Wow, we had a great meal from start to finish! Our server was so nice and on top of it! Our water cups were never empty and she made sure everything went smoothly. The fresh pasta is CHEF's KISS. We really loved how chewy they were. I am a sucker for passion fruit so the passion fruit curd pavlova really was the cherry on top for our meal. We'll be back! read more

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I'm shocked this place doesn't have a higher rating. Service is TOP notch, atmosphere is wonderful, and food is yummy! Funny enough - my fiancée and I have been her three times and have sat in the same booth all three times. The Manager noticed this time and went out of his way to mark it for all future reservations.. so kind! The Foccacia is heavenly! Exhibit A - we both ordered our own share of Foccacia. No need to fight over the last piece. Ha! read more

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Lovely setup with comfy chairs and tables. During our dinner service, the chef apparently hurt himself, so everything was slowed down dramatically. The server told us about the incident when she delivered the check, but it would have been nice to know why we were waiting for such an extensive period of time. Regardless, my bucatini amatriciana was excellent. The pasta was cooked just right and the sauce matched perfectly. I kind of wish there was more guanciale (Italian cured pork) in the dish. Also shared the roasted rosemary garlic focaccia, which was fluffy and flavorful, especially with their butter. read more

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It was a wonderful section of the restaurant to host a company holiday. The staff and service were excellent and drinks served on point by Olivia. Our dinner was buffet style and our food options were excellent. Mushroom Pizza Salmon Salmon with mixed veggies Chicken with asparagus Palenta And veggie rigatoni Best of all... there were quite a bit of extra food and Cucina had to go containers for us to take home!!! read more

Watermelon salad to start was so flavorful and delicious. Focaccia was warm and soft and just the right density. Yum. Pepperoni pizza with the hot-honey drizzle was outstanding. Crust.Sauce. Cheese. Pepperoni :) Served right out of the oven. Wow. Rigatoni was solid. Big portion and tasty sauce. Wines were good. Nice selection of wines for sure. Service was impeccable (Olivia!). Host was friendly and welcoming. Decor, music, etc was good. read more

I like the decor and ambiance of this restaurant. Especially love the cushioned seats which were so comfy. Our server was very friendly and informative but not around when we were ready to order and ready for the check. We started with the grilled octopus and local hamachi crudo. I'm not a big seafood person so these appetizers were not for me but my husband loved both. I ordered the bucatini amatriciana and thought it was good. It has a spicy red sauce with red onions and bacon. My husband ordered the wagyu hanger steak (medium rare). The center or the steak was medium rare but the outer edges of the steak were burnt which overpowered the flavor of the meat. We shared a bottle of Moscato wine (La Caudrina). It was sweet and delicious just the way I like my wine. They charge $20 to take the bottle home or $30 if you want to drink it there ($10 corking fee). read more

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Food was incredible. We did only get 2 items so we are excited to come back and try more. The roasted cabbage and mushroom pizza were super savory and satisfying. Service was fast and attentive. The interior and vibe was trendy and classy. Love it all! read more

Came for Christmas Eve dinner. The restaurant is beautiful and the service was excellent. Unfortunately, we're knocking off two stars due to some surprising shortages and quality issues. They had completely run out of bread, which at an Italian restaurant is hard to overlook--especially with a 6:00 pm reservation. Not having bread felt like a fundamental miss. They were also out of another appetizer, meaning 2 of the 10 appetizers on the menu weren't available. On top of that, the mixed drinks were poorly made and inconsistent. Overall, a lovely space and great staff, but the execution on food and bar service didn't match expectations for a holiday dinner. read more

Great ambiance, especially since it's not overly packed on a Tuesday. They have a good assortment of happy hour apps. Everything was good including the service. Check out my pics of the food! Deserts are a must!! read more

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Updated review - went to Cucina Enoteca a couple of times this past month. Once was with a large group of colleagues and the next time sat at the bar with my husband. Both the times the food was fantastic, the service was great and have always loved the ambience. Adding it back to my to-go places! read more

I visited this place with my girlfriends and our respective kiddos for a pre-Mothers Day celebration and was absolutely blown away by the experience. Our server, Anais was simply amazing - providing great recommendations when it came to drinks, very patient with all the kiddos taking their time to order and checking in on us every now and then to ensure we were never without food or drink. We tried a variety of appetizers - the roasted tomato focaccia, the burrata w/tomatoes and olives, fried squash blossom, cucina meatballs and truffle herb parmesan fries. For our entrees we had a few orders each of the artichoke and spinach ravioli, bucatini amatriciana, short rib mafaldine, chicken milanese and fennel sausage pizza. And to wrap up- we tried the chocolate budino (my fav) , the basque style cheesecake, the tiramisu and gelato. read more

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Sadly they are CLOSING this location! Last day is Friday March 7, 2025. Rent went up. They're having a sale of the remaining wine and furniture March 14th. read more

Visited on 3.14.25 Overall a very cute spot, great ambiance. 2 of 3 dishes ordered were amazing. Would definitely be back. Food: Short rib mafaldine - was a miss. Had a burnt taste to it. Short rib was tender and pasta cooked well but that burnt taste overpowered the entire dish. Would not order again. Rigatoni bolognese - AMAZING. They ran out of rigatoni but we subbed out to a different pasta shape. No matter, that sauce and the ricotta dollops were divine! Would 1000% order again. Tiramisu - delicious! Super light and tasty. One of the better ones we've had in San Diego. Would definitely order again. Service: Good service. They were attentive and manager came over to let us know about the rigatoni outage. She was sincere and offered a great alternate shape. We had a limited amount of time for dinner and we were able to be in/out on time! read more

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Went there to celebrate Mother's Day. It was really good experience. Food quality and quantity was perfect and service was really fast and host gave us enough time to explain about the food in detail. Pasta is must try and pizza is the best I have ever had, thin crust with full of flavors. I would recommend this place and would definitely revisit whenever I get chance. read more

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Such a beautiful atmosphere for a dinner after the racetrack! I was a little concerned about it being too loud for our group but I asked for a quiet table and they definitely accommodated that request! The service from the hostess to the waitress and everyone in between was great. The grilled octopus was better than I expected and the short rib pasta was beyond incredible! They also have gluten free pasta that everyone else at the table said they couldn't tell it was gluten free (which is a good thing trust me!). The others had the burrata and pasta bolognese and raved about it! The parking lot can be a little crowded but super easy to ride share. read more

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Superb! With a feel of walking into a food kitchen market and seated in the main dining room that's bright and welcoming space. The tables made us feel like seating at an elevated farm to setting. Service was so well done that we didn't think they were there but they were. Thinking about the grilled octopus still brings back fond memories of the char, roasted flavors. Amazing. Burrata was sumptuous. Meatballs can't say anything bad. For mains, the short rib mafaldine was divine from the richness, seasoning without overwhelming and makes me take my time to appreciate all the flavors. The clam linguine was perfect but I'll have some more short rib please! Enjoy!! read more

Cucina enoteca Del Mar - Clam linguine - Italian Near Me - Del Mar, California

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Meatball ~ AWESOME!!! Awesome sauce too!!! Taylor - great server - super sweet!!! Kind and caring! Atmosphere was quiet and pleasant. Great place to unwind from traffic!! read more

Cucina enoteca Del Mar - Delicious meatball- awesome sauce!! - Italian Near Me - Del Mar, California

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We ordered the short rib malfadine and rigatoni bolognese. Both came out very quickly and were delicious. I loved the pasta shape of the malfadine, and the short rib was very soft. I don't usually like bolognese but this had a citrus flavor and was delightful (maybe even better than the short rib pasta) with pockets of ricotta. Definitely recommend trying it if you are in the mood for some fancy pasta. They also had a prix-fixe menu special for Christmas which I wish I could try (but it is ending soon). Hopefully I can try one of their other set courses in the future. Went on a Sunday afternoon and it was totally empty. Happy Hours are only on certain days. read more

Cucina enoteca Del Mar - short rib mafaldine - Italian Near Me - Del Mar, California

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Inside an upscale shopping plaza with a Whole Foods and boutique style stores, this small restaurant chain mixes a funky design aesthetic with a fun, lively atmosphere as well as a wine shop where you can find interesting wines of the world. Bonus on buying retail and drinking on premise. Very friendly staff - many came to say hello. We visited during happy hour which offers some discounts on wines, drinks and a few menu items. Meatballs - nice. Served over polenta with marscapone which was rich and creamy Chopped salad - under seasoned, could have used a bit more ooomph. Mussels - nice broth, well grilled bread to accompany. We enjoyed the people watching and the hospitality. Will be back to try wines and some of the entree items! read more

Cucina enoteca Del Mar - Fellini wall - Italian Near Me - Del Mar, California

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Nice cozy atmosphere and holiday music when we visited. Service nice but a little earnest. The food was close but not quite there. Noodles were a bit soggy and under salted (this from someone who rarely adds salt). The bolognese I had a taste of was weak I'm afraid to say. Other pastas were fine but not craveable . Glass wine selection solid quality and reasonably priced so that's something many places can't seem to do. We lingered a bit after the meal because enjoying the space and vibe but would definitely order something different all around another time. read more

My husband and I came early to meet up some friends for birthday dinner. We love this location over the Irvine location for these reasons: 1. Easy parking 2. Intimate setting 3. Excellent service 4. Selection of wine Would definitely make the drive to Del Mar over the Irvine and we are commuting from LA read more

Cucina enoteca Del Mar - the persimmon drink was amazing! - Italian Near Me - Del Mar, California

Excellent food and drink, and ambiance and once again we had an amazing server, Jordon. He was so pleasant and efficient and took great care of us. We'll be back read more

Service was good. The food is UNDERWHELMING AND VERY EXPENSIVE for what you get. If you want $45 salad which was lettuce with barbonzo beans mascarading as Italian Antipasti this place is for you. If you order half chicken and get two pieces of chicken on a plate, you'll like this RIP OFF and low quality pasta you'll be happy. I was embarrassed in front of my friends and had to apologize. A pretending Italian restaurant with overpriced and less than ordinary food. read more

Family salad is huge way more than 4 persons Short rib and pasta bowl was delicious. Very attentive service. read more

The menu is always changing, but good haul from this takeout! I got the mushroom pizza, which is very delicious and good for two meals... And their new smoked salmon dip! Big pieces of fresh smoked salmon, a salmon purée, and a bunch of flatbread crackers to eat it with very delicious meal! I wish more restaurants would do taramasalata style appetizers. Pacific social had a delicious one on briefly and then removed it. I hope Urban Kitchen keeps this one here, presumably borrowed from the Gold Finch menu since it's more a Jewish than an Italian dish. The only thing I would change is a little more dill and a little more seasoning. But it was a great value and I'm dividing it over three meals! read more

Cucina enoteca Del Mar - mushroom goat cheese pizza. Yum!! - Italian Near Me - Del Mar, California

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Came here for a friend's birthday, and it was perfect! Ambiance and service both matched our energy for the birthday girl. We did a family style dinner with: - Family Portioned Rigatoni Bolognese (5/5): so worth, portions were massive, pasta was cooked perfectly - Short Rib Pappardelle (4/5): wish there was a little more flavor but we also shared a normal sized portion worth 6 people so I didn't get the full experience - Octopus appetizer (5/5): yum! get this for sure, octopus wasn't rubbery and the beans had so much flavor read more

Cucina enoteca Del Mar - rigatoni bolognese - Italian Near Me - Del Mar, California

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Word of mouth got us here and we're so glad! What a gorgeous place near the polo and soccer fields. Love the equestrian/wino vibe. It's gorgeous inside. Kids can make their own pizza! How badass is that?! I had the burger and it was absolutely divine. Tried the pepperoni pizza with hot honey and wow, so good. They have a great non-alcoholic beer that I hadn't tried before. Awesome. Our server was lovely. We'll be back for sure. read more

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Great food, drinks and service. My only issue was the noise. It was very loud and we had to speak very loudly to carry a conversation. read more

I came here for a catered group outing. We took pasta making classes, cocktail making classes, and charcuterie board making classes. Afterwards, we were treated to an assortment of salads, pizza, and pasta. The food, especially the pasta, was some of the best that I've had in a very long time. read more

Cucina enoteca Del Mar - Italian Near Me - Del Mar, California

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I came here with a few friends for an early dinner. It had been a while since I last dined here so I was exited to try it again. Sad to say, nothing I had was great. To start we ordered the squash blossoms and focaccia. Both were standard but the focaccia had more flavor than anything else that was ordered. The Italian chopped salad was lacking flavor, I felt like the dressing was just lemon and olive oil. There was nothing special to it and it bordered bland. For my main dish I ordered the bucatini Amitricana and it was not great. Overly salty, sauce was lacking flavor. Traditionally it should have been made with pork belly but this tasted like pork cheek (no big deal). The pork was burnt to a crisp, each piece I had tasted like charcoal. Wine selection was fine. I think for the price point they offer everything should be great but it was severely lacking. Waiters were fine. I ordered the bucatini without an egg and it ended up coming with one. Not a huge deal except the up charge was 3 dollars. I am giving two stars because their desserts were good. Tiramisu was made well and had great flavor. Overall I have had way better Italian around the area. I think the food needs some work. Maybe the pizzas are better? I don't know. read more

Terrible service. I mean the waiter was extremely friendly and nice when he was around...but he never checked on the table after we got our order. Had to ask someone else to get boxes. Came once for dessert and that was it. Took forever to get the check, and checked on everyone around us, but our table. Food was good, a little too salty for me. Probably won't come back. read more

Cucina enoteca Del Mar - Italian Near Me - Del Mar, California

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The night started out really well as our food choices were being brought out. However quality of food started going downhill after the appetizers. Highly recommend the Octopus, it was delicious. Truffle Parmesan fries were also good. However the Short Rib Pappardelle needed more noodles for the massive amount of meat they pile on. The carrots were also undercooked, as they were still hard. Can skip the tiramisu, the cake layer wasn't soaked enough, kind of dry ... The atmosphere and service makes up for the food. Our waitress was really friendly and accommodating. read more

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I have eaten several times at this restaurant, trying to give it some benefit. the decor is very nice and the entrance is impressive. We were sitted at 5:30pm in the dining room facing west and it was very, very warm even with the shades pulled down. Very uncomfortable. The appetizers were very good however the entrees were not worth the money. We were a group of eight and seven orders of pasta and one salad, which was terrible. The service was very good but I would not recommend this place if you want a good dinner. . read more

Went to this place for valentines and had a nice dining experience! Focaccia was the star of the night, my friend and i love bread so we rate it a 9/10 My friend rated their pasta a 7.5/10 (a short rib pasta) I got an eggplant based pasta i will also rate it a 7.5/10 Our wines were different but mine was so yummy and worth the price, my friend didn't enjoy theirs as much but the wine selection was very nice to see! Overall the experience was good, the ambiance was also nicely lit and service was great and detailed. I would say it's keeping itself from a 5 because it just didn't feel comfortable? Maybe it was a mix of the seating and the atmosphere? But definitely a good place for a date night ! read more

Great service and great ambiance. Very warm tone to the restaurant. Its dark but not too dark. Server was great with recommendations and made it right celebrating a birthday with a wonderful dessert at the end. Id highly recommend 2 drinks. 1. The cardigan - pear liquor with bourbon & lemon 2. Rosa Cosa - very fruity and delicious I did this the squid ink pasta. The highlight though was the hot sauce. The hot sauce was SO good I bought a whole container to-go. WORTH IT. It goes well with any protein or even cauliflower. read more

Cucina enoteca Del Mar - Rosa Cosa - Fruity delicious $13 - Italian Near Me - Del Mar, California

Only if it could be passed on to the staff. The chefs in the backend cooking the good stuff. The staff at the frontend taking care of endless demands or requests of the seated ones. To top off a nice day, this is to be at .. cool place and delicious food. If you don't find parking, you will! read more

Probably one of the best restaurants in Del Mar. I know everyone goes to Del Mar for like the views and anything they are not by the coast with a view- they have amazing food and service. We came here with a large group of probably about 15 to 20 people for a work dinner and the food was super good. With a big party like this, you do have to pick a prefix menu but the prefix menu is legit and is actually family style - shared. We had a lot of food that we ordered and wine was flowing through the tables by their amazing staff. The short rib pappardelle is a must. You just have to order this because it's one of their specialties. The short rib itself was super tender and they provide such a generous amount. Their ribeye was also amazing, cooked perfectly and their specialty salad was delicious. Overall this is an amazing restaurant. The food is amazing, the staff is amazing, and most importantly the environment and vibe is just so nice. Definitely a great place to celebrate a birthday or to celebrate anything or even a fancy date night. Highly recommended. read more

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Everything was delicious ! We went on a Sunday so no corkage fee! We took advantage and got a bottle of red. The montepulciano was recommended by our server, Evan. I'm new to red wine, so I was very appreciative of his help choosing one! The bottle was resealable, so we were able to take half of it home. To start, we got the truffle fries which were crispy and tasty. Evan also recommended a hot sauce with the fries which I added to the ketchup to get a spicy dip. My main course, the rigatoni, was aldente and creamy. Sauce was a perfect amount to the point where the plate was clean when I was done. I love the touches of ricotta added to the top as well, since I prefer cream added to tangy tomato sauces. My friend for the seafood pasta and ate every bite! It's a lovely array of clams and shrimp, with squid ink noodles to round out the seafood flavor. Would definitely come again! read more

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Sad to have to give them a low review since I used to consider Cucina Enoteca one of my fave Italian restaurants in the area. We came on an early Tuesday evening at 5:30pm, but they were already out of two menu items we wanted. It also seems like the franchise underwent major menu changes that unfortunately altered or removed some of our favorite go-to items. The short rib pappardelle (our former favorite and why we made this reservation) has been replaced by a short rib mafaldine. We were not the hugest fans of the new pasta and change in ingredients. We missed the mushrooms and carrots that the original recipe included and felt that the switch to cherry tomatoes and kale was lackluster. Our favorite items of the night were the fried squash blossoms and the goat cheese caramelle! Definitely worth giving these a try! Loved the corn purée with the pasta. However, we were also disappointed to see the reduced portion size as our blossom plate only came with two pieces. For dessert, we got the tiramisu, which was good, but a bit dry for our liking. Fortunately, the service is still amazing and the ambiance is great for date nights and family dinners! All of our items came out super quick and the servers were very attentive. Sadly, there were just too many disappointments with the menu that night to give them a higher review this time. read more

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Very cool and fancy but relaxed, restaurant. We stopped by here on a Friday night at 6 pm with reservations. They were needed. I have been by here many of times but never noticed this place. It is hard to miss with the 2 story, awesomely nice upstairs. Lots of nice decor, glass and wine! The atmosphere was really cool. Parking was not cool but we managed. The front reception was ok. Young girls that weren't so friendly but they eventually got us to our table. The waitress and servers were very cool and friendly and the food was ordered correctly and arrived very quick. Very attentive but not overly. The food was pretty good. I would like to try a few more items to give an overall review of the food. Let me explain, it was sort of hit and miss. The octopus was one of the best appetizers I have ever had in my life! But then my meal of short ribs was meh. The bucatini amatriciana pasta was so fresh and delicious but the bowl lacked some flavor. The drinks were good but one had a nice amount of alcohol while the other fell a little short. Tons of potential and maybe it was me or the cook but something was missing. I can't wait to come back and try this place again to see what it is really like. I will update the review after another experience. read more

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