Old Venice Restaurant — Restaurant in San Diego

Cheap, cheap, cheap. And yet they'll still charge you 30/plate.

This place epitomizes the bastardization of Italian food that happened in the US in the 80s. Cream in Carbonara and Alfredo, mushrooms in Bolognese, and ricotta in Lasagna. While I had my fears after reading the menu, I pressed on. I ordered burrata and a pizza. Safe enough, right?

The burrata arrived, a sad lumpy pancake sitting a top a bed of pesto that was spooned out of a jar, and it wasn't even the Kirkland stuff. A couple cherry tomatoes rolled around the plate, swimming in a shallow pool of uninspiring olive oil. There was a balsamic drizzle but it's not balsamico. Nor is it a reduction. It is what's called "balsamic condiment", a synthesized balsamic glaze loaded with sugar.. some versions don't even have balsamic vinegar in the ingredient list. This one may fall under that category. Served with a loaf of garlic bread, unsliced. The bread was actually decent. The burrata? Fuhget aboudit.

On to the pizza. Comes out hot, good sign. I asked for a plain cheese with tomato and basil, "drizzle a little pesto on top" I said, before I realized they were using jarred mash. The crust is so-so, at least someone's throwing dough back there. Not really my favorite style but I've seen it before, so no real judgement passed on the cornicione or lack thereof, at least the bottom was crispy all the way to the center. The cheese is acceptable, the sauce is too. Nothing overly offensive in the base, but nothing special.

Now on to the toppings. Tomato and basil is tough to screw up, and luckily they navigated that fine. But the pesto "drizzle". Dear Lord. I think they used an ice cream scoop to dump globs of pesto into the pizza. Word to the chef: if you're too lazy to stick some basil in a food processor and decide instead to dump something reminiscent of mezzetta on your dishes, at least use it sparingly.

Service was fine. Atmosphere fine. I will say the pasta dishes at the neighboring tables were nicely portioned. Although I think the ingredients are really low class, the execution by the kitchen staff is actually quite good. I think there may be a dish or two on the menu worth returning for, but anything with pesto in it steer clear.

tldr; if you consider Olive Garden to be good and bucca di beppo to be authentic, you may love this place. If you love Italian food, skip Point Loma downtown altogether and head up to Cesarina.

EDIT: After a response from the restaurant insisting that their ingredients are "fresh" and that my "palate has led me astray", I decided some photos would help illustrate my points. Note the deflated and slightly off-white burrata sitting on a bed of almost-brown pesto (so fresh!) And you can see the pools of pesto heaped onto the pizza- they put so much on they couldn't keep it from leaking over the side of the cornicione while it was cooking, note back left of frame. Also note the restaurant's response did not address the balsamic condiment- because their so-called dedication to quality is a farce. My review stands, and rather than the restaurant hoping to improve themselves or invite me back to prove me wrong in my convictions, their response is more or less "please don't come back". There's nothing worse than a two-bit restaurant that thinks they're a bib gourmand.

As a Point Loma resident, I will continue to refer my neighbors to the outstanding Italian options that all exist within a 10 minute drive: Cesarina, Mia Trattoria, Cucina Urbana, Cori, Buona Forchetta, and if you have to go to Little Italy - Civico.

Leave this place for the tourists. You can do a lot better...

Worst Experience Ever

I went to this restaurant for my friend’s birthday, and it was an absolute disaster from start to finish. We arrived at 7 PM and informed the server that it was a birthday celebration. They assured us there would be a little surprise for our friend.

First, the food service was painfully slow. It took nearly an hour for the first entrées to arrive. To make things worse, two entrées were missing. When we asked the server, he took 10 minutes to check and then told us the food had been mistakenly taken to another table. He assured us it would be out shortly, but it took an additional 30 minutes. In total, we waited 90 minutes just to get all our food on the table.

When it came time for the check, the restaurant had not accounted for the delays or the missing entrées. We had to request compensation, and they offered only 50% off the two entrées, arguing that we had already eaten the food. Really? That’s how you apologize for ruining an evening?

It didn’t end there. The server then said he’d check with the manager, but it took forever for anyone to return. When the manager finally showed up, he seemed completely out of the loop, asking, “What’s the situation?” There was zero communication or coordination between the staff. We explained everything to him, but he came across as robotic and insincere. When we requested that the two entrées be comped as an apology for the awful service, he reluctantly agreed with no genuine remorse.

After waiting another 10-20 minutes, the server returned, asking, “What do you want to do now?” The lack of courtesy, professionalism, and accountability was appalling.

This was hands-down the worst dining experience I’ve ever had. Not only was the service unacceptably slow and disorganized, but there was also no effort to sincerely apologize or make things right. I will never return and cannot recommend this place to anyone.

A funny thing happened during our struggle —both tables next to us were also visibly unhappy with the food and service. They were so dissatisfied that they got up and left the restaurant in frustration without waiting for check to come..I’m not sure if they ended up paying their bill, but they left with very...

A Secret Lies Within

Whether you enter from the front or thru the back, you will be pleasantly surprised ("that's what she said?") of the cozy decor and amazing outdoor courtyard as you sit beneath lightly covered patio with lights all around you. The ambiance of the space is quite telling of Italy. They were able to capture the italian experience to the 'T'.

The Table Bread - Say No More.

I wish that could be made into a song. If I had all night I would write about how the table bread changed my life. If it were a cottage, I would buy it, live it forever, keep it so clean, have people over on weekends. So warm, with its crunchy crust and gooey insides. It needs absolutely no olive oil, BUT if you choose to add it, it adds magical depth of flavor. Wow.

Threes Company

Three dishes we got were the cream of the crop (Why do people use that saying? Weird. Cream doesn't grow on crops. If it did, what kind of cream would it be?).

First dish was Magical Mushrooms. I know why they call it Magical Mushrooms, but I can't tell you, you'll have to experience that for yourselves. I am always down for a tasty stuffed mushroom dish, although they could have been bigger for the price.

Second was meat lasagna. Can't ever go wrong with those babies. Unlike a lot of places that overcook their pasta and cheese, this place cooks it perfectly so there are no burning crusts and hard pasta.

Third and best was La Regina. Regina must have been an italian goddess because this dish is absolutely amazing. That is if you aren't allergic to shell fish or seafood. If so, please stay away or else you will look like Will Smith in Hitch. The dish had so much flavor and depth. The more you ate the more you got all the flavors of the clams, mussels, squid, scallops, crab, and shrimp at the bottom...