Baldoria is Little Tokyo’s newest Italian joint and hotspot, which opened earlier this month at 243 S San Pedro Street just in time for Memorial Day. If you're not familiar with Italian, “Baldoria” is an Italian word meaning “a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity.” Now if that alone isn’t enough to draw you in, we might have a little problem.

It’s here where you’ll find cheese, meat, vegetarian options, pizzas, and two bars. Baldoria’s look is hip and modern, which makes it an ideal gathering place for friends to share a bite and a few (or many) drinks. Every menu item is intended for sharing. To get your appetite growing, some selections include ricotta toast (fresh ricotta, vanilla kumquat compote, mint), house marinated olives, pan fried short rib ravioli, pulled pork sliders, charred octopus pizza (tender baby octopus, caramelized cipollini, charred radicchio cream sauce), and the Mrs. Croque pizza (Black Forest ham, Grand Cru gruyere, browned butter béchamel, Chino Valley eggs).

Baldoria is also a great spot for all you brunchers out there, (Saturdays and Sundays 10:30am-3pm). Ciabatta French toast, biscuits and gravy, chicken and waffle tacos, oh my. This Italian restaurant is a firm believer in happy hours (pretty obvious by the two bars), which they hold Monday through Friday from 4 to 7pm. We're pretty sure you have more than enough reasons to check it out now.