Davanti Enoteca

Ehhhh. I honestly don’t feel like I hardball my reviews but this place is nothing more than average. I had family friends in town and this is where I decided to take them. not my best choice.
It’s average in all main respects. The service and the food. However, I enjoyed the atmosphere, especially the back patio.
The service wasnt great because our waitress wasn’t friendly, she forgot our appetizers and brought the main dishes out first AND they didn’t bring the meal altogether. They definitely replated/​gave me an order from another customer… We ordered our meal and within 5 minutes I had my plate of pasta… while the rest of the family waited. I was finished with my meal before the rest of the table had their appetizers or main course. I mean, they were butchering pretty elementary, basic table waiting standards.
The food wasn’t bad once every one had theirs, it just wasn’t anything special. No gripes but no praise… other than the bread with honey. That was incredible!
To keep a long story long… there are a ton of better Italian options.

Had a great dinner and the pizza bread cheese and honey comb thing we’re outstanding!!!

Came here yesterday while walking around little Italy. def a cool relaxed spot! Sat outside in the back which is actually really nice.
they have a Bloody Mary bar which is the coolest thing ever!!! Reyna, which I think is the girls name who worked the Bloody Mary bar… She was super nice and helped me make a perfect Bloody Mary! The only bad thing I can say, which isn’t really bad, is that during brunch hours they have a strict menu for just brunch can’t order anything from the regular menu.
Def would try this place if your around the town!

Really enjoyed our evening here. The atmosphere was very busy and pleasant, and our table was by the window overlooking the heavily traveled sidewalk out front. This allowed the pleasant diversion of people watching, and passers-​by were in turn able to marvel at the spectacle of a table full of fatties chowing down.
My beloved nephew Sugarman was sponsoring this event, and ordered plates of everything. As a person who generally orders lasagne, I was impressed with the diversity. Really enjoyed the sausage pasta although the standout was, of course, the focaccia d Recco, a cheese-​stuffed flatbread topped with honeycomb and crack. Or maybe the crack was on the inside. Whatever. I know it’s in there somewhere because how else would otherwise rational people find it perfectly acceptable to shell out over $ 20 for bread and a postage stamp sized square of honeycomb?
Also took the waiter’s suggestion and ordered the rib steak special to share. Who shares a big assed steak on a bone? We did; tearing into it like the uncivilized pack of Neanderthals that we are. Much to our satisfaction and to the amazement of the pedestrians outside the window. I suspect we may have appeared on someone’s Instagram.
I have no idea how much this gorge fest cost, but thanks, Sugarman!

Build you’re own bloody mary! A barista hand crafts your bloody mary from a selection of yummy items. Pickled asparagus candied bacon blue cheese stuffed olives, celery, houseradish. On and on. .wonderful. love the sidewalk patio

My bestie and I frequent the Little Italy Mercato every Saturday morning and we always pass by this little gem. Finally had the chance to try them out and boy, was that a great choice. The staff was nice enough and left us alone for the most part (I don’t like it when they check on us every so often, just, just enough times thanks) and the food was delish. I especially loved our dessert — we tried out the gelati and it was divine. Most definitely will be coming back for more.

We went with an authentic Italian young lady who knew how to order right from the start. Since we had an 18 month old, she had them bring raw pizza dough for him to play with. Brilliant. Then Special Focaccia Di Recco Honeycomb! It had this amazing cheese and a bit of raw honey on it as our shared appetizer. I’ve never had anything like it. The happy hour menu offered a delicious Pinot Grigio that I don’t know the name of but was divine! We all ordered different dishes and we were all happy. I just know that mine was a fried chicken with beautiful ripe tomatoes and light butter lettuce. Our waiter was attentive and the ambiance itself was 5 STAR!

We came around the noon time for brunch. Got seated right away. There are many choices on the menu. We ordered porkbellg with hash and beef bacon. Beef bacon is pretty delicious and has very smokey taste. They sauté the potatoes which turned out the same color as beef bacon; the dish came with two sunny side up eggs. The plate is good amount of the portion which will not leave you feel over stuffed. Be aware, NOT American gigantic size. You can taste the delicacy of the dish. I really like it.
My friend ordered pork belly with two porch eggs. His came with the porch egg looking ain’t good. The host brought that up. It’s not a big deal for me that the porch eggs ain’t being presented pretty but would’ve been good tho.
The brunch plates range from $ 10 – 15. Again, it’s the art of the food this place. Not big quantity.

Stopped in here on New Years day for a quick brunch in little Italy with a friend. The service was unbelievably slow, which is really my major complaint. They had a plethora of brunch options, mostly involving eggs and omelets. I opted for the waffle with cream cheese and berries on top. It was pretty tasty, but it took forever to even order or get our waiters attention for anything. I would probably choose a different brunch spot next time in the area. Parking is possible on the street and meters in the area.

I’ve been to both locations. The one in Little Italy most recently where we went for lunch. I had the steak salad that was on their lunch special. It was great with a healthy portion of steak and good quality too. Always get the doc atria with honey. So good! A little pricey, but tasty. Live all the choices of Italian wine by the glass, and a healthy pour too. Must’ve been at least 8 ounces.
At the Del Mar location, I had happy hour and really enjoyed the pork belly. Will keep going!

This was one of the highlights of our visit to San Diego. We were lucky to find parking place right near the entrance. The ambiance and décor of this place is great — simple, elegant, with mason jars everywhere as accents. We were seated right away with no wait on the front patio, which is charming, and intimate, with a large lighted tree as one of the focal points. They had a pretty good wine listing and we really enjoyed Milbrandt Cabernet! The Branzino con Favette (seared wild striped bass + favette + white asparagus + pea tendrils + guanciale vinaigrette + lardo). The bass was cooked well, the pureed fava beans tasted great. Squash +Farro +watercress was very good. It’s small, shareable plates with right balance proteins and carbs.
Overall, highly recommend this place and will definitely be back again.

My coworker got a recommendation for this restaurant and was told to ask for a table in the back. We did and were seated immediately (around 5:30PM on a Wednesday night) and WOW. The ‘back’ is a lovely terrace with a tree adorned with Christmas lights, open to the sky above and enough heat/​fire lamps to keep us warm. The only thing that could’ve made it more perfect would be if we could see the stars when looking up, but with light pollution/​smog/​haze in cities… yeah that’s not going to happen.
HH menu was a bit small– coworkers and I stuck to the $ 5 house white wine (a Pinot Grigio) and the regular menu. The nice thing about the regular menu is that it has translations for all the Italian terms on the back side. Our server was friend and gave us a quick and good run-​through of the menu. I’m sad I didn’t get to try the flatbread that everyone seems to be raving about in other Unilocal reviews, but it was a little pricey ($ 21) for three people who were planning on getting an entrée or other items. Maybe another time when I’m back in the area.
I chose to get the cauliflower steak and the chicken liver paté vasi. Boy, that was filling! The chicken liver paté was definitely the best I’ve had in a long time and I couldn’t stop eating it (with the bread of course, which, btw was perfectly toasted) even after I was full. The cauliflower steak was ok, but all the little bits that dressed it were flavorful (some sort of sauce/​dressing with green bits that had a strong lemon flavor– can’t remember the specifics, unfortunately). Even after I finished with the steak, I kept eating the green bits with the bread and/​or chicken liver paté.
Overall, a 4.5÷5. I’ll definitely have to come back with a bigger group to try that flatbread!

On our 3^rd trip to San Diego this year, I finally meet Melanio F.
He graciously searched for the perfect restaurant, booked our table and told us about the parking situation. Now, that’s how you do it Unilocalers!
Davanti Enoteca was the highlight of our dining adventures in SD. Don’t be afraid of the large, extensive menu. Instead, be excited and order EVERYTHING. I’m kidding, we weren’t with Peter L. on this trip! ;)
Our small group did enjoy a variety of tastes from the appetizers all the way to the dessert portion. We enjoyed roasted brussel sprouts simply prepared with evoo, grana padano and parmesan cheeses; super velvety chicken liver mousse with the to die for thick house bread; the sublime crispy pork belly with gala apple-​mustard seed preparation was a great intro to fall; the outstanding roasted cauliflower with piquillo peppers and olive tapenade. These were just starters to help us ease into our dinner mains.
The BURGER. I am a fan of expertly prepared MMMeat in between two buns and this one is no exception: medium rare patty, bacon jam, roasted garlic mayo and cheese curd made it devastatingly bad for my arteries. The salmone croccante had a nice crisp skin and the herb salsa made it extra healthy, but delicious. The grilled flat iron steak is an excellent value at $ 19 and satisfied my bf’s MMMeat craving. However, the cacio e pepe fell short of my high expectations from what I had in Roma, but not enough to downgrade this review, since desserts were reportedly off the charts. The servings are small but it is ample to curb your sweet tooth. Get the chocolate tarte or the brown butter blondie.
Let’s not forget the cocktails! Negroni, Moscow Mule and even a Mai Tai were all worth the prices. I like it when I can get my favorite drinks at an Italian restaurant that is obviously more wine centric.
We love the flawless service despite the bustling restaurant. We loved our food and most of all, appreciated that the pricing is on par for the neighborhood.
Five stars all the way!

This place does feel a little pretentious. The menu isn’t expansive but the Dana’s omelette and truffle pizza were good. The omelette seemed to be egg white only and was really delicious with tomato and avocado. I don’t usually like tomatoes in my omelette but this was a marinated tomato on top of the omelette, perfectly salted. The truffle pizza had leeks and great quality of mushroom but though the crust was not burnt i think the wood fired oven flavor was bit overpowering almost making it taste burnt.

Located in Little Italy, you will find so many restaurants. So which one do you choose? Well, the Unilocal ratings were high here, so I gave this place a try. Wonderful decorum and very nice atmosphere. The menu is great with a lot of options. I was surprised that the meal itself was a little on the bland side. It looks so promising too. Great service and great atmosphere kept me from giving a lower rating.

For brunch, we ordered the same thing as last time… the loaded burger with cheese curds tomato and bacon jam with arugula. It’s a good price at $ 15 bucks because it filled up two of us. It’s still a contender for the best burger in San Diego with the right balance of juiciness, salt, tang and sweet.
Plus, we kind of ordered a salad since our bloody mary from the build your own bar was loaded with celery, carrots, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, bacon, jicama and jalapeño! She even kicked it up with horseradish… it works!

We were immediately seated, with a reservation, and the restaurant was less than half full. However, we had to wait more than 5 minutes before anyone came to our table!!! I actually got up to ask the hostess if anyone was going to take care of us, or should we go somewhere else?
Finally, service arrived. The food was very good, and the service became very attentive.
They comped us their specialty flatbread w/honey…it WAS excellent!!!
Our food order from the Happy Hour menu consisted of white anchovies, $ 6, roasted cauliflower, $ 9 (EXCELLENT.see photo), riccio di mare, $ 16, and riblets, $ 8 (very good).
Despite the slow start, we enjoyed ourselves, and will look forward to returning.

This place is below average. The best item on the menu is the focaccia di recco which is an ultra thin flatbread stuffed with cheese and topped with honeycomb. Holy shit balls it’s amazing! However, the rest of the dining experience was such a let down.
Beef carpaccio — very boring and a waste of time and money. I don’t even know how to describe the flavor except, nothing.
Lamb Pappardelle — The most flavorless pasta I’ve ever had. It was ultra well done lamb jerky served with some peas and olive oil on some pasta. HUGE let down.
Sausage Pasta — This was alright, just not something you would expect to find in Little Italy. I would expect more flavor.
Sorry to be so harsh but I spent some coin at the restaurant and it turned me off completely.
I’ll only come back for that flatbread. That’s on point.

I made my way here after a morning stroll through Little Italy Farmers Market on July 4^th.
I was a little put off by the service here. When we walked in, we had no expectations of where to sit (patio vs. inside), but the host immediately assumed we wanted a patio seat and assertively told us that there was no patio seating available. We told her that we didn’t care where we sat, and I could tell she identified how she came off to us because she started explaining why she greeted us with that right off the bat. When we got to our seats, myself and my fellow diner were already feeling totally weirded out, like we didn’t belong here. Didn’t make a big deal about it, but a part of me wanted to just leave.
Our waiter came by to take our drink orders and he was very friendly and authentically Italian. Two minutes later, another server came by to take our drink orders. We gave him our orders and then politely told him that someone else came by to take the same order. He was genuinely apologetic, but with the already off-​putting experience at the door, I wondered what was really going on behind the scenes.
I went with the truffle toast with fontina, 2 eggs and shaved asparagus, and my friend went with the Davanti burger. For brunch, both these items were reasonably priced at $ 10 and $ 15, respectively. I was pretty pleased to see these numbers.
My truffle toast came in 10 minutes before the Davanti burger did. Out of politeness, I chose not to eat until my friend’s burger came in. I didn’t want to finish my food by the time my friend’s came out. My waiter came by and saw that I was waiting, and he told me that they bring food out as soon as it’s ready and he pretty much TOLD me to start eating. Um, no. I will wait, thank you very much.
The truffle toast was very rich. I didn’t think the truffle would be mixed with the cheese, and so every bite, including the egg yolk, was almost too much to bear. The Davanti burger was huge and delicious — very Italian and cooked perfectly. The fries were very meaty and dense, which was the perfect complement to the dish.
I don’t see myself coming back for brunch, but I would like to try this place for dinner. I could tell they use bold flavors in their food and would like to see what turns up on their dinner menu.
The service could use some work, especially in Little Italy with Ironside (exceptional service) right across the street.

I was not impressed… After hearing many good things about Davanti, it turned out to be just okay. Nothing better than any other place or a home cooking of Italian food.
We started off with the «must have» $ 21 focaccia de recco… A thinly baked bread with cow cheese stuffed inside and served with local honeycomb. Came with about 8 slices. Was it worth the tag price? Maybe trying it once is good, because it was a good piece of bread and cheese, the honeycomb is what made it. More like a dessert. I don’t think it was worth the price tag but it was a good one time try. It was the only good thing we tried from here, I’ll give Davanti that.
We also had the beef carpaccio. You can skip this. Theirs was very bland and have anything on it. Usually it comes with capers or lemon but this was short of flavors or garnish. For my entrée I got the sausage pasta, it was okay. Nothing Great that i haven’t tried elsewhere. We also got the lamb pappardelle, and that was the most flavorless thing I ever tasted. The lamb was so dry, pasta was dry and there was no sauce to it. It seemed like it was simply tossed in olive oil. It had some peas and mint but it was pretty bland. I would not suggest this for anyone if you are looking for a burst of good flavors.
Don’t get me wrong, Davanti is a great restaurant and service was superb. Our waiter was awesome and attentive, but he can’t change mediocre food and especially the price tag with that. I rather walk down the street and eat at Bencotto or KEX. We would have been more satisfied.