Buon Appetito Restaurant — Restaurant in San Diego

Restaurant Review: “Solstice” – A Mediterranean Dream with Every Bite

Tucked away on a quiet tree-lined street, Solstice isn’t a place you stumble upon—it’s a destination, a deliberate choice, a culinary escape that promises something special. From the moment you walk through its elegantly carved wooden doors, the restaurant envelops you in a warm embrace of Mediterranean charm, thoughtful hospitality, and gastronomic creativity.

First Impressions

The exterior of Solstice is understated, almost unassuming, but that changes the moment you step inside. The interior tells a different story—one of sun-drenched coasts, rustic elegance, and timeless traditions. Soft amber lighting dances off terracotta tiles and whitewashed walls. Olive trees stand in large clay pots by the windows. A gentle sea breeze seems to hum through the speakers, along with mellow acoustic guitar.

It’s an atmosphere that speaks to slow living and savored meals—exactly what the Mediterranean table is all about.

Hospitality and Service

From the start, service was attentive but never intrusive. The hostess greeted us with a warm smile and offered to hang our coats, leading us to a window-side table with a perfect view of the softly glowing patio. Our server, Lucas, struck the rare balance between friendly and professional. He wasn’t just there to take our order—he guided us through the menu like a seasoned storyteller, explaining the inspiration behind each dish and offering pairing suggestions with confidence and genuine passion.

Throughout the evening, empty plates disappeared quickly, water glasses never stayed half full, and questions were answered with care. It’s clear that service is a priority at Solstice, and the staff shares a collective pride in the experience they deliver.

The Food: A Journey Across the Mediterranean

Solstice’s menu reads like a love letter to the Mediterranean coastline, from the sun-kissed orchards of southern Italy to the spice markets of Morocco and the vineyards of Greece. Each dish is rooted in authenticity but elevated with a touch of modern flair. There’s no pretension here—just bold, honest flavors treated with reverence.

We started with the charred octopus, served atop a smear of fava bean purée with pickled fennel and a lemon-oregano vinaigrette. The octopus was tender, smoky, and expertly seasoned, with the vinaigrette cutting through the richness beautifully. Next came a roasted red pepper and whipped feta dip, paired with warm, pillowy house-made pita that could have easily stood on its own.

For our mains, we chose the lamb tagine and the grilled branzino. The lamb tagine arrived in a traditional clay pot, bubbling and fragrant with cinnamon, cumin, apricot, and toasted almonds. It was rich and hearty, yet balanced—every bite was comforting and deeply flavorful. The branzino was the opposite: light, bright, and perfectly cooked with crispy skin and a vibrant citrus-herb salsa verde. A side of saffron couscous with roasted vegetables rounded out the meal.

Every component felt purposeful and well-executed. These weren’t just beautiful dishes—they were thoughtful representations of a region’s soul.

The Drinks: Curated to Complement

The wine list at Solstice is compact but expertly curated. Each bottle seems handpicked to complement the menu, focusing on boutique Mediterranean vineyards and natural wines. Lucas recommended a chilled Assyrtiko from Santorini for the fish—a crisp, mineral-forward white that was spot on. With the lamb, we shared a glass of robust Lebanese red from the Bekaa Valley—earthy, complex, and slightly peppery.

There’s also a small list of house cocktails inspired by regional ingredients. I tried the Cypress Sun, a gin-based drink with elderflower, citrus, and rosemary smoke. It was both refreshing and dramatic—presented under a glass dome filled with rosemary vapor that escaped in a soft cloud when lifted.

Dessert: A Sweet Goodbye

Despite being pleasantly full, skipping dessert felt impossible. We shared the orange blossom panna cotta, which was impossibly silky...

-Overrated & an Absolute Waste of Money-

I generally take no pleasure in writing this review, but it has to be said, especially considering how many well rated reviews this place has. Consumer beware.

We had a short weekend in San Diego, and my wife and daughter were craving pasta for dinner. With only one night out for dinner, we did some research. Based on the 2.6k reviews giving this restaurant more than 4.5 stars and its location inside Little Italy, we were excited to try some authentic and delicious food. Wow, what an absolute disaster and disappointment.

To give a comprehensive view, I'll list everything that went wrong, start to finish.

We made a reservation for 7 pm and were at the host stand at 6:59. Despite this, more than four different people walked up to the host stand and completely ignored us. We waited patiently because it was busy, but the lack of acknowledgment was frustrating.

Finally greeted, we were asked for our name and then seated by another lady. She promptly seated us at a dirty table with mess and dishes on it. Another person came by and wiped the table down, but the initial impression was far from satisfactory.

Our waiter arrived and asked us what we would like to drink. They served Wine and Mocktails (non-alcoholic cocktails). We requested 2 "Newgronis," a play on the Negroni, but our waiter quickly warned us about its bitterness. He recommended the margarita instead. We agreed, thanking him for the suggestion.

To our dismay, the drinks tasted like pickle juice with a ton of extra salt added to it. It was a strange and disappointing experience.

When we ordered our food, my wife got the Gnocchi with pesto, and I asked the waiter his preference between two dishes, the boar ragu, and the risotto. He suggested that the risotto with their house-made sausage was very good, so I went with that. However, when the risotto arrived, it did not come out with sausage, and we later found out that they gave my dish to someone else. The waiter asked me, after my food had been served, if I wanted to wait 10 minutes for the sausage to come out. I declined, but the sausage came out 20 minutes later anyway, after we were paying the bill.

Now onto the meals themselves.

The risotto was extremely mediocre. It was bland, dry, not creamy, and lacked any kind of depth in flavor. While the rice itself was cooked well, none of the other elements of the dish came together. It was served inside of a cooked parmesan cheese "bowl," making it extremely greasy.

My wife's Pesto Gnocchi on the other hand was absolutely disgusting, and I'm not saying that lightly. The gnocchi was so overcooked that they were slimy, wet, and squishy with zero texture. The pesto itself was extremely plain and lacked salt. You couldn't taste the basil, the pine nuts, or the cheese. It was just green-colored water. The only part of the dish that had any flavor at all were the raw, cherry tomatoes that were added as garnish.

My daughter ordered fried calamari, and that was fine, kind of like bar food I guess. But compared to the entrees, it was a minor disappointment.

All in all, we paid well over $100, including a 20% tip because the waiter at least did his job. However, I would never recommend this place to anyone, and my wife and I are extremely disappointed that we chose this place for our one nice dinner on our weekend vacation to San Diego.

Later we had Hot Dogs from a small dive bar, these were substantially more satisfying than the food here, do not...

We just had dinner there. We were seated and it took about 10 minutes to be waited on. We placed our orders and based on how quick the soup and drinks came out, thought we were going to have a nice dining experience. The minestrone soup was different than what we had before and we were all commenting on how the veggies were al'dente. Then it took over an HOUR to get our food with very little interaction from the server for drink refills or offering more bread, or even apologizing for the delay. His attitude was "it's taking time, so it will be here when it gets here".

My daughter had a pasta dish which was the only thing that lived up to the previously read reviews though the temperature throughout was inconsistent and had various pastas that weren't what was in the dish. My lasagna was lukewarm, which was very disappointing. My poor husband had risotto with salmon and the risotto wasn't cooked all the way. He had crunchy risotto!! Luckily, we asked to speak to the manager after sitting & waiting for our server to come back (we asked a gentleman bussing tables) and she was trying to down play the length of time by saying they were very busy. I stated that risotto should have been well done after an hour, not undercooked. She comped his meal, that he barely touched because it wasn't good, but it never felt like she or our waiter cared about our business and experience. I have had better lasagna made at home and at restaurants in our home state...heck even in Ireland (not bashing Ireland in any way, they're just not known for lasagna) the lasagna was warm all the way thru and very flavorful.

For the price we paid, this experience was abysmal! I am not sure what was going on to cause them to do so poorly, especially with previous good reviews. They didn't seem to be that busy when we were finally seated at 9pm and we escaped at 10:50pm.

Advice for the restaurant... if it's taking you longer than normal, CHECK on your tables, be apologetic (we all know things can happen to cause slight delays), offer drinks and/or bread, possibly on the house, to make the wait more tolerable or even offer the customer an option to cancel their meal. Offering to bring something else after that long of a wait is insulting and how long would that replacement have taken?

Customer service is KEY, especially if what you are serving isn't up to snuff or is extremely delayed. We were sadly...