Amanda Goldstein

I was pleasantly surprised to find out Civico 1845 offered vegan Italian food in addition traditional offerings and was the first Italian restaurant in the US to do so. The mozzarella caprese was exceptional-the mozzarella was creamy and smooth. The vegan funghi gluten-free penne also impressed me - tasted no different than regular pasta with shredded mozzarella. The staff were delightful-the hostess was friendly and accommodated our request for an outside table, our server Lucas was attentive, fun, and shared the history of the restaurant and its sister restaurant in LA, and the owner also stopped by to chat and check on us. I can’t wait to tell all my vegan friends about this gem in San Diego’s Little Italy. And I’ll be back here next time I’m in town!!

Christiana Kmecheck

What a wonderful and tasty experience I had with my best friend at this restaurant for my birthday! The staff are super friendly and accommodating! We were checked on be so many staff, and I even think the owner, making sure we had an enjoyable experience. They also have a quality selection of non-alcoholic beverages, and as I am pregnant, I thought that was so fabulous. I ordered the spare-rib stuffed ravioli (with 2 spoonfuls of parmesan cheese) and my, how delicious it was. And the tiramisu was the perfect, delectable night-cap. Such a classy joint with an inviting, down-home atmosphere. I highly recommend you check it out, whether your a local, or visiting and want to have a taste of exquisite Italian cuisine.

katie tran

It was my husbands second time going but my first and we got an amazing server named Luca he was so sweet and checked in periodically even tho he had many tables. I asked for chili flakes and they brought out Calabrian chilies!! I loved it my spaghetti and meatballs was perfect my husband had the papardelle. The hostess was so nice and personable. The chef/owner is from Italy and has carefully curated the menu to be very authentic Italian cuisine. We ended dinner with an affogato and the chef gave us information on where the gelato making was originated from. It was amazing conversations we had, we loved every part of our date night there.

Jan Ezer Dominguez

Perfectly cooked pasta! Servers and hosts were awesome. Great Friday date night location as a group or couple! The meatball and the calamari were the best dishes we ordered!

Alexi Pacquin

Amaizing food! Get the braised beef pasta. It was too good I didn’t take a photo of it because I ate it so fast. So… here is a photo of the delicious tiramisu. Stunning!

J & M Schermerhorn

The food and atmosphere is superb. Lucas was our server and made the meal so enjoyable. We started with mussels and fried zucchini, which was a delicacy. We ordered the vegan lasagna, which was scrumptious, and a sausage pasta called casareccia tartufata. Flavors really sang. The pasta is homemade and even during a busy event like the Little Italy festival, the hostess and server went out of their way to take care of us.

Cha B

The zucca dí fiori are just like they make them in Italy and with the stems which are the best part in my opinion. Finally, an authentic version!! The vegan meatballs are superb. You would never know they are vegan. The pappardelle and branzino were also delicious. Our server, Lucas was also very friendly and professional.

Victoria MB

Solo dined for an early dinner snack sitting outside in the beautiful weather. Service was excellent, the taco special appetizer on the 10 year celebration menu was very tasty, they complimentary bread and pesto dip was SO good and my mocktail was delicious. I know I was to come back to try more of the pastas next time.

Erik Minges

This was the best pasta dish I've ever had! The seafood pasta (don't remember the name but it had shrimp, mussels, clams, squid, octopus, etc. In an insanely good red pasta sauce and homemade noodles). First time in San Diego and this was my favorite restaurant / dish - and there were tons of great restaurants I went to the last several days. Huge shout-out to Luca who was our server and gave the recommendation. Thank you Luca!

Sarah D

Civico 1845 stands out as a must-visit destination for Italian cuisine enthusiasts, especially those seeking plant-based options. Despite not being vegan myself, I've been drawn to their vegan menu time and again, and it never disappoints! Their complementary bread that they bring out in a little brown bag and serve with a pesto like dipping sauce is incredibly tasty and is a must try! The ambiance of Civico 1845 adds to its charm. It is cute, cozy, and perfect for date nights. The service has also always been good each time I've gone!

+2

Royce Gough

Great spot in Little Italy San Diego. The food is fantastic - all pasta made in-house. The menu is (in my opinion) the perfect size... not extensive, but everything you need. As with most restaurants, service is key. At Civico 1845, Marcello is excellent! Trust the recommendations, and enjoy! My rating: Molto buono!

Great vegan options. It's a sin to leave without trying the pesto. I also recommend the vegan calamari, the dinner bread is to die for. ambiance can't be beat and great service.

Great vegan options. It's a sin to leave without trying the pesto. I also recommend the vegan calamari, the dinner bread is to die for. Ambiance can't be beat and great service.

Great vegan options. It's a sin to leave without trying the pesto. I also recommend the vegan calamari, the dinner bread is to die for. Ambiance can't be beat and great service.

Great vegan options. It's a sin to leave without trying the pesto. I also recommend the vegan calamari, the dinner bread is to die for. Ambiance can't be beat and great service.

Best tasting Italian Vegan food. \nExcellent Service, Luca our server was very attentive. Background Italian music.

Best tasting Italian Vegan food. \nExcellent service, Luca our server was very attentive. Background Italian music.

Best tasting Italian Vegan food. \nExcellent Service, Luca our server was very attentive. Background Italian music.

This is a very chill, relaxed place with excellent, reasonably priced Italian cuisine and Italian wine. We've had the same waiter 4 times. Super friendly guy who makes you feel very welcomed. We sh…

This is a very chill, relaxed place with excellent, reasonably priced Italian cuisine and Italian wine. We've had the same waiter 4 times. Super friendly guy who makes you feel very welcomed. We sh…

Second time trying this place and let me tell you, it was packed with flavor and such a pleasant experience. To start, our friendly waiter came by and dropped off some bread in a brown paper bag wi…

Great spot at Little Italy! Nice ambience, good options for food, reasonable prices for the level of quality you get! On top of all that, our server, Leo, really went above and beyond from the begi…

I thought the staff was very nice. The food was good. I got the vegan rigatoni. I also had the vegan meatballs. The wine was enjoyable as well.

We had dinner here one evening while in San Diego. The staff was wonderful, all the food and drinks we had were exceptional. Would highly recommend. Thank you!

We had dinner here one evening while in San Diego. The staff was wonderful, all the food and drinks we had were exceptional. Would highly recommend. Thank you!

We had dinner here one evening while in San Diego. The staff was wonderful, all the food and drinks we had were exceptional. Would highly recommend. Thank you!

We had dinner here one evening while in San Diego. The staff was wonderful, all the food and drinks we had were exceptional. Would highly recommend. Thank you!

Dinner with family We came here for dinner with the family. We already knew the place, but we didn’t realize just how professional and authentic it was! The service was excellent, and the food was …

We love this Italian place in little Italy They have a great service and the food is very good It’s a little noisy but what italian restaurant isn’t? Their pasta with vodka sauce is one of m…

We love this Italian place in little Italy They have a great service and the food is very good It’s a little noisy but what Italian restaurant isn’t? Their pasta with vodka sauce is one of my favo…

Came in here after a busy day exploring the city, had a nice warm welcome and shown to the last available table (we were just walk ins). Very busy and nice atmosphere. Lovely vegan menu on offer wh…

We were tourist so perfect to be sitting outside in Little Italy. Food was great, service was friendly. Recommended to a couple people already.

Very welcoming and friendly staff. Food was delicious. The warm bread and pesto was a nice way to start our meal. We had the parpadelle and it was perfect.

Walking around while my husband was at a conference and decided on Civico for a light meal. Just a glass of pino Grigio and a Caesar salad. The complimentary focaccia bread and dipping oil was deli…

We popped in for lunch after running an errand to downtown… everything was fantastic. The pesto “dip” and bread were excellent as was the bruschetta. Both our pasta dishes were plentiful and tasty.

We popped in for lunch after running an errand to downtown… everything was fantastic. The pesto “dip” and bread were excellent as was the bruschetta. Both our pasta dishes were plentiful and tasty.

Wonderful Italian! Met friends here for dinner and they had a great vegan menu for 2 of our guests. The zucchini blossom appetizer is delicious. The bread warm and yummy. pasta was perfect! Dessert…

Michael Holloway

We had the most delicious appetizer, fiori di zucca. The dipping sauce was great with the bread. The lasagna was very flavorful, but I was disappointed with the pasta. It appeared that the pasta was setting in the pan for quite a while, as it was mooshy. The whole thing had no texture and the pasta just kind of melded with the sauce, as it dissentegrated. I. Wish I had traded it out for something else.

Shannon Howard

We had an incredible group meal at Civico 1845. The food was fantastic. The server (Lucas) was great. It took quite a bit to place orders, but otherwise was a fantastic dinner and would highly recommend going!

Devon Davis LLC

I really enjoyed this restaurant and it's food as well as the service. The Lasagna is some of the best I have ever had (and I go to NYC Little Italy as well as the Country Italy often.) The bread is yummy and comes in a paper sac with oil, so yummy! (My only complaint is that I usually order a House carafe or a bottle of wine, but the server recommended a featured wine. Maybe next time they should mention the price per glass because I would have just bought a bottle.) And from now on I will ask. So yes this is a very good Italian restaurant San Diego with a front dining area for people watching.

Curtis Stone - The Realtor

I grabbed some lasagna at Civico 1845 while traveling through San Diego and it was pretty solid. I can't say its as good as my grandma use to make but thats a hard mark to hit. The staff was nice, the space was beautiful, and the food was really good. If you're looking for a nice Italian restaurant in the area.. its an easy recommendation.

Victoria Bransfield

Service and atmosphere were lovely. Víctor and Antonio were wonderful. However, the food did not quite live up to my expectations. Free bread and pesto was delicious, the vegan calamari was good, vegan lasagna was decent, vegan vodka sauce was garlicky which I don't mind, but just extremely plain like pasta and jar sauce you could make at home in 10 min.. vegan cannolis were decent, but I've had vegan cannolis that tasted like the real thing, and these ones did not. The vegan tiramisu had a good flavor, but it was more like pudding than tiramisu. My friend enjoyed seafood dish and the brocolini. I only had water, but my friends enjoyed their wine and nonalcoholic wine. Overall I would say give it chance, but I would appreciate if they improved their vegan dishes. It's not terrible, but really expensive for mid food.

I'm really sad to have to write this review. We have been loyal customers since the beginning and for every special occasion or birthday, this has been one of our go-to places whenever we could celeb…

I'm really sad to have to write this review. We have been loyal customers since the beginning and for every special occasion or birthday, this has been one of our go-to places whenever we could cel…

I went on a Thursday night at 530 and they have a happy hour with discounted drinks and apps.\nWe got some vegan meatballs that were pretty good (I'm not vegan and still thought they were tasty)\nM…

Agree with almost all reviewers. food was very good but not outstanding. Full disclosure I am a Boston Italian and a tough critic on italian cuisine. Server was slow but acceptable. Expresso …

I am writing to share feedback regarding my dining experience at your restaurant on March 8, 2026.We had a reservation for 6:15 PM and were pleased to be greeted and seated promptly. Our server was very pleasant and knowledgeable about both the menu and wine offerings. We particularly enjoyed the appetizers and sides; the calamari was served hot and perfectly breaded, and the homemade focaccia bread in the paper bag was a delicious and unique touch. My Branzino entree was also cooked perfectly. However, I wanted to bring a few concerns to your attention regarding the rest of our meal and the service. The braised short rib ragu with pappardelle appeared as though it had been sitting under a heat lamp for an extended period; it did not look fresh and was served lukewarm. Additionally, while the vegetables were overcooked, they unfortunately were not to my personal liking. Most disappointingly, the level of service declined significantly after our entrees were delivered. Our waiter did not return to the table until the end of the meal to ask about packing the remaining food. Given the positive start to the evening, we expected a more attentive experience throughout the night. I hope this feedback is helpful for your team, as we truly enjoyed several aspects of the meal and believe the service could have better matched the quality of the food.

Conner Jolly

We had been craving good italian for a while and unfortunantly this didnt quite do it. We decided to go with the wild mushroom pasta and instead of a ballance of quality mushrooms and pasta it was a tone of cremini mushrooms that werent very flavorful and were a bit watery. The pasta itself was good but the ratio of mushrooms to pasta was far too high. We didnt have a reservation but were seated right away which was nice but it took a while to get our order in after that. Once we had our order in though they stopped by to fill our waters and give us bread often. The servers were pretty friendly and the atmosphere did feel like an italian dinner. The quality is usually not as big of an issue at normal restraunts but with the price or most meals being around $30 I was hoping for more.

Pretty reasonable happy hour, and we enjoyed some delicious wines. The squash blossoms off the HH menu was good and the focaccia with pesto was bomb! But everything else was just kinda so so in terms…

Pretty reasonable happy hour, and we enjoyed some delicious wines. The squash blossoms off the HH menu was good and the focaccia with pesto was bomb! But everything else was just kinda so so in ter…

Pretty reasonable happy hour, and we enjoyed some delicious wines. The squash blossoms off the HH menu was good and the focaccia with pesto was bomb! But everything else was just kinda so so in ter…

Restaurant was good and ambience was good but service was just ok. Server had a bit of an attitude that was a little condescending. Also I wasn't thrilled that the chef just decided to charge $5 to a…

Restaurant was good and ambience was good but service was just ok. Server had a bit of an attitude that was a little condescending. Also I wasn't thrilled that the chef just decided to charge $5 to…

Restaurant was good and ambience was good but service was just ok. server had a bit of an attitude that was a little condescending. Also I wasn't thrilled that the chef just decided to charge $5 …

The food isn't as good as it was a few years back. The flavors for the dishes are bland. This used to be one of favorite places with the vegan menu. The bread is flavorful and warm. Service was gre…

My family had dinner here one evening in July. Our waiter was very personable and friendly. We ordered salads & entrees. The salads came out, and literally less than 5 minutes later- our entrees we…

My family had dinner here one evening in July. Our waiter was very personable and friendly. We ordered salads & entrees. The salads came out, and literally less than 5 minutes later- our entrees …

Nice ambience, disorganized service, below average food. The burrata cheese was not creamy and fresh, the mushroom vegan risotto lacking in taste, the prosciutto too salty and the tiramisu was o…

This was probably one of the worst restaraunts we have been to in San Diego. Everything fell flat and was very bland. It was way overpriced. Super disappointed. Will not be going back.

Food - fairly good. Staff - manager helping himself to numerous drinks from behind the bar - then turned nasty and rude!