Philadelphia Business Journal (PBJ) reported on Friday (June 3), that La Collina, an Itlalian restaurant in Belmont Hills with spectacular views of the Schuylkill River and Manayunk, was sold. According to PBJ, La Collina’s owner “Enzo Valent sold the real estate at 37-41 Ashland Ave., liquor license and business to the Daku family, which operates several restaurants between the Main Line and Jersey Shore including Otto by Polpo in Bryn Mawr.”
Elain Tait reviewed La Collina, shortly after it opened in 1986.
She noted then, that the first time that she dined at that location, the restaurant was Baffa’s, but “in recent years [the location] had more incarnations than Shirley MacLaine and more names than the Duke of York.”
Currently, La Collina wins a rating of 3.5 stars on Yelp.com.
Kelly P. wrote The type of place you spend $50+ for a salad and entree and leave hungry. Don’t get me wrong- the ambience was classy and romantic, with a typical “Old-school fancy Italian restaurant” vibe, but the food was bland, visually revolting (see pictures of “Veal Royale” I’ve attached – it came with 2 teaspoons MAX of crab meat, along with a veal so tough I had to cut it up in small pieces to bear it for purely nutritional purposes. They were adorned with a white gravy that tasted like the kind you’d get in a packet from boxed mashed potatoes.) and not filling (for the “filling” price you pay).
The saving grace of the meal was the mango habanero whiskey cocktail I got (fanTASTICO!) and the employees there being so cordial, friendly, and attentive.
The Baffa family sold their restaurant in 1975, but the new owners kept the name until they went out of business in 1978. This review might have expedited their closing.
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