Amici Brentwood is part of a family of restaurants, including great trattorias like Angelini Osteria. But, like in many families, some children are naturally more "gifted" than others (not that your parents would ever admit it). In this case, Amici is not the shining sibling because it serves bland food. Sure, it has a beautiful brick-walled dining room, pleasant outdoor seating, and an entire parking lot to pull into, but it also feels like a wedding reception with a slashed catering budget: blah food in a lovely setting. The pastas are your best option: we weren’t offended by the spaghetti chitarra, which has enough bottarga to compensate for the lack of flavor in everything else.

photo credit: Matt Gendal