Buon Appetito

The food was bad. My friend had the rabbit ragu dish. The rabbit was very dry and tasteless (I tried it) and came on a bed of what looked like dried out chicken noodle soup — disgusting! I had the the chicken eggplant dish. This was nothing special, and it came with a side of overcooked, soggy broccoli and over-​baked, dried out potatoes. Our dishes came out very quickly which makes me suspect that they were pre-​made like a catered meal or cafeteria style buffet. A lot of people were at the restaurant and it seems to get good reviews, but I think this is a case where a restaurant does not live up to it’s hype. Maybe people are misled into thinking it’s good because everyone says it is or because they see a lot of people there (like us), but in fact it’s crap.

Been here several times, and overall a really good Italian place. We have had several things off of the menu and all of them never disappointed. I do wish they had a better beer list or their liquor license, as I like wine every now and then. The last waiter we had before leaving San Diego was Geoff! He was awesome and really took the time to explain some of the wines to me and try to find something I would like. Excellent guy.
But what we really would come back for over and over was their bread and dip. It was literally to to die for. We would walk from east village to little Italy just so we could come chill and have a few drinks in little Italy and would hit this place up for dinner.

Fantastic food and dining experience!
Right in the heart of Little Italy with amazing food, spectacular service and a great wine list.
You get delicious crusty bread with a tomato based dipping sauce to start.
The caprese was wonderful with fragrant tomato and fresh mozzarella. I did add my own oil and balsamic.
The farfalle pasta with chicken was delicious with a light cream sauce and elegant veggies.
The prices are date night reasonable and although our waitress was very busy we felt well taken care of.
I will return and I recommend to anyone who wants authentic Italian food in a beautiful dining room.

I took my husband here for his birthday which also happens to be on Valentine’s Day. I made a reservation in advance because I knew it would probably be crazy busy that night. In the reservation I asked if they do anything special for birthdays. I got no response. Upon arriving, the hostess was nice and sat us down quickly. As expected it was a busy night. It was so loud in the restaurant that I had to yell across the table to talk to my husband. On top of that, they had the music cranked up loud which just added to the noise. It took 15 minutes for our waiter to come over to the table. Once he finally took our order, he brought us a basket of bland white bread. It was so unremarkable that you have to choke it down with the accompanying marinara sauce if you want any flavor at all.

I ordered the Veal Piccata and my husband ordered the Filet Mignon Gorgonzola. In addition to that we also ordered the Caprese appetizer. I’m so glad we did because it was the best thing we had to eat all night. The Veal Piccata was tough, stringy, and had a slimy texture. I tried to choke it down as best I could despite the texture but in one bite I also got a piece of bone which killed it for me. I couldn’t finish the plate. I tried to nibble on the vegetables that it came with but they were so bland and boring. I can’t believe I paid so much money for that awful plate. My husband could only describe his Filet as a bad cut, that was rare even though he ordered it medium, and the only thing that had any flavor on the plate were the accompanying mushrooms. The only positive thing he could say about his dish is that it was a large size.

Definitely not worth the price we paid and I was embarrassed that I picked that restaurant to celebrate his birthday. Now I owe him one.

Great restaurant. The Osso Bucco was amazing, service was great.

Honestly, we were pretty underwhelmed with our experience last night. Server was very nice, but that’s about all the positives. We started off asking the hostess «how she was» as she seated us, and were given a curt «too busy.» All downhill from there… Our dinners were average and not worth the price. Then, we asked someone to box the leftovers and never got them back. Sorry, there are far better choice on the same block.

Worst dining experience on Valentine’s Day. Rude server. Didn’t serve what I ordered and also wasn’t apologetic about it. Ran out of spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, chicken, lamb etc. and didn’t care to tell till we had ordered a bottle of wine and opened it. Food was below average tasting and all servers were fooling around in a corner.

Bleh… I don’t know how this place got such good reviews. It started out bad from the beginning. The fantasia salad was this puny portion and it was not even the right greens to use in this type of salad. The shrimp scampi was just a bunch of boiled shrimps on top of spinach and huge chunks of hard zucchini and carrots and a huuuge cauliflower (uhhh how am I supposed to eat that?) The farfalle was bleh it was topped with what looked to be chicken from a can and an overload of mushrooms. Maybe we ordered the wrong items? Or maybe I am just spoiled with the Cheesecake factory type of pastas, but I would never come back here.

The food was good, the wine was excellent, service was standard. What ruined this dining experience was the screaming child throughout our meal. I just wanted to have a nice dinner with my boyfriend. We asked if the staff could ask a member of the family to take the child outside, they said no. We asked if we could ask them to take the child outside and they again said no. I find this to be unacceptable as this Unilocal page clearly states that it’s not a kid-​friendly venue. There were no apologies or concessions to make up for the fact that this tainted our experience.

Buon Appetito is everything you need in an Italian eatery, and more. They greet you like family, deliver fresh bread with dipping sauce (marinara) to start, and are more than happy to answer any questions about the menu that you may have. They can recommend a wine for any dish, and it will be a fabulous pairing.
We had the eggplant appetizer, and I had the spinach and cheese ravioli as my entrée. The eggplant was perfectly cooked and served in a flavorful sauce that was so good we were left wanting more when it was gone. My ravioli came in a tomato cream sauce that was velvety, rich and absolutely delicious.
This is the kind of place that makes their pasta in house. It’s made with care and pride, and you can taste that in every bite. It’s not often I find Italian that I LOVE because I can usually make better at home, but I love this place. It’s a smaller spot, so I could see that it would be a bit loud when full, but the food is so worth it. We’ll definitely be back the next time we’re in town!

Great place for a date. One of the best Italian restaurants I have been too. The food is so good. good wine. great wine.

What can be best than a combination of warm welcoming service and amazing Italian food! We visited San Diego and went dining out every night with many great experiences but nothing could beat Buon Appetito! We felt like family when we came there second time, everyone remembered us from the day before and did everything possible to make us feel welcome and comfortable. They even remembered what we had the day before and made great suggestions. All our preferences were accommodated, the food was superb, the attention was amazing. And all other visitors in the restaurant were treated this way — with warmth and respect.
Wine selection was superb. All food we had was gourmet quality. Kids did not want to leave. Even now, back home in New Jersey, they are asking if we are going to visit Buon Appetito again. When you go there, try their Farfalle Con Pollo Affumicato and definitely their deserts — tartufo and tiramisu are to die for. Outstanding experience, wonderful service, great food.

What can you say about an upscale Italian bistro that is so busy on a Monday evening that a family of 5 is crowding the hostess station, so much that I cant even get in the door. Breaking protocol, I open the door, allowing the cold, damp, night air to flow in, chilling the diners and those awaiting seating.
I hear the wife chide the hostess «you said it was a 30 minute wait a half hour ago». I thought, «yes madame, and your retelling of historical artifacts is sure to have said hostess on the edge of her proverbial seat, waiting to find out what happens next»
As another chilled breeze blew in, all eyes were on the guy holding the door open. «Table for one, please».
Looking around the room, the hostess beckons me «I can seat you at the bar immediately if you would like». Oh… I would like.
Walking around the bar, into an attached restaurant, I am seated promptly, and provided drink and french bread with marinara dip. I ordered a penne with bolognaise, topped with a large dollop of some kind of creamy white cheese. It was divine, especially on such a cold night.
Everything was right, until the dinner party of 16 showed up, and stood… not just stood… clamored. Clamored… that means «behaving in a loud annoying fashion», right? They be all up around me, in my grill. All up in my bidness. Knocking into my seat with every shrill chortle and guffaw.
If I was a tyrantical ruler, there would have been many a beheading that night… but I’m a peaceful man

Ordered takeout here on New Year’s Eve and as I was waiting for my order I chatted with two of the servers (one was a Brazilian woman and one was a young man named Anthony) and they were both so sweet and accommodating despite the New Year’s Eve crowd that was about to fill the restaurant and we had a lot of fun talking while I waited for my food. I ordered the osso buco which was AMAZING and the portion size was so large it took me two days to finish it! All in all totally wonderful restaurant, bomb food and top of the line service!

Since moving to the Little Italy neighborhood a few months ago I’ve been looking for a good authentic Italian restaurant. After a few mishaps, I was finally happy to find this place.
We came here on a weeknight with a large group of about 8 people. We were seated in a separate seating room in the back that was surprisingly quiet compared to the busy main room. Good wine selection– we picked 2 bottles of wine to share that were both tasty. Complimentary bread provided for the table– fresh, warm, perfect to wet our appetite as we were starving! I tried the Farfalle con Pollo Affumicato which was quite good– the chicken was a little overcooked but still tasty. Came here a second time in a group of four and had another good experience with the Classic Ravioli.
Ambience is nice yet casual. Has a family, homey, intimate feel. Servers are attentive and pleasant. I’m still looking for that perfect 5-​star-​worthy Italian restaurant in Little Italy but this will do until then!

We weren’t wowed. Maybe all the reviewers who speak very highly of Buon Appetito prefer their food with little flavor, like my grandma. Which is just fine. But if you like flavorful food this is not your spot. Our food was boring. But the service and ambiance was on point. I also love this location. It’s nice and very pretty during the day.

Brought the family for a semi-​fancier date night and quick get away to SD. Definitely worth a visit if you haven’t been. The wait can become longer as it gets later, so I’d definitely recommend reservations through Unilocal.Also, the party needs to all be present in order to be seated.
Their bread as appetizer was so warm and fresh and soft. We got full before our entrees came out. We shared a salad, which I cannot remember, but I do recall it being good that we finished it all. My dad got the Farfalle con Pollo Affumicato and my brother the Penne Calabresi and my mom the Linguine allo Scoglio. Everything was delivious and savory.
Overall satisfied and happy I took the rents here, especially when they are picky with any non-​Korean foods.

Ate here twice in 3 days during our stay in San Diego. It was a recommendation and totally worth it. First day we had the penne calabresi with real Italian sausage, and the octopus for me. Cannoli for dessert. The sausage was as real as it gets in the south of Italy with fennel seeds, the octopus was nicely charred and the cannoli crunchy and with a good and original ricotta filling.
Today we had daily soup, a calamari and spinach stew, and the ossobuco. Ossobuco was so tender you could eat it with a spoon. Desert was again cannoli and a Tartufo.
Best cannoli outside Italy and Boston modern pastry.
Will be back as soon as we can!

A very good sampling of the Italian dining options available in the area. We came for late lunch early dinner on a Sunday; no lines and quick service. The Osso Busso was great — very reach and with the right (to me at least) flavor on the meat.
Service is friendly and pretty fast. It’s fun place — the only take away is that it can be a bit cramped, either on the patio or inside. They’re really keen on making sure that everyone can get in to sit down.

I’ve been here a few times now. The first time I came I had a horrible experience, but I decided to give it a second try because so many people rave about this place. I’m glad that I did. The first time must have just been a fluke because I’ve had great experiences every single time I’ve been back.
Most recently I brought 2 of my girlfriends who were visiting from out of town. It was semi-​early to be eating dinner so we all weren’t extremely hungry. We decided to each order an appetizer and share between us. We got burrata (my absolute favorite), the meat and cheese platter, and baked eggplant topped with mozzarella. Three delicious choices and we were pretty full after eating them.
There is indoor and outdoor seating. The seating is a little cramped and it can get kind of noisy in here. The service was good. Like I said the first time around I had a bad experience (horrible service and horrible tasting food) but I’ve returned multiple times and had delicious food and good service. I’m definitely glad I gave this place a second chance and will be back in the future!

Buon Appetito is my favorite Italian restaurant in San Diego. The vibe and the food are the best you can find. It’s my good to place when family comes in to town and they want to go out to eat.
You get complementary bread and dipping marinara sauce to start. They always have good wine recommendations. You can’t go wrong with the food, every dish I’ve had is great. My favorite is the Borsettini di Aragosta — lobster, cheese ravioli in a cream sauce with asparagus tips. Their lasagna is great. I’ve had the chicken/​eggplant parm. The beef shank is amazing. You really can’t go wrong.
And most everyone speaks Italian their. And it’s in little Italy!

Complimentary bread — the bread is warm and soft. They also serve it with tomato sauce. I’m weird when it comes to bread. I usually don’t eat it with butter or any sauce. BUT this tomato sauce is so good that I dipped A LOT.
Capellini alla checca — hands down the best capellini alla checca I’ve ever had. The taste is just right. Unlike most Italian restaurants where they put tons of olive oil on top, this dish is not oily at all and the tomato sauce is something to die for. They also use mozzarella cheese — different from other places but super delicious.
Our server and other stuff were really friendly and funny and the restaurant has nice décor. Overall great experience. The only down side is that this place is too far… Hopefully I will come back soon.

WOW! I must say that I love the food at this place! The food speaks for itself. I went to Buon Appetito with a colleague of mine when I was in San Diego for a conference. We went on a Saturday night and it was reasonably crowded for a dinner. When we got to the restaurant we had some communication issues with the greeter but after clarifying the issue we were seated. After we sat down, we quickly asked the server his recommendations and he suggested the homemade lasagna. (I HIGHLY recommend the homemade lasagna!) Our order came exactly as ordered and came out within 10 – 15 minutes. As soon as the lasagna hit my lips i know this place was special. The sauce is amazing! The disk was amazing. The only negative thing i have to say about this establishment is that our server was not the best at following up with us and never asked if we wanted anything else or if we wanted more wine.
I would rate this establishment as follows: Food is 5 stars, Atmosphere is 4 stars (even though its a big restaurant the tables are close together), Service is 2.5 stars and the Price is 4 Stars.
Overall this restaurant has great food but «ok» service. I would definitely recommend this establishment to anyone i know and would come back.
The views expressed are of my own and are my true personal experience at this establishment. My personal experience may not reflect this actual establishment, their quality or someone else’s experience at the establishment.

I ordered the Linguine alla scoglio which consists of clams, mussels, bay scallops, and shrimp in red or white sauce over linguine. I chose white.
It was very good and had a lot of seafood. Bread was also served with the meal with a marinara sauce for dipping that I was not fond of. I would have preferred olive oil and crushed pepper. My service was good. They have outdoor seating on the sidewalk. I would return here. This is a good restaurant in an area with many other good restaurants. I don’t think you can go wrong with eating anywhere in Little Italy!

My boyfriend and I came here for a date night and were pleasantly surprised by how quickly we were seated.
The tables were way too close together and I felt really uncomfortable holding a conversation when there were people next to me that could hear everything I was saying. The inside seating seemed rather tight as well. There was so little room that people couldn’t just «walk by», but rather had to squeeze in between our table and another, having us constantly move our water or bread basket out of the way in order to not cause
We were asked what we wanted to drink and my diet coke arrived promptly but my boyfriend never received his water. Once we asked a different server, my boyfriend quickly drank it and asked our server for a refill… Which, he never brought.
We also never received the check and had to ask the hostess for one.
Although the food was good, the service wasn’t enough to get me to come back.

Oh my my! What a cute little place in Little Italy. We came around 8 PM to avoid peak dinner times. I don’t think that matters because the place was still busy! We were very fortunate a couple (who had a reservation already) rather wait for a specific table so we go a table right away. From my impression, this place is busy so I recommend getting a reservation beforehand. We sat outside which was nice. The seating area was tight so walking through to get to the tables was a little nerve-​racking because I didn’t want to knock anything over.
We ordered veal pasta, the spinach salad with duck breast, and a glass of red wine. The veal pasta was AMAZING! So tender, so simple, and so flavourful. The sauce was really good. The spinach salad was also good and was refreshing to eat (although I would eat pasta the next time I come here but I was not that hungry that night).
Overall, great place and nice service!

Had to visit Little Italy while I was in San Diego. I was surprised at how small the inside of the restaurant was, but I liked how that gave it more of a cozy, family-​style atmosphere.
The food didn’t disappoint either. They start you off with bread and an amazing marinara sauce. The only issue I had with the bread was that it wasn’t warm. The sauce made it delicious, though. For my main dish, I decided to go with the rabbit ragu. It was so good! The rabbit was tender and each bite was filled with flavor. And you get a very good amount of meat in this dish. The ragu sauce was delicious. I didn’t find it to be salty at all, and I liked the texture that the carrots added. The fettuccine pasta that the rabbit ragu was served on completed the dish perfectly. The pasta was well cooked and picked up the sauce very nicely. This was a very large dish and definitely worth the price. I was only able to finish half of it and I had the rest for lunch the next day (it tasted just as good as the night before!). If you’re in Little Italy, give this place a try!

I’ve been so several of the Italian restaurants in Little Italy, and so far this is my favorite! It’s a very romantic setting, especially on the patio (which is also great for people watching). We brought our own wine and the corkage fee was pretty fair. They served us some warm bread and marinara sauce while we looked at the menu, always a plus.
I kind of made up my own dish, and our waiter was very kind to indulge my interests! I wound up with pesto fettuccine with sun dried tomato and heaps of parmesan cheese. They should add this to the menu because it was absolutely fantastic! My date had the Farfalle con Pollo Affimicato which was amazing as well. We were very pleased with the entire experience! Great date spot!

I was in the area because I was picking up my boyfriend from the airport. We decided to eat here for dinner from all the good reviews.
We were seated outside, because inside it was extremely noisy and packed. It was a weekday at 7pm. Just in case you are claustrophobic, this might not be the best option because you are seated literally maybe a foot from the table next to you. It made things really awkward because you don’t mean to listen to the conversations happening next to you.
Anyway the food made up for this. We started off with an appetizer: the polenta in mushroom sauce. It was absolutely divine! They give you complimentary bread so be sure to soak up all that amazing mushroom sauce with the bread. They were so generous with their portions that I was full by the time my entrée came out! I ordered the seafood risotto, which was good. Not spectacular, but satisfactory. It lacked the creamy texture that I enjoy so much from other risottos I’ve had in the past. My boyfriend ordered the lobster ravioli, which was amazing. I always end up loving his dishes more than my own!
Anyway, the food was good, the atmosphere was crowded and cramped, and service was average.

I am not Italian. I have never been to Italy. I don’t even have any Italian friends… but holy hell, THIS PLACE IS GOOD! I was trying to find a cute romantic restaurant for Valentine’s Day few years back, and after numerous considerations among other close contenders, Buon Appetito won out.
Service was passable. It wasn’t the best service I have ever received at an Italian restaurant, but waters were refilled and we were checked on consistently. But what makes Buon Appetito worthy of its four stars is the food. It’s amazing.
We begun with the Antipasto alla Contadina, which is a combination of sliced meats, cheeses and other goodies. Holy crap, this antipasta was huge. It had salami, ham, fresh sliced assorted cheese and other little mixtures. Everything tasted excellent. If you never had italian food, this is a great appetizer to tantalize your taste buds off with!
For our main entrees, I went with the Orecchiette alla Barese. At $ 16.95, every bite tasted better than the last. The Ear-​shaped pasta, mixed in with italian sausage, broccoli rabe, and fresh chopped tomatoes, smelled delicious and made me believe in true love again lol
The girl went with the Salmone alla Griglia ($ 21.95), pretty much salmon over chive risotto. She loved it so much, I didn’t get to taste a single bite. She raved about it the rest of the night and wanted me to take her back there in the future.
If you are looking for authentic tasty Italian food, Buon Appetito is firing on all cylinders. A lot of the staff are from Italy (or at least have that sexy Italian accent), so that makes the experience that much more memorable. I shall be back again!

El mejor rest de comida italiana q he probado en mi vida!
Y los precios excelentes tmb!

Very good salad (on request also with olive oil and balsamico vinegar!) and very delicious chicken breast. The (free) white bread and the dip are also delicious and shorten the time till the meal is served. Was sitting at the bar, bartender was very friendly.