Italian restaurants along the 101 take us on a regional tour with their expanse of flavors and ingredients. Buon appetito!
Telling an Italian that you love Italian food is as vague as telling an artist that you just adore color. There are 20 different regions in Italy, each producing its own unique cuisine based on its history, geography and economy. Even within those regions, while they use the same ingredients, there are variations in how they prepare and season the food. Although in modern times, as regions have borrowed ingredients from one another, the cuisine has blended a bit—you can still see the distinctions in each region’s recipes passed down many generations. The diversity of Italian cuisine explains why there are 10 Italian restaurants along the three-mile stretch of the 101 from Cardiff to Leucadia, all claiming to be “authentic Italian food.” (There are 19 Italian restaurants in San Diego Little Italy’s 48 square blocks.) Given that Italian food can mean more than 18 different things, it makes perfect sense to an Italian to open up yet another Italian restaurant because, say, nobody is making food like his or her mama made back in Milan, Sicily or Tuscany. Given the fierceness of Italians for their hometowns and recipes, a disclaimer may be needed: This is an attempt to associate each restaurant’s cuisine with a region in Italy based on their menu.
Trattoria Positano
This little bistro sits right next to Patagonia, in the old J. Frank Cullen mercantile building. It’s owned by three sisters, Amalia, Catarina and Laura Di Luccia and a brother-in-law, Chef Jorge Ramirez. The Di Luccia sisters say that their recipes have been passed down generations, from when their family owned a restaurant on the Amalfi coast. As children they used to play on the floor while the family cooked. True to the Campania region, the menu is heavy on seafood, tomato sauce, vegetables and pasta. The stuffed pasta and cheesy dishes are more from Bologna or Sicily, but seem to be there as strictly crowd pleasers for less informed eaters who might look at the menu and wonder, “Where’s the cheese? I thought this was Italian?”
Trattoria Positano is located at 2171 San Elijo Ave., Cardiff, CA 92007. The phone number is 760.632.0111. Business hours are Monday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday 12:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Cicciotti’s Trattoria Italiana and Seafood
Remember the old Vigilucci’s next to the old Miracles next to the old Taco Auctioneers? Well, now Taco Auctioneers and Miracles are Wine Steals and Wells Fargo Bank and Vigilucci’s is Cicciotti’s. Confused? It gets more confusing. Cicciotti’s has a large, ambitious menu that seems to come from all over Italy. Owner Gaetano Cicciotti says that the recipes are from the Mediterranean (which encompasses seven different regions) and of course, passed down in his family. The big draw here is the restaurant itself—an old house with cozy romantic rooms, and the live entertainment. One man sings opera and belts out such classics as “That’s Amoré” so enthusiastically that everyone joins in.
Cicciotti’s is at 1933 San Elijo Ave., Cardiff, CA 92007. Telephone them at 760.634.2335. The Web address is www.cicciottis.com. Business hours are Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.
When In Rome
Opened in 1984 in Leucadia, and now residing in Encinitas, this is the oldest Italian restaurant on the 101 still in business with the original owners, the Ragone family. Try not to be put off by the unassuming stucco façade. They make their own pasta and grow their own herbs and vegetables in a garden right off the restaurant. You would think that the recipes would come from Rome, in middle Italy, but the menu is mostly true to southern Italy, with olive oil, garden fresh tomatoes, basil and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Daniel Schaffer, part owner of When In Rome, again says the recipes are from family in Italy, but also adds, “The manicotti and pollo cacciatore are uniquely southern and uniquely home-spun recipes you’ll not find anywhere else.”
When In Rome is located at 1108 S. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, CA 92024. Their telephone is 760.944.1771. Check their Web site www.wheninromerestaurant.com for live entertainment. Business hours are Sunday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Tuesday through Thursday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; and Friday and Saturday 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Trattoria i Trulli
No claim on tradition here in this diminutive, popular place. Trattoria i Trulli’s slogan is “nouvelle Italian cuisine.” The word “nouvelle” could imply a French influence, but the menu doesn’t show much evidence of that. Instead, it seems like it derives mostly from southern Italy, more specifically from Sorrento, in the Campania region, which makes use of spicy seafood dishes, nuts and citrus. One menu item, “Paglia e Fieno al Pesto,” contains pine nuts, an ingredient commonly used in traditional cooking from the Campania region. The owners have two other restaurants in Little Italy called Sogno-Divino, “The Dream of Fine Wine” and Buon Appetito.
Trattoria i Trulli is at 830 S. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, CA 92024. Their telephone is 760.943.6800. The Web address is www.itrulli.signonsandiego.com. Their business hours are lunch daily 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., dinner Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Giovanni’s Italian
Sandwich Shop
This place has been around forever, but is under new ownership. The décor doesn’t seem to have changed at all and is dark and woody with striped awnings outside, like a typical old-world Italian trattoria. Known mostly for their sandwiches and friendly owner, this place also makes rich Bologna-style food, loaded with cheese and garlic.
They are located at 764 S. Coast Highway 101 Encinitas, CA 92024. Their telephone is 760.943.8620. The business hours are daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Via Italia Trattoria
The owners hail from Milan and it shows in their menu. Milan, in the Lombardy region, is famous for its elegant cuisine. The cheeses, cream and butter are world famous, but the food is not rich or heavy. Although northern Italian cooking is butter, rather than olive oil based and makes liberal use of meat, the food is light and herbal. Pasta is not too common in this region’s cooking; you see egg noodles, gnocchi and risotto for starches. The menu for Via Italia Trattoria of course has handmade pasta dishes, but also features many gnocchi dishes, (impressive in that these potato dumplings, if homemade, are labor intensive) polenta and risotto. The entrees are served with vegetables or polenta rather than pasta. Tomatoes are given a light hand in the sauces.
This well-reviewed restaurant is located at 569 S. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, CA 92024. Telephone them at 760.479.9757. Also see the Web site at www.viaitaliapizzeria.com. Business hours are daily from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Vigilucci’s
Roberto Vigilucci is quickly becoming an enterprise, with seven restaurants in San Diego. On the 101, he has two Vigilucci’s locations, one in Encinitas and another in Leucadia. He was born in Milan, but spent a lot of his childhood in Tuscany with his grandmother, whom he says many of his recipes come from. It’s difficult to say that the menu in either location is authentically Tuscan, as only a few items would qualify, like the Bistecca alla fiorentina, a 26-ounce prime steak served with rosemary, cannellini beans and sautéed spinach. The rest of the Vigilucci’s menu comes from all over Italy, for example you have Genovese and Bolognese sauces (northern Italy) plus spicy tomato sauces for the seafood (southern Italy). Not to mention there is a steak that comes with mashed potatoes and vegetables (American). Vigilucci’s is doing popular Italian and doing it very successfully. 2009 marks 15 years in Encinitas.
Vigilucci’s Trattoria Italiana is located at 505 S. Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas, CA 92024. Their telephone is 760.942.7332. Business hours are from 11 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday though Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday, noon to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. Vigilucci’s Ristorante & Pizzeria is located at 534 N. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, CA 92024. Their telephone is 760.634.6753. Business hours are from 11 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday though Sunday. For live entertainment information see their Web site at www.vigiluccis.com.
Leucadia Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant
Foodies beware: this restaurant is unassuming just like its name. Leucadia Pizzeria is a good place to hang out and watch the game while sharing a pizza and a salad with the family. They don’t mind if your kids run around the place. Sometimes they give you free cookies. The food is cheesy-garlicky-tomato-y and American-style, with giant portions and decent prices.
Leucadia Pizzeria has other locations in La Jolla and Rancho Santa Fe, but our local place is in Moonlight Plaza, at 315 S. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, CA 92024. Their telephone is 760.942.2222. You can order takeout or delivery food from the Web site at www.leucadiapizza.com. Business hours are Monday through Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
And for Italian not quite so coastal:
Today’s Pizza
760.753.6425
481 Santa Fe Drive
Encinitas, CA 92024
Besta Wan Pizza House
760.753.6707
148 Aberdeen Drive
Cardiff, CA 92007
Borrelli’s Pizza & Italian Food
760.436.1501
285 N. El Camino Real
Encinitas, CA 92024
Filippi’s
760.479.2520
1486 Encinitas Blvd.
Encinitas, CA 92024
Firenze Trattoria
760.944.9000
162 S. Rancho Santa Fe Road
Olivenhain, CA 92024
Flippin’ Pizza
760.632.1497
215 S. El Camino Real
Encinitas, CA 92024
Gusto Trattoria
760.436.8664
429 Encinitas Blvd.
Encinitas, CA 92024
Manhattan’s Giant Pizza
760.632.0107
143 W. D St.
Encinitas, CA 92024
Oggi’s Pizza
760.944.8170
305 Encinitas Blvd.
Encinitas, CA 92024
Pizzicato Gourmet Pizza
760.635.2800
252-5 N. El Camino Real
Encinitas, CA 92024
Rosanna’s Pasta Shop
760.753.6867
270 N. El Camino Real, Ste. I
Encinitas, CA 92024
Sazio Italian Bistro
760.635.774
1560 Leucadia Blvd., Ste. E
Leucadia, CA 92024
Tuscan Sun Italian Delicatessen
760.633.4546
1070 N. El Camino Real, Ste. B
Encinitas, CA 92024