Serves meat, vegan options available. Italian-run restaurant in San Diego's Little Italy since 2015. Menu has a vegan section offering items like spinach ravioli, lasagna, fettucine, fried mushrooms, and cheese substitute. Vegan gelato and tiramisu for dessert. Makes pasta in-house. Open Mon 12:00pm-9:30pm, Tue-Thu 4:00pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sat 12:00pm-10:30pm, Sun 12:00pm-9:30pm.
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1845 India St (at Little Italy), San Diego, California, USA, 92101
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- Outdoor seating
- Accepts credit cards
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Last update on 05 Jan 2022 by Vegnrnr
Update business info -
Added by mutant_pie on 11 Jun 2015
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139 Reviews
First Review by vsvihla
BaltiVegn
Points +260
Best Vegan Italian I have ever had - Edit
There is a special EXTENSIVE VEGAN menu. Also the alcoholic beverages specify which is vegan. I had the oyster mushroom "calamari," potato pesto, and strawberry cake. All were AMAZING! Very fun friendly romantic atmosphere. Friendly attentive service.
Read morePros: Extensive vegan special menu, EXCELLENT food, friendly staff
Guest
philjdomm
Points +945
Secret is to eat at the bar UPDATE - Edit
UPDATE: Sadly, their vegan lasagna was heavy with fake meat & another defrosted taste of the pasta dough.
Read moreMy friend felt his prawns pasta was pretty heavy as well, Spatzel style.
I am use to the American Tiramisu so their authentic Italian style was too bready & heavy.
I would have preferred a light fluffy desert.
The constant server, staff & busser over checked up on us which would be considered good service but it only means our conversation kept being interrupted. I'm sure culturally, it's natural to engage but not for us.
*****
When weekenders or weeknights never put you off even more for this over crowded Little Italy, always request to sit at the bar as you can order & eat there.
You get a personal bartender to serve you!
Don't be intimidated by their stressed out host & the little Italian grandpy, it's part of being in Italy!
Ask to view the separated kitchen for Vegan and non vegan preparations.
The mushroom calamari was a direct deep fried version in replacement for fries. Other restaurants would have it slightly breaded & wont leave it fried too long. For civico with no breadedness, I would recommend not over drenching it in the batter. I felt like I was going to leave with high cholesterol and heart attack. Tasted kinda over fried.
The Ravioli pasta: the dough outside itself tasted like it had been defrosted.
I had amazing Italian food in NYC & in Italy and of course, this did not really come close to the experience.
The Penne was mundane. Something we can make ourselves at home. If there's no colour of the rainbow in vegetables, I'm easily unimpressed.
All breads are naturally vegan but of course not GF.
Bruchetta was different as the bread was served warm rather croutons style where it'll break under you so good on that.
I may have been more or less slightly turned off with the host turning me away "No Tables" by one look at me with prejudge eyes in my heavily Inked live canvas and probably redneck crocs compared to the others waiting in their gucci and jimmy choos.
I also felt judged by the Grandpa of the House.
I know Italian culture is all about the exterior but sometimes, the most affluent beings are those that have nothing to prove.
Updated from previous review on Tuesday July 28, 2015
Pros: location, decor spacious, vegan menu
Cons: judging and crowded, intimidating welcome, no privacy
Guest
MusicalVeggie
Points +229
Sooooo Delicious - Edit
This restraurant was all I hoped it would be and more! I thoroughly enjoyed my food as did the rest of my family. The bread served on the table is vegan which is exciting for me. I ordered the vegan Eggplant and got scared. The cheese in it seemed so realistic that I thought it was real cheese. But my waiter confirmed that the chef makes all of the cheese! House made vegan cheese so good it scared me haha. Needless to say it was awesome. My father who is a meat eater decided to order the vegan lasagna and thoroughly enjoyed it. Highly recommend this place! Well worth the money and good portions all around :)
Read morePros: Vegan menu , house made vegan cheese
Guest
vsvihla
Points +589
Wonderful Italian restaurant with a vegan menu - Edit
We visited in June 2015 when we saw they had a vegan menu on display. After wandering through little Italy, we were resigned to basic pasta and red sauce, so we were thrilled to find a more adventurous restaurant. We tried the mushroom "calamari" which which were crispy and tasty. I was expecting a thickly breaded, deep fried dish, but the mushrooms were lightly seasoned and fried crisp. They were tasty, and a huge serving that we did not finish. We tried two entrees, which were medium-sized servings. The Pesto gnocchi were delicate in texture and the sauce fresh and flavorful. The ravioli were generously sized and served with plenty of marinara sauce. We ended with Tiramisu- a rare find for a vegan restaurant! It was delicious and we finished every bit of it, even though we were quite full.
Read moreThe service was friendly though a bit slow-though this did not detract from our experience as it simply made the restaurant seem a bit more European. The decor is inviting and location great. Prices were on par with neighborhood (not cheap).
Pros: Full vegan menu, Tiramisu!!!!
Cons: Wine/beer only- no liquor
Guest
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