North Italia

07/20/24 - Late PostCame here for my birthday lunch. We made a reservation just to be sure. This was my first time here in this area and it was such a confusing adventure to find the parking and the restaurant. There were three of us and all of us had a hard time locating the restaurant, but we made our reservation. Staff here is nice and let me sit without my party. It got pretty busy though and at some point, there was some delay getting refills on our drinks and getting the bill. I like how the kitchen is behind glass, so you can see the activity back there. We ordered the following:* Heirloom tomato and burrata - This is my favorite appetizer but I thought it came with bread but it didn't. I guess its meant to eat on its own but we ordered some grilled bread and it was so good. * bolognese - one of my faves here. So good.* tuscan half chicken - my friend ordered this and I tried some and it is sooo good. Very moist and flavorful. Will definitely order this next time I go.* Chicken Parmesan - very good, the chicken was not dry at all and was very flavorful.I love this restaurant. I always go to the Fashion Valley location so it was nice to try this one. Highly recommend coming here to try the food. You won't regret it. I originally put 4 stars for being unable to easily find the place but that's not their fault. So it is 5 stars for me.

Rigatoni Vodka Pasta is a MUST ORDER if you love a sausagey fennel flavor and bold spice. The sausage chunks were big, juicy, and a-plenty. Perfection. The tortelloni al pomodoro was also so good. Cheese filling was super creamy. Service, however, prevents North Italia from receiving 5 stars. They never came to ask us how the food was, and never refilled the water. Nice elevated-casual ambiance with tall ceilings.

So this was a last-minute stop on my solo date with myself. I will mention I was not dressed as fancy as I would've liked. I just finished a hike at Torrey Pines and was absolutely famished and in the mood for pasta. After doing a search, I saw this spot and said, "Let's do it."One thing I love is there was no face from the wonderful hostess at the entrance when I said table for one. They hyped me up, which I truly appreciated. I feel like eating alone is an amazing experience. All of the staff were super kind and hospitable. My server was Annika, who was phenomenal at providing recommendations. I wanted a beverage for sure, and I let her know I was a Whiskey gal and recommended a drink that HIT THE SPOT! Super refreshing after my hike, the Veni Vidi Vici. Let me mention I have never been a tomato soup gal, but it is a must try from here. The balance is spectacular, and their croutons added an amazing crunch. The zspicy Rigatoni Vodka I will be coming back to try more food items. Side note: I opted to sit outside on a Saturday afternoon. Some of the staff asked if I wanted one of the blinds down to be more comfortable. They care about your experience and it shows in the way they treat you.

Lunch with my girl while doing some shopping. We Love this place and specifically this location! Everyone here makes me feel like family.! I came on a Wednesday afternoon while shopping with one of my girls. Our server mentioned the brunch menu and we decided to go for it. We knew it was more food than we usually order but decided to bring some home for the family. We ordered Arancini ( the main reason we came) and Bolognese Pasta and Spicy Vodka Pasta. Both were amazing as usual. We had the Lemon Olive Oil Cake to go and enjoyed it later with our family. Love this place and the vibe!

Food and ambiance are great! We got the kids cheese and their pizza is a highlight at all their restaurants. We got the mussels appetizer were decent. The short rib pasta and arugula are great. The affogato was a great way to top it off.

North Italia has two locations in San Diego, so ensure you have the right location when making reservations. We went to the restaurant at One Paseo, and it had a good ambience with candlelit dining tables. We waited about 15 minutes inside at a non-dining table to avoid the chilly weather. We arrived at about 8 pm, and while I noticed some empty dining tables, we were one of the last parties to check in. We ordered the cacio e pepe arancini (crispy risotto) ($15.50), strozzapreti ($24.50), chicken parmesan ($26), and Bolognese (house specialty) ($25.50). Service seemed to slow down because I thought their staffing levels seemed to run low. We initially wanted to order a pizza instead of the crispy risotto appetizer, but they unfortunately ran out of pizza dough. While the crispy risotto tasted flavorful, I unfortunately found it not worth its price because of its small portion size. The strozzapreti tasted delicious because of the pasta sauce. It came with roasted chicken and mushrooms, spinach, and parmesan cream. The strozzapreti (elongated hand-rolled) pasta noodles tasted fresh, but I wish they felt a little firmer. However, I found it tastier than their Bolognese house specialty, and it had a great portion size. Given that the food tasted solid, I compared North Italia's prices to those of local restaurants in San Diego. Some around the area offered pasta at lower prices, so I question whether I would have received equal or higher quality food at local restaurants in the area.

I hosted a Sunday lunch here last weekend for my MeetUp Fun Diego Ladies group and we really enjoyed this restaurant.The food was excellent! We ordered some appetizers to share:White truffle garlic breadCalamari Meatballs AranciniCrispy hash potatoes I ordered an arugula & avocado salad to round off my meal. For $15.50 I thought it was rather small and sad looking, but the dressing was good and the salad itself was fresh. I added some of the veggies that came with the fried calamari so the salad looked more complete and looked more vibrant. I also had a slice of my friend's funghi pizza. That was amazing! The aroma of the pizza when it was delivered to the table was irresistible! I'll be ordering that next time!Overall, we enjoyed the food but thought the service was slow at the end. We requested separate checks upfront and didn't think it would be so complicated. It was complicated...and took our server over 30 minutes to ring us up individually! In hindsight, we should've just paid 1 bill. We did not realize it would be such an ordeal.

Second time coming to North Italia (first time in Irvine) and honesty wasn't too impressed by the Del Mar location.Stayed there was 20 min wait time, but there was plenty of open tables & it too more like 30 mins. It was kind of disappointing how our dishes were not available since they ran out. We had to substitute ingredients for the market board, salad, and pesto and had to replace our already ordered dishes with other ones making us wait on the food to come out even longer than it already was taking. We were sat down at 7 pm, which is well before their 10 pm close. Some of the dishes tasted very basic, especially the bolognese which is their house speciality. It lacked flavor and tasted like there was no seasoning at all. Also, the noodles were really chewy. My favorite item was the crispy eggplant Parmesan. The sauce was phenomenal and ended up using it to dip the bread in. Other than that, the only notable dish was the Funghi pizza and white truffle bread, everything else (ordered 4 other dishes) was mediocre. We went for my boyfriend's birthday so they gave us a free cake to choose from their dessert menu which we appreciated. The lemon Olive oil cake was sweet and tangy and was also very moist. Probably wouldn't go to this location again.

AMBIANCEModern, spacious, and inviting Italian restaurant, North Italia, is a breath of fresh air through its covered patio, open air bar, or inside with its floor to ceiling glazed storefront. SERVICEKitchen staff can be seen hand-making pizza and pasta from scratch. Staff across four people were very attentive to our table. DRINK5/5 POMEGRANATE MULE:bottega bacûr gin, tart pomegranate, bright lemon, sweet and effervescent fever tree ginger beerFOOD5/5 ITALIAN MEATBALLS:Rich, tender, juicy beef meatballs atop creamy polenta, rustic marinara, and slices of grana padano4.5/5 PIZZA - NAPLES WHITE:I found this creamy white pizza tasted better when cooled down and the flavors have gotten to know each other a little longer. It's made of house ricotta, pecorino romano, wild oregano, evoo, red onion.HAPPY HOURWeekdays 3-6pm

Service: staff was wonderful. The manager on duty came to our table to make sure everything was amazing. It was. Food:Hands down the best tiramisu I have had in the area. The Bolognese was great but my husband's dish of strozzapreti was my favorite of the two. We had the calamari and at first was worried bc it was battered like an onion ring. The sauces it came with (mixed) made it so yummy. We had the white truffle garlic bread as well. It was so delicious! Most places we go are so loud but this place was perfect! We couldn't hear other tables chatting and the music wasn't so loud you can't talk. Bottom line perfect service, food, dessert and ambiance!