Zagarella Italian Restaurant

This awful place has CLOSED! Thanks to my sister, Lauri, for the information.

I have never given anybody one star before, but this place really stinks. It literally smells. I wanted to walk out the moment I was seated, but it was late and I was hungry and I used to be in the food biz so I figured I would just give it a chance.
I feel lucky not to have gotten sick, like some of the other reviewers did. The chicken was tough, the sauce was watery, the bread was soggy and everything tasted just a little off.
The longer I sat there trying to find something to like about the place, the more I found to dislike about it. Stained glasses, filthy carpet, and BTW if your kitchen is that dirty, don’t let us see it (and smell it) every time you swing the door open to the dining room.
The service wasn’t terrible, but it was not great either.
There is a reason this place is empty, but why isn’t it closed???

Ahhh! Fire the Chef! This place is so bad because the food is terrible. I am in SD for a brief time and I was so hungry today. I spent the whole day starving it out at the SD Convention Center and was looking forward to some really traditional Italian Food in Little Italy. I scoured India street to find a place that had antipasta and some type of shrip pasta, and cannoli. This place had all three, but I could not even get to the cannoli. The salad dressing on the Antipasta tasted like some strange rubbery cough syrup tangy hot mess. There were minimal attempts to make this salad. Yuck! Then I had the Shrimp pasta with Zuchini, okay how can you mess up PASTA? I know, cook it until it is doughy (Like their burnt but doughy garlic bread) Wierd. And the sauce was like pink water.
The service was excellent. The server was a guy and he kept pouring my pelligrino the whole time. That’s the reason for the 1 star.

We came here during lunch on a Saturday. There was not one guest inside the restaurant. The staff was very friendly. The inside of this place looks kinda old. They have some paintings hung on the wall. While we waited they gave us some garlic bread with a bowl of anti pasta. They were yummy. I ordered a shrimp pasta dish (don’t remember the name). It was delicious. They were not stingy with the shrimp at all… they were huge. The sauce over the shrimp was yummy. My dish came with steamed vegetables too. I was stuffed and happy.

My wife and I enjoyed a fun and tasty dinner here on a recent Friday night.
PROS
The service was excellent and our server was particularly personable. Their food was very tasty with right-​sized portions (not too small, but not so big you need a shovel). Best of all was sitting on the small deck/​patio overlooking the street.
CONS
It was nice sitting outside, but the seating area was very cramped. I think our experience would not have been as good if we had sat inside — it didn’t look quite as nice inside.
THE SKINNY
A great restaurant for a good Italian meal at a decent price if you don’t mind mingling with the India Street crowds and chatting with fellow diners.

I thought I would never give a restaurant just one star. Then I had dinner here.
Atmosphere — They sat us at this crappy table where people literally kept running into me as they went to the bathroom. When we asked to move to the empty table next to us the server told us that she’d check and be right back. She then POOF! she disappeared, not to be seen until after we ate.
We were there on a Friday night and sitting in middle room towards the back. At about 8:45 (yes, BEFORE NINE O’CLOCK) they started to vacuum the room behind us. We could hear them vacuuming and cleaning while we were eating. This is after we were treated to the show of watching the busboy try to move an ice cream machine through the side door and into the back room. Pathetic.
Service — Well, as I mentioned our princess server did a Houdini act when we asked to be reseated. When Princess finally reappeared, she asked us if we were done. We said yes (we had been finished for 10 minutes). Princess said okay and left without taking our plates, which sat in front of us for five more minutes before she returned in a fuss to bus them. Princess was clearly distraught that her busboy hadn’t cleared them for her.
At one point a different server tried to give us the wrong food.
Food — I ordered a seafood special which was slightly undercooked. It was passable but nothing to rush back to. The gf ordered a chicken dish. The marsala sauce wasn’t particularly good and the chicken was rubbery. We both agreed that the best thing on the table was her pasta, which clearly had canned sauce.
I grew up in a restaurant family. I know running a restaurant is a hard job and that places sometimes have an off night. I try to be forgiving. But our experience here transcends the boundaries of my charity. It sucked, I’ll never go back. And if a friend asks for a recommendation in Little Italy I may well say anywhere but here.

I had to take my cutie petutie (CP) to the san diego airport for a last minute flight to NYC. Since we had a couple of extra hours, we decided to have lunch. We parked and started walking and realized we were in little italy. That’s fabulous since my CP loves italian food.
We passed a couple of restaurants off of India St that looked packed and decided to walk further to check out all of the restaurants on the street. However we got tricked. We saw three packed tables of people outside of the Zagarella Restaurant and one was eating this pasta dish that looked divine. So we decided to go in and our adventure began…
The garlic bread was good, but the rest of the food was just okay. We started with the mushroom soup, but it tasted like yesterday’s potato soup that they added mushrooms to. It was actually very bizarre. Then we shared the spaghetti bolognese and our biggest pep peeve is when spaghetti is in a pool of red water. Good italian restaurants do a better job at draining their spaghetti… Not Zagarella’s.
The food was worth three stars, but I had to deduct two stars for the weird smell of the restaurant… it kind of reminded me of an old folks home. Very stale. The other deduction was for the service. My CP had to get up and walk to the hostess table to get our check, where our waitress had been chatting with someone for about 30 minutes.

We were one of the first customers to be seated for dinner… around 5:30pm. The hostess must have been new because when I asked about their ‘happy hour’ specials, she was clueless (the funny part was that the specials were written on the chalkboard, 3 feet from her!!!).
Once seated, we were greeted by a very friendly server. After taking our order, I had noticed the LOUD ROCK music still blaring from the hostess stand. I understand the point of listening to music BEFORE opening the restaurant to the public… but once you have 3 to 4 tables seated… SHUT IT OFF!!!
Ok…the food portions were huge! I had the bolognase (?) spaghetti and it was pretty damn good! The best part was their garlic bread… yum!

So, it is hard for me to look at SD’s Little Italy without comparing it to my Boston’s North End … but I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the food was quite good here.
I think the atmosphere is where it loses stars for the most part.
I had the Ravioli special which had a delicious, garlicky, thick pesto sauce, and HUGE shrimp. THey keep the garlic bread coming, and it is buttery and delicious. I was pleasantly surprised, since I had no idea waht to expect when trying Californian Italian food :)

I will start off with everything I have ever eaten here has been awesome. Unfortunately the service is so bad that it ruins the whole experience.
That’s why when you walk down India Street all the restaurants are so packed, but there is plenty of room at Zagarella.
I suggest you keep walking. You will have a much better experience if endure the wait for the other restaurants nearby.

I’m sorry that my first Unilocal review ever has to be a negative one, but the experience we had there deserves to be reviewed. A few friends and i went on a monday during happy hour, because they have $ 5 martinis… not bad.
As soon as we walked in, an overpowering stench of cheese almost knocked us over! Don’t get me wrong, i looove cheese. but this smelled like month old stinky gym socks… that have been worn every single day! Not that i know what that smells like, but i’m sure if stinky gym socks have a smell, that would be it.
So we get over the «cheese» smell and sit down at a table inside. We were digging the weather and wanted to sit outdoors, but the tables outdoors couldn’t accommodate our large party (6). As soon as you settle in, you can’t help but look around, as the décor is very «unique» with random things hanging on the walls and tables that just look scattered. it was very empty-​looking. It was the perfect place for an episode of kitchen nightmares.
Ok, so the place isn’t your most eye-​pleasing, nor is it nose-​pleasing. let’s just get our drinks on. Finally, we get our drinks… one…by…one. The last drink to make it to our table must have taken nearly 15 – 20 minutes. we ordered a couple of appetizers, mozzarella caprese and fried zucchinis, which were nothing special. One of us asked for another martini, and the server said that my friend would have to finish his drink since they do not have enough glasses. Excuse me? The place wasn’t even packed! There may have been maybe 2 or 3 other tables besides ours… outside…which means each table had about 2 or 3 people. ha! Just like the picture of the «patio.»
We were pretty much over this place… so we decided to finish up and move elsewhere. during the short time that we were there, 2 parties sat down and left without ordering. enough said.
Oh and now that i think about it, maybe the last drink to arrive at our table took so long, because they were waiting for a glass to free up.
CK

Great Service, Great Food, Great Drinks.
The calamari simply melted in my mouth and the food portions were huge. My boyfriend and I could not stop eating. We ate outside during the beautiful October weather and enjoyed the pretty area.
Parking was cheap nearby, otherwise it is hard to find a parking space on that road.

I ate here for the first time with my mom and sister. We usually go up the street to Filippi’s, but this time we wanted to try someplace new to us. We were pleasantly surprised. The food was great, though not entirely traditional. All of our dishes had flavor, without the greasy or overly rich sauces sometimes found in Italian dishes. I loved the grilled bread and olives they brought to our table! The prices were reasonable, considering the large portions.
We went during off meal hours, finishing right before the dinner crowd arrived. We had plenty of attention from our waiter who couldn’t have been more enthusiastic. We weren’t in a rush, so it was nice to be able to take our time and linger for a long while after we were finished without being rushed out.
I’ll definitely be coming back.

I’ve eaten here twice and in hindsight, I don’t know what I was thinking going back the second time. I went at lunch time. There were two tables with people at them, but the the waiter was no where to be found. I stood waiting to be seated for far too long. I ordered a salad and linguini with a basic Alfredo Sauce. I think the cook forgot that there is supposed to be Parmesan cheese in an Alfredo sauce.
Bland food and horrible service. It is very rare that I don’t tip. This was one time when I didn’t.
You want excellent Italian food, try The Godfather in Kearny Mesa.

I had lunch here once with a very lovely fellow Unilocaler and I think we both liked what we ordered. At least I did.
It was during a festival, I forget which festival it was, but the place was packed and there were tons of people walking around.
Cool server and they have a full bar. She had red wine and for myself, Jamesons on the rocks.

I’ve read all of the negative reviews, but when I lived in Little Italy and was too lazy to cook for myself, I loved coming here for take-​out. If the bread and décor were better, Zagarella might’ve gotten a higher rating (if I could give 3 ½ stars, I would’ve).
So Zagarella seems to be more Italian-​American than Italian. I kind of expect that here in the USA. I can’t keep track of how many reviews for Italian restaurants I’ve read that complain about them not being authentically Italian enough. Honestly, if it bothers people that much, go to Italy. I’m part Italian, I have family in Italy, but I guarantee you that my Italian cooking would not be authentic enough for some people. So, with that out of the way, I rate this place on the overall enjoyability. They have good wines, including Valpolicella, and their Penne Stracciacate (sp?) is delicious. I don’t think it’s on the menu anymore, but I order it just about every time I go in anyway.
Like I said, this is a 3 ½-​star place, but I’d rather over-​rate than under-​rate, since I always enjoy coming back here.

I am glad I didn’t read the reviews for this place before walking in, because I would have never done it. Usually Unilocal comes through for me.
However Fillipi’s (which came highly recommended) had a giant line and we were starving, so we gave this place a chance. My husband had their version of Frutti de Mare (I think theirs came with linguini) and I had Moscardini (substituted linguini for Penne). My octopus was on the chewey side (which it normally is but this one was more than usual), but the sauce was outstanding. My husband liked his a lot too.
Oh, and my favorite part — my husband found a pearl in his oyster :)

What a sad, disgusting restaurant… and a rip off to boot! I let their neat sign con me into thinking that I was going to a cool old school italian restaurant. The place was practically empty and the décor and vibe was like the dining room at a nursing home. The food was the worst italian food I’ve ever had… imagine if 7 – 11 had fettuccini alfredo… and no one at my table of 5 enjoyed their food at all.
The waiter was rude and incompetent to the point that we debated leaving about three times before our food even got to the table. I felt that he was a little threatening, even.
Also, we went at 1:00 PM and were given dinner menus… so it cost us about $ 125 before tip for five people for lunch. Reading the other person’s comment about the waiter changing the tip on the credit card slip doesn’t surprise me at all… and based on the creepy waiter we had, I wouldn’t be shocked if they rang the lunch prices into the cash register and pocketed the difference between lunch and dinner prices. Just speculation, yes, but feel fortunate to have escaped this restaurant without having my organs removed and sold on the russian black market.
One good thing: the olives served with the bread were delicious.
I’d highly recommend avoiding this place at all costs.

It sucks to read other reviews that rate Zags as bad to pretty bad. That’s too bad. (Sorry for all the «bads»), but I think Zagarella’s is a satisfactory restaurant.
How can you mess up pasta anyway. It’s not hard to cook pasta, but the success of a good Italian restaurant is its sauce. I think Zags passes based on some other restaurants that totally fail in this area.
I’ve been to Zags several times and I’d say the food, specifically the pasta and calamari, are good enough to make repeat visits. The prices at Zags is good compared to other Italian restaurants that line up in San Diego’s Little Italy.
No complaints on the service department. The service was nice as well, very attentive waiters and waitresses making sure we were satisfied with our meal and vigilant about filling our water cups and wine glasses.

The other reviews are brief, but they’re right. If you’re looking for traditional Italian, look for the green awning and the big red sign that says «Zagarella.»
I’m not Italian and I’ve never actually been to Italy, but I really do feel like this place is as traditional as you can get. I had the risotto with mushrooms and some kind of creamy, white sauce – I wanted to ask the chef how to make the sauce, but then I remembered I don’t cook.