The Red Door — Restaurant in San Diego

There’s no place like the Red Door in San Diego. Period.

The moment you walk through the “actual red” door, not only do you feel a warm energy/vibe upon stepping inside, you’re welcomed with an intoxicating whiff of whatever plate is whizzing by at that moment. The first time I visited this restaurant was in 2012 and I admit, I hadn’t stopped in for about a year and a half until this past October. I’ve experienced brunch, dinners, happy hour cocktails as well as the famous Beef Wellington next door at what used to be called “The Wellington,” now referred to as “The Bar by Red Door,” the live music and more casual dining experience side of the restaurant.

I’ve been back more in the past four months than all the times I’d visited the prior 7 years! Rightfully so, after learning about the change in ownership, and experiencing many intoxicating dishes from the (new to me) menu. Like the local mussels swimming in the addictive tomato broth, the Butternut Brie (whaaat!?!?) and house-made wild Boar prosciutto.

Theres an ingenuity that Owner/Chef Luciano Cibelli naturally showcases in his food that you effortlessly experience when you taste what he composes. The painstaking detail that goes into sourcing the super fresh, local ingredients (everyday) for the menu, allows the food to speak for itself. Think Italian peasant dishes; from the Bolognese Ragù with daily house-made pasta, to the comforting (hand-made sausage) and mushroom orecchiette to more fancy-pants options like the Beef Wellington, Aged Ribeye or the Fresh Fish which changes daily and depending on what it is (like baby squid), can sometimes only be experienced for a few weeks out of the year. For the last couple months the indulgence has been the white and black truffle dishes. Truffles ARE a girl’s best friend after all! There are also even vegan and vegetarian options that are, in my opinion, inventive and so very fun to try!

If food is an “experience” for you, you’ll most certainly be happy you decided to visit! The owner and staff treat you like an honored guest, making sure your experience was everything you...

I had been wanting to go to this restaurant for a while but for one reason or another we couldn't make before. Today, my husband and my 3 year old son were in the area and decided to make a reservation last minute. We got there probably about 30min earlier and they were so nice to greet us earlier. As soon as we were by the door you can feel the great energy from all the staff. They were incredibly attentive and presented many options for dinner since they knew that it was our first time. I'm not sure how busy it is during the weekends but going on a Wednesdays evening was a perfect choice for us since we had a little one with us. This is the kinda place you go for a birthday, a date night, celebrations with family, friends or just because you want an amazing dinner. The atmosphere is very tranquil and you almost feel like you are having dinner at home because how cozy and welcoming this place is. As an interior designer I have to say the restaurant itself is so unique, it is American farmhouse style with a very chic classic touch. Loved the little accents, and the vintage lamps create an elegant ambiance. The layout of the restaurant, again, feels very homely and flows naturally with a curved window that points at the main street, if you are lucky you might see the sunset from your seat. Moving on to the food, the magical piece of this place! We had steak and seared tuna with risotto. I rarely eat potatoes, specially with steak, but the potatoes were the star of this dish. The blanc sauvignon was crisp and fruity. Probably the best two dishes I had all over San Diego even though we always order steak and tuna in every other restaurant. There are some really amazing restaurants in SD but something always doesn't add up. At this place, everything was great, the staff is incredibly professional and the chef came to our table to ask us about the food, you can tell he truly cares about this restaurant and his customers. Also, I woukd like to add that we didn’t have dessert because we were so full, but now I have an excuse to go back. Thank you guys for making our night...

After reading reviews we decided to try out the Red Door. We are Canadians and had a day of fun in San Diego and wanted to finish off with a great meal - sadly, not so. First off, the acoustics are pretty bad. We had three or four loud tables in the room, and each one got louder and louder talking over each other - we noticed other smaller tables of two around us feeling the pain as well. To the food....we ordered two appetizers, the pear, walnut, cranberry Brie and the bacon brussel sprouts. Neither plate came with any serving utensils, so we dug in with fork and knife. The Brie dish was tasty, the bread with it too crunchy. Brussel sprouts were really good. Our mains....we ordered the burger (sans) bun and shared a salad, (brussel sprout/avocado). We also had the ravioli and the papperdelle. The ravioli dish was pretty non descriptive and lacking in quantity, compared to the same priced papperdelle. Both dishes were tasty, but the ravioli certainly didn’t compare in terms of value. The burger, we ordered medium well. Cutting in to the burger, the inside was raw - not at all medium-well by any stretch! We had a feeling something had gone wrong with our order, as tables who had been seated well after us, had been served their meals, and most almost finished. The burger may have been rushed out, who knows, but when we mentioned we’d rather just take it off the bill, as we didn’t have time to wait any longer, our server apologized, but seemed like it was no big deal, no offer to us to have something else, she was just “ok”. To top it off, chef comes out and wanders around talking with tables, our server points out our table, clearly we were the screwed up order, he looks over at us, yet he couldn’t be bothered to say a word. Ok, fine, we’re done....but then, we’re asked if we want dessert after all that. Seriously? “no thanks” - we’d rather pay our $100 bill and go for Starbucks across the...