San Diego Neighborhoods: Little Italy Guide
Little Italy between downtown San Diego and the airport is one of San Diego’s hottest neighborhoods. It is not only full of trendy restaurants and shops, but it has become a hot place to live. This is also one of San Diego’s most historic neighborhoods, developing from San Diego’s famed tuna fishing industry.
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Overview
Little Italy is one of our top 10 free attractions in San Diego.
From the early 20th century through the 1960s, San Diego was a leader in the tuna industry. In 1940 95% of the tuna consumed in the U.S. was packed in San Diego. Major communities that grew from tuna fishing include Point Loma, Barrio Logan and Little Italy.
Portuguese immigrants tended to settle in Point Loma, Hispanic immigrants Barrio Logan and of course Italian immigrants built the waterfront area now known as Little Italy.
The Little Italy district runs from Ash Street in downtown San Diego to Laurel Street, near the airport. The main drag is the 11 blocks of India Street and Kettner that run north from Ash to Laurel. Little Italy also includes State and Columbia Streets which run a short distance north/south. The I-5 Interstate marks the east boundary and Pacific Highway is considered the west boundary. However, the San Diego Waterfront Park is often considered part of Little Italy.
In the past 20 years, Little Italy has exploded as a trendy area. Thankfully there has been a major focus on keeping the Italian roots of the neighborhood. The percentage of Italians in the neighborhood is now small, but there is a very Italian feel.
Little Italy is best known as a dining and drinking destination. Many of the shops are focused on food, but there is also a growing arts scene. This article highlights some of the top spots in Little Italy. Most of these are places we have personally visited so this list is by no means comprehensive.
The heart of Little Italy is India Street. This neon sign stretches across India Street between Date and Fir.
Food and Drink
There are all kinds of places to eat and drink in Little Italy. These are just a few of our favorites. We have been to most of these places with the exception of some of the high-end eateries like Juniper & Ivy. WE mention Juniper & Ivy because it is considered one of San Diego’s top restaurants operated by celebrity chef
Food Stores
Assenti’s Pasta: This small Italian store is our favorite place to buy fresh pasta.
Filippi’s Pizza Grotto: Probably Little Italy’s most famous restaurant/Italian market this has been going since 1950. There are many Filippi’s locations in San Diego so we rarely dine at this one.
Little Italy Food Hall: This food hall opened in 2018 and has become a center of Little Italy’s dining scene. See our overview.
Market by Buon Appetito: This small market has many Italian food specialities
Mona Lisa: An Italian food store and restaurant. We have only been to the restaurant once.
Pizza and Italian
Little Italy of course has some great Italian food and pizza. To see our full guide to San Diego’s best pizza go here.
Bencotto Italian Kitchen: This is a favorite of ours for upscale Italian. It is a sister restaurant to Monello next door.
Davanti Enoteca: A favorite Italian place of ours but we mainly go to the North County location. See our overview.
Filippi’s Pizza Grotto: We mention Filippi’s twice because it is both a restaurant and store. See our overview of the restaurant.
Isola Pizza Bar: A top pizza place noted for their great happy hour specials. We mostly go to the La Jolla location. See our overview.
Landini’s: One of our favorite NY-style pizza places in San Diego. Also we love their sandwiches. We eat here more than any place in Little Italy. See our overview.
Monello: Many claim Monello serves some of the best pizza in town. We have been here several times but still need to review the pizza. We have only tried it once because the menu has so many other options.
NaPizza: This unique pizza places is one of our favorites in San Diego. We mostly go to the suburban location near our house. See our overview.
UPDATE DECEMBER 2020: IT APPEARS THAT ALL NAPIZZA LOCATIONS HAVE CLOSED DURING COVID
Watering Holes and Night Life
Princess Pub and Grill: This British Pub is one of Little Italy’s oldest establishments. It opened in 1984. Personally I have been coming since 1991.
Queenstown Public House: Queenstown is part of a chain of New Zealand restaurants in San Diego. Highlights of these places include the lamb burgers.
Ballast Point: Ballast Point is probably San Diego’s biggest brewery right now. They started in the northern suburbs and their flagship location is in Miramar. The Little Italy location is smaller but still serves all kinds of beer.
Craft and Commerce: Upscale bar/restaurant noted for specialty drinks. However, they do not serve vodka or ketchup.
Music Box San Diego: This is a small music venue that can seat up to 700 patrons.
Waterfront Bar and Grill: The Waterfront has been around since 1933 and claims to be San Diego’s oldest tavern. It is one of our favorites and they are noted for their hamburgers.
High-End Eating
Herb & Wood/ Herb & Eatery: Herb & Wood is an upscale restaurant. Herb & Eatery is a more casual eatery and market. Both are from celebrity chef Brian Malarky. They are highly rated but we have yet to try either place.
Indigo Grill: This was one of the first restaurants from the Cohn Restaurant Group. It has been around for a long time and specializes in Modern Latin food.
Juniper & Ivy: Arguably San Diego’s top high-end restaurant from celebrity chef Richard Blais. We have yet to try it.
Other Favorites
Burger Lounge: San Diego burger chain that is one of our favorites. See our overview.
Bird Rock Coffee Roasters: Our favorite coffee shop in San Diego. We usually go to the original location in Bird Rock.
Prepkitchen: Popular casual farm to table restaurant. Most of the time we go to the La Jolla or Del Mar locations.
Crack Shack: Extremely popular casual chicken place next to Juniper & Ivy. This is also from celebrity chef Richard Blais. There is a huge chicken out front and a bocce ball court.
Farmer’s Market and Events
Little Italy seems to always have something going on. To see the latest events you can check the official calendar. There are some key regular events worth noting.
Mercato
The Little Italy Farmer’s Market is one of the largest in San Diego. Formally known as the Little Italy Mercato, this market runs every Saturday from 8 am to 2 pm. The Mercato features over 200 craft and food booths lined along Date Street from Kettner to Front Street.
Wednesday Farmer’s Market
A new Wednesday Farmer’s Market is now running on Date St between Kettner and State St. This smaller market is held between 9 am and 1 pm.
Little Italy Summer Film Festival
On Saturday eveneings during the summer, Italian movies are screened at the Amici Park Amphitheater. There is a suggested $8 donation.
Little Italy Tree Lighting and Christmas Village
On the first Saturday in December, Little Italy hosts a Christmas Village complete with live music, vendors, carriage rides and of course Santa. Little Italy also features season lights and decorations that vary throughout the year.
Mission Federal ArtWalk
The ArtWalk takes place in April and fills 16 blocks of Little Italy. This includes art, music and other activities.
Art Galleries and Shops
Little Italy is more about food and drink and less about shopping. However, there are a few shops and art galleries. Most of them are along India Street and Kettner Blvd. One of the more interesting spots is Architectural Savage. This store features all kinds of vintage home knickknacks.
Full information on shops in Little Italy can be found here.
Parks and Attractions
Little Italy is a fairly urban area but in recent years an effort has been made to create some dedicated open space. The newest centerpiece of Little Italy is the Piazza della Famiglia. There are several other piazzas currently being developed.
Piazza della Famiglia
Piazza della Famiglia opened in 2018 with the closing of Date Street to vehicles from India to Columbia. This 10,000 foot plaza is styled on Europe’s great piazzas. It features a fountain at the center. The Little Italy Food Hall is located right on the plaza.
Amici Park
Amici Park is on the eastern end of Little Italy where Date Street runs into the 5 freeway. This is where the Saturday Mercato starts/ends. Amici Park has a Bocce Ball Court, a dedicated Dog Park and an amphitheater where movies are shown during the summer.
Piazza Basilone
Piazza Basilone is a small memorial at the intersection of Fir and India Street. It was created in 2003 to honor John Basilone and the “Boys That Never Came Home” from the wars in the 20th century. There is a monument and a fountain with a globe.
San Diego Fire Museum
Little Italy is home to the San Diego Fire Museum. This small museum opened in a former fire station in 1962. It celebrates the history of fire fighting for over 100 years in San Diego. Admission is only $3 for adults/$2 for kids and seniors.
Where to Stay
Little Italy is part of downtown San Diego and is right by the airport. You can see our full guide to hotels in the downtown area here.
If you want to stay directly in Little Italy there are several options.
Being right by the airport there are several value chains in Little Italy including Best Western, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Four Points by Sheraton, Residence Inn and Motel 6.
The more high-end properties in Little Italy tend to be on the smaller/boutique side, even when operated by major chains.
Carte Hotel: The Carte is part of Hilton’s Curio Collection on the southern border of Little Italy
Porto Vista: This small boutique hotel is in the center of Little Italy. There is a focus on San Diego’s border art.
La Pensione: A small, boutique hotel on Little Italy’s main drag, India Street
Found Hotel: The Found is a small property in a restored 1910 building
Hotel Republic (formerly W): Hotel Republic is a luxury Marriott Property two blocks south of Little Italy
Residential
Little Italy is one of San Diego’s trendiest neighborhoods to live. Most of the residential places are condos, apartments and townhouses in high-rise buildings that have gone up in recent years. It is popular with 20 and 30-something young adults. This is one of the most expensive places to live in San Diego so most places are small and there are not many families with children living in Little Italy.
These are just highlights of our personal favorites. We encourage readers to suggest their own favorite places that we should check out.
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