Piacere Mio — Restaurant in San Diego

4.5 stars and an absolute flavor heaven of a place!! I will recommend them a hundred times over and come back here again and again!

We called them around 7:45 pm on a Sat to see if they needed reservations for a table for two. They told us to show up by 8:30 pm, which was awesome! We were close by and got there at 8 pm, hoping to be seated early or walk around the neighborhood if we couldn't. We got seated immediately! However, my tip is to reserve in advance if you are a bigger group as this is a small restaurant with limited seating space. As a party of two, we were seated in their covered patio, which I loved, because the restaurant itself was loud. The patio was quieter and felt more secluded from all the noise. Parking is in the Target parking lot across the street or street parking in the area.

Their menu is mainly pasta, which is their specialty. You can get appetizers and salads as well as some specials, but I would recommend sticking to pasta - the portions are big and trust me, you want the space to eat as much as you can.

We got a Cabernet and a Sauvignon Blanc to go with our meal and they were both delicious and light. The complimentary bread was ok. Nothing to write home about. Again, leave space for those delicious pastas. You will regret filling up on everything else.

For our entree, my husband got the Gnocchi and I got the Salmon ravioli. The gnocchi was very very good - the potato balls were not excessively heavy or creamy but still melted in the mouth. The marinara was fresh and sweet. The burrata added a layer of creaminess that elevated the whole experience. But the absolute winner of this meal was the salmon ravioli.

If you come here, please order the Salmon ravioli. The ravioli itself is perfect and stuffed with delicious salmon. They add shrimp to the plate, but it doesn't do much. I love shrimp and will eat it any how, so take me seriously here: I think the shrimp in this plate actually takes away attention from the delicious heaven that the rest of the plate it. The pesto with tomato cream sauce is now officially my most favorite sauce ever. It was the perfect combination of savory, creamy, pesto-ey. This was THE dish for us. The plate was cleaned up so well that they probably didn't need to wash it lol! Best $23 I have ever spent on an Italian dish.

For dessert, we got the Tiramisu because they didn't have Panna cotta. Now, this Tiramisu is also one of the best we have had. The mascarpone was perfect, the coffee was perfect and there was cocoa but not too much. For the non-coffee lovers, this Tiramisu is definitely coffee forward but oh my God, it just melts in your mouth into a wonderful medley of flavors! Our only complaint would be the ladyfingers to marcarpone ratio. Since the mascarpone layer was so thick and the ladyfingers were so soaked, the middle layer of ladyfingers was very soggy and didn't provide the slightly firm consistency to the morsel in the mouth. Surprisingly, the bottom layer held its own. They decorated the plate with strawberries, but this is not needed. The tiramisu speaks for itself and doesn't need adornments. This plate was also cleaned up to within an inch of itself.

The whole meal cost about $80 which we thought was very reasonable for the quality of food we got! The servers were very friendly and bubbly. All in all, a great experience and we will...

We came in initially without any reservation. Thank God for the perfect timing (a little past 5 pm) and God bless our guy waiter with the amber/clay colored glasses who welcomed us in (I didn’t get to ask his name, I’m so sorry!!). My family and I came in visiting San Diego from Northern California.

Upon the recommendations provided for our waiter (so thorough and kind!) we got the following for 5 people (2 quiet dogs who sat with us outside):

—2 appetizers— POLPO E PATATE - our family has never had this before! The octopus is so soft. Paired with the arugula, olives, and potatoes - it provided a nice break from the pastas when needed. COZZE E VONGOLE ALLA MARINARA - The amount of mussels and clams were generous. Thank you all so much. If you are getting the Taglierini Neri Ai Frutti di Mare, the sauces are quite similar so our family will be getting the calamari next time!

—3 pastas— TAGLIERINI NERI AI FRUTTI DI MARE - the squid ink pasta and sauce was equally balanced. For my brother and my mom who like a cleaner, lighter taste - they loved this pasta. ORECCHIETTE CON SALSICCIA - my sister and I delighted in the texture of the ear-shaped pasta. I thought the pairing of spinach, diced tomatoes, sausages, and creamy cheese was a warm hug for my palate. RAVIOLI DI SALMONE AI GAMBERI - the shrimp was cooked to an amazingly soft texture!

They offer you the option between having the appetizers before pasta or having all of them come out together. Our family opted for the latter. I just wanted to highlight this to demonstrate the exceptional standard of service all sought to achieve here.

An extra shoutout to our amber/clay colored glasses guy waiter again for providing us with good recommendations for our first time visiting. The team of servers regularly checked in with our table to ensure our water glasses were full and the plates that we were finished with were cleaned.

I hope the restaurant space grows so that more people can experience the lovely atmosphere. This is a restaurant versatile for any party. I will reserve in advance next time! I want to show better respect for the kindness the team has shown me. Thank you all, God bless you all!

For what it is worth - quite reasonably priced, about $20 per dish. Bread and olive oil+balsamic vinaigrette are also provided; they are excellent to eat with the remaining...

Fresh bread on the table as soon as you get there and really great service! Our server was a real gem! Give some good recommendations and good descriptions of all the items and was just very enthusiastic overall. Came to check on us a lot.

Scallopine al Marsala - 15/10 (Veal with mushroom masrala sauce, vegetables and potatoes) Can I just say this dish was phenomenal?! That mushroom masala sauce was unbelievably good. We asked for no butter and no oil and this was a really great healthy option! Well cooked, clean meat with perfectly steamed vegetables and just the right amount of crispy potatoes. Definitely did not feel oily and was actually really really delicious! We asked for a spoon and finished up all that sauce from the plate!

Orecchiette Con Salsiccia - 6/10 Got this from seeing all the good reviews but it was just okay.. I would recommend one of the ravioli items instead. Really massive portion size is another reason I went for it. The pasta was perfectly cooked though, and the sausage goes really well with the pasta and the tomato going on inside there! Kale kinda threw me and husband off a little from the bitterness.

Tiramisu - 11/10 A real beautiful one! So soft and creamy any perfect! I was full but still wanted more of this! Very large piece too and definitely value for money!

New York Cheesecake - 10/10 They gave us this on the house since we were celebrating our anniversary.. Lovely simple slice of cheesecake with some blueberry sauce on top. Husband actually preferred this over the Tiramisu but tiramisu...