Taste of Little Italy

The Little Italy Association sponsored the annual Taste of Little Italy”, now in its sixth year, on Wednesday June 19, and was so popular it sold out all tickets to enjoy a culinary sampling at 28 participating restaurants throughout Little Italy. 

 

Attendees came from as far as Oceanside and Escondido and throughout the county to stroll from restaurant to restaurant partaking in a type of “pub crawl”. Participants received a “Taste Passport” which was checked off after enjoying a taste at the participating restaurant. Each passport showed a map of the restaurants as well as the menu item that was served at each venue. 

 

With the addition of new restaurants to the neighborhood, this year offered an exciting array of eateries to choose from.  Also, a new format was introduced by splitting the route into two sections; one north and one south.  This shortened the walking distance between venues and provided an option of picking 14 restaurants from one of the two routes or combining both.  The price for tickets this year was $28 for north or south routes, or $42 combined.

 

The North Route featured the following restaurants and food samples: 98 Bottles, chocolate beer brownies; Bencotto, fried polenta sticks; Buon Appetito & Sogno DiVino, pasta; Indigo Grill, shrimp and scallop ceviche; La Villa, lasagna; Landini’s Pizza, pasta and pizza; Mimmo’s Italian Village, tortellini; Mona Lisa Italian Foods, ravioli; Napizza, pizza; Po Pazzo, tiramisù; Puerto La Boca, skirt steak; Underbelly, oxtail dumplings; Waterfront Bar & Grill, chipotle sliders; Yogurtland, yogurt. 

 

The South Route featured the following restaurants and food samples: Caffé Italia, espresso and coffee; Craft & Commerce, beignets; Davanti Enoteca, corn salad and spritz; Enoteca Style, wine; Fabrison’s Sweet Café and Boutique, crepes; Filippi’s Pizza Grotto, pizza; Isola Pizza Bar, pizza and bruschetta; Karl Strauss, beer; Kelvin Restaurant, steak chimichurri skewers; Monello, Raspadura cheese; Petrini’s, penne with mushroom or meat sauce; PrepKitchen Little Italy, chocolate “salami”; Queenstown Public House, lamb slider with blue cheese; Waters Fine Foods, Caprese panini and kale Caesar salad; Zia’s Bistro, rigatoni Bolognese. 

 

Live music and entertainment was played at Piazza Basilone during the event. 

If you wanted to go to “Taste of Little Italy” and couldn’t get tickets because it was sold out, know for next time that this event is popular and quickly sells out, so you might want to consider purchasing  your tickets online in advance or for inquiries please email info@tasteoflittleitalysd.com.