Olivetto Ristorante

Service was incredibly slow and crappy for an expected fancy restaurant. Food was just ok. Wouldn’t come back here again!

Must have changed hands, for the worse, approx. 2 years ago. NOW OUT OF BUSINESS.

We have been here multiple times. The last time we were here was over a month ago and I ordered lasagna which has been usually a good pick, but this time the food was warm and not cooked through. The waiter forgot to bring the salad.
After driving by I see the doors are closed with a sign that they are renovating. However the phone number has been disconnected. I’d say they are CLOSED permanently.

Cute little place nestled in mission hills. We go here when other local hangouts are booked up.
The atmosphere is romantic– good lighting and attentive service. The wine pricing was reasonable.
Despite its charms the food is good but not remarkable, neither fantastically creative nor exhibiting a craving for hipness. A good place to take elder relatives who want to branch out– but not too much.

Loved this place. Was expecting nothing special, and was pleasantly surprised by good food!
I like when that happens.
Oddly though, I don’t come here often. Perhaps that’s because the restaurant is often not full, which gives me a lonely feeling to be there.

I love this place. Too bad when we came in, there’s no osso bucco. I would’ve loved to get that again. I came here with my BF & my nephew. My nephew loved his lasagna, he said it was really really good. BF got the tortellini & I got the seafood risotto, special of the day. The risotto was perfectly cooked, Lots of big shrimps. Mussels were perfectly cooked. Definitely, will come here again!!! Nephew loved the complimentary bread.

FOOD IS GOODDDDD BUT MY WALLET WAS CRYING WHEN THE BILL CAME!!!
Came in on sat dinner time (7pm), it wasn’t busy. The place is not dat big but doesn’t feel crowed (even later on when tons of ppl came in).
WINE COLLECTION is FANTASTICOOOOO! KEEP IT 10 000 000!!! lol
Menu is simple, quality over quantity I assume lol def wanna come back spend more money LOLOLOLOL

I love this place. It is very small and intimate and the servers are all male which makes me feel much more italian!
We come here frequently now that we have found it through some type of coupon. It is a good value with or even without the coupon which is why we keep coming back.
The bow tie pasta is amazzzzing!

The artisan plate is not what I expected bit I was still willing to pay for it. But the burnt bruschetta which is practically the same bread in the artisan plate was just horrible. I didn’t even touch it since it was not appetizing at all. (So much so for appetizers). When I asked my server whether I can cancel the brushetta, since I was already disappointed in my artisan plate, she was said no. But never bothered to recover or offer other options such as another entrée or just some options other than me, paying for a burnt bruschetta that I did not even eat or touch. It was never about the money. Ir was bout the food and the service! Epic fail!

Sign of a true italian restaurant– ask for grappa and see what happens! No grappa here and they had no idea what it was. Had the veal– cooked ok, but the citrus sauce was overwhelmed any taste of anything. Nice romantic wine bar with a great wine selection if not much of anything else. Too pricey and unmemorable for a repeat visit.

Nice location and setting
Service overly familiar and incompetent
Food improperly cooked
Pricy
In short, it is amazing how this restaurant remains in business

I wasn’t going to write a review originally but after receiving a disregarding response to my Groupon survey I thought I’d share our experience and Olivetto’s lack of professionalism.
Me: It was clear we had a Groupon by the service we received. We watched other tables get served and be attended to before us (even though we had been there first). It took 3 times asking for water before WE gave up. The food was average, maybe below. I am Italian and grew up with some very authentic Italian food, and this was just eh.
Them: Dear Client, I am sorry about your experience, but I find it hard to believe what you say. Lately we have sold a lot of Groupon and never had any issue about service, besides at Olivetto all customers are treated in the same way, all servers have been trained to be polite, attentive and friendly to all customers, regardless. About your opinion about the food, I am 100% Italian (born and raised), I eat at Olivetto every day and I believe our food is above «eh». Regards
Even if you don’t agree my personal opinion doesn’t give you the right to discredit my feelings and tell me I’m lying. When you’re in customer service, you have to accept the fact that there is always room for improvement.

Yum! Attentive service, good food and cozy setting. We had the carpaccio and caprese apps, which were both pretty good. The caprese is served with burrata instead of traditional mozzarella and it was awesome!
We split the farfalle, and filled up on warm bread dipped in balsamic and olive oil. The waiter recommended a great chianti and even split our entrée for us.
Support staff were great — bussing plates, filling waters, offering cracked pepper or fresh parm. Seemed like a real team effort and we really enjoyed ourselves.
This was our 4^th time there and everytime we have a great experience.

This place was the best! We came on a Sunday night not to busy around 7:30.The service was great we had Willen! He was very knowledgeable about the wine he recommended the Riesling wine which was great! And the guy helping him was also great always refilling bread, water etc.
The food was perfect! We came for my nieces birthday (8) and she loved it! We recommend the pollo Marsala! Everything was just perfect and we will definitely come back next time where in San Diego!

Lovely Italian restaurant in mission hills/​hillcrest. I would definitely come back and I recommend this restaurant to others. Upscale dining with a calm and modern setting.
Found about this place through groupon and was very pleased with the entire dinner experience. Made reservations through Unilocal and had no problem being seated right away.
The food was fantastic, I ordered the tomato cream ravioli and added chicken on top (ravioli in salsa aurora), and my date ordered the veal (scaloppine al limone) and both were amazing.
Tip: park in the parking structure behind the restaurant ($ 2 an hour) because finding street parking was difficult or too far of a walk.

Disappointing!
So…I live in Mission Hills and my wife and I cruise by here all the time walking our dog. The place is almost always empty (should have been my first sign) but I thought I’d try it out. Recently, my Realtor (who I’ve recommended to SO many people because she’s amazing) gave us a Passport Dining card. The deal is buy one meal, get one free. Olivetto was on the list and so we decided to give it a try.
We came into the restaurant and had there was no one to greet us. The place was empty so we go to choose our own seats. It was happy hour but as a result of the card, I knew we needed to order off the regular menu. The Mediterranean salad with chicken was decent but nothing to write home about. The then got a pasta dish with Gorgonzola which was pretty good but rich. The service was okay but not great through the meal.
Then the bill came. I gave them my card and my passport card. The waiter came back stating that the owner couldn’t honor it because we hadn’t had two meals. We’ve been to several other restaurants and gotten a salad with meat and a dish and had no problem. I explained that and the waiter went back to the owner (I presume) and came back giving 20% off. Needless to say, while it was something I still wasn’t satisfied. The price of the salad was $ 15.90 and the price of our entrée was $ 16.50.
Moral of the story: You are empty most of the time, your service is mediocre as is your food. Improve service (and food) and your restaurant would be busier. Not a great experience at Olivetto.

Hadn’t been to this restaurant in a couple years, but it was as good as I remembered it. It is basically the staple Italian place in Mission Hills, and it’s a venue worthy of the great neighborhood.
The bf & I loved our food! He had Pollo alla Fiorentina, which is a very pleasing blend of flavors. The prosciutto is salty, the spinach is fresh, and the mushroom cream sauce adds richness. It all comes together nicely!
I had the Integrale whole wheat pasta. This may be a vegetarian dish, but it is hearty! The butternut squash & the goat cheese add just enough heft to this dish to make it worthy of entrée status.
The wine service was impressive, as our server dispensed the wine from the mini-​carafe from about a foot above the glass. The wine came out as a pretty ribbon into the glass, and not a drop was spilled. The wine itself was just okay though. We tried the Montepuciano & Nero d’Avola wines.

This place was a classic 3.5 stars. I’m rounding down because I can’t stand when restaurants do not update their websites. The two menu items I wanted from the website were no longer offered. My server was great and created a dish that was similar. The service was good and the food was tasty. I liked the candle lit atmosphere too. Overall we enjoyed our meal.
But I just wasn’t wowed by anything. It was an A-​OK experience. I would have been much happier if the website would have shown the correct menu. In my opinion, it’s bait and switch. The menu at the restaurant was half the size of the one online.

The food was excellent. My husband ordered the chicken parm, and gobbled up every bite! I really enjoyed my chicken piccata, but would have preferred the chicken to be a bit thinner. I especially enjoyed the formaggio salad! Delish!
The service was a bit sporty, kind of rushed & in personable.
One major critique: they gave us white, bendy straws. Too hospital-​esque, or children’s birthday party. Stick with the black straws people for a higher end restaurant establishment. Us Unilocalers get stuck up on corky things.
Overall, love the ambiance. Great flavors, awesome location.

Mission Hills is a relatively new ‘hood for me. Up until my visit at Olivetto, I can’t remember venturing into the area for dinner before. Notwithstanding, I’m pleased to report that Olivetto does the neighborhood proud.
The restaurant sits right on the street with limited metered parking available. Luckily, I was able to score an available spot at around 6pm, an amazing feat considering that it was a Saturday evening. The restaurant has a bistro-​like feel to it with an accompanying mellow ambience. Mellow in the sense that the noise level is relatively low, and the lighting is fairly muted due to the available natural light that dances its way through the front windows, thereby illuminating the space where one can gaze at that special someone sitting at the table with you, or at the frenzied city traffic mowing back and forth down Washington.
The wine list runs the gamut, and even if you don’t find a specific selection that you have in mind, the wait staff are seemingly competent in recommending something that is a close match to what you’re in the mood for. On the day in question, I was looking for something akin to a New Zealand sauvignon blanc and the waitress attending to my table immediately brought out two samples for me to try. The one I ended up selecting was an Argentinian white (for the life of me I am unable to recall its name) that posessed all of the characteristics I was in search of. It was absolutely delicious, and my dining companion commented on how wonderful it was as well.
Moving on, we decided to start with a salad and opted to share the Oilvetto Organic Greens. This salad was huge and positively stellar. Composed of a myriad of greens, gorgonzola, pear, candied walnuts and a balsamic vinaigrette, this was a perfect selection, especially when paired with the crisp white we were sipping on. The contrast between the balsamic and the candied walnuts was brilliant and worked on so many levels.
For the main course, I chose the Salmon Livornese. The salmon was perfectly cooked, and it was partnered with miniature roasted potatoes that were heavenly. The dish easily soared alongside some of the better seafood entrees that I’ve had in my experience.
After dinner, we couldn’t even entertain the idea of dessert. Notwithstanding, the dessert menu is something that I would certainly like to try on a second visit.
Great place.