I Went to Rihanna’s Favorite Restaurant in LA – Giorgio Baldi – & Ordered Her Favorite Pastas

This post was originally published in 2023.

I can’t believe that after 7 years of living in LA, I finally went to Rihanna’s holy-grail restaurant: Giorgio Baldi. I recently came across Anneta Konstantinides‘ Business Insider article: “I Tried Rihanna’s Regular Pasta Order at Her Favorite Restaurant, and Now I Understand Why She Eats There up to 3 Times a Week.” Additionally, given Rihanna’s upcoming performance at the Super Bowl halftime show, I thought this was the perfect time to finally take the leap and check Giorgio Baldi off my list. 

Long before I moved to LA, I remember seeing Rihanna’s paparazzi photos leaving this restaurant. One could almost say Giorgio Baldi is like her second home in LA!

Before I talk about my experience, here’s the backstory of this beloved celebrity hideout.

Born in the Italian seaside town, Forte dei Marmi, Giorgio Baldi moved to LA in 1985. After working at different Italian restaurants across LA, he opened two restaurants of his own: one in Santa Monica and one in Malibu. In 1995, he opened his eponymous restaurant on West Channel Road in Pacific Palisades. According to the NYTimes, Giorgio spoke no word of English, but was able to connect with his American customers through his creative dishes. Even in the 90s, celebrities like Tom Hanks, David Geffen and President Clinton could be seen dining there. 

Giorgio passed away in 2011, but his family continues to carry on his legacy. His son Eduardo runs E. Baldi in Beverly Hills while his daughter Elena runs Giorgio Baldi. 

From 2012 to 2016, Rihanna purchased this multi-million dollar mansion in Pacific Palisades. Admittedly, she said she wanted to be closer to the restaurant where at some point, she was spotted going in and out up to three times a week. 

Whenever Rihanna steps out of her black Suburban, it’s a fashion show. Whether it’s her gaudy outfits or her baby bump, her pictures end up circulating in the most prestigious fashion magazines.

The NYTimes wrote a very thorough article on the backstory of Giorgio Baldi, and even went as far as speaking with the Baldi family, Rihanna’s waiter at the restaurant, Marco, and Cesar Pena, one of Rihanna’s usual paparazzi. 

Elena Baldi said that this location was the worst in the 90s because it was far from everything. “The menu technically hasn’t changed much, even inside it kind of still looks the same,” she said.

Regarding Rihanna: “She started coming when she was like 18 or something, I remember when she couldn’t even drink.”

Cesar Pena shared with the NYTimes: “When I was in L.A., I knew I had to be there on a Sunday just after 5 o’clock.”

Fun fact, the man behind Rihanna was my valet the night I went there!

Rolling Stone‘s writer Josh Eels interviewed Rihanna for the April 2011 issue. Below is an excerpt of the interview:

“She’s at an Italian restaurant off the Pacific Coast Highway, digging into a plate of fried calamari. The place is called Giorgio Baldi, and it’s her favorite restaurant in Los Angeles, maybe even the world. If she’s home for a week, which is rare, she might eat here four or five times. She usually gets the spaghetti and sometimes the gnocchi. Tonight, she gets both.”

Marco, Rihanna’s waiter, shared with Rolling Stone that Rihanna loved Parmesan cheese and fried calamari, as you read above, but that she had a strong dislike of truffles.

She loves the restaurant so much that even rapper Drake dedicated a line of his song “Diplomatic Immunity” to her: “Caterin’ is from Giorgio Baldi’s, Robyn’s favorite.”

So, what is it about this place that keeps her coming back over and over? Is the food that good? Here’s another picture of Rihanna that just popped on my feed of her walking out of Giorgio Baldi on a rainy night in November 2025.

Giorgio Baldi sits very inconspicuously on Chanel Road, a narrow street off of PCH. With the winding lanes, the views of the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, one could easily be transported to an Italian coastal town. 

Unless you know about Giorgio Baldi, you won’t find it. The outdoor seating is buffered by tall bushes to protect the guests’ privacy, and the only identifiable feature outside is a green neon sign that is lit at night and reads “GB”. 

I went there on a weekday at 6 pm. It was just me and two other guests who were dining inside. The first thing that struck me about the restaurant was how close the seats were from one another. It felt too cramped, almost as if you were in a European restaurant, but I guess that is the essence of Giorgio Baldi: to bring Italy to LA. 

My waiter’s name was Filippo, who was from Northern Italy. After he served me, he made conversation with another waiter, who was also Italian. I was surprised to see actual Italians working there! Then, I could hear Spanish being spoken between the busboys and the cooks. 

Many reviews state that pasta portions are toddler-sized and that you will leave starving. People on Yelp who reported that they were left hungry, said that they had to order bread in order to be satisfied.

Rihanna’s favorite pastas are the spaghetti pomodoro with basil, which is only available upon request, the gnocchi with meat sauce and the ravioli con asparagi.

Spaghetti pomodoro with basil

In the Business Insider article, the author said that this was by far her favorite pasta, but I beg to differ. The first thing I noticed were the overcooked noodles. Secondly, the sauce was very reminiscent of Rao’s tomato sauce, but this one had hints of cheese from the Parmesan. It was very tasty, but far from jaw-dropping. 

I had three bites of this pasta because I wanted to make sure I had room left for the gnocchi with meat. I had the leftovers from the pomodoro the next day, and as you might guess, I had to eat something else because that portion wasn’t enough to constitute a full meal. I can honestly say that I’ve had more exciting pasta at the Cheesecake Factory. Their spaghetti and meatbealls is my go-to order and it’s consistently good every time I go there. The sauce is thick and deeply flavorful, and the meatballs are tender and excellently seasoned. But I digress…

After I went to Giorgio, I visited Fabio’s Pasta, located on the Venice Beach Boardwalk (a hidden gem!) Fabio, the owner, is from Turin and he knew about Giorgio Baldi very well. I looked at his expression of utter horror as I showed him the pictures. He put his hand over his mouth. “Ugh! My God! Look at the sauce, it’s all water!! I would never make that pasta, not even for myself at home,” he said about the spaghetti pomodoro.

Gnocchi with meat sauce

I don’t think of myself as a stellar cook, but anyone could have made this pasta by throwing together store-bought gnocchis and ground beef. Nothing about this pasta stood out to me. The gnocchis were forgettable and the ground beef had no taste whatsoever.

If you’ve ever cooked pasta with ground beef at home, I’m sure you’ve lightly seasoned the beef. I love how the cooks didn’t even bother to add any seasonings. Maybe some herbs? Tomato sauce? Minced garlic? This gnocchi with meat sauce was by far the worst pasta I’ve had in LA, and I’m not saying this lightly. I can’t believe for the life of me that this is one of Rihanna’s favorite orders.

Ravioli con asparagi

Out of the three pastas, this was the best one but had the least quantity. The butter sauce was rich yet very subtle, and paired really well with the asparagus. The texture of the raviolis were pillowy-soft, and based on the delicate texture, I suspect that this is their only pasta that is actually made in-house. The ricotta cheese filling was amazing.

So… what does Rihanna order for dessert? 

I asked my waiter Filippo about this. “I’m not sure, let me double check.” He came back a minute later: “She doesn’t order anything specific,” he said. Since there isn’t a dessert menu, he gave me a quick rundown: Gelatos, tiramisu, Nutella crepes, creme brulee and flans. I wanted something on the lighter side and he highly recommended the Lemon Gelato… I promise I’m not writing this review with malicious intent, but I was deeply disappointed by it. 

It had a very odd presentation. “You’re supposed to wait for the gelato to warm up and then you can take off the lemon top and start eating it.” Filippo said. After waiting for five minutes, the top wouldn’t come off and I couldn’t even make a dent with the spoon on the hard gelato. He took it away and then brought it back to me without the top. The consistency was still really hard, but I managed to eat some of it. I was livid to pay this much money for a brick-like gelato that was obviously not made in the premises. What in the world?

In retrospect, it was a good thing that I ordered the gelato and took my time eating it because it was specifically during this time, around 7 pm, that the action started to happen. As more people started coming in, the cooks (and I) looked expectantly to see who walked through the door. Although Giorgio Baldi is a celebrity hangout, it’s also very family-oriented. I was surprised to see a family with a young infant. In general, I could tell that most people that walked in were old-money. 

Someone who looked exactly like Sarah Michelle Gellar was dining with a teenage girl and boy. It wasn’t her, but the resemblance was uncanny. 

Regardless of my opinion, it seems that Giorgio Baldi has a very loyal following. Does this place have the best Italian food in LA? Absolutely not, but it’s the place to go if you want to be seen. When I went to Giorgio Baldi, there were no paparazzi stationed at the entrance.

At the end of January, Sarah M wrote this review on Yelp:

“Living in Atlanta and strongly considering moving to Santa Monica to be a regular here. Visited this place a few months after being in Italy and nothing I had in Italy came close to how incredible this spaghetti pomodoro was. I think about it way more often than I care to admit.

The restaurant is TINY. You’re practically on top of the table next to you but it’s not weird? Extremely knowledgeable servers who made great recommendations. But did I look up what Rihanna gets here and order some of those pastas? Sure did. And don’t regret it.”

Do you agree with this? The only way to know is to try it yourself! I’ve had many bad meals in LA, but how hard is it to mess up pasta? Except for the ravioli, the other two had no redeeming qualities

Even when Rihanna was pregnant, her pregnancy cravings included her beloved pastas from Giorgio Baldi. On March 2023, she shared on her Instagram stories the spaghetti pomodoro with basil, the gnocchi with meat, and the raviolis with meat sauce. I didn’t order the latter, but now we can add them to the list of Rihanna’s favorite pastas! Hopefully they seasoned the meat this time…

For the record, Giorgio Baldi does not have a drive-thru. But could you imagine pulling up to your favorite restaurant and having your bodyguard bring out the food on a plate to your car? Here’s the video!

Don’t forget to bring cash for the valet, which is $15. Otherwise, they’ll charge you a $5 credit card fee. For reservations, call their number.

Address 114 W Channel Rd, Santa Monica, CA 90402

Giorgio Baldi’s website and Instagram