Celebrated my birthday on Saturday and truly enjoyed everything about the experience. I ordered a special pasta from Italy with prawns which I hadn't seen on the menu before and was wonderful. The dish was messy because I got into those prawn shells to get every last bite and waiter provided fresh hot towels to clean me up. Love the eggplant appetizer and bread which I get every time. The restaurant gave me an exquisite dessert as a birthday surprise. A lovely meal and my companions enjoyed their meals as well.
Food tasted like my mom's Neapolitan home cooking! Best lasagna I've ever had out. Not too salty, and Austin our server was a doll. Best SD gem I've been to in a while!
TinaI
Was very excited to visit after all I had heard but everything was just average. Octopus was dry and overdone. Meatballs were good but barely warmed through. Pasta dishes were overly salty and just average. Staff was great and ambience was great but I'm not understanding the hype.
PatrickW
We loved the food. It's original and delicious. The portions could have been a little bigger for the price. After having an appetizer, a main and a desert we still craved a tiny bit more.
Janne Kaje
My first visit to Cori was amazing. Really nice vibe, friendly staff from the host to servers and bussers. The arancini (fried rice balls with crimini mushrooms and a gorgonzola mousse like dip) was fantastic. Unlike anything I have had. Followed that with the award winning seafood carbonara with sea scallop, shrimp, roe, etc with house made pasta that was perfectly cooked. Add a nice glass of wine and pepper infused bourbon cocktail and it was end-to-end amazing. I'll be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mushroom and Truffle Arancini
CalvinCandy
We dined for restaurant week 3 course dinner set at $50 was a bit pricy for what we received. We had 3 different dinners so technically 9 courses total. Nonnas meatballs were really good, the salad was ok. And the Buffalo bruschetta was quite tasty. Then we had 2 pasta dishes and a Branzino. Fish was a bit overcooked but still very good, past dishes were both ok. 3 options for wine pairings I added the $38 one which was only 4oz pours 1 white and 1 red they forgot my 3rd or mixed it up due to a port coming as a dessert selection. WAY overpriced on the small pours equaled out to almost $20/4 oz of wine hmmmm not good. Service was pretty good our server got busy immediately when we arrived. Restaurant vibes were awesome it's a cute little spot not sure if we will return. Overall 3/5 Tiramisu was literally the best part of dinner!!!
JanneK
My first visit to Cori was amazing. Really nice vibe, friendly staff from the host to servers and bussers. The arancini (fried rice balls with crimini mushrooms and a gorgonzola mousse like dip) was fantastic. Unlike anything I have had. Followed that with the award winning seafood carbonara with sea scallop, shrimp, roe, etc with house made pasta that was perfectly cooked. Add a nice glass of wine and pepper infused bourbon cocktail and it was end-to-end amazing. I'll be back.
JacquelynW
Austin took care of us last night! Lovely evening his friendly service was great! Food was as amazing as I remembered and all in all the evening was perfect! Don't forget to check out their bathroom! Jacquelyn Winn, downtown San Diego.
MarshaJ
Cori was full on the Monday evening of our 7:30 rez, and it was pretty loud at our inside center table. Luckily, by the time we had finished our appetizers, the crowd had thinned and the noise abated a lot. The arancini and pear-radicchio salad were great. Our friend's eggplant parmigiana was beautiful, and she said it was good. I liked the squash ravioli with duck, though their edges were the slightest bit underdone. (My husband and I switched courses midway; he was underwhelmed by the ravioli. His cavatelli with pork/veal white sauce was delicious. The chocolate crème brulee was disappointing. Billed as having Italy's fantastic amarena cherries and candied orange, apart from the two small cherries on top, the crème did not have the flavor of either amarena cherry or orange. Just chocolate, which wasn't bad, but the sugar crust was not good. Instead of being whisper-thin and cracking with the touch of the spoon, it was about 1/8-1/4-inch quite dark amber that was hard to break. The lemon mousse our friends ordered was tasty. And the red wine from Mt. Etna was great.
My boyfriend and I dined at Cori for the first time for Valentine's Day Weekend. The Mozzarella and Polpo appetizers were delicious! You can tell that they use fresh, high quality ingredients! The portions were on the medium/smaller side but our server made the suggestion to share both appetizers and entrees, which ended up being a great suggestion since we were a party of 2. We enjoyed the ambiance and food! It was Valentine's weekend so the restaurant was quite busy as expected. There were a couple delays in seating and during service, however, the gentleman who was either the host or manager went above and beyond to resolve any hiccups. He welcomed us to our table with complimentary sparking wine and we were also brought complimentary mousse for dessert. I really value this type of customer service! My boyfriend and I never complained or asked for anything, but the team went above and beyond to ensure that we had a memorable, positive experience. I also work in the restaurant industry, so the Cori team's hospitality spoke volumes to me. Thank you for a lovely evening! We will be back :)
Absolutely perfect! The best dining experience we've had in San Diego. Our server was so observant, she was there when we needed her and I aware of our needs without disturbing the experience.
KarenR
Wonderful experience every time we eat here. Servers are all very knowledgeable about gluten-free menu options and their recommendations have been spot on. Highly recommend this place!
The food is pretty good and Italian Italian restaurant I think it's really something Sicily however the price comparing with other Italian restaurants are pretty high and the we spend around $100 for two people and we end up feeling full by ordering a bread 
SandraL
Amazing food and well priced for a set-menu Valentine's dinner. Austin our server did a great job and we truly enjoy it. One thing they could do better is add sufficient heaters on the patio. We sat in a spot where it didn't have a heater and it gets cold. It would be such an easy and affordable fix to add a few more. They also didn't do any special decor for Valentine's which was a bit of a bummer.
The food (taste-wise) and service were amazing! My partner and I are normally such fans of this establishment. I would not go back for Valentine's Day, however. The food was overpriced for the amount given.
Celebrated my birthday on Saturday and truly enjoyed everything about the experience. I ordered a special pasta from Italy with prawns which I hadn't seen on the menu before and was wonderful. The dish was messy because I got into those prawn shells to get every last bite and waiter provided fresh hot towels to clean me up. Love the eggplant appetizer and bread which I get every time. The restaurant gave me an exquisite dessert as a birthday surprise. A lovely meal and my companions enjoyed their meals as well.
Food tasted like my mom's Neapolitan home cooking! Best lasagna I've ever had out. Not too salty, and Austin our server was a doll. Best SD gem I've been to in a while!
Was very excited to visit after all I had heard but everything was just average. Octopus was dry and overdone. Meatballs were good but barely warmed through. Pasta dishes were overly salty and just average. Staff was great and ambience was great but I'm not understanding the hype.
We loved the food. It's original and delicious. The portions could have been a little bigger for the price. After having an appetizer, a main and a desert we still craved a tiny bit more.
My first visit to Cori was amazing. Really nice vibe, friendly staff from the host to servers and bussers. The arancini (fried rice balls with crimini mushrooms and a gorgonzola mousse like dip) was fantastic. Unlike anything I have had. Followed that with the award winning seafood carbonara with sea scallop, shrimp, roe, etc with house made pasta that was perfectly cooked. Add a nice glass of wine and pepper infused bourbon cocktail and it was end-to-end amazing. I'll be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mushroom and Truffle Arancini
We dined for restaurant week 3 course dinner set at $50 was a bit pricy for what we received. We had 3 different dinners so technically 9 courses total. Nonnas meatballs were really good, the salad was ok. And the Buffalo bruschetta was quite tasty. Then we had 2 pasta dishes and a Branzino. Fish was a bit overcooked but still very good, past dishes were both ok. 3 options for wine pairings I added the $38 one which was only 4oz pours 1 white and 1 red they forgot my 3rd or mixed it up due to a port coming as a dessert selection. WAY overpriced on the small pours equaled out to almost $20/4 oz of wine hmmmm not good. Service was pretty good our server got busy immediately when we arrived. Restaurant vibes were awesome it's a cute little spot not sure if we will return. Overall 3/5 Tiramisu was literally the best part of dinner!!!
My first visit to Cori was amazing. Really nice vibe, friendly staff from the host to servers and bussers. The arancini (fried rice balls with crimini mushrooms and a gorgonzola mousse like dip) was fantastic. Unlike anything I have had. Followed that with the award winning seafood carbonara with sea scallop, shrimp, roe, etc with house made pasta that was perfectly cooked. Add a nice glass of wine and pepper infused bourbon cocktail and it was end-to-end amazing. I'll be back.
Austin took care of us last night! Lovely evening his friendly service was great! Food was as amazing as I remembered and all in all the evening was perfect! Don't forget to check out their bathroom! Jacquelyn Winn, downtown San Diego.
Cori was full on the Monday evening of our 7:30 rez, and it was pretty loud at our inside center table. Luckily, by the time we had finished our appetizers, the crowd had thinned and the noise abated a lot. The arancini and pear-radicchio salad were great. Our friend's eggplant parmigiana was beautiful, and she said it was good. I liked the squash ravioli with duck, though their edges were the slightest bit underdone. (My husband and I switched courses midway; he was underwhelmed by the ravioli. His cavatelli with pork/veal white sauce was delicious. The chocolate crème brulee was disappointing. Billed as having Italy's fantastic amarena cherries and candied orange, apart from the two small cherries on top, the crème did not have the flavor of either amarena cherry or orange. Just chocolate, which wasn't bad, but the sugar crust was not good. Instead of being whisper-thin and cracking with the touch of the spoon, it was about 1/8-1/4-inch quite dark amber that was hard to break. The lemon mousse our friends ordered was tasty. And the red wine from Mt. Etna was great.
My boyfriend and I dined at Cori for the first time for Valentine's Day Weekend. The Mozzarella and Polpo appetizers were delicious! You can tell that they use fresh, high quality ingredients! The portions were on the medium/smaller side but our server made the suggestion to share both appetizers and entrees, which ended up being a great suggestion since we were a party of 2. We enjoyed the ambiance and food! It was Valentine's weekend so the restaurant was quite busy as expected. There were a couple delays in seating and during service, however, the gentleman who was either the host or manager went above and beyond to resolve any hiccups. He welcomed us to our table with complimentary sparking wine and we were also brought complimentary mousse for dessert. I really value this type of customer service! My boyfriend and I never complained or asked for anything, but the team went above and beyond to ensure that we had a memorable, positive experience. I also work in the restaurant industry, so the Cori team's hospitality spoke volumes to me. Thank you for a lovely evening! We will be back :)
Restaurantji Recommends
Absolutely perfect! The best dining experience we've had in San Diego. Our server was so observant, she was there when we needed her and I aware of our needs without disturbing the experience.
Wonderful experience every time we eat here. Servers are all very knowledgeable about gluten-free menu options and their recommendations have been spot on. Highly recommend this place!
The food is pretty good and Italian Italian restaurant I think it's really something Sicily however the price comparing with other Italian restaurants are pretty high and the we spend around $100 for two people and we end up feeling full by ordering a bread 
Amazing food and well priced for a set-menu Valentine's dinner. Austin our server did a great job and we truly enjoy it. One thing they could do better is add sufficient heaters on the patio. We sat in a spot where it didn't have a heater and it gets cold. It would be such an easy and affordable fix to add a few more. They also didn't do any special decor for Valentine's which was a bit of a bummer.
The food (taste-wise) and service were amazing! My partner and I are normally such fans of this establishment. I would not go back for Valentine's Day, however. The food was overpriced for the amount given.