Osteria Cotto e Mangiato — Restaurant in San Diego

I wish I could give this place more stars, but unfortunately we had such a disappointing experience with the owner.

To preface, our server Lydia was absolutely amazing! She was so sweet, attentive and generally just a lovely individual. Thank you Lydia for the wonderful service! We ordered a couple of appetizers, wine and all 5 of us got our own entree. The special lobster ravioli was nice and the cesear salad was also tasty. Overall, we were quite pleased with our experience UNTIL the owner came to our table as we finished up our food.

He asked us if we would like to order anything else and we said we were fine. We had JUST finished our food and were sipping on the last bits of our wine. At this point, we had only been at the restaurant for an hour. He then proceeded to tell us that if we didn’t want anything else, then he would bring us the check because he had a lot of people waiting that didn’t want to sit outside so he needed our table (and he wasn’t exactly nice about telling us that either).

Um, what? No, “thank you for trying our restaurant,” no “how was the food?”, basically just a “get out we need this table.” We spent over $200 at your restaurant, ordered appetizers, entrees, and drinks, have been there barely over an hour and you’re shooing us out? Listen, I’d get it if we just had a drink and split an entree between us and then just sat there for three hours, but we ordered a fair amount of food plus drinks and hadn’t even come close to the typical two hour seating time. I can also say we were not being loud or otherwise bothersome guests that maybe would have been disruptive. To top it off, as we were getting ready to leave, he comes and swoops the glasses off our table further signalling to us that we were no longer welcome. Even better, we get outside and there isn’t a single person waiting for a table.

What would have been an overall really nice dining experience turned into a total disappointment. Can’t believe an owner thinks that’s a good idea to usher out his guests like that.

But again, shoutout our server Lydia! She...

The Food: We were on a quest from our recent trip to Bologna, Italy to find the “Melt in Your Mouth Lasagna.” We showed up on a Sunday afternoon when they first opened. We just came from the other place trying to find that perfect lasagna. Check out our other reviews for the area. The other items that utilized the parmesan wheel had a really good flavor to it. We were kind of full from the previous restaurant we had just come from a couple hours before. We would probably come back to try different items here.

What we ordered: Lasagna Homemade $25.95 Tableside Cheese Wheel Pasta, Fettucine (market price) Bottle of wine

The Service: We showed up when they just opened on a Sunday afternoon. There was only one visible staff member at the time. A nice gentleman. He was very attentive. He allowed us to sit where we wanted to. We decided to sit in the outside back patio area. Quickly, the place ended up getting filled, but he was outside checking on us frequently making sure we were topped up with wine, water, and just making sure we were good.

The Atmosphere: The inside seating area has a bar area surrounded with some stools. There’s a large outdoor seating area in the back and a few tables up front.

Overall: To cut to the chase, we did not find the melt in your mouth lasagna we were looking for here, but this place is still recommended to make a visit.

Parking: Street parking - there’s a hotel/condo right behind it. I’m not sure if you can park there for a fee. There was plenty of metered street parking. We were there on a Sunday, so there was no charge. We were able to park 100 yards away.

Total Cost: $109 +tip

Tip: Make reservations. We booked at the time they opened. By the time our food came out, there were at least 4 other groups that came in to dine.

Follow and Subscribe for more food and travel content! YT @RoseAndWorld7 IG...

My brother and I took our mom here for her birthday dinner and Osteria Cotto e Mangiato might be my new favorite Italian restaurant for pasta!

Parking: Paid street parking only. Since it’s located further away from the main downtown SD area, there were still a good amount of parking available even on a Friday night.

Service/Ambiance: Wonderful service from our main server Lidia, along with those who served us our food, drinks, and the cheese wheel pasta. It’s a very small and intimate restaurant, very nice ambiance inside. There were 2-4 person tables inside and a handful more tables outside with heaters. We saw a party of 6 while we were there, so I imagine it could work for a little bigger group. I suggest making a reservation! The restaurant and bathrooms were very clean.

Food: -Fritto Misto ($22.95): fried Calamari served with marinara and aioli. Perfect starter to share with the table

-Cheese Wheel Pasta with Gnocchi (market price) + add Sausage ($4): You can choose between gnocchi or fettuccine pasta, then you can also add in protein. They roll out the cheese wheel and prepare the dish in front of the table. This was sooo good and creamy! Don’t be fooled by the smallish plate it’s served in— it was very filling! We ended up having leftovers.

-Tortellini di Lobster e Shrimp ($35.99): This was also so yummy. Fresh creamy burrata served on top and they include a decent amount of shrimp.

-Pesto Flatbread ($18.95): 4 large squares, also perfect to share.

-Caesar Salad ($11.95): This tasted good but was smaller than I expected for the price.

-Limoncello cake: They served this for my mom’s birthday and it has the perfect combo of tang and sweetness!

Overall: Love this place and will definitely come back for the pasta and to also try out their happy hour menu! Wonderful service. Go...