Italgo Pasta Bar — Restaurant in Chula Vista

My wife and I stopped at the Italgo Pasta Bar (IPB) for the first time (Dec 2021). We had driven by it so many times and it's easy to miss because the store front is so small. I was surprised to learn that they'd been in business for the last for years and yet I had only noticed it about 2 months ago.

Anyway, after a day of Christmas shopping and not having eaten anything all day, I asked my wife if she wanted to try out IPB. She hesitated as it was 3:00 PM, she was tired, hungry and it was raining. She gave in and we drove to IPB. We parked our truck in front of the restaurant and tried to look inside but all we could see was a well lit Christmas tree through the front door.

When we walked in, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the restaurant was nice and clean. The lighting was a little dim (that is a good thing) and the ambiance was just right. My wife, who is a clean freak, loved the place already. I cautioned her that we shouldn't get too excited just yet as we hadn't tried the food yet. We were seated promptly and we ordered soft drinks, a "Caprese" and an order of their "home style bread" (see pic).

The Caprese was delicious, especially the cheese. I was just like we had when we lived in Europe. When the bread arrived, it was hot and flavorful. It was great just eating it out of the basket. However, we were given a saucer with olive oil and vinegar to dip our bread into. It enhanced the flavor of the bread and it was really good. In fact, I would recommend you order two orders of the bread. One as an appetizer and a second order to sponge up the sauce from your pasta plate.

My wife orders the "Spaghettini" and I ordered the "Linguini" (see pics). Both plates were very good. My wife's Spaghettini was just a little better than my Linguini and the reason is that the garlic in the Linguini had a slight taste of garlic from a jar. I couldn't swear to it but I did get that "garlic from a jar" aftertaste. I will be visiting IPB again in a few days and I will ask if they use fresh garlic or garlic from a jar. If it is garlic from a jar, I may have to reduce my 5 star review to a 4 star later. My wife couldn't stop talking about how good her pasta was and as I said, mine was great too, except for that aftertaste.

For dessert we decided to order two cappuccinos and their "Orange Flan". Both my wife and I grew up on Mexican Flan (me) and Filipino Flan (her) and we both agreed that this Orange Flan was, by far, one of the best flans we both had ever had. It had bits of orange in the flan as well as orange flavoring which made the flan stand out. We would have each ordered one for ourselves had we not been full from the meal already.

The service was great too. They kept our glassed filled and constantly came to check to make sure everything was OK. I would definitely recommend IPB, especially for a first date, an anniversary, or any special occasion or even just to eat some pasta on any given day. They also have daily specials that are not listed on their menus but rather on the board behind the...

First time patrons relying on positive reviews: This was a very disappointing dinner for many reasons, not the least of which was the food itself. I'm experienced in this industry, and coincidentally, well-versed in Italian fare. One expects pre-prepped dishes, as a busy kitchen cannot make all dishes from scratch, but there's no excuse for cold, grossly undercooked eggplant parm. No Mediterranean country serves it closer to raw. The chicken parm, while flavorful, was apparently pre-fried, stored, and recreated for serving; thus, it had a cold edge to it. No comment on their marinara sauce, or whatever it was. Why didn't we "send the dishes back"? Because we waited 40 minutes for their delivery without a server even checking on us once. Our arrival at 7:05 was right after a large party was served and right before another had arrived. So, we hurriedly ordered to beat the rush, and we did. - The eggplant was so raw and inedible, that, now tired and hungry, we decided to simply take it home and remake it, which yielded negative results after all after fifteen minutes of cooking. Even the soup was cold! - It was perplexing to see apparently busy servers getting so little done. Their "system" doesn't assign a server particular tables, making no accountability in a disorganized collective effort. - The cook should be castigated for allowing such unacceptable dishes to leave his kitchen. Finally, these were "parmigiana," that is, covered in presumedly hot, melted cheese. Instead, the concoctions appeared as coarsely grated parm over tepid substances only superficially, slightly melted, and in sparse supply. OK, it's not Northern New Jersey or Brooklyn, yet there is no excuse for such obviously, defectively prepared dishes, alongside incredibly inept service. By the way, as no personalized server was assigned, they forgot our to-go pasta side. - Truly, I hate writing a bad review for some family-owned small business. No one bothered to address our concerns once they were voiced. Who could be in charge there? On a Friday night, where in heaven...

Where to go for good Italian on a late Friday night other than Little Italy??? Well if you, like me live in the South Bay part of San Diego driving to Little Italy, Hilcrest or Downtown SD is at least 20 minutes and sometimes I just don't feel like it. No need to do that anymore. In my Yelp search for a nearby Italian restaurant I came across Italgo Pasta Bar on Broadway St. I'm not sure if they have a parking since we were able to park right in front but the parking next door at the seafood restaurant is only for them not Italgo so watch out for that. It could be called a hole in the wall since it doesn't catch your eye when you drive by unless you are looking for it but worth the search. I'm a picky eater and am type A personality, with that being said Italgo nailed it, at least in my book. From the moment they greeted us with a warm welcome and "you may seat where you'd like" to the "thank you, hope to see you back soon" was great. The waitress was very polite and helpful, she knew her menu and when I asked for something that wasn't on the menu she politely said "let me ask the chef" left, asked and came back to let me know "of course we can do it" This was a 5 star review right there and then since many or most restaurants don't really like altering their dishes and rather say "sorry, we don't do that" than keep their customers 1000% happy. Now the food, the wait was normal not super fast but not slow by any means and once we got our dishes we tasted why the descent wait. The flavor was outstanding and fresh. I have a very selective palate and when I took the first bite I was happy. The food presentation and the taste topped it all. It is a cozy place for a late night dinner since they close until midnight from Thursday to Saturday. We also ordered a creme brulee for dessert that was right on point. Definitely a restaurant we will...