Buon Appetito Review (San Diego Restaurants)

Pricing:

This place is a hole-in-the-wall but it ain't cheap.  Most of the dishes are $12-18.  Throw in a few glasses of wine, appetizer and one of their fantastic desserts and it will make quite a dent in your bank account.

Distance:

In the Little Italy portion of downtown San Diego.  It's on India Street.  From Encinitas it takes about 20-30 minutes to drive there traffic permitting.

Thoughts:

I love eating in the Little Italy area of San Diego.  It's just so much fun.  There are a ton of really good places to eat but Buon Appetito definitely is one of the better ones.

Be warned that if you choose to dine here it will not be a quick in-and-out experience.  There's almost always a wait around dinner time due to the limited seating.  You can't call ahead.  The only way to put your name down on their list is to do so in person.  The seating host(ess) will call you when it's your turn so you can wander around a bit and go get a coffee.  If they call you up and your whole party is not present, they won't seat you.  So just be mentally prepared to wait.

That aside, the food is fantastic.  It's good Italian food as opposed to "chain restaurant" Italian food.  There's more of an emphasis on flavor rather than quantity.  I've tried a variety of items on their menu from soup to fish to pasta and I've yet to be disappointed.

Though people get a little dressed up to go here, the atmosphere is still fun and relaxed.  Many of the waiters seem to be imported straight from Italy which adds to the dining experience.  Italians consider it very rude to rush someone's eating.  So despite the large number of people trying to get into the place, you never feel rushed out once you're seated.