An absolute gem and the server, Kate, was such a wonderful personality. We started off with appetizers; the chowder and a salad. Both of which were delicious. The chicken parm was absolutely amazing and we also enjoyed the risotto, but not nearly as much as the chicken parm. Famous pizzas as everybody was raving about them. Highly recommend this place. Worth every penny. Do not miss out on this. Fantastic place.

We had a great experience! We ate at the bar and were not there during a busy time. Staff was attentive and nice. I ordered the Jalapeño Business cocktail and loved it. We enjoyed the spicy penne with vodka sauce, it was great. The power greens salad was also delish, but spicy thanks to pickled Fresno peppers. The pizzas were also tasty with a crispy crust. We had the shaved mushroom and the sausage and fennel. They will split pizzas into two flavors for you which was what we did and we appreciated it! The crust dippers were a fun concept. I will say the garlic butter was the best of the 3; the tomato was a bit sweet for my liking and the truffle gruyere tasted slightly watery. But all in all food was great, and we will be back!

Meatballs were delicious! You can tell the made with love... filling was thick, and you can taste all the ingredients with each bite. A must have! Truthfully I'm not a pizza person but I'm here for the crust! It was perfect for dipping... Crunchy, chewy, light and fresh. Of the 3 dipping sauces, I didn't care for the plain garlic but if you mix it with the tomato sauce...YUM!! If all pizzas were made like this I would've been covered a long time ago.