Volare Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in San Diego

We visited in July 2021, shortly after the pandemic restrictions were lifted. I've been driving past this little hole-in-the-wall place for decades, sandwiched between an adult bookstore and a tackle shop and mentioned to my wife that someday I was going to have to try it. She said "Why not now?"

The restaurant is a tiny place, only 9 tables, max seating of 49 people. The hostess, who was also helping to wait tables and cleaning up, greeted us immediately and showed us to a small table. I won't go into the decor, save to say it's dark paneling, nothing special - I'm sure other people have posted photos. They have a pretty good menu - a bit more than the standard family Italian place, like Filippis, but about what you'd expect. The prices are reasonable. My wife ordered the eggplant parmesan and a glass of Chianti. I asked for chicken cacciatore, but they were out (at 5:30 😕), so I had the manicotti with meat sauce. Because you can tell a lot about a place by the pizza, I also ordered a small pepperoni, knowing we'd take it go.

The server brought us a couple of small cups of minestrone soup, which was a tomato vegetable blend and quite good, and a small basket of garlic bread, which was a nicely toasted sesame roll. A pleasant start to the meal. But then, as the restaurant began to fill up, with some customers coming in to pick up pizza to go, we noticed that we were waiting a long time for our meals - and we weren't the only ones. Finally - an HOUR AND 20 MINUTES AFTER WE WALKED IN - our pizza arrived. The pepperoni was good, but the crust was bland and the sauce too sweet.

Five minutes later, my manicotti showed up. The server suggested I be careful, as it was baked manicotti and the dish was hot...only it was warm to the touch, the mozzarella already hardening; my guess was it was out of the oven about 20-25 minutes. The sauce was what former Reader food critic Eleanor Widmer used to refer to as Godfather Sauce - a heavy tomato sauce with small bits of ground Italian sausage, too sweet without much other seasoning. It was passable, but not something to go out of our way for.

Finally, about 8-10 minutes after my manicotti, my wife's eggplant showed up along with a side of spaghetti marinara. The marinara had a bit of an odd flavor to it - I thought I tasted heavy black olives while she tasted lemon (!?). But worse was the eggplant. When she cut into it, the eggplant patties were cool, despite the warm sauce and melted cheese above them. They had obviously fried up some patties earlier and then refrigerated them and counted on the sauce and oven to reheat them. Very disappointing. By then, we were thoroughly frustrated, so we asked for boxes and the check. Of course, by then, the two servers were running frantically back and forth, delivering salads and entrees, so it took another bit longer to pay. The bill came to $42.00 plus tip, which was very reasonable.

Overall, I'm giving them 3 stars, though I'd give them 2 1/2 if I could. The food, except for the eggplant, wasn't terrible, just boring. The servers were very polite and, until the very end, seemed attentive. But the kitchen was far too slow for such a small place on an early Saturday evening. As I know many places are troubled with staffing issues, I might be willing to try it again in a year or so, maybe a takeout sandwich for lunch. But I wouldn't go back for an evening out. There are far better options...

I give it 2 stars only because the water with lemon and soft drink was good and bought out at a reasonable time (and the tiramisu I took to go) . However, I ordered the chicken parmigiana and they brought back out chicken that was entirely old and tried to cook it and put new sauce on it and cheese to make it “look” good. But I could not even cut my chicken with the knife they provided. I asked the waiter if it was even chicken because it was super brown/black on one side and tan on the other. I swear I said a little prayer asking God to not make it so I did not have to complain about anything, because I was the only black person at that Italian place. So I got up to take my food to the counter (after waiting over an hour for it but I was patient) and the waitress saw me and asked if everything is ok. I told her the chicken was hard and I could not eat it and if they could switch it out for a lasagna. I could sense the attitude because she said “well what did you order” I told her chicken parmigiana and she said “well that’s chicken” I said - oh ok, it’s hard and I can’t eat it. She gave it to the kitchen and the lady who rung up my order screamed across the restaurant telling me she is taking off everything and if I wanted the lasagna to stay or to go. I said “on the plate”, she asked again- for here or to go ? I said again - on the plate. She said the plate is gone. I said there were nothing wrong with my noodles (which were flavorless and sauce was watered down but I did not complain about it), all I wanted was just to sub the hard “chicken” for lasagna. So I said for here… because what would make her think I was no longer hungry and wanting to eat there after I just waited so long for the first plate? Clearly I was still patient enough to order a new dish and wait for it. Which took about 30 minutes. I ended up getting full from the bread and salad and having them pack the food up to go. I must say the tiramisu was good, but a small piece. That’s another reason I gave a double star. Besides that, service wasn’t too good for me (can’t speak for others, but not for me). The food was disappointing and I did not like the lasagna. Did not have much cheese inside the layers and it wasn’t worth the price. Usually I’ll go inside of a Italian place and get huge portions for great price, and great taste. But this was a really disappointing solo outing and first time...

I would give 10 stars if I could.

Food, Service, Ambiance, Value.

Everything you would want and expect.

I've literally been driving by this place for 43 years. It's easy to drive by, and from first glance parking "appears" to be an issue, but it's not. Just after the restaurant, there is plenty of parking at Squidos next door and all the signs say it's ok.

It's easy to drive by on the way to Liberty Station. Don't miss this place.

When you walk inside you are taken back to the old days. It's like an episode of the Sopranos. Cozy. Frank Sinatra playing made it perfect.

We were greeted like we were regulars. The place had just opened, and there were already a few tables occupied.

Within an hour, it was almost full.

The young lady who brought our drinks and took our order was very nice and was attentive throughout our meal. The helper was equally attentive, keeping our drinks full, and bussing our used plates. First class service.

Within an hour the place was almost full, and a steady stream of to go pizza orders went out the front door.

The menu was very complete and it was hard to pick from the menu or the amazing specials. We started with a small salad and some cheese bread.

The salads were really good, and the cheese bread was very tasty.

I opted for the mushroom gnocchi in a creamy sauce. The gnocchi was cooked to perfection. While gnocchi seems like an easy thing to prepare, it's also easy to overcook or undercook. This was perfect. The mushrooms and sauce with the gnocchi were very tasty. A great combination.

My wife ordered spaghetti with clams, and a variety of other seafood. She loved it. She loves clams and next time she'll order the version with only clams.

She never cleans her plate. She did this time.

I ordered a cheese cake and it was fresh, fluffy, and very good.

Now for the surprise. The bill was about half of what we expected.

It's easy to drive by on the way to Liberty Station....we won't make that mistake again and we look forward to bringing the entire family here for a meal....