Ambrogio15 Del Mar — Restaurant in San Diego

We came here for lunch after visiting Botanic Garden. I was told that they have Michelin Starred Chef and they were dubbed as THE best Italian restaurant in the SD area. Considering all the fierce competition here, it is a tall task to have. I was super duper psyched. LOL

The restaurant is small and they open at noon. It is cozy but probably not the ideal restaurant for a large party. The waiter recommended mistaken Margherita's pizza to me. This pizza was created as a tribute to Franco Pepe, Italy's Number 1 Pizzsaiolo. It comes with Mozzarella di Bufala, tomato, and basil cream source. The first bite into the slice, umm, heavenly, soooo good, So it is not just hype, it is real.

My friend ordered deconstructed lasagna. It is beef & prosciut to Crudo White Ragu, Porcini with Wine Bechamel Sauce. The dish looks like from the food magazine center fold, she said it was super yummy.

The patateespeck pizza was also very good. It comes with mozzarella, roasted potatoes, Parmigiano, and truffle oil. According to the waiter, it is a 2nd in line as the fan favorite ( the top one is Mistaken margherita's ) .

We left the restaurant satisfied. The waiter speaks Italian and shared stories with us.

They don't allow you separate checks as I acted as our bookkeeper to figure out each person's bill. I enjoyed it but if you don't, you might want to reconsider dining here with a...

(edited review with details, since receiving a response)

Grazie Giacomo per la risposta immediata!

I’m giving three stars for the effort.

The restaurant looks amazing, the ingredients are absolutely superb, but the pizza - which is the main focus of the estabilishment, left me disappointed.

There are basically three mainstream styles of pizza, thick and chewy from the south (Naples), cooked rapidly at the higest temperature, thin and cruncy form the north (the Caorle school), and the beloved pizza Romana. All types are welcome (sorry Deep Dish, not you) and all awesome when done right.

My expectation with Ambrogio, considering the price point and the multiple mentions of excellence, was nothing short of a sublime dough. I would not complain about a b-level dough at a all-american pizza place, but this is a Michelin reccomended restaurant.

My assestment is that cooking was wrong, the open flame too weak to give a decent char and texture. It made the crust weak, brittle and uninteresting, effectively runing the whole product. I am aware that this style of pizza is cooked at a lower temp and for a longer time, but it missed the mark. I peeked at all the other plates and everyone had the same pale, lifeless crust.

Perhaps it was a bad night, Perhaps it was an unlucky batch of dough.

I will go back early this week to for a third attempt, and then my review...

I cannot believe that people gave them more than 1 star with the food. We ordered a couple of pizzas, a salad and a pasta dish. All were not good at all. I cannot believe that others will give such high reviews on food. Pizzas were both undercooked, salad was drenched in dressing to a point where you cannot even see the greens, and the pasta we ordered was a disaster with its flavor. They tried a fusion approach and boy, did it fail!

A couple of items we ordered should not even be on the menu. They need to take that out immediately.

As for the service, it was fine. Nothing great or nothing bad. It was just a standard service. As for the atmosphere, it was ok. However, the chairs were so stained and that was quite disgusting. I have been to many Italians restaurants all of San Diego and this is definitely on the bottom of my list. Please save time and money, do not go and thank me later!

We went out of curiosity, and it cost us big time.

Side not, anything that has a ⭐️ and says Michelin chef inspired, AVOID! Those...