Solunto Restaurant & Bakery

Wow! The gelato here is amazing! It reminds me of my travels to Rome a few years back. It’s hard to find a good gelato place that is comparable to what I’ve had in Rome.
My husband was in the mood for dessert after our hearty late lunch and just happened to walk by this shop on the way to our car so he picked up a large cup of gelato (i forgot the flavor) I was impressed. The large cup was big and the amount of gelato was pretty generous.
I’d come here again for gelato if I’m in the area.

Bellisimo! This review is based on the baked dolci only. Once you try Solunto’s authentic Italian baked items, there is no need to go elsewhere. I have tried many baked items in the heart of Little Italy and all over the world, and these are the freshest, most delightful, authentic pastries you will consume with no regrets. You must be familiar with the true authentic quality & type of textures that each Italian pastries should taste like in order to know… Italian cookies very from each pastry some are sweet, some with mild flavors, some slightly hard in texture «Biscotti etc… Trust me SOLUNTO is SOVRANO «King»

We picked up cookies and gelato and they were delicious. So the next day we decided to sit and eat a whole meal. Spaghetti and meat sauce was ok. Service wasn’t good at all… he hardly talked to us and did not check up on us. We will come back for the gelato and cookies but prob nothing else.

This place has been so good to me.
You know they make:
an honest sandwich,
an honest pizza
and a good salad…
not to mention good coffee and cases full of amazing baked good — including bread!
Enjoy your food eating indoors or out.
TIP: The only thing that you need to be aware of is that if you come at lunch, it can take awhile to order and pay, so make sure that you have plenty of time so you can enjoy your stay.
IN SUMMARY: So you’ll get good stuff to eat, a cute atmosphere to enjoy it in and an honestly nice owner names Paolo.
SPECIAL PROPS: This guy is so nice and honest and genuine. He has always been welcoming and you know when I noticed a discrepancy in the tip amount that I gave and the tip amount that was charged on my card. I can’t recall the exact amount, but I think the tip was only $ 5 and $ 15 was accidentally charged instead. Paolo worked very hard to fix it and gave me back the money.

This review is only for the bakery take-​out section of the restaurant.
Let me start by saying that I have a sweet tooth. I pretty much love all sweets; however, these sweets were not worth the effort it took to chew or the calories. Don’t be fooled by the desserts sitting nicely in the glass case. We got a box with a good assortment of different cookies and pastries, and they were all dry as if they had been sitting out for too long. The cheapo in me didn’t want to waste my money, so luckily my husband took one for the team and ate them even though he agreed they weren’t good at all. I won’t be back anytime soon…

Terrible terrible terrible! Worst service! The food was awful! Party of 6 took an hour to get the food! The salmon was raw! I had to beg to have it taken off the bill. The servers were rude and acted like it was no big deal that everyone was complaining about the long wait and mediocre food! Everyone was complaining and I mean the whole restaurant… people were waking out the whole time! Never going back! Hopefully they can get there stuff together or it won’t make it here for long.

Almost didn’t try this place for dinner because it’s listed as breakfast/​brunch. And there wasn’t a wait like there was everywhere else, so that worried us. But they’ve only been open for two months, so we gave it a shot. Glad we did!
Had the Margarita pizza, paparadelle bolognese, fusilli polpette, gnocchetti polpette. Everything was delicious, including the bread that came with the meal. They bake their own and all the pastas are fresh. The only thing I’d change is the marinara sauce that came with the bread. It was spicy, and cold.
A great accidental find. And Claudio, our waiter, was very friendly. Will be back!

We were actually heading to Sorrentos across the street, when we saw that the owner finally reopened Soluntos. He did a really nice job with the remodel. He gave us a little peek a few months ago, and with everything in place, it looks great. It is a little loud in the dining room, but most restaurants in Italy are like that, so it feels authentic.
They have a nice selections of wine and we ordered a Malbec. The place was very lively, and the waiter, from Rome, had only been in San Diego for about two months. Very friendly, funny, and courteous! I ordered the linguine with pesto, chicken, and sun dried tomatoes. Keoni ordered the steak with melted mozzarella, which came with fries. I also wanted to try their pizza and ordered the Napolitano (?) pizza.
Since I didn’t have my glasses, I didn’t see that with the basil and mozzarella, it also had anchovies. It was an interesting combination, and I’m sure a number of people like it, but it wasn’t my favorite. Great crust and sauce! And speaking of which, I did love the pesto sauce in my pasta! Very good! Keoni said the steak was very tender. Overall, a great first visit. I did buy some muffins and cookies on the way out. I can’t wait to return to explore the menu some more and try their gelato.
Grazie!

I don’t know where to start, the food is tremendously amazing. Even the sauce that they give with the bread is fantastic! However the service is utterly spot-​on I wanted cucumber for my water, Giuseppe the waiter literally walked across the street to get it for me because they didn’t have any! How cool is that! Outdoor seating is comfortable and shaded, indoor atmosphere is lovely and vibrant… a definite must! And I cannot fail to mention that the pastas are handmade on-​premise daily!

Stopped by on a weekday evening, 8ish… Not busy. The brightly lit pastry display caught our attention from the sidewalk… They have a decent selection of gelato, an a good array of pastries and breads. Just a quick stop, we picked up some gelato and tiramisu to go.
I had their pistachio and chocolate hazelnut GELATO. The texture is sooooo creamy and smooth. The flavored were so rich without being too sweet as well. Probably one of the better gelato’s I’ve had here in San Diego. Yum yum! No really, it was good. I later tried the tiramisu, which comes in a little plastic tub. Flavors here were also very rich and authentic. The mascarpone added a nice balance. Super moist and creamy.
We took everything to go and didn’t sample any other items on their menu. Open, clean looking dining area. Definitely one of the more casual places in little Italy.

I was not overly impressed with my first visit at Solunto’s reopening, but I do expect to be by again for better results, as I do frequent Little Italy often. I came in for some tea and a pastry. I ordered a ricotta, pine nuts, and candied orange zest tort with a hot herbal tea.
I enjoyed the crust of the tort. It had slight buttery texture and crumbled nicely as it hit the fork and most important of all, it tasted quite good. The ricotta cheese inside the tort was fluffy a had a pleasant mild sweet flavor, the candied orange zest was genius and provided a nice sweet zing to the tort, but in the end, the pine nuts just got in the way and did not give the tort that great texture and flavor they should of.
I don’t know what happen to them but they were very hard. When I bit into them, they had the texture of uncooked rice. They were definitely not fresh because they lost their natural color and had darker and slightly translucent color, which in most cases is a sign they been well over cooked. I literally had to pick them out to enjoy the tort on its own. In the end, it was to much work so I did my best to eat around them.
The hot herbal tea was very good and I liked that they served it on a small tea kettle for multiple servings. The young lady who took my order and brought over my tea and torte was nice, and I did tell her about the hard un edible pine nuts. She said she would mention it t the head chef. I hope she did.

We love trying new places, especially with fun desserts in a vibrant community like Little Italy. We were so disappointed with our gelato and our pastries… the gelato is not as flavorful or as thick as Pappalecco or Chocolat downtown. It just wasn’t «gelato» that I’m used to. My hubby ordered a cannoli and a huge pastry that had custard in it. Because the pastry was stale, he asked nicely for another dessert which the manager was so gracious about. One of the employees came out with a «bestseller» which also lacked flavor and was stale. Maybe it’s supposed to be and I’m missing something, but we wanted to LOVE this place but left wanting.

This restaurant was closed for a couple of months for remodeling… Me and my husband would go here for a glass of wine with dessert. We never actually tried the food, so we gave it a shot. We started with the calamari appetizer… It was good. For our main dishes I got the salmon with roasted veggies and my husband got the white sauce pasta with chicken. I guess they love parsley because everything was coated in it… Our dishes were only OK but the main reason why I’m giving three stars only is because our food took forever… Different servers kept coming saying excuses that it will almost be out. For it not even being busy!

I ordered Togo I got some pastries and a veggie pizza wat a disappointment so disgusted the pizza was Burnt and the pastries were stale. The cannoli was not even crunchy and how the the hell do u mess up a pizza soooo bad never going here again!!! A sad example of wat Italian pizza/​food should be!!!

These guys were some of the nicest people we’ve ever had service from. Everyone that took care of us was excited and proud of the food and all seemed to be genuinely happy that we enjoyed their food.
Our server recommended a dish when it seemed like we were unsure of what we wanted, which ended up being a Fettuccini pesto chicken dish that he split for us. He recommended a great wine as well.
The gelato though… The pistachio and almond gelato were incredible. Good times.

Was looking for a new Italian restaurant to try in Little Italy and the name of this place for some reason caught my eye. I saw they were a half bakery and restaurant. I also looked at some pictures on Unilocal and saw they had this delicious garlic butter with the complimentary bread, but when I had asked for it they said they make different sauces/​butters everyday so everyday is different, which I thought was pretty cool but at the same time I was really craving for that butter!
We ordered the calamari, which came also with fried cauliflower which had been in the same breaded texture as the calamari. It was a huge portion! Great for sharing. My boyfriend ordered a pizza, which was a simple ordinary pizza, thin crusts and looked like it was brick-​baked based on the burns on the crust. I ordered the lobster ravioli, which I thought was actually really salty that my taste buds felt a little overwhelmed. Then again I am very sensitive to salty foods so that may be it also. Their customer service was awesome, they were all so very friendly and kind. I definitely want to come back to try the gelato sometime!

Finally it arrived in Town the best PIZZA IN San Diego. I am so happy it’s hard to find good Italian food here in SD especially good pizza it was impossible. But Today u can test the best pizza in town. Friendly atmosphere plus they r also bakery. U remind me Italy guyz. Thanks to make me smile again ;).

Wow much improved since the remodel, and we liked the old one! One of our fav places in lil italy. Super service and food, those are the important things to us.
They make all of their own bread here, it is our goto place to buy bread. The sweets including the cookies cakes etc. are all very good. We normally have lunch on the weekends in the café part and have never been disappointed.

An excellent addition to Little Italy after such a long wait. From the pleasant hostess to the great waitstaff to the excellent bartender Chris, manager Paolo has a working formula to our best and latest addition to our favorite neighborhood. Oh, and they have a homemade deli with unbelievable chocolates made in the European fashion. That, and a Sambuca or espresso, makes our night complete.

This place is new (or just reopened according to the sign). I saw halibut on the menu and figured let’s give it a try.
I ordered the halibut with risotto– DELICIOUS! The risotto was a bit salty for my taste but I’m really a NO-​salt kind of girl so I’m sure to everyone else it’s perfect. Halibut with risotto for $ 19.50– I’d come back for that!
The husband wanted chicken parmigiana and it wasn’t on the menu — they said NO PROBLEM we can make it! They even made it with spaghetti by request instead of the veggies. They charged the same price as the other chicken $ 16.50! It was also really good, the red sauce was tangy with chunks of tomato and the spaghetti was a little al dente — really good!
The entrée portions were LARGE– we were full after eating about half of our plates!
Tried the gelato for dessert, ended up getting half chocolate and half coconut — BOMB COMBO! the small size is still a lot as it’s very rich, but don’t get me wrong we managed to eat it all!
The service was also great! I don’t have a single complaint about the place — other than it’s all the way in SD and not Orange County lol

Delicioso! La verdad la comida muy buena les recomiendo la ensalada cesar con pollo OMG! Y los postres deliciosos! Seguro que vuelvo antes de irme de San Diego!