Trattoria I Trulli

Food 10/10 - couldn't recommend enough! So good! Service 8/10 - waiter seemed a little rushed each time he visited our table, even though restaurant was not very busy at 3:30pm on a Saturday Ambiance 8/10 - restaurant could be a little cleaner, pasta sauce on wall next to seat

Our favorite restaurant, period. Anywhere.We ate dinner here last night and the dinner and service was outstanding, as always. This restaurant provides the very best food of any restaurant in north coastal San Diego area. When I eat here I feel like I'm eating at a sidewalk cafe in a small town in Italy, The sidewalk seating offers great people-watching and I love the pasta! Our favorite server is Luca, but they are all good and very attentive. We usually split a salad and then enjoy one of the many home-made pasta dishes. We will be back again!

This is another example of a restaurant with delicious food, but bad service that ruined the evening... I remember meeting the original owners of this restaurant when they first opened in July of 2002. They were excited about their new trattoria, and I walked by it for over 20 years without ever going in, because it always looked small, loud, and understaffed. However, with the sidewalk seating since COVID, we thought we would give it a shot to enjoy the outdoor ambiance in the summertime. Things got off to a rough start when we called to make reservations. The hostess Natasha even admitted that it was so loud in the restaurant, that she couldn't hear us on the phone, even though we were speaking as loud as possible into the phone in order for us to be heard. We showed up on time for our reservations, but then we were asked to wait for an additional 20 minutes, despite the fact that there were 4 open tables outside. Although we were a party of 2, they were saving the tables that seated 4. However, no one showed up to use those tables for the remainder of the night. It was not a good look...When we were finally seated, a young man walked up to the table and made some sounds, but said nothing. It was rather bizarre, because the sounds had a fluctuating pitch, as if he was trying to communicate with those sounds. We thought that he was potentially mute, but we later realized that he could in fact speak, he just chose not to when he brought our waters.The bread and marinara sauce were cold, and the bread was stale. We were not impressed... Then, the Tricolori Insalate that we ordered as an appetizer was split in half and served on two separate plates. I don't know if they did this in order to save on the portion size, but it was definitely not substantial in the least bit... Therefore, we ordered another appetizer from the menu. The Salsiccia Da Vinci was phenomenal! This was by far the best dish of the night. The Italian sausage, mushrooms, and polenta was cooked to perfection in a gorgonzola sauce.Then, we ordered the Penne Arlecchino with Chicken and the Nonino with Fettuccine. However, the Nonino came out with Penne. We made it clear to our server Mallory that we wanted fettuccine, but somehow that didn't get communicated to the back of the house. The Arlecchino was creamy and savory, while the Nonino lacked flavor. After adding sufficient black pepper and parmesan cheese, then the flavor came out of the dish. These are simple additions that can easily elevate the flavor of a dish to being palatable and in fact delicious. Thankfully, they offered these accoutrements.However, despite the fact that we had a conversation with our server Mallory specifically about the timing of when the restaurant closes, she didn't get the hint. We specifically brought up the topic, because we didn't want to be rushed out of the restaurant. We arrived nearly an hour & a half before closing time for that very reason. We wanted to respect the closing time of the restaurant without any awkwardness... However, Mallory didn't seem to get it, because even though there were several other tables being served by other servers, she decided that she wanted to eat dinner at the restaurant. So, She proceeded to rush us out the door and tried to hurry up and collect her tip. We were very much offended by her selfish display, especially after we tried to mitigate any such situation. It simply went way over her head, and she took the selfish route.When we turned around to see her eating a full Italian meal at the bar, we were livid! As a Restrateur whose family owned Italian restaurants all over San Diego, we encouraged our employees to eat AT HOME before their shift or after their shift. They can always order food to go at the end of their shift at a substantial discount, and TAKE IT HOME with them to eat. Not to eat in front of customers whom they are serving... It's tacky and unprofessional. Also, if they're really hungry and they haven't eaten, then they can snack during their 10-minute break in the back of the house. However, rushing customers out the door, so that you can sit down and eat a full meal in front of customers at the bar is downright unprofessional. This is beneath the wait staff Trattoria I Trulli... It demonstrates that the staff comes before the customers, and that is not a recipe for repeat business. If it wasn't for the quality of the food, I would have given this experience only 2 stars. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but a $100 bill for only 2 people requires at least the basic protocols of restaurant service to be implemented. This experience was extremely disappointing, and the restaurant needs to do something to make it right!

Was in town with my family, it was my birthday, we decided to come here to celebrate. The food was delicious, I had a glass of wine and the linguine vongole . The service was ok we were sitting outside which was nice. It was very busy for a Sunday night . They brought me a taramisu with a candle for desert .

Love this place! First time here, and definitely not the last. Food was so delicious, fresh, so much flavor, especially garlic , and perfect size portions. Great customer service and loved meeting Gus. Lots of parking too. This place is a MUST try if you are looking for great homemade Italian food.

This place is located in a cute little downtown area in Encinitas. I was enticed but the amazing aroma as I was walking towards the restaurant. The service and ambiance was great, and the food was fresh, but I wish it had a little more flavor.

Great little place in Encinitas. The pasta is so light and fresh! I tried the Ossobuco this time and it was falling from the bones. Delicious!Friendly staff and great expresso and strawberry Napoleon. :)

Trattoria il TrulliWe had the pleasure of dining at Il Trulli yesterday evening. We arrived a bit early since we did not have a reservation. We were given a nice table indoors since the 2-seat outdoor tables were already occupied. We started our meal with two glasses of the recommended house wine. We also selected two of the specials; a fish and polenta dish, and the gnocchi special. Both were excellent. Clearly Il Trulli offers some of the best Italian food in the North San Diego County area. In summary: Excellent service. Wonderful food. Extensive wine list. Indoor and Outdoor seating. The only drawback is that it can get a bit loud within the inside dining area.Reservations recommended. Worth a visit.

I have always loved this place. Some of the waiters are the same from 20 years ago. It was my Birthday and this is where I wanted to go. The marinara that came out with the fresh home made bread was very spicy. Luckily the next batch that came out was more like I remembered it. My lasagne sauce was different than it used to be for years. It was not as good. It's still homemade pasta though. The risotto seafood dish was amazing. It's a smaller place so it's intimate and small. It was pretty quiet but typically it's a bit more noisy.

Good food well,prepared. Portions are on the large side. Been coming to this spot for years and the food is always consistently solid. Well worth a visit if you are in the area