Croce’s Park West

Want something different? My wife and I enjoy dinner out together or with friends, and either way, we find music — live music, enhances our evening. Croce’s has created a classy but comfortable atmosphere with live music that does not overpower conversation, friendly attentive service, and worthwhile food. It’s nice to slow down a bit and return to the era of entertainment dining. It’s a perfect combination that brings us back time and again.
4 stars out of 5 stars due to feeling the $$ rating is misleading. The food is tasty, but not inexpensive. The portions are not excessive, which is a nice change, but even sharing a plate, an appetizer, and a beverage each often breaks the $ 100 mark after tip.
Even so, we prefer Croce’s to other similar priced restaurants simply because of the vibe created by quality live music and truly friendly and engaging service.
Other reviews give you the layout, so suffice it to say, whether you’re looking for a mature bar scene, live music, tasty dining with friends, or a nice stop over on your way to the park, you’ll find an area designed for you at Croce’s. And you’re supporting live local music.

Sad to hear the news that Croce’s has permanently closed: (I pray that wonderful things will come your way in the future.

Website reports that Croce’s Park West is CLOSED! see
This was a great place to listen to live music, and dine. Ingrid Croce and Jimmy Rock gave their ALL to create a place that one could have a wonderful evening out. There was no compromise in the menu or the service. It is a shame that we in the San Diego Area could not support this business.

We enjoyed the dinner show on Saturday evening. Ingrid welcomed us upon arrival, so nice to meet her. My dinner, steak, was great, my wife’s sea bass fabulous. Appetizers and dessert all very good as well. Our waiter, Bob, was fun and helped us pick out perfect wines. Eve Sellis and her band played beautifully, a joyous collection of new music and old favorites.
We loved the food, the ambiance, the service, and the music. Croce’s is a great value for a live music venue. We will return soon.

I’m very upset that Croce’s is closing :(((I didn’t know before and I chose Croce’s as my destination for the winter 2016 SDRW. The experience was remarkable! There was live music and the guitarist and singer were both really great. The ambiance is cozy and I really loved cushion seats. The bar/​drinks menu looked really good but I decided to skip drinks for the day. I went for the Croce’s lunch/​brunch menu. I had the omelette, which you customize with up to 4 toppings, I had sauteed mushrooms, monterey jack cheese, applewood smoked bacon, and sofrito. The sofrito was warm, tangy, and all the tomato goodness. The omelette was packed with cheese and the cheese was oozing out of it. I had home fries to go along with it and it was crispy and great. I wish they sauteed the onions instead of putting raw ones. I chose to opt for the dessert: I had the lavender vanilla crème brûlée with almond laced cookies. The dessert was packed with vanilla flavor and they used vanilla beans and you could see the beans speckled throughout the dessert. The almond laced cookie was crisp and sweet. There was a hint of lavender and that was pleasantly surprising. My boyfriend got the kobe burger and that was cooked to perfection: perfectly seasoned and juicy. They also have the burger toppings on the side so you can pick and choose which ones to put in your burger. I don’t usually like pickles, but the pickles Croce’s used was so tasty. My bf opted for appetizer/​starter with Caesar salad. The dressing was awesome and I loved the shaved parm cheese they had on top.
Everything was great here, including the staff. I had Paulina as my main hostess and she was energetic, informative, and bubbly. So kudos to you Paulina! There were a couple of others. like the young man with the white watch (didn’t catch his name) who always made sure that our cups were filled with water at all times and took away our dishes in a timely fashion. I would come here again! It was an awesome experience.

Had a three course meal for restaurant week. Maybe just an off night but overall wasn’t too impressed. Crowd was a bit on the older side. Staff was nice but service was just OK. It took 10 minutes or so after we were seated before someone came to check on us for the first time. We ended up transferring from a table to the bar and the waiter had me go to the from of the restaurant to inform the hostess of the move rather than doing it himself. Appetizers and entrée were average. I had a NY steak cooked rare and it ended up being pretty dry. Desserts were below average. The girlfriend had crème brûlée which tasted off. We didn’t even finish it and I love sweets! For the price, I’d say it was below average.

I really enjoy coming here for happy hour. The food and service is always great. We went on Monday night and really enjoyed the live music at the bar and the 5 dollar draft beers.

We ate here for NYE. They offered a three course meal; the menu and prices were set and we had a two hour time frame to eat… we totally understood this. The staff was friendly and attentive throughout our visit. The wine menu was awesome and they were helpful when we were trying to make our decision.
The atmosphere there was very nice; funky and comfy chairs, nice lighting, and fun jazz. If you’re looking for something more upbeat and swanky, maybe try something else. This was very relaxed.
For the price, I would probably try another restaurant. No complaints, but we weren’t blown away.

Croce’s Park West was the choice of the birthday girl and since who doesn’t love Jim Croce, we went! Parking was great. We arrived and were whisked to our reservation 4top and we were off.
Our waiter was charming. Drinks (dirty martinis and Bad Bad Leroy Browns came out swiftly and beautifully. We hadn’t planning on getting an appetizer, from pics we knew they had lovely servings, but we did anyway and we’re thrilled we did. The Calamari was fresh and crispy. Yum.
Salads were fresh, amazing. I’m a wedge salad girl whenever I see them. I was thrilled with their blue. Is it Oregon blue? I should have asked. So good.
Main courses were all different and Delish we had the crispy duck (a table fav), the ahi, the lasagna, and the short rib. Everyone oooo’d and ahhhh’d. We were all mostly silent during this course.
Dessert took an appropriate amount of time considering the molted chocolate thing Cassandra ordered. It was all really lovely. The crème brûlée with hint of lavender is something to shout about. Two thumbs up.
As we left we popped in to give our respects to Jim Croce’s picture and lyrics and Ingrid Croce stopped by to give us all hugs. Lovely lady. Just lovely.
We will Def come back and can’t wait for our next visit.

I was surprised to see a Jim Croce restaurant on the west coast! He actually went to my high school growing up so I wanted to support a local guy. Overall, I thought the meal was fine. We got the prix fix that costs 35 bucks per person. I got the caesar salad, short rib, and cheesecake. My wife ordered the kale salad, mushroom lasagna and chocolate lava cake.
Apps: The caesar salad had plenty of shaved parmesan slices and tasted like a standard salad. The kale salad was good according to my wife and she enjoyed the nice citrus vinaigrette.
Entrée: Short rib — fork tender meat and came with veggies and mac and cheese. The mac was good and nice complement. The lasagna was good — decent flavors.
Dessert: My cheesecake was okay — there was no crust! I need some type of graham cracker crust. The lava cake was perfectly cooked however and nice and gooey in the center.
The service was okay. We came with a large party and the overall meal took us over 3 hours, which is too slow for my liking. The meal was fine, but I probably would check other places in SD.

Croces is a San Diego institution. Built by Ingrid Croce to commemorate her late husband, the infamous Jim Croce, croces has hosted celebrities as diverse as Commander Cody, Hadda Brooks, Arlo Guthrie and her amazing son A.J. Croce. A. J is a fine pianist and organ player and an accomplished singer/​songwriter in his own right. Croces has always had a beautiful grand Steinway piano and some wonderful musicians have banged the ivories at both locations.
Ingrid has written two cookbooks. One is cleverly named «Thyme in a bottle». Ingrids cooking skills are no joke. She is a good singer and used to sing duets w Jim but cooking is Ingrids forte. She’s an Italian and Croces cuisine always features some interesting pastas and entrees. We had the crispy Brussel sprouts. Unbelievable how many there were in the appetizer serving which was cooked in garlic and olive oil w some grilled onions. Very inventive and very tasty. We also had the crispy calamari served w marinara and aioli. Really good but look out for the hidden fried jalapeños if you’re spicy sensitive. We next had the Caesar salad served w pickled white anchovies. I love anchovies and the white ones are
less salty and more vinegary. Delish! We had the crème brûlée for dessert. It was not the greatest crème brûlée but it was ok. There just wasn’t a crispy shell. It was more like vanilla pudding, I really missed biting into the brown sugar coating. Croces is relatively expensive. The dinner entrees can be small and costly but the food is great quality. The duck confit a awesome as is the lasagna. Given the fact that you get free world class jazz with your meal, it’s worth the extra $$$. You can’t go wrong on date night at Croces and Ingrid is often there greeting customers with her warm smile and conviviality.

This place is just alright. A little swanky, out of place in hillcrest. One Saturday morning we were one of the first tables and it took at least 30 minutes to get our food from the kitchen for a table of five. Pretty odd. The table next to us had their food after order like less than 15 minutes. A couple of us ordered the bloody Mary’s and had to ask for both pepper and Tabasco to add to the drinks because they were so boring. The food was over priced for what you can get for cheaper right down the street. Might as well look somewhere else with all the steep competition in the neighborhood that has better service and food.

The food was phenomenal. We had the calamari which is served with a marinara and aioli. The aioli is unique and tasty. We fallowed that up with a meat and cheese board that consisted of a sheep cheese, a Hollander, and duck salami. For the finale we were served the half duck confit and pork chop. I would highly recommend the pork chop. The sauce it was served over was exquisite. They also had a great specialty cocktail menu. The mood and ambiance were impeccable with the live music playing in the back room.
My only complaint is that the service was lack luster. Our servers changed mid meal, the server wasn’t knowledgable of the wine list, and the rosé we ordered came well after we started on the main course. I give this establishment a four but only because the food was so great. Compliments to the chef!

I’ve never been compelled to write a review for this place because I feel like I am one of the regulars (Ingrid does a phenomenal job)…but unbeknownst to me a regular is more than once a month… Enter: Sarah.
She has never had the pleasure of serving me. But she’s extraordinary!!! Not intrusive and also never absent.
Sidebar: I watched her defuse a crazy woman and we were never once without a drink or anything we needed.
Our support staff of Eddie and company were also exceptional.

It truly pains me to post negative comments regarding Croce’s Park West (CPW). I truly respect and admire Ingrid Croce and everything she has done for San Diego. That said, here’s my experience during dinner last night at CPW for our party of four.
We arrived with 5pm dinner reservations and were promptly seated at a nice table with view of a live jazz band. We had decided on an early start to the evening to take advantage of CPW excellent 4pm-​6pm Happy Hour deals, link below. We intended to start with some Happy Hour drinks and Bar Snacks before ordering our full dinner.
This is where our evening began a continual downhill slide. Our waiter informed us Happy Hour deals were only available in the bar area and NOT in the restaurant. Interesting, I never saw this stipulation posted on CPW website. OK, so we paid full price for drinks which were discounted a few paces away. Arrival of the drinks brought more disappointment. Only the «Smokey Local» cocktail was good, actually very good. Our other cocktails (Cilantro Mule and Ingrid’s Mojito) left us underwhelmed. Placing our food order presented new challenges. One of our party loves good food but doesn’t like spicy foods. Most of the snacks and dinner entrees are spicy dishes. Arrival of the dinner meals brought more disappointment. I had the Ahi Tuna. The tuna was perfectly seared, raw on inside, exactly like I desire my tuna. The disappointment was that each tuna slice was caked in black pepper. The pepper overwhelmed the meal and even the wine.
Last disappointment was the dinner tab which was $ 225, or $ 55 per person (before tip). Yes, I like the ambiance at CPW and enjoyed seeing Ingrid on the floor greeting regular guests. But mediocre cocktails and dinner entrees overly spiced cannot justify such a high tab. God, I wanted to post a raving review for Croce’s Park West and am pained to tell it like we experienced it.

Stopped here for brunch Sunday with my friends. We were starving! They offer a special for $ 15, one entrée and one starter or dessert. I went for the Kobe burger and Crème brulee. My other two friends ordered the potato lasagna which was absolutely amazing and ham veggie omelet. Not sure what was going on that day, but service was extremely slow. That is my only complaint, other than that the place has awesome food and great live music.

This restaurant is such a gem!
Definitely recommend. Great cosmos, beautiful atmosphere, live music and genuinely attentive staff.
The owners are icing on the cake – always present & extremely personable.

*** Ok, I’m gonna go out on a limb based on my initial visit … ***
Croce is 5-​stars! I loved everything that we ordered. Well done.
From the appetizer thru dessert, every single dish was delicious.
Jamaican Jerk Ribs … Wow, this can be an entrée; it’s hearty … 5.
Lasagna … Creative, made from «potato» not noodles, superb … 5.
Fondant au Chocolat … Dark, decadent, mouth-​watering hmm … 5.
Ambiance … Dining or lounge tables, live jazz audible via both … 5.
*** $ 5 cover for seating in lounge but dining is fine with no cover. ***

Visited Croce’s this weekend for Valentine’s dinner.
You walk in and are immediately in the bar area– they have tall tables and a lounge like area.
The place was packed of course but there was room near the bar with lounge chairs to sit at while we waited for our table.
We got seated immediately at the time of our reservation. We had a reservation to be inside near the band. Our waitress came soon after we sat and took our drink order she was very nice and friendly the whole time.
The ambience of Croce’s is great! And I really enjoyed the live jazz that night. Being next to the live band was the main reason for wanting to go here. It was very romantic to be serenaded by the band so close to us. You can’t help but be completely engaged by the music and the instruments.
Ok so now for the dinner part–
I ordered the peach basil cocktail which was delicious! Def a must.
Since it was Valentine’s they had a pre fixed menu. The meal was good but not the best. I had the Caesar salad and my bf had the shrimp quinoa salad which was tasty. I ordered the steak which was a little dry for my taste. It came with Brussels (the Brussels were great) and they kindly replaced the French fries with scalloped potatoes which were delicious but a bit too cheesy. My bf had the short ribs w Mac which was definitely tastier.
We also shared the chocolate cake w vanilla ice cream and the cheesecake — to be honest we barely touched them since we were pretty full from our meals.
We definitely plan to visit again The Castellanos were great!

Loved my experience at Croce’s Park West!!! I came here on a Saturday for lunch smack dab in the middle of lunch time (12pm). There was no crowd either at the restaurant or on the streets. I was surprised by the quietness of the neighborhood for a Saturday afternoon.
Our waitress was great, and service was prompt. We started with roasted brussels sprouts with bacon and parmesan, giving a nice fatty, rich taste. I opted for the kale salad as my appetizer, and I’ll tell you, kale has never tasted better. It’s so good that I’m tempted to try and reproduce the salad… but that may end up in disaster.
I ended up with the Southwest Turkey Club and it tasted great, but it paled in comparison to the Jamaican Jerk Chicken. The papaya-​mango salsa had sweetness that balanced the marinated chicken and was COMPLETELY MOUTHWATERING. Croce’s, this is one of your best sandwiches yet. Savory and juicy and left me wanting for more, more and more!
Alas, lunch at Croce’s during restaurant week didn’t have dessert on their pre fixe menu, so I had to make my way over to Extraordinary Desserts (just a few blocks up 5^th Avenue in Banker’s Hill).
I loved this place, and will definitely be back. Now that Croce’s has moved into this new location, parking is a little easier to find in the area and it seems MUCH quieter to enjoy music with some fine dining.

Slow service in the beginning and sped up;
Great live music and ambiance.
Good food

I visited the «new» Croce’s with high expectations, mostly because of the positive buzz surrounding the place, as well as prime location in Banker’s Hill.
Too bad it didn’t deliver everything I’d hoped for.
Croce’s was mostly empty on a Sunday afternoon, when two of us dropped by to for a late brunch/​early dinner (blinner?) and listen to jazz tunes. The space is long and narrow, with a bar in front and a lounge in the back. We went straight to the lounge, since that’s where the music was. It helped that the chairs were very comfy.
We started off with drinks. I had a margarita, while my guest had a bloody mary. The margarita was extremely sweet, while the mary was bland and watered-​down. Both were very weak.
To eat, I opted for the Restaurant Week deal — a two-​course lunch for $ 15. For the first course, I had the kale salad with with toasted pine nuts, pomegranate seeds, feta and lemon vinaigrette. This salad was light, refreshing, and very flavorful. Probably the best thing I ate all day.
The second course wasn’t nearly as good. I had the Jamaican jerk chicken sandwich with papaya-​mango salsa, pineapple cole slaw, cilantro aioli, and a side of fries. This sandwich had way too much bread, the salsa and cole slaw were almost invisible, and the jerk chicken itself was very bland. There was nothing in there that tasted Caribbean.
My guest had the smoked salmon omelet with a side of breakfast potatoes, and he wasn’t impressed with his food either. There was virtually no salmon in there, but there was a massive slab of cream cheese. This resulted in a very heavy, greasy, and unappetizing omelet. The breakfast potatoes were tasty, though.
Even though the food and drink at Croce’s are mediocre, the place is still a worth a visit. The live music and relaxing ambiance — complete with gold records and a shrine to Jim Croce himself — make you want to stay awhile.

We came here for a group dinner. I made reservations for 6 people at 7p and we were promptly shown to our table towards the back. The ambiance was cool and the décor has an old school/​jazzy feel to it. There was a musician playing the corner by the bar as you walk in. So far liking the atmosphere.
For our group, we were awkwardly sitting in a round table with big comfy chairs. I say awkward because there were 2 other tables we shared space with (1 for 2 people in the corner by the bathrooms and another large table on the opposite side that sat about 6 people). If you’re in the corner, it would be hard to get up from where some of us were sitting because the tables were so darn close. People would either have to stand up to let you out or you would have to be skinny enough to squeeze through to get out. If you’re party is 4 or below, request a booth. Those looked super comfy!
We order drinks and our entrees. Complimentary bread and butter was provided as we waited to order.
My fiancée and I ordered the short ribs and the bison (special of the night). The short ribs were good. Nothing special or different about them. Similar to other short ribs I’ve tasted. Tender and filling. Also came with a side of white Mac-​N-​Cheese. Needed salt to taste, but enjoyed the starch!
The fiancée ordered the bison (med rare) and it was amazing! Very tender and flavorful! Would definitely order that as an entrée if we come back.
Nette ordered the pork chop and that was really good. Between the bison and the pork chop would be a difficult decision. Delicious!!!
The service was a bit on the slower side. Our server mentioned that the bar was backed up and we didn’t place our entrée orders until 810pm (reservations were 7p mind you!).
We ordered the chocolate molten dessert with raspberries. Simply divine! Love how it came out warm and gooey.
Although service was slower than expected (maybe because it was the holidays), we enjoyed our experience and food.