Hello! This is a joint post, first portion written by Maggie, enjoy!
We parked in a 15 minute zone so we could walk up to the official booth to get our ticket. I’ve never been so this was exciting for me. Each participating restaurant offers one item from their menu to sample, a few offered two items. So basically you walk through Little Italy to each restaurant and they either have a table set up outside or you have to walk inside to get your food. Most places had a line forming. Parking was a bit of a walk but we ended up circling back to our car at the end of the evening.
Top two favorites; Bencotto Italian Kitchen, sea bass ravioli in lobster bisque sauce ( I would fill a bowl with the lobster bisque then drink it all up) and pepperoni pizza slice at Filippis Pizza Grotto. The crust is the perfect thickness, a little sweet with a nicely seasoned sauce.
Little Italy Association, established in 1996 to oversee and expedite the revitalization and beautification of Little Italy. The Association represents the residents, property owners, and businesses of Little Italy and looks after trash collection, decorations, and special events. The proceeds from this event go to neighborhood improvement projects.
First stop Buon Appetito had homemade gnocchi with different sauces on their list. After waiting in line for a bit they brought out a different dish, pasta, mushrooms, peas and serve yourself dry cheese, overall very tasty. I was a bit disappointed since I was looking forward to the gnocchi. But it must have been super popular since they were in the process of making more.
Next stop Davanti Enoteca, roasted corn salad was served inside and tasted quite wonderful. I admired their interior decoration.
Mimmos Italian Village went all out and served two dishes, cavatappi sausage pasta and penne arugula pasta with walnuts cheese and cream sauce. Such artfully crafted flavors combined perfectly. Would love to come back and try out more dishes.
Lanidini’s Pizzeria served two kinds of pizza slices inside. You could watch them making pizza while we waited. The pizza crust was thin style with a mildly sweet sauce, very nice.
Cafe Zucchero Trattoria Fantastica offered a beautifully combined cannoli filled with sweet creamy mild ricotta, and chocolate chips. My daughter really enjoyed them!
M Winehouse was serving their signature sangria with small apple slices in the drink. Love the front entrance how it looks so cozy with a front patio area. Sangria was a delicious combination of sweet and savory.
Puerto La Boca Argentinian Restaurant was serving, skirt steak, chorizo sausage with chimichurri sauce and argentinian malbec wine. Loved the chimichurri sauce, steak was flavorful, tender and the wine very dark, dense flavors. We stayed for dinner I had the pinot grigio wine and enjoyed the flavored butter and green sauce paired with the delicious bread. The hostess was very sweet and I was impressed how she remembered small things (since they were mobbed by the line of people) like where my daughter went off to and how she might need some ginger ale.
Bird Rock Coffee offered a choice of two coffees, I chose Nitro Cold brew and an Nebula Nectar espresso shot. These are not my usual type of coffee, but I wanted to try them. So not surprisingly they were too strong for me. I’d like to go back and try out the milder sweeter versions that I’m sure I’d like.
Ballast Point offered one of my favorite appetizers, pretzel bites.
Herb and Eatery was sadly last on our walking tour, only because we were too full to try out their wonderfully broadcasted offerings by the head chef, owner. He gave a wonderful will thought out, narrative to all of the hungry people in line. We will have to go back and try out their menu!
Second portion below, written by Soo, enjoy!
Taste of Little Italy North route: I use to walk around here in my college days.
Nelson Photo was the hot spot during my college years. I’d come here with classmates buying black and white film + photo paper. We’d usually go to El Indio or Saffron for lunch before heading back to the darkroom. I hear a fancy new restaurant called Born and Raised will be sprouting from the ashes of the Nelson Photo building.
Walking the north route I enjoyed seeing the unique architecture of the buildings. I saw some gelato spots and bakeries I’d like to try out at a future date. If I had eaten at every stop I would have been stuffed but I just sampled these places:
Puerto La Boca – skirt steak had a delicious Argentinian flavor perfectly cooked tender and juicy. Chorizo sausage had a bit of sweetness and a bit of savory flavor at bit like Italian sausage. Best food I had all night. Wish I could get seconds.
The Waterfront – Slider had a nice char on the beef and I liked the little roll surrounding the beef.
San Diego Cellars had a tender, juicy, and beefy flavored swedish meatball.
Very cool event. I saw lots of places I normally wouldn’t go to and there was good music from some talented street performers. Lastly I met celebrity chef Brian Malarky!
by Soo
Your pictures are; defining, mouth watering, clever usage of shadows and light! You’ll have to go back to Puerto La Boca soon!
Thanks! You are wise. I should go back and have more steak. 🙂
some of these foods sound familiar because they were part of last year’s event (we ate so much)! gosh I don’t know if I can handle these food festivals anymore. my belly is expanding a little more with each one haha!
What were your favorite things? I’m sure you don’t have to worry!
If your belly is expanding you can eat more food!