Osteria Panevino

We recently had the chance to experience a chef's tasting at Osteria, and honestly, it blew us away. It's not every day you walk into a place and feel immediately taken care of, but that's exactly what happened. We were greeted warmly and seated in the outdoor patio, which was cozy and inviting.

The evening kicked off with some White Zinfandel and red wine. The Zinfandel was light, refreshing, and had a nice aroma, while the red wine was just the right kind of medium-bodied, making it an excellent start to our meal. The service throughout the night was top-notch; our server was friendly and attentive, making sure we had everything we needed. He even brought out some warm bread with white butter, which was a simple yet perfect beginning.

The chef's tasting menu was full of surprises, starting with a burrata caprese salad. The presentation was impressive, and the salad itself was incredibly fresh and tasty. Then came the eggplant parmesan, which honestly changed my mind about eggplant. I've never been a big fan, but this dish was delicious and beautifully presented.

The pesto ravioli followed, and it was as good as we hoped--creamy, flavorful, and just a joy to eat. The ingredients tasted fresh, and the dish was a highlight of the night.

Ending on a high note, the dessert was a Tiramisu that exceeded our expectations. Not overly sweet, the dessert had a perfect balance of coffee and chocolate, and the moistness of the cake was spot-on.

Overall, the chef's tasting at Osteria was a standout experience. It wasn't just about the food, which was exceptional, but also about the warmth and care from the staff. It definitely changed my view of the restaurant for the better, making it a top recommendation for anyone in the Gaslamp District looking for quality Italian cuisine.

Overall, the place is okay. I thought service was good, ambiance is okay but not great, and food was acceptable.

I came here for restaurant week and tried the mushroom crab cake, chicken dish, and lemon cake. Food was all decent but nothing special. The flavor of all dishes were a bit bland for me and not too interesting. Chicken was a bit dry and tasted cheap. Sauce was appropriate but nothing that stands out. My favorite had to be the lemon cake, which was served warm and fresh. I would highly recommend this selection for the dessert.

I think they are a four star restaurant but would love to see improvements.

2.5 stars...
This joint was on my brides list so we popped in early on a Saturday night before the crowds arrived.

When we entered there was a hint of backed up sewer in the air..No draft beer, so I stick to water. Started out with the calamari, shrimp, and zucchini app. Overcooked and greasy. Opted for the pasta bolognese..very good! High quality pasta and a good meat sauce. Highlight of the meal was the fresh bread...wonderful!

Smelled bad, restrooms were smelly with greasy floors, app was not good... this joint would never fly in Little Italy...and that's where I'll head in the future.

This joint does not make the list.

I came for the happy hour (Monday to Sunday from 4-6) and I loved it. They have good prices for wine, beer, well drinks and martinis and also for food. Half off pizzas and appetizers. I got a glass of Sauvignon that was a house wine and it was great. Usually they don't have variety in house wines during happy hours but they good choices. Next time I'm coming to try the food!
The staff was very nice and attentive.

This was easily the WORST meal I had had all year!

I even waited until the end of 2023 just in case I'd feel differently about it, but no this meal sucked more than any other meal I had in 2023.

It was a craptacular experience from start to finish.

This is especially sad due to the fact that the average plate is about $40 and the cheapest salad on the menu is just under $10.

I've had better food and service at Denny's on a busy Sunday afternoon when they're grand slammed full of customers. Yeah, this place is THAT terrible to me.

Here's a rundown of why this place is just a Downtown Gaslamp tourist-trap.

Sucky Service: after a nice welcome from the greeter outside who seated us, it took like 5mins just to get menus. Another few minutes for drinks to arrive.

Then we waited another 10mins to place our order.

This restaurant was not full or busy, yet we waited what seemed like a too much time for our food to arrive. I expected this could happen as I get that good food can take time to prepare, so I insisted on ordering salads...more on that later.

Eventually, someone remembered to actually bring us bread. Sadly, the bread was the highlight here.

The table next to us, a family who were seated well after we were seated, received their bread and salads before we did. WTF?

Our main dishes eventually came out. The lobster pasta was grand in display but we found a hair in our dish which ruined it for us. Didn't bother to send it back since we were already tight on time due to the painfully slow service.

Our waiter actually came to check on us only once after we ordered, as we were wrapping up our meal, and asked if we received the salads we ordered. NOPE!

He didn't apologize and just replied that he'll have them brought out. He dashed into the back before I had a chance to say "don't bother".

The salads came out but we didn't touch them.

Then, I had to flag someone down to ask for the bill, while I watched the lovely older couple seated beside us struggling to get someone to take their payment.

The restaurant removed the salads from the bill when it arrived. If the hadn't done that I think I would have lost it and demanded the manager.

Overall, we dropped well over $100 towards a nice meal downtown and would have faired better eating food from one of the street vendors in the area.

My advice is do not go here. Run away. Dine elsewhere. There are plenty of other overpriced restaurants in the area that will treat you better and serve you better food.

Looking forward to much much better food experiences in 2024!

Very cute place, love the murals on the wall. We stopped for a late lunch. Had eggplant appetizer, which was delicious. Then we had linguine with clams, outstanding, and the chicken Parm was huge, tender, and extremely flavorful.
Out of all the Italian restaurants. we ate in while in San Diego on vacation, This is absolutely the best.

I visited here. Stella and gioia were great. Food is good here and friendly staff. Heart of San Diego close to gas lamps !!! Recommended !!!

Osteria Panevino is right smack in the middle of Gaslamp. They even close that block, so the ambiance is really nice with patio seating.

I came here for a business dinner, with a party of 9, sat out on the patio. It wasn't busy when we arrived but got busy as the night went on. For some reason, our food took forever. The party of 6 next to us arrived later and ordered later but got everything à least 30 minutes ahead of us. Our server also didn't write anything down and forgot one orders.

The food was disappointing. We got some appetizers to share- bruschetta, burrata with tomatoes, calamari, soup, salad. They forgot my salad but by then it was too late. Burrata wasn't the best but had some of that burrata tasting. The bread on the bruschetta was hard as hell. I got the pappardelle with ragu bolognese. There was no seasoning or salt. Literally tasted like just sour tomato sauce. Good amount of ragu but needed that seasoning. Which was weird, another person got the chicken and he said it was overly salted. I could have used that salt. The best thing was probably the chocolate lava cake. That was good, otherwise their other dishes were okay.

If you want good Italian food, little Italy is a better choice. This was close and convenient to the convention center for work.

I'd rather go to Little Italy if I'm feeling Italian food, but decided to stay close to home and try somewhere new. It is a small place with indoor and outdoor seating. We were seated outside and there is a lot of foot traffic, noise, and homeless in view and very close to your table. The ambiance is likely better inside.

Service: our server was great. She checked on us enough, was friendly, and informative about the menu.

Food: food was just ok. We enjoyed the complimentary bread and butter. We started with a stuffed eggplant appetizer. It had way too much cheese and the sauce was a bit runny. For entrees, I got the pollo siciliano, which was a large portion of chicken in a white wine sauce topped with mozzarella cheese, eggplant and tomato. This was tasty, but I thought it should have come with some sort of side. My husband got a penne dish that was also ok. The sauce again was a bit on the runny side and therefore didn't stick to the pasta well.

The pasta here got me by surprise. The pesto sauce was so creamy, the flavors had so much depth. This was my favorite dish of all. The clam linguine is another great recommendation, strong garlic flavor that complemented the overall dish. Truffle fries and pizza was pretty standard, it was good but nothing that stood out to me. The pastas are the highlight of the restaurant. Service is very good, the waiters are very polite and welcoming. The ambiance is very cozy with a rustic interior, cute for date night!