Alta Marea

Was excited to try this little off the strip authentic Italian place, because looked like mostly good reviews! However, was pretty disappointed! Slow service/​some ok to gross food/​rude! (It only got 1 star because we liked the bread)
First of all, of course in pb, horrible luck of the draw parking on street, and no signage in the front of the business, just a small whale sign hanging on the side of a blank bluish awning! We drove right past it!
Next, for a family restaurant, it was sooooooooo loud! Only about 10 tables inside, but when we walked up it sounded like a sports bar inside! We arrived 5 mins early and they had 2 small tables outside in front but no chairs to sit and wait, we had to sit and stand on a small stoop of another business next to the restaurant for about 15 mins or so!
Then we were seated by the door, thank God, because it was hot as hell in there and at least we had some air by the door! We had previously requested a high chair and it was not @ the table when we were seated and we had to wait another 10 mins for that to be brought, and if u r parents, you know a toddler needs to be seated right away to start eating something before you do, so you can at least enjoy a few bites of your overpriced meal Before you have to keep them from losing their marbles for the rest of the meal!
Then we were finally brought some room temperature water with no ice and pitcher was left on the table for us to serve ourselves! Which ended up being ok later because our waitress (who may or may have not been an owner) never came back to check on us the whole meal! Needless to say the service was super slow as well, we only noticed one server the whole time and maybe a helper/​busboy?
We had read previous review about their good bread, yet none was brought, when we asked for it, we were told it was baking and would be another 15 mins! Ok fine we ordered salads, I ordered the tomato and mozzarella salad and it was fresh with basil and good, my sister ordered house salad and it had a ton of shredded carrots on top, and was kind of blah! We had to go get our own salt and pepper because waitress never appeared again for awhile!
Bread finally arrived and was the bomb, like everyone else said! It was the best thing we had! We had to request olive oil/​balsamic from the busboy because waitress ran away before we could ask her! We caught her leaving another table and ordered our food before our waitress disappeared again! Our meals didn’t arrive altogether just randomly was brought one at a time a few minutes apart! Whatever!
My nephews got a pizza and was ok, nothing spectacular! My mom got an unmemorable red sauce pasta dish, I got the carbonara, it was pretty good, I’ve had better! My sister got what was supposed to be one of their signature dishes, the lobster ravioli! It was the worst dish either one of us has EVER had at a restaurant! It had a partial body of a lobster cut in half and was drenched in a muddy, herby red sauce that tasted like DIRT! The lobster had literally 2 small bites to it and it was fishy and dirty tasting and rubbery and tough as well, the worst lobster we ever had! We both took one bite of it and the ravioli and made the same gross face and pushed it aside way to the end of the table! (Mind you, we have both over the years had many different kinds of lobster dishes, east coast/​west coast/​Las Vegas & know what it should and shouldn’t taste like, and it definitely should not taste like it was caught in the Mississippi river!!!)My sister just ended up sharing my carbonara because the waitress disappeared again (maybe she had diarrhea from the dirty lobster???)
The waitress never came back to check how our meals were and we had to go request @ the kitchen for Parmesan because she forget the first time we requested it! We ended up calling her over and told her about the «DIRTY LOBSTER» dish and she said oh that’s our most popular dish?! We told her it tasted dirty and she said maybe it was the herbs? That there was a lot of Thyme in it! We were nice to her about it and said no worries don’t want anything else!
As we were getting ready to leave she brought another basket of bread? We were done, I guess it was for the road? Then she brought the ticket and still charged for the «DIRTY LOBSTER» but took a few bucks off of it? Like that was ok? My sister called her over and asked why it was not removed and the waitress rudely Said, «well, u ate the lobster», my sister reminded her it only had the two bites on it that we tried and then pushed aside! And then the waitress rudely said again but u ate the lobster! My sister said no, it needs to be removed! And then the waitress said rudely again u ate the lobster and I gave u bread! Which we didn’t ask for weirdo! Finally she snatched the check back and went and removed the item and we paid and left!
Needless to say we will never return! And the rest of the vacation we all referred to that place as the «DIRTY LOBSTER»!!!

Can’t say enough good things about this place. It is a hidden gem in PB that always serves delicious Italian food. It is simple in décor and staff (really one lady that runs the show and some bus boys) but you will always be greeted with a smile and the most amazing garlic bread you have ever had. :-) We have been many times and everything we have gotten has been phenomenal. Recommend bringing a bottle of wine and ordering family style for the full experience. Only advice is don’t expect to come and go in a hurry on a Saturday night because it is a small operation and things are made to order. That only adds to the experience though!

This place was unbelievable! We were in San Diego celebrating our first anniversary and found this place on Unilocal.We had gone to Italy for our honeymoon and were looking for authentic Italian. This place was AMAZING! Family owned by a couple who is from Italy.
Drinks:
— BYOB: We brought a bottle of wine. No corking fee!
First Course:
— Complimentary homemade bread. So good! They said it’s made fresh daily so when they run out, that’s it.
— Insalata Mista: it seemed like a normal salad but the dressing was out of this world. Homemade Italian house dressing.
— Burrata: Delicious cheese and tomatoes! Melt in your mouth!
Main Course:
There were many seafood dishes
— My husband chose Risotto alla Pescatore with clams, mussels, shrimp and squid. There was a really good portion of seafood, they did not skimp! And he said it was fantastic! It looked really good.
— Unfortunately I’m allergic to shellfish so felt somewhat limited with my options. I asked the owner if I could add chicken or sausage to the Pasta alla Norma (pasta with tomato sauce, eggplant and pecorino cheese). She politely said that her husband doesn’t like to alter the recipes and provided some other recommendations if I wanted sausage or meat sauce. I decided to stick with the Pasta alla Norma as is. I’m so glad I did! It was delicious! I didn’t even miss having a protein.
The entire night was perfect! The place is definitely a little mom and pop shop but the quaint little location and food reminded us of Italy. I highly recommend this place to anyone while in the Pacific Beach area.

Authentic italian food, family owned and operated. Bring your own bottle of wine! Pizzas are probably one of the best, I’ve had in San Diego!

Really love this place. Very quaint and has a home style Italian vibe!
From the bread, to the salads, pizza, pasta’s…you really can’t go wrong. Not to mention its B.Y.O.B and no corkage fee.
Check it out if you want some authentic Italiano!

What a cool family. What an amazing feeling of being at home. I don’t even know where to begin; the pasta spoke poetry, the pizza read novels, and the tirramisu sang soprano. Not one flavor overpowered the next. BYOB and no corking fee. The food is worth more than we paid but the experience was worth every dime. You don’t just taste food but you feel the love between an Italian family who brought their craft to America. You’ve out done your selves. Don’t change a thing!

Alta Marea — I love this restaurant!
I was on a business trip in El Cajon and my husband found this little gem on Unilocal.
The owners are warm and friendly, service is attentive — and the food is fresh, expertly prepared, plentiful and soooo delicious.
My husband’s favorite is always frutte di mare and I had lobster ravioli. Imagine my surprise when it was served with half of the lobster on top! What a treat!
We loved it so much, we took our son and his wife there for a birthday dinner five days after our first visit. They were blown away. They had the lobster ravioli and were amazed that the lobster came with it. This time, I had the lasagna. Now, I make my own lasagna and I’m pretty good at it. Theirs is, well, perfection — and the piece is a very healthy portion.
The food is the best! Prices are reasonable.
We wish Alta Marea every success. We’ll be back when we’re in the area again.

Wow the food was amazing! I had the lobster rav and my husband had some pasta dish with a bunch of seafood! Cute little restaurant with nice employees. I think we will make another spot before we leave!

They have amazing meals, and my friend who is Italian said this is real one not like «little Italy» you can eat authentic Italian food. Also you can bring a wine, that’s a good thing.
本当に美味しかったし、イタリア人が経営してて、友達のイタリア人ももっと有名になるべきと言ってました。まだ出来て1年の店ですが、店の雰囲気もとても良いし、店員さんもとても親切で良い人です。

Amazing! ! We ordered Pizza, Pasta Carbonara, and Gnocchi.. Everything was so fresh and hot and instantly took me back to Italy!
I highly recommend this place for anyone looking for a small family place with incredible food.

Crack — Effects of crack include euphoria, supreme confidence, insomnia, alertness, increased energy, a craving for more crack, and potential paranoia (ending after use).
This perfectly describes the bread Sara is serving to her customers. It only takes one time abusing this substance and you’re hooked. You find yourself waking up in the middle of the night wondering how to break into this restaurant. Is it the olive oil drenched dough or that little sprinkle of salt that has you jonesing for the next fix. I called Passages of Malibu and they don’t have a recovery program for Sara’s bread. I guess I’ll have to go for the Vodka/​Whiskey issue, would have been nice to kill two birds with one stone.
This family restaurant (Hahaha, great front for a dough dealer!) has that amazing family feel with kids working on homework in the corner as Papa is in the kitchen slinging pasta dishes that Tony Soprano would kill for! Sweet Sara greeting you at the door as she prepares to addict another innocent San Diegan!
My gal and I went here a little over a week ago and the food hasn’t left my mind. Papa’s ricotta gnocchi is the ultimate in comfort food! Pillowy nuggets of cream and richness that plays so well with Sara’s bread! We went back a few days later, the scratching from the withdrawals was becoming too much. We decided to go for the Risotto and a kilo of bread. Maybe this will hold us over for another couple days.
All kidding aside this family operated (literally the whole family works here) restaurant has made me an Italian food lover! I was more of a Mexican smack guy, but I kinda like being a part of this family! Tommy Two Fingers is more than happy to be a soldier. Looking forward to many more fixes of that bread, but how the f**k do you make it Sara!!! Please, I don’t want to break into your restaurant!

This place is pretty awesome. It looks, and probably is, family run. It’s not big, with limited seating, but that makes the atmosphere all the more intimate and makes it perfect for dates.
The lady of the house runs the service. She was very sweet and we even talked later on for a while. They don’t sell alcohol, which for me is actually preferable. You can still bring your own bottle of wine, which means you get a wider selection at a cheaper price.
But by far the best quality of Alta Marea is the food. It’s very authentic Italian food with rich flavours and cooked to perfection. Me and my wife shared a Pizza Alta Marea and their Gnocchi and both were simply exquisite. And above all this the prices are very reasonable for what you get.
The perfect place deserves a perfect score. We will be back!

Remember the scene in When Harry met Sally? You know the one where Sally is slapping the table and making those sounds in Katz Deli? I think I may have reenacted that scene when I tasted the warm homemade focaccia they brought to our table. It was handmade earlier that day by Sarah. Sarah and her husband own and run this beautiful little restaurant. It is truly a family establishment. Their 2 sons were at the corner table doing homework while dad cooked in the kitchen and mom served our delicious meals. Sarah says she doesn’t know how to cook and that’s why her husband is the chef. But that focaccia was unbelievable and the highlight of the meal. It is one of many reasons we’ll be back and often!
We started off by grabbing a bottle of wine from a local market because we did our research on Unilocal and saw you can BYOB. The restaurant is small and quaint. It felt like we could have been in Italy and not PB. We started off with the Caprese con Burrata made with grape tomatoes. It was perfect! The olive oil they use is high quality. I ordered the Carbonara which was rich and decadent. There was plenty of bacon and the pepper was the perfect balance. Hunny ordered the Gnocchi with the melted butter and parmesan cheese (you choose one of 3 sauces). The sauce was creamy and similar to an alfredo. And Sarah shared with us that the Gnocchi is made with ricotta instead of potato as is customary where they’re from in Northern Italy. Both dishes were amazing! We were so full from eating so much focaccia that we didn’t have room for dessert, and we ordered the caramel panna cotta to go. We ate it later paired with some bourbon and oh my gawd it was good!
This restaurant is a little gem. Grab a bottle of wine and go try it out! You will not be disappointed.

I am a big fan of small family run Italian eateries, and a fan I became of this place, after enjoying a great meal.
My Friday night meal consisted of Insalata Piemonte which came with light colored Romain lettuce, mushrooms, shaved Parmesan, garnished with parsley and garlic for $ 6 and Alta Marea Pizze topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, pancetta, sausage, and black olives for $ 15. The meal also came with some terrific freshly baked Focaccia table bread.
The salad was very nice and light and came with a typical Italian dressing which was good, but I preferred eating it with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My favorite part of the salad was the Parmesan cheese because it added a nice nutty and salty element to the salad. The lettuce, parsley and mushrooms were freshly chopped and tasted good.
Oddly enough, focaccia bread was my favorite item of the evening. It was perfectly baked and had a nice firm crust and delicate warm moist center. I liked that they sprinkled it with a touch of sea salt. The bread was great eating with some extra virgin olive and balsamic vinegar.
The Alta Mare Pizze was good, but I was not the biggest fan of the crust. The ends of the crust were a little hard and dry. All the toppings were great, especially the pancetta, and other the sausage was good, it would be nice if they would put crumbles of homemade sausage with a little fennel, instead of what came with the pizza. I liked the sauce because it was mild in flavor with a little spice.
The owners are very hospitable and friendly. They do make feel as you are at home.

Molto Bene. Step inside this house off of Grand avenue and you are transported to a family restaurant from Italy. Infact, this restaurant is family owned by a coupe from Milan and they definitely served authentic Italian.
We tried the lobster ravioli, the risotto and seafood plater. In the lobster ravioli there were lobster chunks and if that wasn’t enough half a lobster is sitting on the side. This dish is under 20 dollars! Everything else was equally delicious and given in generous portions. To top it off, it is BYOB. The table next to ours did it proper by bringing a bottle wine for each person at the table.
Check this place out before the lines get too long! I’ll have to try the pizza next time I go.

This place is like the best kept secret in PB! The restaurant is ran by this sweet Italian couple; Husband in the back cooking while the wife serves as the waitress. The place is not too big, so I would really suggest making a reservation especially on weekends.
Price is unbeatable for a generous portion. They don’t serve any alcohol so you are free to bring your own bottles, NO CORKAGE FEE! The service is great, but I can see it gets crazy when all the tables are full. I would definitely recommend you to come on weekdays to avoid the crowd, or bring your patience!
I got the Tagliolini Alla Pescatora, spaghetti dish with all sorts of shellfish like mussels, clams, and shrimp. The pasta was cooked perfectly, it went so well with the fresh tomato sauce and the seafood. The portion was big but it was so delicious that I finished everything. We also got the Grigliata Mista, which consists of salad, grilled fish, grilled squid, and grilled shrimp. The seafood was really fresh and went well with the lemon that they gave us.
Will definitely be back to try more things on the menu!

Can it get any better than BYOB without a corkage fee?
YES – getting half a lobster on your plate of lobster ravioli. Additionally, cannot stop raving about whatever they do with their bread. I think they bake it with chunks of frozen butter so there are pockets of melty goodness throughout. The salad we had was decent and the panna cotta was great. For the price, it also can’t be beat. I don’t know of anywhere in San Diego you can get ANYTHING with lobster in it for under $ 20.
I took off one star, because I agree with a few other reviewers, there isn’t much front-​house service. It seems like they have one waitress and because the place is so small, she just retreats to the kitchen unless she has a reason to be on the floor. Therefore, she was a little hard to flag down at times. Also, as an Italian, I know it is a cardinal sin to request cheese for seafood… but some of us like it… so if someone asks, just bring it. The food was incredibly fast though, so no complaints there despite reading a few other reviews claiming otherwise. My suggestion would be to go early. We went at 6:45 on a Thursday (still not incredibly early) and we had great service.

Let me start with this. Read my review and ignore the ones that give this place a bad review because it’s «slow «. First of all I didn’t have that experience at all but: it seems to me that it is a moms and pops restaurant. Secondly: the prices are amazing. I don’t even know how they can make profit with food this good, huge portions and tons of seafood .
So to bad reviewers: IF you want fast service at a place that has 2 – 3 servers, you should go THERE and not HERE and pay $ 35 and up for a plate of seafood risotto, otherwise $ 17 here. The extra server would be costing you … another $ 10 – 15 per plate!
BREAKDOWN :
THERE IS NO: Cheap, amazing & fast. Not possible. I know this first hand as a Stager, people expect those 3 all together. Not possible .
You want fast? Additional labor. So you can take the cheap out of it. You get fast and amazing but NOT cheap .
You want cheap? You can take the fast out of it. Cheap means, less labor. So you get cheap and amazing BUT SLOW.
NOW: do you want CHEAP AND FAST? Sure. Take the quality out of it. No way to do cheap and fast and keep the quality. Amazing food (and amazing interior design) takes TIME.
To get to our food:
Amazing !
To our server :
Really nice !
For the price :
Unbelievable !
I live in LA but I will come back !
Great great great experience !

a great find in PB! I went here with a friend before dropping her at the airport so my only regret was having to rush out of there so that she would make her flight. We didn’t get to enjoy Alta Marea to it’s full Italian potential. Next time I would stay longer and bring a bottle of wine since they have free corkage!
The ambience is wonderful and it reminded me of my time living in Italia! the owners are an Italian couple – it seems that the husband is the chef and the wife runs the front of house. All around us were families chatting in Italian while enjoying their authentic food.
The food was buonissimo – they bring you focaccia bread while your food is being prepared that is fluffy and melt-​in-​your-​mouth delicious with flakes of sea salt baked on top. We split the caprese appetizer with burrata and every ingredient from the cherry tomatoes to the olive oil tasted as fresh as can be. I had the pasta alla norma with fresh pasta and my friend had the spaghetti alle vongole (clams), both were super tasty!
I will definitely be back… especially when my heart is missing Italia!

Disclaimer: food is 5 stars without a doubt.
I have a moral dilemma giving this place 4 stars: the food was definitely 5 stars, but the service was so slow. It felt like we spent half of our time just trying to get our server’s attention. This was probably because there was one person singlehandedly running the entire front of the house — so the lack of service isn’t her fault at all. But it nonetheless plays a role in my review. For the food:
1. Ricotta cheese gnocchi. This was absolutely stunning. The gnocchi just melt in your mouth and you get this beautifully smooth taste. Highly recommended.
2. Spaghetti alla Vongole. Healthy amount of shellfish. The dish is very well seasoned and the herbs are absolutely spot on. I personally am not a big fan of vongole in general, but the person who consumed the majority of this dish seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.
3. Taglioni alla pescatora. Again, good serving amount of seafood. This was pretty standard in terms of presentation /​composition but it served as a nice intermediate between the rich gnocchi and the light vongole.
4. Grigliata mista. Large amount of grilled squid, fish, and shrimp. The charring is spot-​on and the acidity from the lemon cuts through it very nicely.
5. Pizza alta marea. I was a bit disappointed by the pizza because it just seemed like a normal pizza. It lacked a certain loving quality that all of the other dishes had. That being said, normal pizza is still delicious. I probably would not order this again.