Venetian Restaurant
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
28 Reviews for Venetian Restaurant
This cozy little Italian restaurant with excellent food and service. The I love the ambiance of this place and it's my first choice for great italian food. It's a family-like atmosphere. The staff is friendly. Their pizza is fantastic, if you don't see something you like - they'll cook to your taste if you tell them what you'd like.
Start with the calamari or bruschetta for an appetizer, then try your choice of pastas or pizza. Of course, order a glass of wine - they have a decent selection. I've never been able to make it to desert because the portions are good sized, so I always have left-overs to take home.
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I don't know what other yelpers liked about the pizza. We got the Mediterranean pizza. It was a little less then OK quality, topped with two pounds of feta cheese!!! None of us liked it anyway. I am sure there are better places for pizza. But we loved the steamed clams and they, the clams deserve the stars. I will go again exclusively for the clams.
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Fantastic food, friendly and competent staff! This place is right next to my new apartment and I will definitely be a regular customer. The pepperoni and sausage and artichoke pizza was fantastic, and so is the Farfalle pasta. Can't wait to go back again and again. Belissimo!
I admit it, I have a bias ... I tend to veer toward ambiance then food fiddles second in my reviews. This one is different though. THE FOOD at the Venetian was spectacular.
We celebrated my brother's birthday at Venetian last night. This place was packed. We sat in the corner booth for three hours. Tried so many things! The Sangiovese Blend from Tuscany -- OH MY! The very tender calamari strips with two dipping sauces. The gigantic scallops with the most amazing garlic sauce (non duplicatable in my kitchen). Then salads. Yes, there's more! Our entrees: Farfalle to die for, veal parmagiana yum yum, and a few other d-lish dishes! Dessert was Tiramasu of course. My mouth is watering just writing this review.
The service was impeccable. They were both patient and attentive at the same time!
The decor seems a bit old Italy. I heard they haven't redecorated the place ever ... but it has great character and charm!
Also, I plan to go back with a larger party (10ish) and book their wine cellar. This is a private room with Tuscan murals painted on the wall. Very nice!!!
Gotta go heat up some leftovers right now!!!
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I LOVE The Venetian! I truly haven't had a dish there that I didn't like. Over the last couple years, my friends and I have become regulars. Some recommendations.... Appetizers: Bruschetta & Calamari Strips. Entrees: Lasagna or any of the sea food pastas. Pizza: make your own, because all of the toppings are top quality. Dessert: Tiramisu (although I'm usually too full for dessert). If you're a beer fan, try their house beer: The Venetian Brew. It's a very tasty unfiltered Amber Ale.
Best pizza I have had in San Diego...even better than the pizza I had in Italy. If you like thin-crusty-pizzas, this is the place. Had one with pesto and scallops... was even better the next day, cold from the 'fridge. :) This is a family owned and operated business (I hear) and everyone there was pretty friendly. The pasta dishes my friends had were also excellent. Great bruschetta and caprese, too, and a good selection of vino.
This place is really good. Fantastic pizza, friendly people. Had a really good bottle of wine with dinner.
this is good italian food-
some of the best pizzas around-
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The best pizza i have ever had. If you don't know sucks for you
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I don't really eat Italian that often, but when I do, the Venetian is my #1 choice. The service is always excellent, and the "patio" area is the most charming spot for dinner, dimly lit with twinkle lights all around. I have stuffed myself silly with almost everything on the menu, and haven't been disappointed yet- although I haven't tried their pizza, and from the looks of the other reviews, I think I should!
My recommendation is the Aglio Olio- it's soooo delicious with the fresh basil and tomatoes, olive oil, and the perfect hint of garlic. The "small" a la carte serving is more than enough for one person, and if you're on a budget, still affords you the opportunity to have a salad and/or appetizer and a couple of glasses of chianti. Amore!
skkkky rockets in flight buuuuuuuuuup afternoon delight booop boooop ok thats what goes through my head when Venetian pops into mind. this place is og Italian food and thinking about it makes me feel all funny inside. I have been going here since I was a little fat kid and now im still go here and im a big fat kid.
Here are my top three dishes and it goes it little something like this kick it....
1. Mediterranean pasta- its enough for 2 and it comes with everything found in the ocean no joshin (ya i said joshin) I think I found a sea horse in my pasta one time.
2. The WORKS PIZZZZA- this pizza is stacked with all the best fixins and its glorious. im naming my first kid "The Works" I can only hope he has as much to offer as this pizza. Please consult your physician before eating this pizza. May cause increase in blood pressure. It is recommended to take a lipitor before eating.
3. Spaghetti and meatballs- best in town in my opinion. ok that's all I got
go to this place and let me know what you think if your not satisfied I will buy you a beer and if you do go there and love it due to my review you owe me a beer. Cheers!
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Go in, get the best Pizza in town, go home, eat the best pizza in town, use the toilet and repeat. AWESOME PIZZA!!
Thanks to Yelp I found what I was looking for - great tasting spaghetti & meatballs & sausage. Service was slow since the place was packed w/ holiday parties, but the wait was worth it since the food was so good. I didn't feel heavy afterwards which was a good surprise. This is my #1 place for Italian food from now on. Thanks Yelpers, you know what god food is all about.
EDIT (2/20/08): I'm officially addicted to this place! I come here at least once a week & it's starting to show. I still only get the spaghetti w/ mushroom meat sauce & meatballs & sausage. The tiramisu is absolutely TO DIE FOR! I've never thought tiramisu was anything extraordinary, but Venetian's has totally changed my mind. Tiramisu at The Venetian is my fave dessert.
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nice atmosphere. friendly service.
ordered the mediterranean pizza, & it was EXTREMELY filling and really big... i barely made a dent in it. there definitely was a lot of toppings, but i felt like it was a bit too cheesy. there was also olive oil & basil on it, which is a reallyyy interesting combination. if i ever went back, i don't think i would order the pizza again. it wasn't bad, but i feel like it wasn't worth it for the price ($16.75).
the pasta was pretty well received by my friends (apparently the clams and mussels were very well seasoned! i have no expertise on this matter so i'll take his word for it hahaha) so maybe i'll try some pasta next time x)
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Yelp put me up on this place. However, My gf and I were sooo full from breakfast and lunch that we decided to order the minestrone soup and fried calamari appetizer instead of the full on dinner that we had planned to order. The soup was pretty good (i've had better) and the calamari was ok. The service was nice and I would consider returning here for the diner menu next time I am in San Diego.
Going to the Venetian restaurant in Point Loma reminds me of big family dinners as a kid....I'm not Italian but this restaurant has a comfortable, homey feel...kind of like eating at your aunts house or something. It has been around since 1965 and they are still serving delicious Italian food!
Besides GREAT pizza, they also serve EXCELLENT "traditional" Italian dishes like antipasto salad, lasagna, spaghetti, chicken parmigiana, etc. Their canelloni is one of my favorites-it's super rich and impossible to eat in one sitting!
This restaurant is a great place to bring the kids and it's good for groups. It's a little on the small side so it can be busy especially on Fri/Sat nights! The staff is super friendly and their are lots of regulars who frequent the restaurant from the neighborhood. They offer a decent selection of wines and a full bar for those who prefer the "harder stuff." There is also a very cute banquet room available for private parties.
The Venetian is perfect if you are in the mood for tasty, traditional Italian food and a friendly, casual atmosphere.
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This was my family's favorite takeout pizza joint growing up. That is, before the Domino's "30 minutes or free" promotion got us spinning the great wheel of destiny. For those who have the cooking chops to boil spaghetti, this place has excellent meatballs, sauce and garlic bread to round out your quick and cheap gourmet dinner. The pie is from the lots-of-mozz / extremely-greasy school of pizza-making, with the highest features of cheese topography being deeply browned. The sauce is good and full of razor-liquefied garlic. An extra half star for old times' sake.
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When we lived in OB, this was one of my favorites places to eat. You feel like you're eating in someone's family kitchen. The food is awesome and everyone working here was always so nice. I loved the chicken parmagiana and my husband loved their pizzas. We would also share the best cheesy garlic bread and dip in their red sauce. Wow, I think I might need to head down here....and soon!
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This place is not bad, it looks pretty old and ghetto from the outside but it's not bad, the selection of food is decent, however prices are higher than I expected, 2 dollar signs on yelp is accurate but the range is too huge in my opinion 11-30 dollars is 2 dollar signs.. so that means a steak dinner and a quick take out at chili's would be in the same category.. wtf? anyways I got the paste with baked cheese on top I forgot the name but preppo vila de something? It was pretty good but the cheese was a bit too thick, I almost chocked a few times. The bread was mediocre (but I'm a big bread critic so I'm probably pretty harsh on this aspect), however we ran out of bread a lot, for a party of 7 they gave us.. .well 7 rolls of bread and we each only got one and had to ask for more, but on the refill they only gave us 4, so we had to ask for more then the 2nd refill there was only 3 :(, the Cesar salad was not bad, but it was spicy, different from the other cesar's i've had in the past, not bad though, my friends who had the soup said it was pretty amazing, so I would give that a shot if I were you. The dishes were all pretty filling (the whole party was full with what they ordered) and the two who shared a pizza only were able to finish half, but one of them was this like 100 lb girl so she doesn't each much. They said the pizza was very.. "UNIQUE" when I asked them if it was good or not they just said it was very different from what they've had before, not bad, not good but probably would rather try somethign else if they came back agian. Service was not bad and everything went pretty smoothly, it's kind of far from where I live (UCSD) so I doubt I'd go back agian unless it was really desired, the food is GOOD but not AMAZING, I'm not sure if they have macaronie grills here in Socal but it's very comparable to this place, and probably even better than this place when price and food is both taken into consideration. A tad dissapointed because of all the positive yelp reviews, but still very good food.
I was in the mood for good, old, Italian food the other night so I went with a suggestion from a friend, The Venetian. Located in Point Loma in a little strip of stores it is a quaint restaurant. Although there is not a hostess up front someone saw us waiting and offered either indoor seating or the covered patio. Being a rainy, cold night in San Diego we chose indoor. However I went and checked out the patio and decided next time I would like to sit out there. The service was a little slow, maybe since we arrived a little late. The bread and flavored butter was nice to start off. We ordered the Mediterranean Pizza, topped with Chicken, tomatoes, onion, olives, and feta, I am a fan of feta so I loved it. We also ordered the eggplant parmigiana which was a good, basic dish, exactly what I expected. This was a little pricey for what we got, but a great neighborhood restaurant when you are craving Italian.
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I'm glad I found this spot because they have some awesome Italian food! I had the veal parm and it was great! I also got the cannoli and my friend got the tiramisu. They were both outstanding but my cannoli's filling did not go all the way through. That was a bummer cause the filling was really good!
This place has the most fantastic pizza I have ever seen/eaten in my life. Even Italy can't compare... The crust is thin and crisp and piled HIGH with perfect ingredients. I love the farffale with a rose sauce, prosciutto, mushrooms and peas too it's amazing. The staff is friendly and quick with to-go orders. I would recommend them any day. Mmm
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by far the best Italian food I have ever eaten. This place is not messing around when they say their good. Their pasta and pizza is the best and their staff is excellent. I will say though, its a little crowded because its a pretty small restaurant but its definitely worth it.
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I think this restaurant has really charming old Italian feel. Ordered pizza from this place. Let's say he food is very good because it's jampacked with goodies and tastes great, but not enough to earn 4 stars from me regarding pizza specialty. If I ate other food besides pizza, it might be different. I think this place is great for people seeking real Italian food, not the commercial kind like Olive Garden. It has great atmosphere and is quite cozy. It wasn't hard to find this place and street parking can be tough if it's packed. It's worth a visit.
This place gets 5 BIG RED Stars!!!! I have only ever had the pizza and it is THE BEST EVER! Why can't there be one of these in Newport Beach? Oh yeah, I'd be SO fat from eating there all the time or totally depressed from depriving myself their pizza.
It is out of the way. In fact, without mapquest I would get lost everytime.
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I'm new to this area, I have died and gone to heaven. community pride and support is what i see in pt loma. I don't care much for Italian food, but oh sh... the venetian is of the hook, why not 5 stars parking. a must try
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Hands down best Italian style pizza in town. One slice can fill you up. Each bite is filled with toppings. The salad is great too, big enough to share with 3 ppl. The pizza is worth it. Haven't tried the pasta though.
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just got home from this place. it was ok. nothing that i was terribly impressed by, but that could have been because:
a)we had no clue where to check in. there was no hostess when we arrived, to put our name on a list, for about 10 minutes.
b) we waited for at least 20 or so minutes before we got seated. Shouldn't have come on a saturday evening,...very busy!
c)we ordered the caesar salad with homemade dressing..it was ok. not really anything to talk about.
d) we ordered the Mediterranean pizza (maybe not the right choice for a first time,.... should have ordered a more italian pizza)
e)the service wasn't that great....took a while to get my drink refilled.
It was good. I just think it was an off experience,...everyone seems to like this place, so we'll have to give it another try!!
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