Restaurants in La Jolla

After childhood games of barefoot street soccer in the Sicilian town of Raddusa, Enzo Castiglione came home to Sicilian food crafted from his family’s traditional recipes. As an adult, he now serves the same cuisine at his Italian eatery, La Dolce Vita Ristorante. Named after one of his hometown’s coffee shops, the restaurant has earned praise in papers such as La Jolla Cuisine and La Jolla Village News for its authentic pastas, pizzas, and seafood, as well as its intimate dining room. White lights wind their way around the trunks of potted trees, illuminating nearby plates of house-made gnocchi, grilled Black Angus ribeye steak, and pizzas topped with calamari, Italian sausage, or simple mozzarella and basil. To start, diners can whet their appetites with a Caprese salad or a bruschetta, rather than the traditional Italian starter of a closed pizza box to stare at longingly. To complement their meal’s flavors, diners can select a wine from the eatery’s wide-ranging list, which ranges from pinot grigio to chianti.

No matter where you sit at Parioli Italian Bistro, you’ll be treated to excellent Italian food and romantic lighting. From the cozy outdoor patio lit with hanging strings of lights, guests order rack of lamb or housemade lobster ravioli. Inside the dining room, a fire crackles and candles flicker on tables dressed in white cloths. When not savoring a plate of steamed mussels or gnocchi, guests can learn the secrets behind the tantalizing dishes during cooking classes, which treat students to a multi-course meal with wine, just like Home Ec class in school.

On a sunny day, salty sea breezes tumble over the sands of Solana beach and through the open windows of Woody's Solana Beach seaside eatery. Chefs complement the ocean-enriched air with fresh catches of the day prepared to diners' specifications and their classic seafood paella with chorizo sausage and saffron rice. The restaurant hosts brunch every Sunday, which, in addition to hot breakfast eats, features such drink specials as bottomless champagne, for which diners can enjoy while watching Sunday NFL games on Woody's eight high-definition TVs. Corrugated metal emulates the texture of water, covering the walls between exposed metal beams and wood paneling. The hammered-tin silhouette of a whale frolics amid the faux waves, creating a playful metallic seascape.

The food of one's youth not only nourishes a developing body, it also nutures a nostalgic seed of comfort-food adoration that follows one through life and dimly lit alleys. Today's Groupon serves up $25 worth of Philly-inspired fare and libations at Olde City Grill in Pacific Beach for $10. Lend your cravings the sultry satisfaction of Philly cheesesteaks and fresh East Coast ingredients that will return you to the good ol' days of eating cheesesteaks during a lunch break at the sulfur mine.

High-quality food, all-day breakfast, and a huge outdoor patio make The Boardwalk a great place to take in a game and enjoy some sunny, flavorsome fare. No matter how late you slept off your long night of ventriloquism, snag an a.m. meal such as The Boardwalk’s most popular item, the Short on Cash ($6.95), with two eggs, two pieces of bacon or sausage, and your choice of two pancakes or toast with potatoes. Or try the healthy bestseller, the Acai Bowl ($8.25), served with fresh bananas, berries, and granola. Beach bums can interrupt their skiing fantasies with a selection from the lunch menu, including the Baja Mex-style snapper tacos ($4.25) with rice and beans ($2), and meat masticators can hang a fang on a Boardwalk Burger ($8.95), a ground-on-site sirloin-and-chuck patty topped with tomatoes, grilled onions, and American cheese.

Within the casual confines of Ocean’s Pizzeria, ripples of cheese cascade across New York–style pies, mimicking the ocean waves lapping the coastline just beyond the eatery’s doors. The sunny seaside serves as a backdrop for an alfresco dining on the patio, while inside, sunlight pushes through windows whirling around vibrant orange and red walls. Amid the colorful environs, staffers sling crispy, thin-crust pizzas topped with ingredients such as mushrooms, canadian bacon, and white sauce, and assemble hearty sandwiches and subs. To keep the merriment and soapbox derbies going, servers tap into their full arsenal of libations, pouring beer, wine, and cocktails.