San Diego Restaurant Guide

We had mixed reviews on the food. I didn't care for mine but my bf loved his. They do serve big portions so it is worth the money. But the service provided by our waiter, Jose, was horrible. I have never been so disappointed with a dining experience like this. He was not only rude, but failed to check up on us once. What gets me is, when we asked for parmesan cheese, he comes back and places the bowl at the edge of the table and leaves again. Our drinks were never refilled, and we didn't even bother, because we just wanted to leave.

Absolutely HORRIBLE! Bread was old and dry, antipasto salad had SWISS cheese! Have they every hear of Fontina or Asiago? The Veal Marsala was swimming in oil and tasted oddly like tough PORK,not Veal. Pollo Saltimbocca was swimming in OIL - the Marinara sauce has no flavor...bottled red sauce is better than this! Don't waste your money or time! YUCK!!!

About 6 months ago, I brought my family (all adults) to Zagarella's for my brother-in-law's birthday (being Italian, he is extremely picky about his Italian restaurants) and we all loved it. The food was some of the best we have had in LIttle Italy and the service was great. We sat on the patio and really enjoyed the entire evening, so much so that I am bringing my mother-in-law and sister-in-law there tonight!

The other diners may have been to this restaurant on bad days. I've eaten there quite a bit as I too live in Little Italy and it's one of my favorite places to eat. The art work on the walls is very well done and definitely not over-done. How could this be? It's beautiful. Try the spicy shrimp pasta dish. It's to-die-for.

Food is good, but not worth the HORRIBLE service. I have been to this restuarant twice as I am a local in Little Italy. The food was pretty good the first time, but the waiter was rude and slow. I decided to give it a second try last night (3/19) because I really did enjoy my meal. Never again. Food again was good but the waitress was SO RUDE and SLOW. We were seated for no less than 20 minutes before our order was taken. At one point I had to yell across the room at her to get her to acknowledge us and even then she refused to come over to the table - I had to walk to the host and ask him to please take our order. THIS PLACE IS NOT WORTH THE TERRIBLE SERVICE.

We were a party of 9. Restaurant was packed.Service was acceptable under the circumstances. We had made reservations but I was surprised that our table was outside in the back corner, though I did not reserve an outdoor table and several in our party were not dressed for a chilly evening. Outdoor heaters did help.My husband said the seafood was excellent. My chicken/mushroom dish was fair(meat needed seasoning), but the side dish of pasta was delicious.I suggest bringing a calculator as bill is hand written and sloppy. I do think I was overcharged by at least $13 which was easy to miss due to our large party and difficult-to-read bill. Would go again, with calculator, and stick with the pasta.

We went in the evening and it was very sparse. Us and another couple were the only ones in the place. Therefore, the service was exceptional. The food was excellent! Some kind of seafood soup/stew. The ambience is very nice, they overdo it a bit on the artwork, but it does add to the depth of the room. Overall, almost perfect. Especially the food.

This place was absolutely horrible. I have never had a worse dining experience in my life. It was a busy day because of the Art Walk but the service was unexcusable. We were seated for at least 10 min. before anyone even acknowledged us. The courses were then brought out completely out of order (i.e. soup & salad, then appetizers, then DRINKS, then food....) Waitress often addressed us by yelling across the room, I thought we were at a nice italian yesterday, not Dick's Last Resort. The food wasn't good enough to make up for the horrible service. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone.