Filippi’s Pizza Grotto

A total disappointment. I have been to a number of Filippis restaurants and this was my first time at this location. If you frequent any Filippi’s you know how good their pizza is. LOTS of cheese, LOTS of pepperoni, LOTS of sauce, etc, etc on crust that is on the thin side. NOT THIS LOCATION AT ALL. This locations pizza is ALL dough. Thin layer of cheese and only enough sauce to give it a red tinge. I am not kidding when I say Lttle Ceasers $ 5 hot and ready is better than this locations pizza. Not worth it. GO TO A DIFFERENT LOCATION.

We have been going to Fillipi’s for years and have never been disappointed. The pizza, pasta and antipasto salad is consistently good. The service is always outstanding. We also get takeout from Fillipi’s and, again, have never been disappointed.

WORST DINING EXPERIENCE. the whole staff isnt very friendly. we were served COLD FOOD. asked to get it reheated and the bread amd butter were cold as well so there was really no way to spread cold butter on cold bread. got our food back nice and hot only to find a THICK BLACK HAIR IN OUR LASAGNA. we notified the lady at the front and all she said was «okay» and walked away. HORRIBLE SERVICE. NEVER GOING HERE AGAIN.
just fyi, the Escondido Location is so much friendlier and the food is always perfect (plus no $ 2.50 extra charge when you ask for a side plate)

Please check your credit card statements after eating here. I’ve been sick and bed ridden for a week since sunday and finally went out to eat here on tuesday (I’ve gone nowhere else or bought anything this week with my credit card in person or online). Today I checked my bank statement on a whim and saw a fraudulent $ 50 charge from Boost Mobile that was ran the day after I ate there. I don’t have Boost Mobile and neither does anyone in my family. It could be someone else and it could be coincidental but I find the timing highly suspicious. Again, not accusing anyone at this restaurant but I’m just doing others a service by asking them to check their bank charges after eating here. Food and service was fine. Tomato sauce was a little under seasoned so I added salt and parm. When I reflavored the leftovers at home it was good. Toasted bread and butter was good.

I had the pizza, it is one of the best pizzas in town. Service was kinda slower than normal but it was extra busy with the playoff game on. Good food, good drinks, great friendly environment.

I go here for lunch, never been here for dinner. The pizzas are excellent and service is GREAT. The bar is «old school» very dark, but with lots of TVs, usually have a game of some sort on.
Highly recommend this place, sit in the bar area.

Best Italian restaurant I know. I drive here every time from Central California for this amazing food. I love it here, the food is the best.

I adore Filippi’s! The one in little Italy is my favorite location, however sometimes it can be so difficult to find parking. There is a small parking lot here and you don’t have to worry! The food is delicious and fairly consistent across all locations.
The folks I come with enjoy the antipasta. I won’t eat it because I’m vegetarian but they rave about it! I enjoy the salads and the pastas. The pizza is really good too! I always leave happy.

I’ve had the pizza and it’s pretty decent. That’s where I should have stopped. But last night, I decided to take my family in an attempt to enjoyed some of their other offerings. Some of us got pasta. The rest ordered sandwiches. The pasta had no flavor and the sauce was not cooked right. Even after dumping an entire jar of Parmesan on it, it was barely edible. The sandwiches were no better according to my wife. This location does not offer the «super torpedo» like other locations. The Italian dressing was different too. Yeah it was! Disgraceful!
During our meal, the manager comes out by our table and proceeds to have a personal conversation that was of a very negative subject and undertone. The service was ok, but yeah sorry I won’t be going back. I’ll stick to the pizza to go.

Make reservations for large groups and it’s hard for a group of 7 to get all the dinner plates at the same time. Service is awful and not even on time when it comes to serving the dishes at the same time. Prime rib is a large cut if you want medium-​rare it’s actually rare and if you want it medium it seems to be much better and still moist.

Filippi’s is my family’s local Italian spot in Mira Mesa. We go here for the pizza, pasta or prime rib. We just finished watching the 5 best steak joints on Tru TV and gave us the craving for nice piece of meat slab. Ohh my! We go to the local Filippi’s and already knew what we wanted before the waitress took our drinks. Both wife and I order the prime rib. Wife got the regular and I got the filippi cut bone in!!! OMG. It was not disappointing. Craving fulfilled. This is the spot for all things Italian (locally).

In my opinion, this place isn’t bad, but also didn’t stand out in any way from the numerous other pizza options in town. The pizzas here are thick crust and standard size, so thin crust lovers may not enjoy it. Also their toppings are pretty much the classics (pepperoni, sausage, onion, peppers, anchovies, etc.) Pizza itself was pretty good but I found I enjoyed it better as leftovers the next day after a few minutes in the toaster oven.
The dining room is pretty dark and definitely has that old-​school pizza parlor vibe. Service was adequate but not excellent.

Disappointed tonight…
We eat at Filippi’s (Mira Mesa location) about once a month and all our prior experiences have been satisfactory, but not tonight.
We ordered the same pizza we usually order: ham & pinnacle and add pepperoni and jalapeños, as usual, which by the way, it’s delicious!
Tonight though, as soon as I saw our pizza, I knew something was different about it. I took a first bite and it did taste different– the bread was a bit burnt and too crispy, and the additional toppings (pepperoni and jalapeños) were on top, visible. At this place, the put the toppings first, then the cheese on top and bake, which is what I love!!!
I didn’t understand why two of the toppings were left «outside»??
My theory: they forgot to add the two extra toppings and when they realized it, they added the toppings and baked the pizza again, thus the «burnt and crispy» crust.
Also, I don’t know if they changed the cheese vendor, but the cheese on tonight’s pizza was not as good as it usually is…
10/​30/​2015

Truly disappointed with the pizza from here! Filippis has always been my favorite pizza but the last two times at this location the pizza was not good.
I am no petite dew drop and I love my pizza!
So sad that this pizza is not what it used to be!

I came here on a Thursday night with two of my girl friends. We were sat down immediately which was great. I ordered a new item the cajun chicken shrimp pasta that you could either get with red sauce or cream sauce. I asked the waiter what sauce he suggested he said cream, and I took his word. My friend got the tortellini with meat sauce and my other friend the garliq chicken pizza. Our food came out prompt and hot. My cajun pasta was sooooooo delicious, my friend tried it and wanted to eat my food saying it was going to be her new favorite. My friends garliq chicken pizza was okay, it was honestly a garliq overload, my other friends tortellini was okay. Hands down my cajun pasta was the best and I can’t wait to be back and try some more. Overall we had good service and an attentive waiter.

The only store at this chain of pizza places that serves fresh prime rib dinners all day every day. The prime rib is outstanding and a Full 5 Stars.
Cooked perfectly well to a medium rare my prime rib was super tender and delicious. The prime rib dinner comes with a salad of your choice baked potato or pasta and a side of sautéed mushrooms that were also outstanding. The mushrooms are a must to try and come with your dinner if you ask.
This is for sure my prime rib go to place from now on.
My wife had the veal Parmesan and it also was very tasty. We would give that a 3 ½ to 4 stars. (Had a tad to much sauce on it).
The pasta sauce was very tasty and I wouldn’t be afraid to try the spaghetti or one of the other pasta dishes.
The fresh baked bread that they bring to your table when you get there is a Great start of a meal.
Give this place a try you won’t regret it.

Everyone was welcoming the minute we
Walked through the doors.
a bit dark but explains the grotto in the name.
Customer service could have been more attentive. Clearing plates and refilling water etc. but not bad just not great.
The location has sports memorabilia and bottles and bottles of wine all over as well as vines crawling on the surrounding walls.
we ordered a large pepperoni pizza
Along with calamari rings and 8 piece chicken wings. The wings were perfect and not too hot. The calamari rings came out fresh and hot and love that they served it with a shrimp cocktail marinara type sauce. There was something in the flavor of the pizza cheese that made it delicious. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Glad we got to try this pizza location.

I really wanted to like Filippi’s, since my boyfriend and his family come here often for dinner and rave how «home-​cooked» the food tastes. The house wines are offered at $ 5.75 for a small glass filled to the brim, so I thought that was a nice touch if you wanted to have chianti with your meal. The prices are very good. We each had the combination where you have a choice of 2 of the following: spaghetti, ravioli and lasagna. The restaurant is very dark with old, tacky, vinyl covered tables and uncomfortable booths. There were a lot of sports décor in the room we were in which was to the right of the host stand. Our service was great as she was attentive, kept up with refilling our drinks and getting our orders down correctly.
The food was where my boyfriend and I had a disagreement. I felt that the food was reheated. It did not come out steaming hot like it was freshly made. Although the pasta was cooked perfectly, I thought everything but the giant meatball tastes extremely bland. I had cheese stuffed ravioli that had no flavor. I had to douse the meal with black pepper and salty parmesan cheese. The meatball was very good and moist. My boyfriend loved the food. I just don’t get it!
I’ve had Filippi’s at another location and it tasted wonderful. Maybe it was a bad or «off» night for the restaurant when we came in?

Whenever I’m in the area and need my Italian fix this is where I go. Filippi’s knows Italian. My go-​to menu items include their antipasti salad (Their small could feed several people), lasagna, and spaghetti and meatballs. They’re all classics and Filippi’s does them right. Their portions are also very generous.
The latest time I went I tried their linguini with clam which was also a winner.

I first came here about 1 – 2 years ago for a birthday dinner, but that was before I started writing Unilocal reviews. I remember that my first experience was ok, food was nothing great. Then I finally came back here again the other night and yet, once again, nothing to be excited about.
SETTING:
The vibe you get here seems to portray a classic old school Italian restaurant that may be family owned. This restaurant attracts older folks and families with children.
Tables and chairs are made from old fashioned wood and design made for the 90’s.
There is also seating at the bar and booths.
Old decorations such as vines, grapes, oldschool black/​white photos, and beer brand signs on every wall and corner.
Really dark dim lighting.
Although they still get quite some business since every time I go here, its about half full. I would highly suggest they get a resaurant make over with more updated tables and chairs at least. Everything here screams «OLD».
FOOD:
Spaghetti with meatball/​meat sauce & Beef Ravioli Combo Plate ~ $ 12
Spaghetti was as plain as a TV dinner meal. Noodles tasted like straight from a box from the store. Sauce tasted like cheap cans from the store as well. It is served with one huge meatball. Although I did like the flavor of the meatball, I don’t think it is fresh because of the texture. The texture was something like blended mushy meat that was cooked, put inside a freezer, then used again my reheating. The ravioli on the other hand, had four big pieces but had very thin layers of meat on the inside. Very very small chunks of ground beef. It was pretty plain, made me sad to eat it since I know how delicious ravioli can be.
Medium Combination Pizza $ 19.99
To my opinion, this is very expensive for a medium pizza. The pizza was very thick, meaning there was a lot of dough. If you prefer flat pizzas, then do not order here. It was comparable to costco pizza, simply thicker. It was kind of chewy and gooey. Nothing special about this pizza. I would prefer any of the fast food pizza joints then here.
Overall, if it was my choice, I would never come back here again until they update their restaurant and update their menu. Their menu was boring, serving all the basics. The only good thing is that they serve a kids menu. Although they serve large portions, you would have better quality eating at Olive Garden. And i rarely even eat at Olive Garden either.
I will be one of those few who will never understand why people rave about this place so much. It just plain sucks.