We went to this restaurant for girls' night out, and it was really good. I went back with my family, and another time with a friend, and it has been really consistent. The pink sauce was terrific, and the waiter recommended some amazing wines we'd never had before. We were talking about the wine for days.
The only thing is that it's a really uncomfortable space. I heard they might be moving into a new location, and I will definitely give that a try!
This review is for brunch only.
I picked up a Living Social deal for brunch after seeing the glowing reviews this place got, even though this place was all the way in Poway (I live in Oceanside). I like to discover excellent eateries, even if they're farther away. This place was NOT worth the drive.
First of all, why advertise brunch if you don't open until 11am?? I got there at 10, already hungry, only to find out they don't open for another hour. So I had to waste an hour wandering around the shopping center. Thank goodness there was a Target nearby.
When we were finally able to be seated, I was dismayed to find a fairly limited brunch menu. Just some frittata dishes, a couple of focaccia dishes, and one pancake dish. I can forgive a small menu if the food is good. Â When our food came out, my dining partner received hers and I had nothing. Turns out they somehow missed or forgot my dish. Again, I can forgive ordering mistakes if the food is good.
Unfortunately, the food was far from outstanding. I ordered a zucchini and sausage scramble (you have choice of frittata style or scramble style). I'm not sure what style they made, but it didn't look scrambled to me, and it was a bit skimpy on the zucchini and sausage. The worst part was NO FLAVOR. There were no herbs, spices or butter whatsoever. The only flavor came from the sausage, which there was not enough of to flavor the entire egg dish. I'm not a fancy cook or anything, but I make better eggs at home in less than five minutes!
My dining partner liked her dish, but didn't think it was fantastic. It was poached eggs and italian sausage on focaccia with hollandaise sauce. It was a very dry dish and we had to ask for an extra helping of sauce. The eggs and sausage were extremely skimpy. The dish's saving grace was the delicately flavored, slightly lemony sauce, and the nice green salad perched in the middle of the plate.
On top of all this, service was atrocious. There was basically one guy serving the entire restaurant. We sat there staring at him for 10 minutes before finally flagging him down and telling him we were ready for out next course. The check took even longer and again we had to flag him down to get service. Everything just took so long! We were seated at 11am and didn't actually leave until 1pm. Seriously. It took two hours for freaking breakfast, and it wasn't even packed.
A note for the restaurant, and any other restauranteur who wants to participate in social deal sites like Groupon or Living Social. You will lose money on it, but the whole purpose is to buy exposure for your restaurant. For most deal-buyers, this is going to be their very first impression of your restaurant, so DON'T SKIMP. Put your best foot forward! If brunch isn't your thing, then don't sell voucher deals for brunch. Portion sizes can be small, but make them outstanding. I often pay high prices for small portions of really tasty food. It's fair to give less food for special deals, but don't make me regret going there to begin with! I will never be back here again.
I accidentally wound up here on my first trip to San Diego. I was yelping around in the endless urban sprawl, just hoping to find a Korean restaurant when this place popped up on my map. I think when I read the name, I mistakenly thought it was "Villa Capri Tortillaria" because I was surprised to find myself in an Italian restaurant rather than dining on Mexican fare.
Either way, the wine was nice, the piccata was pretty good, and the tiramisu pulled the whole experience together.
Don't worry that it is in a strip mall. Everything there is in a strip mall.
A very nice Italian restaurant in Pomerado Road. I honestly was not expecting much of a restaurant located in a strip mall, next to Target. But, oh surprise, the food was delicious and abundant and the fix menu very good priced ($9.95 for a 3-course lunch). I got a very homey lentil soup, a delicious chicken sandwitch in foccacia bread with lots of caramelized onions, and topped it off with a dessert, some sort of bread pudding very rich and tasty. Overall was a very good surprise and also I liked the decor a lot, very classy. Never underestimate the power of these small, hidden places (actually this place is not small at all once inside) and also has a nice little terrace outside.
Review Source:Love this place for happy hour- bartender is awesome! Not sure what his name is but he is Filipino, from Hawaii. Decent wine at decent prices. Appetizer pretty good, but the macaroni and cheese dish definitely used bacon instead of prosciutto.
Think the prices are a bit high and get the impression the owner/manager skimps on quality (the salmon/halibut problem another reviewer had, don't think that was a whoops!) so probably wouldn't go back for dinner.
This place was really very good! I was very surprised to fine such a cute place in the middle of the Target shopping center! Really enjoyed my salmon lunch & can't wait to go back for dinner. Waiter was attentive & friendly, plus you can take your pups with you if you sit on the patio.
Review Source:Surprising Good Pizza. Â In a land of mini-malls, shopping centers and not a slice of personality anywhere, I was pleasantly surprised by my meal and Villa Capri. Â Our waiter was fantastic and the food was delicious. Â The decor did the best it could do in a cookie-cutter strip mall space, so I won't hold that against them.
The only item I didn't enjoy was the Beef Carpaccio. Â The wine, pizza and dessert were otherwise flawless. Â And they turned me onto a great Blueberry liquor (they label is Grappa - it's not). Â It is delectable and a perfect digestiv.
We decided to go here for Mother's Day because we had some coupons with some great deals. Â We got here only to find out that not only would they not accept the coupons because it was a holiday but also their normal happy hour was not happening either. The menu was really more than we had wanted to spend so we ended up sharing a pizza. I have to say this was the best pizza I had ever tasted but we had hoped for something a little fancier than that. It would be nice if they would at least announce that they don't have their normal deals on holidays because we really felt like why were stuck there when we could have been happier somewhere else.
Review Source:Pretty good food. It's a cute little place, with decent food. We'll go back again. I had the mushroom risotto, and it was good. But it was a ton of risotto with nothing else. I would like to see a small side salad and less risotto personally. I think it would balance the meal better. The best restaurants give a more balanced meal and not just a big plate of a single dish. I think that's one small improvement that they can make.
Review Source:This unassuming Italian restaurant  is tucked into the corner of a Poway stripmall.  I have literally walked past it many times and it never caught my eye....too bad for ME!  This place is WONDERFUL!  Very cute inside and the Wine Bar offers a great Happy Hour deal with their dishes listed at 1/2 off!
Stopped in on my Dad's birthday (a Thursday) which their daily special was Osso Bucco! Â Awesome, tender, succulent! Â A definite must have. Â They often sell out on Osso Bucco Thursday! Â We also tried the calamari and a cheese platter, both of which were just ok. Â The calamari was a little salty but everyone enjoyed it.
The pizza was thin crust and delicious. Â I had the Penne Elena with Fresh Salmon...very delicious and not fishy like I thought it would be...even the next day for leftovers!
Don't miss this fantastic little place next time you are near Target in the Poway/Pomerado area.
This is REPEATEDLY by far the WORST establishment in San Diego restaurant category! Â We have given them 3 chances to treat us well and they have FAILED 3 times. Â The final straw was last night - we took my 92 year old mother to dinner. Â We ordered 2 entrees, salad and 3 cocktails/wine/beer.
We ALWAYS use our Passport card when dining out. Â Our waiter informed us at the END of dinner when we got our check - that we could NOT use the passport card since we received 4 glasses of wine at happy hour prices. Â WTH????
It is always something with THIS RESTAURANT.
They will NEVER get our business again and we want to tell everyone to avoid the place - not to mention the food is so UNDER par it's not even worth it.
The ONLY reason we went back to be tortured one last time was due to the convenience of the location!
TWO THUMBS DOWN to these bozos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We got the living social deal online and went here for Easter brunch. Its in a weird location, I think it would do much better and be much cuter in a stand-alone building but overall we had a good experience.
The food was really delicious and cooked extremely well. We even got bread and butter on our table before brunch. The living social deal came with so much food, we had to take half our meal AND our dessert home in to-go containers. BUT we did eat it later and the Tiramisu was pretty tasty too. Â
The service was great too. Granted they were very slow (not a lot of people in the restaurant to eat). Everyone was very attentive and eager to make our experience enjoyable.
It;s definitely somewhere I'd go again, probably with people from out of town.
I only wish it were on the beach.
Wow!  Fantastic Lunch!  Went on St Patrick's Day and had the place to ourselves!  First timers and we loved the Specials  Fruitti de Mare for me and Boneless Short Ribs for Lorenza.
We started with a FANTASTIC Calamari Fruitti with two dipping sauces and a ravioli special! Â The SPECIALS are SPECIAL! Â Great wine list!
Signed up for VIP Rewards and will return for happy hour and 20 - $20 wine Mondays!
Definitely will be back!
Returned again with 7 to celebrate my nephews Birthday. Â Specials again are the BEST way to go! Â 3 pork Shanks with Risotto, Eggplant parm, Linguine pescatore, a different special ravioli, Manicotti, and more! Â Great wine selection!
Join the frequent eaters club! Â This place will become a regular go to!
Came here for dinner with a friend.
FIrst impression: Don't get turned away by the location. It's located in a shopping center but the ambiance inside is completely classy.
We decided to sit inside because it was pretty cold outside and we were seated right away. There were a good amount of people inside but it wasn't packed so it was nice and private. The waiter and service were AMAZING. They were friendly and checked on us frequently.
My friend and I were tempted by the halibut special in pesto sauce. It was DELICIOUS. The halibut was a great size along with sundried tomatoes and potatoes. The server even asked if we wanted cheese and pepper on it (which we did and it tasted even better!). The only one thing I did note was that I had a few bones in the fish. According to the Food Network show, Chopped, bones are a NO NO. But hey, I'm not a judge. To that level anyways. Also, my friend didn't have any in her fish so it was probably a rare event.
All in all I loved my experience here. I would have to say depending on what course you get, it can get a bit pricey for the seafood. But they have such a huge menu, there's no way you wouldn't find something to your liking.
Quite authentic Italian food! It was crowded when we arrived, but we had reserved, so we decided to drink a bit at the bar first. Great idea! the bartender(too serious to be a bartender in an Italian restaurant,but anyways) prepared amazing drinks and we waited till the table was ready,not too long. The food was delicious, although, the antipasti clams plate had too much tomato for that specific variety and kind of took off the flavor  just a bit. I had the special of the day tagliatelle with slow roasted lamb boneless leg.It was marvelous that plate. My Italian other half had the seafood linguine and again, a bit too much tomatoish, but the spices were really good and it was very tasty overall.
One thing i really liked was the bread and sauce they serve at the beginning, most italian places make this too oily but here tasted fresh and not heavy at all. I am not a crazy bread eater and i really liked it here.
The tables are a tiny bit crowded so if you are uncomfortable having people too close to yours just tell them and they have some ways to accommodate that. I don't mind people listening to my very interesting life (lol) but some people actually do and i thought it could be sensible to point that out.
I think is one of the few serious Italian places in San Diego that is worth going to more than once. If you are new to Italian food you will love it and if you are Italian or very into their cuisine you will approve it and may be coming back. I will.
exceeded our expectations. Make sure you make a reservation on weekends. It was packed and you needed them to get seated.
Food was among the best Italian ive had. Such a surprise from a stip mall restaurant but once you walk in the ambiance is really nice and you have no idea your in a Target shopping center. Our waiter was great. He got a bit weeded because a dancing group came to sit on the outside patio and had about 40 people including teens and they all wanted separate checks...
This is not a review negative .... because my bad experience I've had ....
and this is my consideration ....
why this restaurant has all positive  reviews?
and all negative reviews have been eliminated ...?
how can it be so perfect .... that strange ..!!
but .....!!
I do not trust the perfection, nothing is perfect ....
In fact, I had a bad experience and my recenzione has been eliminated .....
it is not strange .....
We just had a wonderful dining experience! Â We had reservations at 7:30 and were seated within 5 minutes despite a rather full house (good sign of a good restaurant).
Our waiter, Chris, was incredibly attentive but not smothering. I loved that they had many specials to offer that weren't on the main menu and Chris articulated them clearly. Also very much appreciated that the chef was very accommodating to our requests for modification (different sauce, pasta not potatoes). The wine list was extensive and we enjoyed a nice 2009 Lucente Super Tuscan....delicious! Â
Chef Dario came our table later to greet us after dinner (since the patrons were less due to the hour). He was lovely...so humble and appreciative of our compliments.
My husband had the tiramisu to complete the meal, which was perfect...delectable!
All in all this was a wonderful dining experience and we will most definitely make return visits!! Â
Buona Notte!!
I'd like to update my review in light of a message I received from the owner in response to my previous review. He admitted they had been understaffed and that there was an issue with the bill and coupons at another table and apologized for the lack of service. He also very graciously offered to make sure our second experience at the restaurant was much better. Although we declined his offer for now (it takes a while for me to get over a rotten dining experience and clear my mind for a second chance), I am impressed with his customer service and willingness to learn from past mistakes. Â Hopefully the restaurant does well and maybe we will return one day.
Review Source:Great spot! Â Sat at the bar last week for late night happy hour. It was cool...not crowded. Had half price apps and chatted with the bar tender/owner. Â Nice guy. Â Bread pudding was so damn good. Â So was the Gorgonzola pizza. Â We plan to go back for dinner next time. Only small complaint was there were fruit flies all around us at the bar. Â Swatting constantly got distracting. Â Hopefully it was only temporary.
Review Source:This place is fantastic! Â I came here with a few coworkers for happy hour and had a blast. Â We each ordered a Moscow Mule to start--what an excellent choice! Â The bartender there makes a great drink. Â We were about to order some food when the owner came by and gave us a free order of fries, a veggie pizza, AND a plate of carpaccio! Â All of them were delicious! Â The ambiance is great--not too loud or busy. Â Thank you so much for a wonderful experience. Â We'll be back!
Review Source:I tried out Villa Capri for dinner tonight because the other half had a craving for pasta and heard some good stuff about this place. Â We ordered our food to go, but when we went to pick it up, we instantly regretted not dining in because the ambience of the restaurant seemed perfectly cozy and intimate. Â
We ordered the Penne Elena with Salmon, Spaghetti Carbonara, and the Tropicale salad to share. I also requested some of their homemade bread because a lot of the reviews mentioned their bread.
The bread was EXCELLENT. Â Yes, it's free bread but it was so tasty that I would easily order it if it was on their menu. Â
The Penne Elena served with your choice of rock shrimp or salmon in a spicy pink sauce was not bad. Â The pasta itself was perfectly cooked, but there were limited pieces of salmon and the pink sauce was a little lighter and borderline bland for my liking, but was better than the Carbonara. The Spaghetti Carbonara was missing all sorts of flavor. Â Again, the spaghetti noodles itself were cooked perfectly but something was missing in the sauce. The tropicale salad was very tasty. It consists of arugala, tomatoes, avocados, mangos, and just the right amount of shaved parmesan topped with a lemon vinaigrette
There have been mentions that they make an awesome Moscow Mule, so I will definitely be back to try one those and perhaps I'll try on of their other pastas next time.
Stopped by again last night, and the place was inundated, most likely as a result of their groupon deal this week. I thought the food was actually better this time around, which is a credit to the kitchen, especially during such an onslaught.
The only reason for the lowering of the review in this case is for the demeanor of our waiter, who was a tall, young blonde fellow. Â I did see him bustling around like crazy, which was wonderful. However, he barely looked at us, had to be asked to provide us with napkins and silver ware, and hardly spoke to us or acknowledged us. He never brought bread to the table but a bus boy pleasantly obliged when i asked. Again, I understand the busy night.... But when he kept giving tons of attention to the two young ladies in the corner, laughing and carrying on with them and even dropping some corny line about there being a picture of them in the dictionary next to the word "adorable", it reeked of unprofessionalism. Â By the way, they were rolling their eyes, buddy. I only wish I hadn't given him a full 20% tip.
I thought the bus boys were amazing, as was the manager/owner, who consistently assisted in picking up the slack. If I go back, I will pray that we don't get this waiter again.
Summary: Â Exceeded expectations - food way better than expected and priced very reasonable. Â We expected our bill to be more than it was - especially since we order a $100 bottle of wine. Â The place was packed on Friday night and the ambience was warm and inviting. Â
My husband and I are SO thrilled to find this place so close to home and we will definitely be back! Â Extra bonus - we were waited on by Elias, who is the most amazing and educated server. Â We knew him from another restaurant we used to go to and he also was awesome in giving us recommendations on wine - since we our wine lovers. Â to some fabulous new wines. Â We absolutely trust his recommendations on food and wine.
Details:  I had the Penne alla Norcia .(Italian sausage, mushrooms, onions in a light cream sauce) and my husband had the daily special - Mahi Mahi in a champagne sauce that was to die for.  Both were excellent we shared our plates easily as the portions were large.   We had the tiramisa and bread pudding for dessert - so filing and delicious.  We also spent a fair amount on a fantastic bottle of wine - per  Elias's recommendation and I will tell you we will be looking to buy that wine online for drinking at home, for sure.  We love trying new wines and it is awesome to have such knowledgeable staff like Elias guide us to try new ones - we have never been disappointed. Â
Don't judge a book by its' cover - this place ROCKS - never mind being in a Target shopping center!
I'm so happy we have adopted an elegant Italian restaurant in Poway. Â I've been to their Carmel Valley/PQ location several times and I have to say, I'm a fan of their restaurants. Â I believe they have a few throughout San Diego. Â They have great ambiance, full bar and the food is great. Â I've docked a star because not all of there dishes are created equal. Â I've had a few dishes that I thought were just mediocre but they put it on a fancy square plate, drizzle sauce on it and slap a fairly high price on it. Â But most dishes are really good and accurately priced. Â Some of my favorites are the linguini with rock shrimp, linguine and clams and their spinach salad.
Review Source:Had a few girlfriends in town from AZ and decided to try this place out since it is so close to home. Haven't found that many great places in Poway, so wasn't having highest expectations. BUT this place was AMAZING!!! The service was phenomenal and the food was some of the best i've had since moving to San Diego (I swear food in AZ was better!). AND my girlfriends were super super impressed.
I had the tropicale salad with chicken, and was so happy that it was unique and tasty! My other friend, a bit of a foodie, had the tuna salad appetizer and couldn't stop raving about it. Can't remember what the other girls had. But after dinner, we got a sampling of desserts, and I'm not a crazy fan of bread pudding, but literally almost clapped when I tasted this bread pudding. Highly recommended.
You can tell that they really care about their food and service and the staff is excited about it and it shows. So glad to have found this place. Thanks for a fun & great night with good food!
First class all the way!  This is a real jewel in Poway.  We felt as if we were dinning in a fine restaurant in downtown San Diego but with the charm, warmth and relaxing atmosphere of a neighborhood eatery in Poway.  We were greeted at the entrance by one of the partners Kyle who proceeded to take excellent care of us through our dinning experience.  My husband and I love to eat out and appreciated well prepared fresh food and on this night we were definitely in for a treat with no disappointments.  We started off our meal with an appetizer of beef carpaccio and portobello mushroom with a wonderful Gorgonzola sauce.  The carpaccio was a first for me and is now one of my favorites. It was so tender  and flavorful.  The portobello mushroom speaks for itself. It was a meaty ( in a mushroom kind of way) cheesy heaven!
We then proceeded to our entrees of chicken Marcella and the filet special. Â I love chicken Marcella so I thought before I ahead this chicken Marcella. Â I now know what chicken Marcella should taste like! Â I could actually taste the flavors of the wine, it tasted like chicken cook in a very nice Marcella wine, imagine that! Â My husband's filet was cook to medium rare perfection. Â It truly was like butter, no knive barely needed. Â He is doing a very lo carb diet and they were very accommodating in substituting his starch for some seasonally fresh vegetables prepared with no oil and full of flavor!
Believe it or not  we found room for dessert and had their sample platter of a great assortment of treats.  All I can say is yummy, it was all fabulous! Â
I really can not say enough about this restaurant! I have never reviewed a restaurant before but was so surprisingly impressed by this jewel that we found tucked away in
Poway that I Â had to write a review. The service and staff were nothing less then professional warm and friendly. We cannot wait to return for another fabulous dinning experience!
Decided to try this place out for a double date and was really happy with our decision!!!
Positives:
We were greeted immediately by one of the owners which was cool and set the tone of the evening. Â The decor and ambiance in the restaurant was really nice. Â The music wasn't too loud so we were able to carry on our conversations without yelling. Â
The food was AMAZING!!!! Â We started with a beef carpaccio served with greens and fresh parmesan and an order of fried calamari. Â Both dishes were delicious and we also received fresh bread with a side of tasty marinara. Â
The boys tried two of the specials- the halibut and Italian stuffed ravioli. Â Not a single bite was left. Â My friend had the pasta with vodka sauce and shrimp. Â I had the Penne alla Nocia (I think that was the name) which was penne pasta served in a cream sauce with sausage and mushrooms. Â It was sooooo good. Â My boyfriend definitely had entree envy. Â
We split a few of the desserts- tiramisu, creme brulee and bread pudding. Â Presentation was impeccable and taste was even better. Â
Negatives:
The only negative would be the service. Â I was less than impressed by our server. Â They were really slow on clearing and he seemed "flaky".
I would definitely recommend checking out this restaurant!
Used to go to CinCin when it was in this location. Sad to see it go, but read the reviews of this place and decided to try it .
Greeted by the owner I believe.
Ten minute wait for an inside table and it was a nice night and there were heaters outside so we opted for an immediate table there with less noise.  We were handed two menus and almost  immediately offered water but not given a wine list. (later asked for one).
Nice menu. I'd perused  the web site so no surprises here. We were given bread and cold marinara  (?) for dipping. I thought I'd miss the usual olive oil and balsamic at most Italian eateries but WOW great sauce!! We opted to split the Caprese salad. Great Mozarella, tomatoes not ripe, needed salt but good.  We split a glass of the house red wine, a blend of several varietals. I'm picky and don't like dry wines. This was really good: great nose and started dry but never got to the point a Chianti does. And the waiter,thoughtfully brought two glasses and a small carafe of the wine. Nice touch!
I ordered pasta with peas, sundried tomatoes and artichokes. Light and Delish. Husband got the lasagna: wonderful melt in your mouth stuff and a huge portion. Basically we had leftovers enough for lunch the next day. Finished with the Tirimisu. I've had quite a few of these in Italy and this was very good: not too sweet.
Well we will be back: only caveats. The wine list is expensive but a nice mix of types. And we felt waited on by at least four different waiters. A different one took the order that brought the wine. Another one cleared plates and yet another brought the food. A little confusing.
Wow! What a surprise this place was! We started off with the caprese, which was good. The quality of the mozzarella was fresh and moist. But more importantly, the entire reason I wanted to go to this place was to try the spicy, pink vodka sauce. I'm not a huge penne (which the sauce was originally topped with) fan so I was in a bit of a dilemma. My husband looked at me in front of the server and told me to ask about putting the sauce on the chicken ravioli special I wanted to try. The server looked at me and said they could prepare the ravioli exactly how I wanted. I can't tell you how refreshing this was to hear. I can't even tell you the number of restaurants I have been to that don't allow substitutions, or if they do the server makes it seem like they are being put out because of the request.
Let me just tell you that when I took my first bite of the chicken ravioli with the pink sauce I wanted to get up and dance. I did my best not to gulp them down too fast because I wanted to savor each delectable bite. They were fresh and the sauce added a spicy, flavorful twist. I am not a person that is easily blown away by the taste of something but this blew me away and that is why I'm writing such a long review for this place. I am a pink, vodka sauce fanatic and this was one of the best I have had. I sincerely hope the quality of this place doesn't go downhill after they get established. Â
To top it off I had my husband try the dish to make sure I wasn't crazy and his face lit up, too. He had ordered some kind of white sauce pizza with olives and sausage. When I asked him how it was he told me I had to try a piece. This is coming from a guy who has 'super buds' and rates every meal as either okay or pretty good. After trying a slice I understood his raving. It was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
On top of the excellent food, the service was outstanding. They cleared our things right away and our server was on par. He told us that since one of the owners was also the chef, he was willing to create dishes that please the customers - dishes that can be modified to a customer's liking.
I'm sure there are going to be people who aren't into this place and won't understand this review. But to them all I have to say is my first experience was awesome and I plan on going back! If my experience changes in any way I will keep you posted.
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