Meet David King of Baldoria

Today we’d like to introduce you to David King.

David, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started service industry as a back waiter at 17 years old. Since then, I’ll omit how many years that has been, I’ve been in a multitude of roles: everything from waiter, sommelier to general manager and beverage director. The genesis of Baldoria really came from a sensibility fostered in my youth during Sunday afternoons at my grandma’s. She’s Italian and Texan. Therefore, we always had too much food, and there was a never-ending parade of friends and family coming through the front, back, and side door. I took this feeling of food being the centerpiece of communion among people and coupled it with some experience I’d had at aperitivo bars in Italian. From that, somehow, Baldoria was born.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Business is never smooth. Failure is the hallmark of entrepreneurship. Honestly, every day, there are struggles and successes. These can be as small as not getting our paper supplies order in on time to as large as the building 2 doors down from us catching fire and burning to the ground. Never a dull moment, right?

Baldoria – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
At Baldoria, we like to consider ourselves as half bar/half restaurant. Some might call it a gastropub, but our food is much more in the Mediterranean and Italian vein than burgers and fries. (Our pizzas are really extraordinary.) I most proud of the people I work with. Opening and running a restaurant is extremely difficult.

Several places I have worked before become extremely negative because of the hardships associated with restaurant life. The people I work with are extremely talented, and almost more importantly, they love food and never quit trying to make Baldoria a better experience for our guests.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Probably making the one year mark. As a single owner in a location with restaurants closing and opening around us left and right, we did everything we could and some things I didn’t even think were humanly possible to persevere.

Contact Info:

• Address: 243 S SAN Pedro st
  Los Angeles, Ca 90012
• Website: www.baldoriadtla.com
• Phone: 2139473329
• Instagram: @baldoriadtla
• Facebook: Baldoriadtla

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.