Davanti Enoteca

If my family and I haven’t had two negative experiences in the past week with management then this would be 5 stars.
I haven’t actually eaten here in a couple of months but everytime I have it was delicious. I love the Ragu, and I love the meatballs.
There must be a new manager because I’ve never seen her before. And she is quite the b*t*h. With two bad encounters with her I will not be returning to this location again. The blonde guy was the nicest and is definitely missed

Two stars only for the decent food. The service was terrible.
Came here for Sunday brunch with a party of 9. We made reservations and they set aside a high top table. Since we had a couple of small children with us, we requested a normal table set up. A person in our party decided to help set the table up with a busser and what I believed to be a manager of some sort. The manager, who I describe as appearing to be nursing a hangover and a serious case of bed head, essentially told the person in my party to «get out of the way». After a brief verbal back and forth, we sat down at our table. (Probably should have left after that)
When ordering we requested that the kids pancakes (that we requested be plain) come out before the other entrees to keep the youngsters entertained. Not only did they come out last, but they did not come out plain. We had to send them back and wait a substantial amount of time for them to come out. I had to get up and ask for their status in order to speed up the process.
The manager was rude, the service was rough and the food was not memorable enough to want to go back.

I have dined at Davanti Enoteca in Chicago, Little Italy and Del Mar. This will be the last time I dine at the Del Mar location. I have said that before but this time I am sticking to my resolution.
The food was amazing. The service was horrible. I am paying a premium for food and service. This time we had out of town guests and it was embarrassing.
First, no host/​hostess at the host/​hostess stand. The person that seated us looked like a patron. I don’t consider shorts to be professional attire. When we were seated, it in the bar at a high top communal table. We waited so long for service I asked the bartender were we to order from her. She let me know that our server would be over. When the server arrived no greeting, no explanation about how the menu works and no suggestions or specials were mentioned. Just, «Does everyone know what they want?»
We ordered our food and it arrived in an appropriate time. Of course since we were sitting next to the open kitchen it shouldn’t take long to arrive. We also observed the staff munching on food as well. Turned out it was handy that we were sitting next to the servers station that way I could get silverware for the rest of my party. The food was delicious. We would have ordered more or a dessert but the server never came back to check on us. Again, I summoned the bartender for our bill as I was frustrated and embarrassed by the poor service.
Again, we are paying for food, service, ambiance and a nice experience. 1 out of 4 is not okay.

We went here for my cousin’s birthday, and it was a lively, bustling atmosphere. The server was friendly, and they brought out a lot of freebies (free pizza! free dessert for the birthday girl!), but I thought the food was just OK. We had a variety of restrictions (I’m gluten free, there was a vegan), so options were limited.
We got some salads, which we OK, and fried brussels sprouts, which sounded a lot better than it was. It was pretty oily and salty, and honestly I didn’t enjoy it.
My entrée, on the other hand, was a lot better. It was steak, and it was cooked pretty well.
Overall, not the best experience, though I’ve heard rave reviews of this place from other friends.

Wow. Super friendly and helpful staff.
The décor is warm and inviting.
They were able to accommodate a large party of almost 20.
The food is delicious, especially the honeycomb. The chicken panini and fries for about $ 10 was tasty.
They have a large menu and they even have lunch specials.
If you are in the area, it is worst a try.
Check my pics for more info.

I’ve had a couple of weird and awkward experiences with this restaurant, nothing terrible, but kind of mini-​arguments when things have gone wrong with orders — which is surprisingly often.
In addition to my previous experiences mentioned above, recently I purchased 2 — $ 100 gift cards, because the restaurant was offering an additional $ 50 worth of gift cards with the purchase. I used the $ 100 cards over the last couple of months and then went in tonight to use the 2 $ 25 gift cards, but they informed me that they had expired and they were unwilling to honor them. They claimed that they weren’t actually gift cards — but «free gifts» that just happen to be in plastic-​gift-​card format.
As a counter-​point, the gift cards did have an expiration date on them that was clearly visible — however I never saw it so it didn’t really help me. If I would have known/​realized that they had a expiration date, I would have used them first — obviously.
Bottom line, it’s obviously their choice as a restaurant if they want to honor the cards or not, but for right or wrong I felt taken advantage of.

Stopped into Davanti Enoteca about a month ago while visiting family in the area. It was pretty hopping here for a weeknight but we were seated right away which was great.
The server was so friendly and prompt the entire meal. I got a glass of wine but the rest of the table had the happy hour sangria special and said it was refreshing! The food was delicious– I got the meatballs and subbed in orecchiette for spaghetti. My dad got the sausage with giant rigatoni and my sister ordered the margherita pizza. All of the food came out piping hot and was very flavorful and well prepared.
I would not hesitate to go to Davanti Enoteca next time I am in the area as it’s a great spot!

I was fortunate enough to be invited to Davanti for lunch by some workmates.
Not being familiar with the menu or what was worth trying, a coworker suggested the Davanti Burger. He made a very bold statement calling their burger one of the ten best in San Diego. I was skeptical, but when he divulged he graduated from UC Davis (UC’s farming school) I had total confidence he was an expert in all things beef, veg, and grain.
Davanti Burger (A special blend beef burger + bacon jam + roasted tomato + cheese curd + arugula + roasted garlic mayo + shoestring fries).
$ 15 is very expensive and seems to be the new de facto price point for gourmet burgers in San Diego (unfortunately). You do get a side, and in my case it was their house salad.
There three things that I remember most of this burger was the perfectly seasoned patty, the great taste of their ingredients, and the cheese curd. This burger was better than Eureka burgers in UTC. I’d also go as far to say it’s probably one of the ten best I’ve had in San Diego. $ 15 for a lunch burger is rich, but if you’re going to treat yourself why not?
— If you get a side salad with your entrée they give it to you in a rice bowl. You’ll end up just dumping the salad on your plate because it’s much easier to eat that way.
— Large wooden table outside for larger groups.
— Finally a restaurant in the area that has decent Iced Tea

FOCCACIA DI RECCIO — order it. Like seriously it’s mind blowing. As if bread and cheese aren’t great enough throw on fresh honeycomb and my tastebuds are in heaven.
The marscapone polenta and ragu of the day is another must try item.
I really enjoyed the white sangria as my cocktail of choice.
The Uni and Crab pasta — PASS ON.
The pizza is always bomb– thin crispy and flavorful.
Kale Caesar is good (but don’t order it if you don’t like anchovies!)
Service is usually great, but I guess it being a holiday weekend it was a little slower. The waiter happily exchanged out my entrée I didn’t enjoy which was a plus. All in all a great bday dinner meal for my girlfriends. I hear the brunch here is epic and I must return for it soon. Service 3 stars (usually 5) food 4.5

As an East Coast girl, I foolishly jumped at the thought of having Italian food while here for a visit, forgetting completely which coast I was on.
The pros: my cousin had a blackberry bellini and she said it was excellent. She also really liked her pasta, which had sea urchin in it, because she likes sea urchin. Our server, Blake, was great, the hostess was super friendly and everyone we came into contact with had a lovely disposition. Oh, and the cauliflower steak was a winner. Get that.
The not-​so-​pros: The Italian wedding soup was super peppery while being fairly devoid of any other flavor whatsoever. I ordered the funghi and truffle oil pizza, which was more or less terrible, to be perfectly honest. Plus, not a whiff of truffle oil detectable to my palate. Big disappointment!
In conclusion, it was my fault for seeking out Italian food in California. Better stick to Mexican et al.

Their «uni pasta» when asked for an actual piece of Uni, they were unable to for the uni is already «mixed into the sauce» it taste like they took the water uni sat in and boiled my pasta in it then threw some butter, food coloring and crab. Least the crab was real lump crab.

Cute ltalian Restaurant.~
Davanti Enoteca is located on the second floor of the Del Mar Highlands Town Center near Rimmel’s and Sammy’s Pizza. I came by here the other night and was impressed with the food, service, and atmosphere.
The inside has neat décor, and the patio outside offers a neat outside feel, but still cozy and indoors. From the patio there’s a nice view of the sunset from the coast, as well as once it gets dark they light the candles at the tables and it becomes more intimate and cozy.
The drink I tried was crafted well, as I opted for «cool as a cucumber» which had a nice little kick being a little spicy. As for the food it was delightful and I tried the tuscan toast with the roasted eggplant, tomato, and mozzarella in the mason jar. The dip was appetizing. and for the entrée I tried their ravioli which although was one large piece. was very buttery and rich more filling than I thought it would be.
Overall, a nice pick for some Italian dishes, drinks, and excellent service. =]

**update: I have confirmed that the brown butter brownie is back in all of its gloriousness. Ask for it specifically, didn’t see it on the menu. Thanks Patrice!**
Brown butter brownie.
That is all you need to know. Seriously. What is this concoction!?? It literally is one of the best desserts I have ever had.
The next amazing thing on the menu is the Orecchiette pasta. The first time we went, my husband ordered the Orecchiette and I ordered the Rigatoni. The Rigatoni was good, but I had serious FOMO once I tried his dish.
I have ordered the Orecchiette every time now. It is so, so good. We have taken friends and they also ordered other items (even though we told them about the Orecchiette), and they were like damn, I should’ve ordered that, once they tried it.
The salads on the menu are very good, as well. We usually order one to start and share it.
The broccoli is delicious. They put some sort of cream sauce on it… it’s really good.
For dessert, you MUST get the brown butter brownie. It comes with salted caramel gelato, but we sub in vanilla gelato… we just aren’t huge fans of salted caramel stuff in general.
Sometimes, if I am having a bad day, my husband is like, what do you need, and through tears, I say, the brown butter brownie. Next thing I know, we are sitting down at this place and I am eating my feelings. Then, I feel 100% better.
Love this place and the ambience too. It can get loud at times, but it is worth it.

Really enjoyed my time at Davanti Enoteca! My dad and I stopped by after having a not so great dinner experience and were looking to salvage the night with some drinks and dessert.
They had a great selection of desserts which made it difficult for us to decide on which one to order. We took our waiter’s advice and ordered the Torta al Cioccolato Bianco, a brown butter Blondie served with caramel gelato, caramel sauce and almonds! The melt-​in-​your-​mouth brownie was to die for and the mojitos were a generous size and very refreshing.
Our waiter was very helpful and outgoing. He was also quite knowledgeable of the entire menu and even briefly explained how the blondie is made! I would definitely come back for the genuine service and to give the dinner menu a try.

What a beautiful place. Davanti is located upstairs so take the stairs, escalators or elevators. Find the water fountain and you’ll find Davanti when you look up.
The real winner is the Bloody Mary bar and the honeycomb ricotta flatbread. I’m not kidding, both are must tries and unique staples here. The Bloody Mary bar comes with an all you can stuff in your cup assortment of goodies from bacon, eggs, asparagus, tomatoes, cheese and the list goes on. The bacon is a must. You can get tomato or tomato –clam for the bloody part. Yum o !!!
The honeycomb ricotta flatbread is a top ten appetizer in San Diego must try. According to me at least lol. Imagine oven warm flat bread with whipped warm ricotta cheese inside and real honeycomb on top make for an explosion of flavors. Mind you, the thing is a crazy $ 21 dollars + but it’s really worth it. It comes with 9 pieces. I’m not kidding, it’s a must try unless you don’t like cheese.
I also ordered for brunch the rigatoni and sausage pasta. This was ok. It was pretty good, though nothing out of the world that would make it unique. Flavors were there, sausage was tasty and just right and rigatoni were a fun large size that I appreciated. $ 15 bucks, though for brunch size, wish it was around $ 12.
Service, we had Caroline. She was great.
If you are looking for Italian American fare with a great bloody bar assortment, nice ambiance and excellent service, give it a try !

I work in Del Mar and some of my coworkers suggested coming here for lunch. I love Italian food so I was super stoked to try this place!
Food: delicious! So decadent! Maybe a little too decadent for lunch but mama was a happy camper non the less. We started with the focaccia topped with honey. Please note: this will change your life. Next we had the fried Brussels — so yummy. They’re crispy and seasoned so well, topped with a egg! I could have ate the whole plate but we were sharing. Lame. Finally, we ordered the steak salad from their lunch menu. Really good! My steak was a bit over cooked but no big deal still delicious! Overall the food was so good!
Service: our waiter was in an interesting mood. He was super friendly when we first got there. But when we started asking questions about the menu he was visibly annoyed. Granted, I changed my order when I found out the tuna panini had an ingredient I didn’t eat but I was as nice as I could be about it. And the interaction took maybe 30 seconds tops. After he was done we thanked him and he sort of grabbed our menus and stormed off. It was really weird. We didn’t see much of him after that. He also seemed annoyed that he had to split our check 4 ways. I get it, he had other tables and this takes time. But it wasn’t busy from what I could see. For me, service is always a huge factor with if and when I will return to an establishment. I hope this was a fluke and not the norm.
Other than that it was a good experience! We sat outside. The busser always had out waters cups full!

Holiday cheer and more! It was my friend’s birthday dinner this past weekend and I made it down to San Diego, Del Mar Heights to be exact, in record time. Located in the Del Mar Heights Town Center on the Upper Plaza near Ralph’s, the parking center has got to be the most high traffic areas. It took me 30 minutes and I swear I circled around through several connected plazas before finding an open spot.
Although the reservation was set for 7:45pm, we were seated early (7:15pm) as we waited for the rest of party to arrive. The table didn’t have any reserved placards set, so walk-​in guests kept inquiring about the open table. To remedy the situation, they seated us right away. This gave us plenty of time to settle our decision on drinks and appetizers and we started with a few vasi options.
The first to arrive to the table was an Italian Hummus topped with a Calabrian chili tapenade. I didn’t get a chance to sample this, but it’s a great option for vegetarians. We also got the chicken liver pâté topped with a cherry shallot compote. The compote was sweet with a hint of spice while the pâté was creamy.
As we were still deciding on entrees, our server surprised us with a pizza — Pizza Con Prosciutto e Rucola. A thin crust pizza topped with prosciutto di Parma, fresh mozzarella, fontina and a generous handful of arugula.
After dusting off the pizza, we were ready to make our order. For the table, we shared a few items off the Insalate e Zuppa menu. With a few dietary restrictions at the table, we requested to have a few ingredients on the side to accommodate.
With pecorino dolce requested on the side, the escarole was topped with slices of gala apples, celery and toasted hazelnuts. Sweet apples paired with the salty pecorino was really nice when eaten together, but I don’t remember if there was dressing. The salad itself seemed pretty light.
We also got the Kale & Romaine «Ceasar» with the white anchovies on the side, even though it’s in the dressing as well. Not really sure why Caesar is spelled incorrectly, but the quotes must mean something! It didn’t really piqué our interests enough to inquire though. The salad was your typical aside from the addition of the white anchovies. Not bad, but I’d rather have something else.
Fried brussel sprouts hit the table too. Topped with a soft farm egg, the fried brussel sprouts was tossed with crispy prosciutto, Calabrian chilies, young pecorino and scallions. A tad bit on the oily side, but enjoyable with the creamy yolk porn added to the mix.
For our entrees, almost everyone had their own dish. I decided to go with the Riccio di Mare e Granchio, which translates to linguine with sea urchin and crab. You heard right! The sea urchin sauce was very light without the heavy ocean taste. Creamy and sweet with chunks of crab meat, this was a hit with me. It turned out to be a great portion after a few appetizers, but I think it would be a little small as a stand alone entrée.
The rest of the party got a mix of entrees, such as the
Orecchiette con Salsiccia e Rapini, Spaghettini Pomodoro and Bistecca Con Cipolline e Funghi.
For the birthday girl, they brought out a dessert with a lit candle. Very nice presentation, which we found was the Torto al Cioccolato Bianco. A brown butter blondie served with a salted caramel gelato, caramel sauce and marcona almonds.
Once we finished up, we went outside and took a commemorative photo before going separate ways. Luckily, the meal wasn’t very heavy, so the drive home wasn’t so bad. It only took me an hour or so before calling it a night. All I can say is, it was time well spent with food that was as memorable as the evening.

If you’re in the mood for brunch and within the area — I say skip Snooze and just hit Davanti Enoteca.
Tucked away upstairs by Cinepolis, this restaurant has one of the best brunch menus I’ve seen in a while. They are affordable and the food is really outstanding. Portions might not seem much but it’s really heavy. You might need a nap after or better yet catch a movie next door.
On our recent visit, we ordered the pork belly hash, corned beef hash, ricotta and honey vasi and chicken pâté. Served with sliced toast the ricotta and honey and chicken pâté are awesome starters. Ricotta was light and airy paired with the raw honeycomb was just delightful. Chicken pâté was just as delicious! Pork belly and corned beef hash are what I think the best for breakfast. Pork belly was crispy and you can taste the spices they used for the corned beef.
All in all, this place is a must visit!
PS. They tend to get busy and they might forget to refill your water or coffee cup but just wave your server down and they should be able to take care of it for you :)

Came back a few more times, and explored their menu a bit more. This place is a definite 5 star location.
Davanti is a tapas style Italian inspired restaurant. Grab a glass of wine, as the foods here have nice bold flavors that pair nicely. Wine selection here is great, and at pretty reasonable price points.
Recommended Dishes
Focaccia with Honeycomb: Sweet and savory, the cheese stuffed inside is so smooth and light. Pricey at $ 21, but it’s a must order for me.
Polenta + Ragu: Another must order dish, fun to watch them make it– and a fantastic sharing dish.
Grilled Octopus: Could be a hit or miss depending on the size of the octopus, but it’s super tender.
Davanti Burger: Everything about this burger is awesome, from the bread, to the meat, to the bacon jam. Well worth the $ 15.
Steak: Nice grill flavor and a good cut of meat. The mushrooms and potatoes are seasoned really nicely too.
Rigatoni with Sausage: Tastes like homemade pasta, and the sauce… ohh man the sauce. I wish I could make that tomato sauce because it is sooooo good.
It can get a bit noisy inside, but I like the communal tables as I find it more comfortable. Service here is great, the wait staff here are able to memorize your order no matter how many dishes you want. Amazing.
Come with a party of 4 or more so you don’t get stuffed from just the Focaccia and Ragu!

Been to Davanti a couple of times and I will say that dinner is much better than lunch. Their lunch items are unimpressive and leaves a bit more to be desired. That being said, the restaurant itself is actually quite charming and has a nice décor to go along with ample indoor/​outdoor seating. The polenta appetizer is quite legit but I would not recommend ordering the Italian beef… The beef was dry and bland and the bread to meat ratio was significantly off, kind of a disappointment. Overall, this spot is cool for dinner, apps and drinks but I wouldn’t recommend it for lunch.
Pros–
Location
Menu options
Dinner
Wine
Ambiance
Charming décor
Service
Indoor/​outdoor seating
Cons–
Parking is rough
Lunch is not good
Pricey