Reviews for Civico by The Park in San Diego, CA
First the good side: The food is excellent. it deserves 5 stars for this kind of restaurant. We were 5 and all liked what we... ate. Second, the not so good: The design of the place does not deserve over 3 stars. It's located in an area where you can findupscaled restaurants, and here the tables, chairs... are more like a canteen than a restaurant. really not serious. Third thevery very ugly and bad; really deserves 0 stars. We started with some drinks, and in one of our cocktails there was manyswimming particles; first we thought that it was some kind of spices, but looking closely we found that there was a lot ofinsects... in 2 of the ice cubes there was even small roaches!! We retrieved the ice cubes and called the waitress and she justtook the 2 cubes and left us with the drink!! we had to call another waitress before we had our drink replaced. all we got was :oh sorry. they did not even offer to not charge for this drink. And the service was all the same very bad: They put 2 waterbottles but not even a single glass. The plates were almost throwed on the table like a frisbee. It's really bad as with theirfood they can easily score 5 stars. We never had this problem with the other location in Little Italy. Read more
Our waiter was knowledgeable and paced our meal well. The food was good albeit a bit oversalted. It was odd that they served our... bread in a brown paper bag. The beet and orange salad with yogurt dressing was very good. The vegan pasta with mushrooms andpeas was salty but tasty and I wonder why they thought it necessary to throw Beyond Italian sausage into it, as it added nothingto the dish. The salmon was decent but oversalted. If the tiramisu hadn't been so sad and pathetic, it would have been utterlyforgettable. Despite our laughably small table, I liked the sleek and modern decor. This place wasn't spectacular, but we had adecent time here. I dunno, I'd probably come back. Hard to say. Read more
Served us rotten food. Scallop appetizer is $17 and is 2 whole scallops. The dish had pomegranate seeds that were "fizzy"... (started to ferment). I asked them to check with the kitchen about it. The server came back several times and never updated usuntil I asked again, at which point he said that the kitchen removed them. No offer to comp the scallops, no profuse apology!How much do you want to bet that they just served the scallops later that night without pomegranate seeds like in the otherreview where the kitchen ran out of zucchini? To add to that the lemon cucumber had clearly been sliced far in advance from thewilted texture (not crunchy) and the vinaigrette that was spoke of on the menu was nowhere to be found. My pappardelle containedshort rib meat that was devoid of flavor like they had boiled it--could have been paper pulp and I wouldn't have noticed thedifference. Disappointed for the price. I regret that I did not walk out after the scallops. We should all be fed up withrestaurants like this. They have another location in Little Italy which should have been a warning to me: most restaurants inthat area cater to tourists and are not particularly good. It's likely the sole reason they do well down there. Read more
What a big disappointment! Second time dining here. First time was an overall good experience. This time, one appetizer did not... come as advertised on the menu. We were told the reason was the kitchen ran out of zucchini. They just didn't put it on theplate or say anything. One dinner entree came to the table cold. Salad came to the table after all the entrees. Exact cocktailscame to the table one with olives and one without. Not sure what is going on with this place. With the prices that you pay forthis place you should get consistent good service and better than average food and drinks. That wasn't happening today Read more
The absolute perfect atmosphere for brunch. The staff were so polite and attentive. I ordered the French toast with the table... side gelato and the seafood pasta. The food was absolutely divine. Would highly recommend this spot! Read more
Tonight was my first time at Civico By The Park. Food is absolutely delicious, authentic Italian food served in a beautiful hip... meets elegant environment by a first-rate service team. Awesome meal. Can?t wait to go back. Read more
What can I say about Civico other than they are always amazing at what they do. :) My fiance and I have been going to their... Little Italy location almost every week and now with their recent opening of Civico by the Park we have a new favorite added toour list! I have had their Parmigiana pizza in both the Calabrian and Pinsa Romana styles and it is heaven -- so much flavor inone bite. I love the cocktail menu that Simona has put together. She made me one of the best cocktails I have ever had which isthe Negroni Al Rabarbaro. It's a perfect balance of sweet, herbal and smoky. It made me want to learn to make it at home! Ourwaiter, Alex, was full of great recommendations and was very attentive. Thank you for providing us such a wonderfulexperience! Their outdoor experience is great and a little more peaceful being next to Balboa Park. Overall the experience iswonderful, staff is ALWAYS amazing and attentive. I want to give a shoutout to Simona. She has been oustanding since day one atCivico 1845 and I am so happy that she recommended we check out Civico by the Park. I have since recommended it to friends andeveryone I know that loves good food. I can't wait to go back and try more dishes! Read more
My wife took me here for my Birthday as we eat vegan and they have an extensive menu at Civico. In speaking to the server they... have had a vegan menu for 7 years and I felt bad I didn?t know that. The neighborhood is very hip, semi-quiet, and looks verysafe. We even found street parking about 3 blocks away. The restaurant is pure Italian with a wide array of antipasto, salads,pastas, and second plates. They have both meat and vegan with some vegetarian as well. They have about 50 bottles of wine onthe menu and many off menu selections for special occasions. My wife went for the vegan lasagna, which we were told wasperfected over the shutdown, and I had the vegan Pesto gnocchi. First off the bread, with accompanying olive oil, was amazingand we had to get extra (all free). The lasagna was top notch and I will order it next time, the vegan cheese and tart redsauce were both perfect. The gnocchi was really good and there pesto is nice. The portions are on the large size and honestlywe could have split the lasagna, the waiter told us the portions were ?holiday? size. They also brought me a pistachio cannolias a birthday dessert which was freshly filled and delicious. I highly recommend Civico by the Park and next time we might trytheir location in Little Italy. Read more