Finally got here after a while. Food was great and service (from Alex) who was even better. Great drinks and wine suggestions. We had the Sicilian Steak, Chicken Parm, Calamari, and several pasta options. Ended with the Tiramisu. Service took a little while but we weren’t in any rush. Great atmosphere too.

Such a cute hidden gem! Food was delicious, Garlic Knots are delicious and their flatbreads are huge, definitely feed 2 people (or 1 ravenous person). Cute theme amd decor. Highly recommend and will be bringing my family here for family dinner. So glad we found this place!

Tasty Italian food in a comfortable setting with rustic chic interior and nice patio. Many of the pastas are made on premise. Interesting selection of cocktails in addition to alcoholic libations. Pleasant staff.

food was great, i ordered the garlic knots and the cannoli waffle i didn’t finish both items and i also go a berry spritz mocktail with was very good. i enjoyed the food and the service and the ambiance of the place. would definitely be coming back with more people in the future 🙂

Consistently, melt-in-your-hungry mouth, meatballs & spaghetti sauce from Heaven! Try to sit outside in the beautifully lit from patio & enjoy their Happiest Hours- super drink & Italian Fare prices. Katerina continues to welcome patrons with her competent style & Tiramisu.

This is definitely the gem of Lemon Grove. They have pasta prepared in a cheese wheel on Mondays so definitely try that. Their restaurant week menu was also great, lunch was an appetizer and entree for $15. The bruschetta was excellent. Also the crab stuffed mushrooms were probably my favorite. Service was good, attentive.

This place always goes the extra mile and tries so hard to accommodate any wish you may have! We love coming here at least once or twice a month and we’re impressed every single time by the high quality menu items. The food is amazing! The owner is a super host and deserves an award for friendliness, customer satisfaction, and professionalism. Happy 5th Anniversary 🥂🍾👌🏻👌🏻

What a wonderful idea! Table side fresh handmade mozzarella. We added this tasty and fun experience to their Thursday date night special. All our food was delicious; meatball lollipops, chicken Marsala, grilled salmon, and cannoli's. Our server Shannon was very friendly and helpful. All the staff was attentive and constantly made sure we were taken care of. Can't wait to come back!

We loved the food so much, we went twice in one week. Caught a nice sunset view the first time... and we bought a round of beer for the kitchen staff, conveniently on the desert menu. The pasta pictured here is my fave thing I had - penne salsiccia. The arincini & garlic knots were also tasty. We finished one night with the chef's choice dessert. 🤌🏻

Giardino Neighborhood Cucina Located in Lemon Grove, California just outside of San Diego is by far the best Italian restaurant Ive eaten in this area to date. My girlfriend and I started our meal off with garlic knots. Typically, garlic knots can definitely be a hit or miss with most Italian restaurants but these were out of this world; honestly the best I have ever had. They were so soft with a little bit of crunch as you bit into it, oozing with garlic butter. My girlfriend had ordered the Crab and Shrimp Ravioli which was very delicious. The vodka cream sauce was smooth and rich, as you can tell the note of vodka enhanced the flavor profile of the sauce which complimented very well with the cheese ravioli. Furthermore, I ordered the Fettuccine Maremonte which had baby scallops, shrimp, and mushrooms in a delicious truffle brandy cream sauce. Honestly, this dish is worth every bang for your buck. I did find that I needed to add a bit mor salt to enhance the flavor more, but overall it was a very good dish. However, the only suggestion I would make that I wasn’t a big fan of was the baby shrimp and scallops. I definitely believe this restaurant can be taken to the next level if you replace it with fresh Sea Scallops, as well as fresh caught local shrimp. Another suggestion I would make is to toast the garlic bread longer as it was soft and soggy. I thought the balsamic glaze on top was unnecessary and a little to sweet to my liking for garlic bread; just keep it simple and add minced parsley for color. The ambience is very nice and eclectic, quite lovely if you’re looking for a date night. Our Waitress was very knowledgeable of the menu and friendly. We asked her what her top picks were and she didn’t steer us in the wrong direction. Giardino offer an array of specials each night on the weekdays and even on the weekends. For example, they offer a special for two for $55 that gives you 1 appetizer, 2 Entrees, and 1 Dessert. Overall, this restaurant is very good and would recommend if you are near the Lemon Grove area.

Came on a Monday night for cheese wheel pasta and had a wonderful time. The food was delicious. I really enjoyed the aranchini for an appetizer. Full of flavor. The pasta was wonderful as well. It was incredibly busy, so service wasn't the best, but I won't knock them that much because I understand. It was also national pasta day and maybe underestimated how many people would show up to celebrate.

Lots of parking with a lot in the rear. Nice atmosphere.friendly staff and of course good food. One of the only Italian places that does a great ribeye! All the regular Italian dishes are great like the lamb osobuco. The pork roll is great and they have a gluten free option. Worth the drive to check it out.

You must have dinner here. The food is amazing 😋 and the service is 👏 great! Come hungry because your going to want to have the appetizer, entree and dessert. Don't forget the wine 🍷

So this place is really cute. Very nice setup with patio up front inside and back. The definitely was bustling. We probably came at a too busy time. U know with covid... probably shortage of staff makes it hard to perform at best service time. Certainly that's a factor. Well my husband ordered lamb (meat falling off the bone!), my son ordered something beef, my daughter ordered ravioli and I ordered stuff sole(careful for tiny bones). For appetizers we had stuffed mushrooms, and some bruscutta bread. All was yummy. The service was so slow, so they gave me a 10% discount since there were large parties in the back that arrived before us. Of course at the time, we weren't too happy, which is why I waited to post a happy review. Maybe next time it will be a perfect review. Hope u give it a try. Next door they own a winery. There's a few extra parking spaces in the back.their food is delicious.

Sausage (minced) panini and minestrone soup $15! (Restaurant week end of Sep/beginning of Oct). 23 oz 13 Point Brown ale $9. Homemade meatballs and (overcooked) pasta (maybe ask for al dente?) $19. Stuffed mushrooms ($17, not worth it at $4+ each but deliciously garlicky). Outdoor seating, dog friendly, park in the back or across the road for free. Excellent service

This is a very lovely place, we loved the atmosphere, and the service we received. The apps were amazing, we had the garlic knots and bruschetta and we had zero complaints with either of them. The apps set the stage for what I thought was about to be perfect entrees, but boy were we horribly mistaken. The fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and the fettuccine maremonte were not pleasant at all. Both dishes very bland, and very skimpy on the meat. The fettuccine maremonte was supposed to come with shrimp and scallops and when it was brought to the table, the dish only had very very small possibly frozen shrimp and zero scallops in the dish. Overall, I would say a 4/10. The horrible entrees really crashed and burned our entire experience there, which is so disappointing because it started out so well with amazing appetizers and drinks. For a $26 Seafood entree, I was seriously expecting so much more. I could’ve got something better tasting and cheaper at Olive Garden. Very sad.

Excellent food and service, great variety. Server was patient and helpful with the menu. Had a Caesar salad and roasted pear pizza with GF crust the berry mocktail--all fabulous. The crust was burnt on the first try and the server was fantastic about having it re-made. Ate entirely too much. Husband had the shrimp and lobster gnocchi but with GF pasta instead. I didn't like that quite as much. Loved the outdoor seating except for location near a busy highway. Parking in back.

Love this little place, the food was absolutely fantastic! We loved the service, ours apologized for a wait for food, although we felt it's was ok. The atmosphere is fun and light. Parking can be tough at times.

The food is so good! 100% recommend the vodka sauce! Stuffed mushrooms are fantastic. Ambiance is fabulous and service is so good. Alex was our server, he’s a keeper. This is our new go to Italian restaurant.

Love meeting friends here for a leisure lunch. Nice selection of lunch specials and top it off with beer or wine. Staff is great! Will be back many times!

This was my 3rd visit and I am still impressed with the amazing food. At some restaurants Fettuccine Carbonara can be on the salty side but Giardino's was a perfect, creamy balance of flavor.

First time here. Food was really good! I recommend a reservation. We went on an experience night, fresh tablesside mozerella. Chef invited the kids to participate and they had a really good time. Food all kind of came out at different times, but the place was slammed, and they brought it out when it was hot. We will return for sure! Maybe for pasta made in a cheese wheel night.

Huge portion esp. the spaghetti di mare. Liked the Lasagna Rosa & strawberry mojito. Spaghetti meatballs and calamari were ok.