Nicolosi’s Italian Restaurant, 7005 Navajo Road, San Diego, California 92119
By Sandi Masori
SAN DIEGO — Recently we took a family trip to Nicolosi’s Italian Restaurant to celebrate my parents’ anniversary. We went at an off hour, so it was pretty slow, but they seemed to have a steady stream of customers coming through just the same.
The restaurant is pretty big, with a few different seating areas, featuring both booths and tables. They also have a small patio for al fresco dining.
Once we asked all of our many questions (yes, there is pork in the meatballs), and placed our order, they brought out the bread basket. Though it was a simple white bread loaf, it was served warm and nicely crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.
I ordered the chicken parmesan, which was served with a generous portion of spaghetti. I asked for the spaghetti on the side so I could take it home to use for lunch for one of my kids tomorrow. I’m a big fan of getting dishes that can have double use. The chicken was breaded and fried and topped with cheese. (Remember that I don’t consider chicken to be “meat” when it comes to the prohibition between milk and meat). It had a nice texture and the crust didn’t fall off when the chicken was cut into. It was not something that I would crave, but I would order it on another occasion.
My dad, who is trying to stay away from carbs ordered the Sicilian chicken with a salad instead of the pasta. I didn’t get a taste of it, but since he finished his plate, I’m going to assume that he liked it.
My mom ordered the eggplant parmesan, which was layered with ricotta cheese. I’ve never seen eggplant parmesan done that way before, and since I don’t love so much “squish” factor in my food, I don’t know that I would have liked it very much, but mom said it was the best she ever had. She thought it was much better than the eggplant sandwich she had on a previous visit.
One of my sons got fettuccine alfredo with grilled chicken. It was as you would expect, and as you would hope.
My other son ordered Neopolitan rigatoni. He didn’t care for the spicy full-bodied sauce, which had a licorice type after taste. On the other hand, I think my mom probably would have enjoyed that flavor.
The prices are pretty high, averaging about $20 per dish or so, but if you go to Costco, you can get the $100 San Diego restaurant gift cards for $70, and then Nicolosi often has buy-one-get-one coupons of some sort, so if you plan carefully and stack the discounts, it’s not that bad.
The food was good, the ambiance was fine, and the service was as expected. There wasn’t anything that was a “wow” or different from any other Italian restaurant per se, so I give them an 8.25 out of 10.
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