Elvira Reviews

Very nice and authentic italian food, loved the pizza and pasta, the service and coziness of the place are the cherry on top.

We were in town for our anniversary. We’ve been to San Diego many times but we always stay in the DT/Gaslamp area and wanted to try something different this trip. The restaurant is adorable and has a really cute retro 60s vibe. The staff is incredible, knowledgeable, and kind. The manager came to the table with suggestions to accommodate my allergies within 10 mins of us sitting down. Unfortunately, my only option was a steak cooked in a separate pan with roasted potatoes, which I went in kind of assuming would be the case. They do have gf pasta and pizza but I couldn’t have it (contains corn). They staff apologized for not having more options for me, which was kind but totally unnecessary, I know the drill. Once the food came out, any disappointment I had went away, It was really good! Impressively good! I’ve had a lot (A LOT) of pan seared whatever steaks in my day, this was not that. My husband had their meatballs and red sauce and he looked like he was in heaven. We will definitely be coming back. Make a reservation early, this place is, understandably, very popular.

The food is fantastic and the converted house has cozy rooms that are very cute. Behind the restaurant is a large park so there is plenty of parking close by. They have a semi-enclosed patio with a fireplace and a private room that looks to hold about 8. Definitely make reservations.

Yesterday I was with my family for dinner at this very particular location, very well looked after and unusual, we immediately appreciated a familiar but reserved environment with an informal but always present service. We were immediately given the menus, in a very large paper format therefore not very convenient to consult at the table, however compensated by the wine list, which vice versa in a pleasant and easily consultable format also offers the appreciable possibility of having bulk wine in various quantities and not linked to the unit of measurement "of the glass" as well as a list of essential and quality bottled wines. Very Italian menu although slightly revisited more in terms of appearance than substance, Roman pizza (rated 9) outside the usual round pizza dough, supplì (rated 10) excellent crunchiness and flavour, cold cuts platter (rated 10) a mix of cheeses and representative and quality cold cuts, but the real icing is the Roman tripe (10+ marks), faithful to the best tradition, a Roman trattoria couldn't do better!! I forgot... convenient and very close parking!

Nothing out-of-the-ordinary (Elvira is new and doing nothing to really make the experience "new" -- in fact it's less than an ordinary experience). 1) Tables are crammed, crammed together so you can barely sit with your table of 4, without actually in fact sitting in the lap of the patron at the next table too (whether you know them or not) 2) I knew we were in for a bad treat when I asked for a rum and splash soda at the bar while waiting for the "crammed table" and the bartender with a practied eye, precisely/carefully with a magnifying glass, scientifically measures out a 1 oz of house, well rum and makes quick mohito for my wife (and the two together w/ 15% tip come to $36 with those precise scientific beverage measurements). So much for adequate or generous pours on those drinks (PS they add $4 for "house/famaligia" service charge to every tab -- even if just two drinks. So watch for that each time you order a round. 3) Ordered the lamb chops and they came shriveled up with less than a pinky-finger of meat barely hanging on to the bone, I should say twig (not bone). 4) Tiny salad, order a la carte, came out with itty-bitty arugala leaves (well they weren't leaves, just shriveled what-looked-like parseley sprigs, but if you looked closely you could make out they were probably arugala. Whoever is ordering their food stocks is obviously a young inexperienced kid 5) Service - well they're all from Italy, at least Naples the folks we met, but they looked distracted and not like they really wanted to be there. The four of us tried the place - but certainly won't be back. If you're a frequent restaurant patron -- you'll easily find much better choices for you money. Oops and 6) Parking there and in the area is atrocious!!! Plan to helicopter in, or shoe-horn you bicycle between local resident cars which dominate the streets -- and then walk half-mile there. Just saying