Ceviche House (old town). Not really new since they used to be in North Park but newish space. Ceviches were surprisingly good. You should go soon because service was pretty bad as was the feng shui. Combine that with high prices and small portions and I think this place may not last very long. Did I like it? Yes. Would I go back? Maybe but honestly it’s more likely I’ll go to a Mariscos truck.
Taqueria Revolucion (CV). Not new at all, except to me. Good birria, great adobada. Handmade tortillas (Maseca or other I don’t know though I know a lot more after DD’s tortilla article posted in another thread).
Maestoso is very good. Fusilli (with cauliflower ragu) and the cavatelli with oxtail ragu are both very good.
We got the oxtail one and risotto with osso bucco. Both were very good.
Tried salt and straw, the relatively new ice cream shop in little italy. I’m not a huge fan of sweets (except soft serve ice cream) so I tried the beet and goat cheese flavor. Was really good. Big line but moved very quickly. Recommended.
As a side note across the street is where the new piazza food hall type place is going in. Looks promising as a nice area to relax and eat.
But parking…
Unless you take the trolley or Uber in, LI is a royal PITA anymore
Or if you live there …
We parked a few blocks away and scootered over.
Don’t they have valet parking anymore in LI ?
Some places do, like Kettner Exchange. There’s also a large government parking structure that’s open to the public after 5 and all day on weekends (although you have to be out by 11 pm, I think). The entrance is on Kettner, between Beech and Cedar. Photo below is the sign at the corner of Kettner and Cedar. I’ve never parked here, and have no idea what the rates are.
There was also always valet parking for people visiting LI at the corner next Bencotto ($9) and very helpful as it was independent of any restaurant - we always used it for restaurant visits in LI.
Edit to add link: Who We Are / About / Little Italy San Diego
Agree.
It’s so odd that people have such a strong aversion to paying for parking.
I have no problem paying for parking, but when we go to LI in the afternoon, we trolley because we like to. In the afternoon we might have a glass of wine or a beer, but that’s about it. If we go in the evening (when we’re likely share a bottle of wine and also a cocktail or two), we taxi. It’s not aversion to paying for parking. It’s that I won’t drink and drive.
I don’t know. Maybe because you’re nickel and diming by charging to park in your lot so that I can spend a ton of money at your restaurant. And that goes for malls too.
Please don’t get me started on mall parking. Now that UTC is well on it’s way to finishing up their remodel, Javier’s and Dai Tin Fung still haven’t opened and I have no idea what is going to happen to the closed Sears and the old Nordy’s, they are going to start charging for parking. If you want to valet it fine, but I don’t think I should pay for the privilege to shop in their mall. If they want to get rid of the UCSD students and the office workers in the surrounding buildings, then just have a validation of some sort. But I think they are going to limit free parking to two hours with no validation. If they want me to maybe see a movie, shop a bit and have a sit down meal, two hours ain’t working.
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I’ll amend my earlier comment by saying that I do have a major-league aversion to parking at a shopping center or in a hospital parking lot (where you don’t even have a choice). Once UTC starts charging for parking, I doubt very much I’ll be going there to shop or dine, unless there’s a one-of-a-kind store and I can get in and out in two hours.
Real estate prices. Restaurant owners do not make money with their valet service.
Well, duh. But they make it up in their menu prices.
Not completely, no.
No, they do not. The valet service contracted to manage the parking makes money. Restaurants don’t pay the valets.