Excellent food. Good atmosphere. Great service from Irey! Helped us chose a great wine to go with dinner

Tony and Rodrigo were really the best, service was 10/10 , I really haven't had better service at a restaurant before very classy

Everything was great. The wood-fired steaks, drinks, dessert, and epic service. Our waiter, Cesar made it a truly fine dining experience.

This is a really yummy place! The happy hour not only has amazing food at reasonable prices but the service is top notch. I really need to have dinner in the dining room soon because I can only imagine how amazing it is. On my recent visit we shared 2 salads and 2 flatbreads ... it was all so amazing I tried a spritz which was refreshing Looking forward to my next visit read more

See all

Trying to make a reservation on a Monday night, which they were very strict about the time for when we could come in. When we showed up with a party of 10 for a big birthday, the restaurant was mostly empty. Service was great, but the food was not that good. The steaks were overly fatty, and when they put them in tacos, you were just chewing on a giant piece of fat with not much meat. The sides were expensive, and even the asparagus was hard to chew through because they couldn't figure out how to trim it right. For a place this price, it should be a lot better, with a lot more attention to the detail of the food and a lot more value for what you're paying for. I would pass in this place. Don't think it's gonna last. read more

If you're looking for a spot that's perfect for a date night or an elevated girls' night out, Amalfi Llama is a fantastic choice. The inviting atmosphere, creative cocktails, and delicious food make it a place that's easy to come back to. We started off with an appetizer and drinks. The calamari had tartar and spicy aioli on the side, and it was decently crispy. We ordered some drinks, and the standouts were the lychee martini and purple orchid. For entrees: -Lobster arrabbiata which had lobster and spicy tomato on spaghetti: This was a good size, and the flavors were on point. -Positano pizza: This had soppressata, finocchiona, and hot honey. I loved the savory and sweet balance. -Scottish salmon: This had asparagus, arugula, and roasted tomato on the side. On a separate visit, we ordered takeout and had the Maine lobster roll and the Amalfi burger. Both came with a lot of fries on the side. Even though it was takeout, the quality remained stellar! Whether you're dining in for a special evening or grabbing takeout at home, Amalfi Llama consistently delivers delicious food, excellent drinks, and a memorable experience. I'll definitely be back to explore more of the menu. read more

See all

I'm a big fan of Amalfi Llama and it continues to impress even for take out. We ordered the lobster roll ($37.99) and the Almafi burger (24.99) and the items were very thoughtfully packaged in a tamper proof bag. Surprisingly everything was still hot when we took out everything the eat at home. While value is not the strong suit of Amalfi Llama the taste and quality of food are the strong suits. I think the lobster roll is a new monthly guilty pleasure. It was so buttery and delicious. The burger - which I've gotten several times continues to impress with its quality and cohesion. The truffle fries were a great compliment to both dishes. It's conveniently located at a very popular an accessible part of UTC which is another win for convenience. read more

The Amalfi Llama - Maine Lobster Roll - Italian Near Me - San Diego, California

Satisfied tastebuds!!!!First customer on a Saturday lunch. Ordered: Crab cake - succulent crab meat chunks; just little breadcrumbs enough to hold the crab meat in citrus aioli. 5/5 Shrimp Scampi - perfect sauce the way we like it. Large juicy shrimps with garlic and sun-dried tomatoes blended perfectly with their Parmigiano reggiano they used. Al-dente pasta was a plus. 5/5 Positano - thin crust with salami, mozzarella, Fresno chili. The hot honey is new to us and we love it! 5/5 Maine Lobster Roll - Buttered/ grilled golden brown split top bun with generous amount of fresh chunks of lobster meat with chimichurri aioli chives dressing. 5/5 Strawberry drink was refreshing too. 5/5 Madison, our server was phenomenal. She explained brief history of the restaurant and dishes being served at the restaurant. Alfresco dining is also available. No issues with parking. Highly recommended and for sure we are coming back! read more

See all

Let's start by saying am thankful they were open until 10pm July 4th! Also, the place had decent vibe even though there were only a few of us dining being it's the 4th and most people were celebrating still. This place is purported to be Italian and Brazillian. Wood fired grillers in the kitchen. Saw they had a ribeye at $78 for a 16 oz so it lured me. Am a bit finicky with steaks but hey, it's wood fired so I was in! Ordered smashed potato with that steak and also had a Ceasar for starters. The salad came and it was decent but it left me wanting a bit more regarding its taste, but I thought, ok. Ceasar. No biggie. Then the steak came. Wifey mentioned it looked flat like somebody ran over it. I enjoy thicker cut steaks and this looked like about 1/2 inch steak. Taste was no big deal. I think i would have done better to have gone to Norms or even better. Outback Steakhouse because that's where how I felt about the steak. And our bill wasn't that cheap! The mashed wasn't bad tho. If anything, that's the only thing I enjoyed. Rodrigo wasn't bad as our waitstaff, so no complaints there. I'd better stop now. Would I come back? Doubt it. read more

The Amalfi Llama - Ceasar Salad - Italian Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

Came here to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday and we had such a pleasant experience! Easily made reservations on Resy (they also provide a $100 Amex credit as well). We were given the option of dining inside or outside and we opted for inside. Dimly lit but not too dark, with many tables and booths available. Our server Danny was great! Everything we ordered was delicious, but the standout was definitely the ribeye that was cooked to perfection! We got medium rare and they even offered to cut up our steak for us. The only small issue we had was how soft almost overcooked our pasta dish was. We got the capellini and the noodles were a bit on the mushy / soggy side. Besides that, everything else was delectable. They even brought out an ice cream birthday treat for my boyfriend at the end. I can't wait to come back to try other items from their menu. read more

See all

First time at this restaurant. amy boyfriend wanted to take me somewhere nice. This was definitely on the top tier of nice. Beautiful large venue, no reservations required. Live music on one side and we sat on the other but could hear the girl on the piano singing. We ordered an app, an entree, a side, 2 glasses of wine, a still water bottle and a sparkling water bottle. Food was good, but nothing spectacular for the price. Granted we know we were in La jolla so you pay their prices. Our waiter, Valentine was very good and efficient and tried his best to "upsale" us but we were good with our choices. I do want to go back to try the bone marrow side dish at some point. read more

See all

Had a great lunch at Amalfi Llama! The Hamachi Crudo was probably one of my favorite dishes of the day - really, really good. It was light and refreshing, with a subtle yuzu undertone that brightened the whole dish without overpowering the fish. The Truffle Pizza had a great mushroom-forward flavor with a nice garlic accent. It felt very light, which I appreciated, though I personally wish the crust had a bit more crisp and char. For mains, the Ribeye was excellent! Well seasoned, tender, and full of flavor. Definitely my preferred steak of the day. I'd highly recommend pairing it with the Trio Dip, which was a surprisingly great addition and complemented the steak really well. The New York Steak was also good, with solid beefy flavor, but didn't stand out as much as the ribeye. I'd especially recommend ordering it with the trio dip for extra flavor. Trio dip comes with a Serrano salsa, chimichurri, and a béarnaise sauce. For me the chimichurri was the best with the steak, then the serrano- bright and fresh, not spicy. The bearnaise was still good but I felt like not for me with steak. But The Broccolini was another standout side. It had a bright, slightly acidic sauce with just a touch of heat, not too spicy and paired beautifully with the steak. The Shrimp Scampi was good, though a bit different from what I expected. The sauce leaned creamier than a traditional scampi, and it included sun-dried tomatoes. Still, it was flavorful and came with a generous amount of shrimp. Service was also excellent! Staff changed plates between courses and paced everything nicely, which made the meal feel thoughtful and elevated. I recommend sitting outside if you can, the plants and decor really elevate and make a nice experience. read more

See all

Came here with the family for a Father's Day dinner. It's in the UTC mall so plenty of available parking even on a Saturday night. We were nicely greeted at the host stand and immediately seated (we had a reservation, recommended). There are some tables outside, but we chose to dine indoors. The ambiance here is low light and romantic. The restaurant is divided into a bar area and a dining area. There is an open kitchen where you can view the South American style barbecue grill. We were seated close to the bar area, and the music was a bit loud but seemed to be turned down to an acceptable level. The cuisine here is Italian with influences of South American BBQ and was across the board excellent. We chose calamari, tuna tartare and empanadas for starters. The calamari included some deep-fried vegetables including red jalapeno slices that made it special. The short rib empanadas and tuna tartare were excellent as well. For main courses, two of us guys had steaks and the ladies split a rack of lamb, which was perfect for two smaller people. All of the meats were sliced and presented perfectly. In steakhouse style we ordered some grilled mushrooms (fabulous) as well as pureed potatoes and grilled asparagus. We were too sated for dessert and there was no tiramisu on the menu so we passed. For drinks we did wines by the glass and some specialty cocktails. The wines were served at the proper temperature and the cocktails were very good. Service by Jeremy and his support staff was friendly and professional. I was greeted with a Happy Father's Day greeting. Overall, a great dining experience read more

See all

I come here all the time, and love their happy hour and live music on Thursday! Bar service is very attentive and super friendly, this is my new spot to wait out traffic. Plenty of parking since at UTC too. read more

Absolutely divine dining experience! The very best steak I've ever tasted along with all the other items we tried (burrata, shrimp appetizer, whipped potatoes, chocolate cake). The service was incredible. Our waiter was so helpful in explaining the menu and how to order and why each item he mentioned was special. There was no rush, we just sat, enjoyed, chatted and ate the best meal. This place is truly special and we loved the opportunity to dine here. read more

The Amalfi Llama - Wood grilled filet - Italian Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

A nice restaurant with a pleasant atmosphere. The food was good, the service was friendly, and everything was well prepared. Nothing really stood out, but overall it was a good dining experience. A solid place if you're looking for a nice meal. read more

We were seated outside for lunch, which was shaded well and had a great atmosphere. Our server was incredibly friendly and helpful, and the rest of the staff were great too. Favorite dishes included the prime rib and the broccolini. The prime rib was cooked perfectly but in my opinion the prime rib eye and New York steak needed a little bit of salt. We ordered a trio dip for our steak which did add make up some of that missing flavor I was craving. The mushroom pizza had good flavor but I do wish the crust was a little more crispy. The yuzu complimented the hamachi crudo well. We opted to skip dessert as we were so full at the end of our meal! read more

See all

We decided to dine here on Saturday evening to celebrate my mom's bday. I made a reservation for 5:30 but we ended up getting seated at 5 because my folks were hangry. The four of us sat in a spacious booth and ordered the shrimp appetizer and a crab cake to share. The seven shrimp in the app were well-cooked, and served in a flavorful & lightly fiery sauce. The crab cake was generously portioned & very tasty. The remoulade that accompanied it was not even needed because the cake itself was that delicious & perfectly cooked. Next we shared a Caesar salad... it was huge and plenty big enough for each of us to have a good sized portion. We also ordered a focaccia & it was quite tasty & it partnered well with the fiery sauce from the shrimp. Then the entrees.... My mom and auntie shared the filet & the mushroom risotto and they raved about it. They said the filet was juicy & although it was more medium rare than the medium they requested, they just gobbled it up. I tried the risotto & it was good. Mildly flavored. My dad's shrimp scampi was a little weird. It was not in a typical white wine, garlic, lemon & butter scampi sauce, it was much creamier & cheesier & overly sauced. It was also light on the pasta. He ate it, but if I had ordered it, I may have sent it back. My frutti di mare pasta was good. Nothing to rave about, but tasty and a generous portion. I took 1/2 home. My dad and I tried a smoked apricot sour, and it was smooth, and an easy-drinking whisky cocktail Cesar was our waiter and he took good care of us. He dealt with our many special requests kindly, and overall, was very professional and courteous. Thank you, Cesar! I'm happy to pay more (or even top dollar) for a dining experience that is exquisite and/or consists of expertly prepared items in some way, but the Amalfi Llama's prices seem to be inflated primarily due to their steakhouse moniker and the UTC location, and not because of the fine quality of their food. Parking is free for the first hour in the UTC lot, and $2 for subsequent hours. Overall verdict: this steakhouse has upscale aspirations & in many ways, it delivers. The classy interior, live music & great service are all highlights. However, very high prices, and some food that doesn't quite meet the mark takes some of the shine off of the Amalfi Llama. Mahalo! read more

See all

It was a nice weekend to wander around UTC so I decided to take a few laps around. I've always seen Amalfi Llama but never stopped by. Upon entering I was greeted by the nice hostess who asked me for my table preference and seating preference. I chose to sit inside but facing outside just to get a nice view of people passing by. The interior of the restaurant is super nice with a very homey, intimate atmosphere. The restaurant is fancy but not stiff if that makes sense. Server came by quite quickly and I placed my order of half a dozen oysters and shrimp scampi. The oysters were super fresh and I absolutely loved how clean and pleasing on the eyes the setup was. After I finished my oysters, the shrimp scampi was brought out. Throughout my meal, my server checked up on me to make sure food was well to my liking and the manager checked up on me as well. I got to chat a bit with him about the restaurant and it was incredibly nice learning of Amalfi Llama's vision and story. It gave the restaurant a depth beyond "another restaurant at UTC." Despite the restaurant having a decent crowd, the service and food were phenomenal. I will say that hands down, this is now one of my goto restaurants at UTC, not only for the food but for the service. The restaurant is a great place for professional lunch/dinners, friend and family meals. I definitely like the range of options on the menu and will be coming back again to try other items. I highly recommend dining here. Just looking at the food photos alone is mouthwatering! Overall rating: Food: 10/10 Service: 10/10 Menu: 10/10 Restaurant Vibes: 10/10 Price to Overall Dining (POD): 10/10 read more

See all

Love the decoration and vibe of the restaurant but we thought the food was just alright. Asked for a few recommendations but I ended up not liking them as much. Tuna tartare was delicious tho. I loved the sauce that came with it. We ordered medium rare steak but I thought it was a little more rare rather than medium rare. Slightly chewier than I usually preferred but not bad. Mashed potato was pretty good. Servers were nice and pretty attentive read more

The Amalfi Llama - Italian Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

Loved dining here! Restaurant is very clean and classy. Cristina , our server, had the perfect recommendations and knew the menu very well. We went along with her recs for the appetizer: focaccia, entree: rack of lamb with sides of mushroom and potato puree, dessert: butter cake. Food was great! Cristina was overall very attentive and provided the best service! Would definitely come back! read more

I don't always enjoy a $200+ fancy meal on myself for a single meal...but when I do, it's when a vendor is treating me! Great service from the hostesses, bartender, bussers, and our handsome, blonde haired waiter. Gorgeous, elegant and modern inside! COCKTAILS! Old Fashioneds, Expresso Martinis and Chocolate Martinis are fabulous. $29 half dozen oysters...fresh, oceaney, vibrant, and expensive! Loved them, but quite pricy! $31 Truffle Mushroom Pizza...Fresh mushrooms, lovely truffle oil, on a very thin decadent crust, yum! I was dining with 4 others, but I ended up eating half! $20 Short Rib Empanadas...I love me some puff pastries with yummy meats inside. Great starter for choice for middle class people! $78 16oz Ribeye Steak...JUICY! BEEFY! EXPENSIVE! I love a good meaty well marbled ribeye steak. Extra buttery and melt in your mouth! So good! Seemed a bit overpriced though, does not come with sides because this is a fancy schmancy restaurant. $34 Lobster Alfredo Gnocchi "side"...rich people's version of Mac & Cheese, and I loved every bite! Lots of buttery lobster chunks! $18 Grilled Asparagus side...it's a lot! Nicely grilled, charred, smokey, and perfectly buttery. $18 Potato Puree...everything was so amazing, this just kinda average. Still good though. $15 Turtle Pie...delicious, caramely, chocolatly, creamy pie. Perfect Grande Finale! read more

See all

Steak Frites was fabulous and cooked to perfection. Highly recommend getting the trio sauce as well because the tomato chimichurri was the freshest sauce I have ever had. The short rib empanadas were delicious but are small. There was a live singer on Friday night. She was great but it was mostly Celine Dion and at times felt very loud. The margarita special for FIFA was also fantastic with fantastic presentation. read more

I think Amalfi Llama has the best food at UTC. The hostess is always friendly and welcoming, and the servers are friendly. I also believe they have the best Caesar salad. It's easily in the running for #1 spot at UTC for sure. The prices are a bit steep for an entree + salad. You're looking at spending well over $100 for 2 people for a decent salad with protein. The bar area is a little slower in the service department as there's only one or two bartenders for the entire section so keep that in mind if you want quicker service. Might be the same as getting a table if they are available. The restaurant is always clean, vibey, and has a relaxed feeling to it. It's a spot I love to come to for a treat or a mid week pick me up with my dog and mom where we can sit on the patio and enjoy. read more

See all

My husband and I dined here for the first time. We started with the positano pizza which we both enjoyed. The pizza was a thin crust with hot honey, salami and peppers - I wish there were more peppers. We both ordered the steak frites, medium rare. My husband's came out perfectly but mine was more on the rarer side so I had to send it back. Afterwards it was fine. I also order the passion fruit mojito nice and refreshing. Didn't catch our waitress's name but she was nice. Would return again! read more

The Amalfi Llama - Positano pizza - Italian Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

The food and drinks here were great! We came here for date night and it was perfect. Our server came by to check on us often. The food did not take long and just kept coming out. We had the opportunity to try a lot. We had the arugula and artichoke salad, lobster bisque, tuna tartar, hamachi crude, shishito peppers, lobster roll, lamb chops, filet mignon, branzino, lobster tails, broccolini and mushroom risotto. My least favorite was the risotto. It was just too chalky tasting. The drinks were delicious as well. I really enjoyed the apricot sour. We were seated outside but it was nice with the heat lamps. There was also live music which was perfect. It created the perfect ambiance for dinner and good company. I'd definitely come back again in the future! read more

See all

Came for a group dinner on a Thursday evening. There was a wide variety of apps, Italian dishes as well as Argentinian wood-grilled entrees. Ordered a Millamessi.. didn't like it but staff was kind and let me order something else - so I selected the Bolognese rigaton, which was delicious. Portions are a nice size. place was busy with live music and lots of people on a Thursday night. Would come back again! read more

The Amalfi Llama - Savory Bolognese Rigatoni - Italian Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

The ambiance was nice, and I loved the décor both inside and out. We had a reservation right when they opened, and we were the only customers seated indoors. Most diners chose the patio, but it was a little too chilly for me to eat outside that day. For being the only table inside, service felt surprisingly slow--especially when it came to getting water refills, which was disappointing. We started with the short rib empanadas, and I ordered the prime ribeye. Since they promote themselves as an Italian steakhouse, I wanted to try the steak, but it wasn't very impressive. For a prime cut, I didn't expect so much gristle, and it also wasn't cooked medium rare as requested. I could only eat about half, and we ended up taking the rest home to cook it properly. My husband ordered the wood-grilled half chicken, which he felt was dry. In hindsight, we probably should have tried one of the Italian entrées instead, and we may give them another chance in the future. Overall, the wait for our food was longer than expected given how quiet it was. I don't mind waiting when the food is outstanding, but in this case it was mediocre and didn't feel worth the hype. read more

See all

Had a lovely experience from start to finish! Cesar, our waiter, was incredibly helpful with the menu and gave us his recommendations with complete honesty, which we truly appreciated. The service overall was exceptional. Now for the best part--the food! From the warm focaccia to the margarita pizza and everything in between every bite was absolutely delicious. Every entrée we ordered was phenomenal. I highly recommend the caesar salad, shrimp scampi, fire roasted chicken, and the bolognese rigatoni. We can't wait to come back! read more

Great ambiance and wonderful happy hour apps. Tuna tartare is my usual go-to but this time it was swimming in soy sauce so really salty. Had to leave half of it! Just too salty. The shishisto peppers were great and so was the flatbread. Would order again. Bar area was busy and MOST of the bar staff are friendly. read more

See all

We came here for my mom's 60th birthday, party of five, and I honestly wanted this place to be amazing. The restaurant is beautiful and the service staff was really sweet and attentive. They did everything they could. The issues were all with the kitchen and the overall experience. We booked indoor seating on OpenTable, but they sat us outside in the dark. We had to ask the hostess to move us, and thankfully she did, but it definitely threw the night off a bit. The appetizers were good, so we thought things were going in the right direction. Then there was a really long wait before the main courses came out. My prime ribeye mild was cooked right, but my mom's filet mignon came out completely overcooked even though she ordered mild too. We sent it back and switched to a prime ribeye for her, and that one came out basically raw. At that point we were all just tired and honestly kind of sad since this was supposed to be her birthday dinner. Then the birthday dessert came out and I found a piece of plastic in my spoonful!! That was the point where I knew it was not just a small mistake kind of night. For a place that is so expensive, the food needs to match the price. Get the steaks together or don't advertise your restaurant as a wood fire steakhouse and do not charge that much. Everything else tasted fine, but the main part of the meal was a total letdown. The ambiance is beautiful and the service staff was great, but the kitchen really needs to get it together. I left wanting to like this place, but we walked out disappointed instead of celebrating. read more

See all

I really liked the strawberry martini! The pizza was also very good. The red sauce was excellent. The mashed potatoes were heavenly. I will definitely come back. The service was also on point. read more

Food: delicious. The beet salad with protein add on options was my favorite. The add on steak was a generous amount. Service: very attentive Ambiance: dimmed lightings read more

See all

Overall: sexy ambiance with live music & a great dinner spot. We walked in on on Saturday night at 8 PM after doing some returns at the mall when we were offered a table in the bar area, which was an adorable corner booth. I was really impressed that u had a place to set my feet on because I'm very short and normally have a hard time with regular bar seats. There are a lot of cute touches like that. Hooks to hold your purse, etc. I was loving the soulful music which I thought was from a playlist so I used Shazam in order to capture the song. However, the music started to sound live so I walked around...only to find it was coming from a very talented woman named Marianne across the bar. Service was friendly, but we both noticed other tables were a bit ignored or slow to be served. We ordered a few margaritas. Cesar salad with chicken and the lobster arrabbiata with table-side Parmesan. The food was great. I'm not a big focaccia lover but there's was the best I've ever had. It was warm, light, airy, fluffy, and came with this amazing butter AND olive oil, balsamic rosemary. We used the bread to dip into the leftover pasta sauce. We ordered margaritas. I would definitely recommend the blood orange drink they have on the menu. Shout out to Morgan, who was an amazing server and Marianne whose live music changed my whole mood. You are so talented girl! read more

We got the prime rib sandwich and it was delicious as always with a soft bun. And a sauce, French fries it was very, very good. The servers are very nice here The ambience is fancy with white glasses on the table read more

See all

1. The food was cooked well and was tasty, we followed the waiter's recommendation to get the cacio de Pepe. It wasn't a very large portion.. probably a cup and a half of pasta. Good, but nothing to write home about. The steak was also cooked well. I wish they hadn't cut it ahead of time as it was a bit cooler than I think it would have been if they just served it uncut. Good charcoal crust, seasoning, etc. 2. Work dinner over being a date spot: in my opinion this place was good for a work dinner and not so much a date location. Not as "vibe-y". Relatively slow service for how busy the restaurant was - which wasn't much. Took us ~15-20 min to get our check.. so if you're in a rush, something to consider. 3. Friendly waitstaff 4. Not that much food Overall, decent food and service. I just really wasn't that blown away for what we got out of it, which is why I'd vote 3.5/5. read more

The Amalfi Llama - Cacio e Pepe & Prime Ribeye (16oz) - Italian Near Me - San Diego, California

Another amazing restaurant located in UTC! Highly recommend Amalfi! Service was too notch. read more

I had an overall enjoyable experience here. My party had a reservation in one of the private rooms but despite being away from foot traffic, our servers were good about checking in. The caesar salad was definitely one of the better ones I had, with fresh ingredients, flavorful without going overboard on sauce. Loved the parmesan. The cut of steak I had was a filet, which was above average, loved how soft and tender and juicy it was with good flavor. Presentation could have been a bit better since it was just a jalapeno sitting on top of it, and half the stem got dislodged. There were also asparagus and mashed potatoes, but these were pretty average. The asparagus could have tasted fresher. read more

The Amalfi Llama - Steak - Italian Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

The ambiance was great! We first started off at the bar for a round of drinks. Unfortunately our bartender seemed like he wasn't having a good time day. That was a negative start but we brushed it off and decided to order the rest of our drinks at our table. The food did not impress us but our waitress was amazing!! She really racked up the stars on this review. She was so nice and ha e is such positive vibes. The live music really made it lively and fun! We requested songs and she did not disappoint! We would go back for the music!! If they can kick up a notch on the food it would be a solid 5 star. read more

See all

Love the ambience modern vibe I was in the conference room in the back Large screen Our waiter was great Food was on point Will come back Parking is inside UTC mall read more

See all