Busalacchi's Ristorante
3683 5th Ave
(between Anderson Pl & Pennsylvania Ave)
San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 298-0119
- Price Range: $$$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street, Valet
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
13 reviews
Neighborhood: Downtown
"This is a re-review. I gave it four stars originally, but it deserves five. Alex, the bartender/chef, is incredible: best cocktails I've…" read more »
21 Reviews for Busalacchi's Ristorante
I've been here several times and have never had a bad experience. I'm a big fan of Italian food to begin with, and I think they do a great job at keeping it authentic, although that being said, you don't get a lot of adventure in their menu. If you want basic, good Italian fare, this is the place to go.
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Busalacchi's Ristorante is a fine Italian restaurant in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego. For the Italiano-challenged, you pronounce the name, BOOSE-a-lah-keys.
Great food costs a little more. Just so you know, two pasta dinner entrees with two glasses of wine plus tip runs about $70. But the cuisine is authentic, and the portions are large. Everyone has remarked on the garlic bread. True, the bread is addictive. Why pay for crack when you can get it free at Busalacchi's?
Discount coupons for a free entree with the purchase of equal or greater entree are widely available, and the restaurant offers 1000 point OpenTable seatings. They also offer valet parking if nothing is available on the street. (Review based on three dinner visits.)
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I really wanted to love this place, and I had high expectations. I ended up not impressed.
Food: The food was run of the mill Italian fare. The bread served to us was stale and lacking the crack cocaine appeal noted by other reviewers. The carpaccio and bruschetta appetizers were good. I got the eggplant torta entree. Avoid this, it was ambiguous as to what I was eating because the sauce was over done. My dinner company enjoyed their meals. Clams and linguini was tasty. The other person got the halibut special for the night and that was spectacular. Maybe the specials are the way to go. The fish was a little on the soft/watery side, but the fresh tomato garnish was a perfect complement to the fish flavors/textures. After dinner coffee was good and fresh, and the creme brulee was standard.
Service: Our waiter was funny, gracious, and attentive. I really enjoyed him.
Ambience: We were seated in the back room which smelled funny (plastic residues) and was very warm. Probably should have asked to be moved to the outdoor seating and would have been much happier. It was just too hot to sit there for an hour and a half meal. The decor otherwise is nice.
Drinks: Corkage fee = $20. Well worth it because the cheapest glass of wine is $8 and you certainly don't get what you pay for in this department.
Prices: Overpriced for what you get. Bring a coupon or skip this place.
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I have been going to this restaurant for over 15 years and, while there have been changes and updates to the decor, you can usually count on Busalacchi's for excellent Italian food. Now the gaslamp has many different choices for Italian but I have been to them all and I don't think any of them measure up to Busalacchi's for basic upscale Italian food. For that matter, I think Busalacchi's tops the places in Little Italy as well. As for the location on 5th in middletown on the way up to Hillcrest, it can't measure up to the ambience of the gaslamp or Little Italy but once you are inside, it doesn't really matter.
My last visit to Busalacchi's with my wife (last night) was excellent as usual but there were a few hiccups. The service by the waiter was adequate but the bus service (filling water etc.) was poor. They really need to take care of the little things to make this a top notch experience. I had to ask for bread, grated cheese on my entree and twice had to ask for refill of my water. Other than that, everything was excellent. The chicken parmigiana was very good and their sides of fresh vegetables and potato were done just right.
If you haven't been to Busalacchi's in a while, they redid the place and it looks much better. You have choice of outdoor seating or inside which is very cozy (actually an old house). I can guarantee that if you give them a shot you will not be disappointed. Oh..and one more thing. The bread is AMAZING!!
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So dissappointing. We have been here four times now and 3 out the 4 times it was terrible. We went back last night because we had a gift card and it was awful. First of all, we made a reservation and they still gave us the worst table in the restaurant. Then, we ordered a bottle of wine and they brought us a glass. We then waited for eons for our waiter who could only spare us about 15 seconds. I ordered the Calamari Parmigano and it was stale, as if it had been waiting for us for awhile. My husband had the 'special' which was linguine with mussels, clams and calamari and it was awful. I tried it, it was awful. We saw our waiter about two times and that was it. On the way home we decided never again.
On a side note, we heard from reliable sources that Mr. Busalacchi is not the nicest man in town.
There are plenty of fine Italian restaurants in San Diego, go to them.
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Every time i have been here has been great. I am always impressed with the food and the service. The cheesy pasta dishes are absolutely delicious, the calamari only so-so. My girlfriend didn't like it that much (she is picky as hell) otherwise i probably would have given a 5 star.
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Wonderful Italian food, very east coast. The service is attentive, and they constantly refill your glasses with whatever you are drinking, and make sure that your bread plate is always full.
The menu is pretty wide ranging. I've had eggplant parm, a couple of different type of pasta dishes, including fettuccine with white clam sauce. I got a bad clam in that dish, and basically was sick for about the next day. REALLY SICK. So sick that I couldn't make my flight and had to stay over my parent's for another day, which was REALLY TORTURING.
So I guess I wouldn't go back, because the thought of that clam makes me shudder even now.
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Since EJ likes to monitor and police my carb intake, I sort of go crazy when I do get the opportunity to consume some. We came in here famished from a mini road trip... we were looking forward to a home style, cozy Italian meal.
Let me start with the garlic bread. I swear there's crack in them! Coated with butter, fresh garlic and cheese, they were decadent, melted in your mouth and addictive. I couldn't stop eating them. We moved on to our salad and split the Chopped Salad with Avocado, Gorgonzola, Kalamata Olives and Fried Onion, tossed in a Light Olive Oil Vinaigrette.
I experienced THE BEST pasta I've ever eaten, outside of Italy. It was the House Special, the Lobster Pasta (Capellini with Lobster, Shrimp, Crawfish and Scallops, Tossed in this AMAZING Tomato Garlic and White Wine Sauce, which I SWEAR contained crack too) I am not exaggerating... I am normally not stingy and piggish about sharing food, in fact, I encourage people to eat off my plate. It. Took. A. Lot. Of. Convincing. On. EJ's. Part... to get me to surrender to switch plates with him. I even reached over snagged the last strand of pasta off his plate. He ordered the Breaded Halibut with a Roma Tomato Compote and Fresh Vegetables. That was also great, but paled in comparison next to my crack infused pasta.
So if you're ever in the San Diego area, please go there! You will have no regrets... I loved everything about the place and the service was excellently Molto Bene!
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When we got in there for lunch, the place was empty and very, very cold...we were all freezing so we huddled together. The waiter was very nice and the place was cute but definitely not the best italian food I have had.
However, I did love the garlic bread, veryy good but overall, the price was a bit much for lunch....about $15 for 6 small lobster ravioli...and one of them didn't have any filling ha. I was tricked! We also had the cannoli...the cream was really good but the shell was so hard we had to attack it with a knife...shouldn't it break easily? either way, the shell was gross.
Would I come here again? Only if someone else pays but I would rather go to another wonderful Hillcrest restaurant. Eh, maybe another time will yield better results : /
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Busalacchi's is a little pricey for lunch, but it's a nice place to go if you want to enjoy your meal at a leisurely pace. When I was there at noon, we were seated immediately and there seemed to be only a couple other tables in use. Service was attentive, but they also left us in peace to enjoy our meal and not feel rushed. I had a grilled vegetable sandwich. It wasn't anything special, but make sure to check out the bread basket, because there's yummy garlic bread in there. I wouldn't necessarily return for the food, but I'll keep this place in mind for when I want a relaxed, quiet restaurant to have a long lunch with a friend.
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It took me waaaaaay too long to check this place out. The food is really good. The ambience is cozy and nice. The first time we went the service was awful but the food was good and it's hard to find truly good Italian in SD for some reason so we gave a little lee way. The second time around the service was much better and the food was delicious. I'm glad we went back.
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I tried this restaurant based on the review on yelp and I was a bit disappointed. The service is great but the food is not as good.
I have order a stuff squid appetizer and that was not good at all. I have also tried the lobster pasta that was previously reviewed as an excellent choice. The shrimp is extremely fish and flavorless.
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If you miss Chicago like me, then I suggest that you step into your local Midwest teleporter, Busalacchi Ristorante. Walking through the door, I felt the limitations of time and space melt away as I took in the comforting smells of fresh basil and garlic. The lights were low, and I could make out the soft chords of Jobim's "The Girl from Ipanema" coming from a live jazz duo on the patio. Brilliant!
This is the place for a nice velvety evening, but that's not why I went. Suffering from the first stages of a sore throat, I was on a quest for something spicy to get right in there and fix me up. Mum's not keen on Thai, so Celadon next door wasn't an option (though a bit of that green curry was what I was after), and then it came to me: puttanesca! So, Italian would suffice after all--it's important to keep out-of-town guests happy, especially if they gave birth to you.
So, I had the penne puttanesca, and she had a nice spinach lasagna. For drinks, we polished off some tasty pinor noir and bit of scotch. Everything hit the spot quite well, and the service was friendly to boot.
I feel like I can be honest with you, so I'm going to do so completely and admit that although the environment (the lighting, the music) was as good as climbing into a warm bed, I really prefer Arrivederci (which is just up the road a bit on 4th). The quality of both the service and cuisine there is always excellent. I suppose a review of Arrivederci is now in order...
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Phenomenal! I took the little lady there to celebrate her graduation and man, was this place great. The food selection is outstanding, great Italian, succulent steaks, and strong drinks.
One thing I missed in the number of times passing by is that the patio is a great place to sit. It is mostly covered, but would be fantastic on a nice San Diego summer night. This is a great place to eat and drink at with an attentive staff and valet parking (worth the $6).
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iI'm a big fan of all the Busalacchi restaurants but this is by far THE BEST...the food is always consistent and yummy!...The pesto crepes are AMAZINGGGGGGGG....and the garlic bread...Best Italian restaurant in town
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This is the best Italian food in San Diego... maybe in California...
my Dad was Italian... and trust me ... he loved this place...
enough said...
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i grew up with a family with names like Tomaselli and Gambino. what they were doing in SD, i'm not quite sure (i kid). but to the joy of my palate, i had holiday dinners with them at Christmas and Thanksgiving and was introduced to excellent Italian fare. when i'm back in town and we go out, this is where we like to go. it's intimate, the service and food are outstanding. even better, it's uptown, away from the irritating resurgence of yuppie scum that is the Gaslamp.
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This is the place if my basis for comaprison of all other Italian restauraunts. Their "pollo dello chef" is phenomenal. Chicken with prosciutto, mozzarella, and cream sauce with fresh tomatoes.
I haven't been there since the new management but the kitchen staff is supreme. I don't see their calamari caesar on the menu anymore but it used to be a favorite. Ask for it, just in case. They will probably make it for you.
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THE best Italian place I've ever eaten.
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The Best Italian Food in San Diego hands down....This place is great and is run by two young Busalacchi brothers. They are great and so is the food
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You gotta love that this place is run by *Joey*. It is so mafia! But, the food is authentic Sicilian, and locals agree it's the best Italian in SD.
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