About Funke
Evan Funke is the most serious pasta maker in America. He spent years studying under Italian grandmothers, learning the specific shapes and techniques of individual Italian regions, developing the kind of understanding that cannot be acquired from books. When he opened Funke in Beverly Hills in May 2023, he did so inside a 10,000-square-foot 1930s Art Deco building purchased for $40 million. Because if pasta-making at this level is to be taken seriously, it requires a stage that communicates the seriousness.
The Dan Brunn-designed interior delivers on the ambition. The centerpiece is the glass-fronted pasta laboratorio: a chrome-framed, 20-foot-tall workspace where skilled pasta makers practice shapes taught to them by generations of Italian women. Watching them work through the glass is not theater. It is craft rendered visible. Hanging above the dining room are 273 handblown Murano glass bulbs at various heights, casting warm light across booths whose curved channel-tufted benches create unexpected intimacy within the cavernous space. On the walls: a Basquiat, an Andy Warhol, a Jean "Johnny" Pigozzi. This is a restaurant that has thought carefully about what surrounds its food.
The menu is built around pasta in its handmade, regionally specific forms. The "fatta a mano" section names each shape partly for the Italian women who taught Funke the technique. A quiet act of reverence that distinguishes this kitchen's relationship with tradition from mere appropriation. The delicately folded agnolotti are transformative. The tagliatelle arrives at a simplicity that defeats its apparent modesty. The airy focaccia loaves are not optional. Plan to spend $150 per person before wine. And understand that the pasta earns it.
A rooftop bar on the third floor and a private dining room on the mezzanine extend the experience beyond the main dining room. The Michelin Guide has taken note. Reservations remain among the most sought-after in the city.
Best Occasion Fit
Impress Clients to The Restaurant That Signals Taste
Funke is the choice when you want to demonstrate that you understand what is genuinely excellent in Los Angeles right now. Not the institution that has been relevant for thirty years, but the restaurant that represents what the city's dining scene is capable of at its current peak. Your clients will walk into a room that makes an immediate impression. The food will make a deeper one. The conversation about the pasta laboratorio is built into the setting; the evening effectively produces its own content.
First Date to Beautiful and Memorable
Funke provides the kind of first-date setting that demonstrates both taste and effort. Getting a reservation requires planning ahead. Your date will understand they were thought of. The pasta laboratorio gives the evening a natural focal point. The food is good enough to drive the conversation forward without requiring commentary. It is, by any reasonable measure, one of the best first date restaurants in the city.
Practical Information
Address & Contact
9388 S Santa Monica Boulevard Beverly Hills, California 90210 (424) 279-9796Reservations via Resy. Book 2 to 3 weeks ahead minimum; weekend dinners 3 to 4 weeks. Rooftop bar has walk-in capacity on some evenings.
Dining Details
Cuisine: Italian · Handmade Pasta Price per Person: $130 to 200 (with wine) Dress Code: Smart Casual / sharpened Three floors: Main Dining / Mezzanine Private Room / Rooftop BarReservations & Access
Funke opened to a 1,500-person waitlist and remains one of the more competitive reservations in Beverly Hills. Resy is the primary booking platform. Keep notifications on for released reservations; tables occasionally appear 2 to 3 days in advance due to cancellations. For private dining on the mezzanine, contact the restaurant directly.
What to Order
The "fatta a mano" hand-rolled pasta section is the primary reason to be here. The agnolotti and tagliatelle are essential. Focaccia loaves arrive hot and should not be declined. For the full experience, allow the server to guide you through the pasta tasting sequence. The rooftop bar serves cocktails until late and is accessible without a dinner reservation.
The Experience
Arriving at Funke on Santa Monica Boulevard, the Art Deco exterior communicates scale before you enter. Inside, the room opens vertically. The 20-foot laboratorio glass at the center, pasta makers visible, the Murano glass constellation above. The booths along the curved walls create privacy within spectacle. You are at once part of the room and separate from it.
The menu requires a brief study. The shapes have histories, and the descriptions make their case clearly. Begin with antipasti: burrata, bruschetta, whatever the kitchen is featuring from the garden. Then navigate the pasta section with your server's guidance. The portions are designed for multiple courses. This is not a one-plate meal. The wine list is Italian in its focus, with strength in natural and small-production selections that complement the pasta's precision.
Service operates at the level that the room demands. Your server understands the pasta, can explain the women behind the shapes, and will calibrate the pace of your courses to the evening's particular needs. The experience does not feel efficient; it feels considered. That distinction matters.
Budget the full evening. Funke is not where you go when you have somewhere to be afterward. It is the destination.