Dolci Cafe Italiano

The service was good, but the food was really mediocre. The gnocchi I had were very heavy not pillowy and light. The sauce tasted too sweet for my taste. The meat balls my dad got were more like an American meatloaf. The arugula on a veggie pizza lacked the peppery brightness that it should. But the worst was that every one at my table thought the caesar salad tasted fishy, not in a yummy anchovy way as it should, but in an omega 3 fish oil capsule kind of way. Maybe we got them on a bad day, but I don’t think we will return.

Isabel was our server and she was great! Recommended food and desert. The bread and sauces accompanied were amazing. The bread was perfectly baked crispy and the sauces went perfectly. I could have had that and a bottle of wine and been good. Glad I didn’t stop there! My fiancé had the special with lobster and mussels and it was perfectly made. The lobster was well cooked and noodles were fresh. I had the chicken egg baked with mozzarella in pomodoro sauce. That sauce was heavenly! The best Italian I’ve ever had. The service was great and the ice tea server was super sweet.

Rancho San Diego doesn’t have too many nice sit down restaurants but Dolce is definitely a gem. Dolce took over what used to be Janets café, the local breakfast spot, and it’s now the local favorite. The offer wonderful Italian cuisine but what I really love to come here for is their breakfast. High quality produce and organic eggs make their breakfast dishes hit the spot. Today I tried the Belgium waffles for the first time and they tasted amazing as does everything on the menu. I usually come about once a week and that probably won’t change anytime soon.

I’ve been here a few times now and wish I had been here sooner. I go here for breakfast and great coffees.
Im not a fan of frittatas but it was actually really good. Cant go wrong with any kind of ingredients you choose. Best way to describe it is that it looks like a personal pizza but instead of dough it’s eggs.
I’m in love with their french toast though… oh muh gawd. It’s not a lot of food but it’s soooooooo good. I usually add on an egg. Pricey, but they taste like my mother in laws free range chicken eggs.
Never had a crêpe until this place either. Now I like them. ‘Nuff said.
I actually drink their coffee black here. I usually brew my own and drink that black, every where else I’ll add cream and sugar mostly because the coffee doesnt taste that good, but here… black.
Their specialty coffees are awesome, too. Just a heads up, their espressocino is real strong.
I’ll definitely be going back.

Really yummy local brunch spot. I ordered both the eggs Benedict and the Nutella French toast (#OverEater)!
The Nutella French toast was perfect with candied walnuts!!! The eggs I had were perfectly poached! And I always order the Vanilla latte!
My son was having a tantrum towards the end of our meal and the owner was SO nice and came by with some complimentary gelato! Very thoughtful!

Came by before the rush, ordered sea bass it was perfectly cooked and seasoned with mango salsa over risotto.

Very impressed with This restaurant ! I’ve been a couple of times now to meet some of my girlfriends for Sunday brunch and we always get the bucket of hulled champaign they bring out orange AND cran-​juice for a cool little twist to your classic mimosa ! Love that combo! I haven’t been for dinner or lunch yet but loved the brunch options ! Try the eggs Benedict !!

The food is good. I will give them that. But way way overpriced. Last time I was here we had breakfast and for what we got you would have expected to get way more food. It’s in rancho so I understand the rent is high but come on.

Bread and appetizers are amazing. Fresh, warm, and generous portions. Friendly and wonderful customer service. The BF loved the coffee.

Great experience, flavorful and tender lamb shank, also just had a salami and cheese that was imported from Italy

My Wife and I, along with Friends have dined here many times. The food is wonderful and the owners and employees are gracious and knowledgeable. I would recommend this to all in search Italian style cuisine.

The service was great. I came hear for a late lunch with the hubbs and we both loved what we ordered. They use local or organic ingredients. He had a free formed lasagna which finished in the wildfire oven next to my sausage, artichoke, fennel and ricotta pizza. The ricotta was so smooth and creamy. I think we’ll come back for a proper dinner next time.

Was meeting a friend who was having his car worked on close by and the last time we ate a Denny’s.
This time he said let’s try something new so I used Unilocal to find local places to eat and I’m (we’re) glad I did!
This little hidden gem is within a stones throw of the Denny’s and the food was so much better — and I mean a lot better!
I had checked their website and didn’t pay much attention to the OPEN HOURS and we arrived @ 8:30am (figured you’re serving breakfast they’d be open?). They don’t open until 9:00 but the doors were open and we were welcomed in «open arms!»
Tony was fantastic right from the start. Menus and coffee immediately and we felt bad as they surely must have been in the «opening mode» but we couldn’t tell by the way he was making sure anything we wanted was taken care of.
My friend and I sat there for a while after breakfast and enjoyed more coffee and we were never asked to get up and leave, they treated us like family.
When the crowds started to get busy there, we felt it best to give up the seats but we shook Tony’s hand and told him for sure we’d be back — and real soon.
Everything looked so great on the menu and the website even shows photos of it all.
Told my wife about it, we’re going to the Rancho theaters and afterwards — dinner!

Great food! We have walked past this café several times and finally was able to visit. Plenty of outdoor seating with lamps to keep you warm.
We were the third table to be seated and delicious bread with olive oil and marinara sauce for dipping arrived quick. Drink order was taken and delivered but because we were busy talking we asked for a few minutes to order. Then it got busier and we were soon forgotten about. Half way through our first drink we were able to order.
The food took some time to arrive, but standard after having appetizers. The food was soooo good! Gnocchi with pesto sauce for me, gnocchi with creamy marinara for our niece and risotto pescatore for my wife. We were all very satisfied with our meals and plenty for leftovers for the next day.
Our overall experience was very good and we will definitely be back!

Finally went here. breakfast was hot and delicious!.. most places serve their food warm my eggs came nice and hot, service was great, the mimosa was amazing. I would definitely go back again!

I love coming here for breakfast with my mama and the kiddos. It’s definitely a wonderful family restaurant. The food is always fresh, delicious & consistent. One of my favorite local eateries!

Where to start?! They have amazing and fresh tasting Italian food. I’ve had almost everything on the menu from pizzas, pastas, salads, desserts, and breakfast! I’m usually there for breakfast and my favorite is the dolci café with the two poached eggs… Soooooooooo good! They have freshly made gelato! What more can you possibly ask for? Everything here is authentic and delicious. Service is always great as well, great family owned buisness. If you haven’t gone yet all I can tell you is that you’re missing out

I ordered the ravioli Di Carni and it was absolutely delicious. The staff is amazing and I love the ambience :-)

One of the best, hidden, classic restaurants in El Cajon/​Rancho SD. Go there about once a week and have yet to get a bad meal! When my 14 year old grandson was asked where he wanted to go for his birthday, he said Dolci, and 8 of us had a wonderful time.

I was very disappointed with this place, either they where understaffed or they just didn’t care but I swear they had the cook come out to seat us and take our drink orders first. Than, I can only guess, the man who IS a waiter finally comes and takes our order but only after he sees that we do speak English and he could leave the cook alone… (lots of Hispanic people do speak English too) on top of that when our food did come, witch was fast I do have to say, we had to get utensils for ourselves from a empty table next to us. I think they only had one waiter I am not to sure but it was lunch time and busy so they should of been better prepared with enough staff. We were ignored greatly I even had to get up and look for the waiter inside to pay my bill because we were done with our Food for awhile by then.
Now the food is a different story it was brought out fast but it wasn’t as good as I expected, I think I was excpecting more flavor I’m not sure but maybe it was just what I orderd that was the issue. I do want to give this place another shot so I will be back, hopefully they were just having an off day and it will be better next time.

Only complaint I could add about this place would probably be the seating. There’s practically no indoor tables. Other than that this place is amazing! The food is always great and the staff is very friendly!

Highly recommended this place, everything is so good here it’s hard to decide what to eat here. There French toast with Nutella is to die for so yummy :)

I’d come back here again for dinner, because everything looked great! However, the desserts were a little disappointing. I was expecting more, but the strawberry and cream crêpe literally just had strawberry slices and whipped cream. Nothing else.
Either way, everybody on here has been raving about the food, and the owner seemed nice, and the décor was wonderful. I’d definitely come back to try the main cuisine.

I’ve been here 3 times this and I’m sure I’ll be back 3 more next year.
The dinners, bread and appetizers are consistently very good.
The waiters are helpful and attentive but not TOO attentive. If you want something not on the menu and mention it you just might be accommodated on a slow night.
Sometimes I thought the price of a special dish was a little high for out here in east county, but the food was delicious and I had some leftover every time.

Hidden gem in Spring Valley. I work nearby and my friend had been here before so he had me join him for lunch. We weren’t greeted right away, but our waiter was helpful and always refilled our waters (it was a hot day). We shared a pizza and salad. Both tasted very fresh. I loved the salad even though it seemed very basic, but they did have a nice homemade dressing that stood out to me. We ate everything to the last bite and we weren’t even very hungry! I will definitely be back to try other items on the menu.

Excellent Italian food, came with my Mom. As a vegetarian they were very accomidating and I had a vegetable lasagna; housemade with cherry tomates, zuchini, spinach, garlic and artichoke hearts it was amazing. I will be returning soon and reccomend the lasagna!

Great food, good prices, excellent service. Cant get better than this. The portions are good size. I love that they have salmon for breakfast! We sat on the patio and although it was 1000 degrees outside, they had the misters going and we hardly noticed. I’m looking forward to come back for dinner!

Decided to try this place, glad I did. Great service, food and nice & strong espresso! :)
Got a small chocolate hazelnut gelato to go. So good!

We’ve been visiting this restaurant for the past year and the food service and ambiance is among the best in east county. They use organic eggs for breakfast and the best coffee in San Diego.

I love this neighborhood family owned restaurant here in Rancho San Diego. We seriously don’t have anything that great in this neighborhood and I’m glad they are here to serve us deliciousness! For breakfast I get the roast beef hash and it’s mouth quenching! Even their chilaquiles are awesome. For dinner they have amazing salads and apps. Their cheese board has a lot to offer and they actually
Pile on the cheese unlike other places where they only serve you a nibble of each. Definitely a place to try their breakfast, lunch and dinner!

The first time we walked by it was a hot summer day so the gelato sounded like a perfect treat. Second time around we ordered a pizza to go and picked it up on our night walk. Ordered the Rustica Wood fired pizza. It was 6 slices and on the light side for dinner. Perfect with a bottle of wine at home. The third time… well we want to dine in. We have found everyone to be super friendly and helpful.

One word: Delish
I first visited when they opened up in rancho, and I come here every now and then, the food is just so good! I usually don’t have the time to go to a sit down restaurant but I definitely recommend this location! Nothing seems over priced to me, you can bring in your own wine for a 10 $ cork fee.

Came here for lunch for the first time. Usually I come for breakfast. Happy to report service and food all were good and within my lunch break from work. love, love, love the music they pipe in as background ambiance. .sets the festive, relaxing tone. There were a number of items to choose from but i decided to go for the Sicilian calazone. Can’t remember the last time I had one. See photo as it was huge! I ate ½ of it and took the rest for dinner. It tasted great a second time.
Saw a small group of ladies drinking champagne. .how nice to have the freedom to have a relaxing lunch and visit. not have to go back to work. this is the kind of place you can do this with great weather, pretty foliage/​landscaping and a mellow, European flair.
Will be back.

This is easily my favorite Italian place in San Diego. The people are friendly and prompt. The food is affordable and healthy. I love coming here!
I ordered a Fratatta (sp?) with bacon, onions and mozzarella. I adored every bite!