Visited from out of town and stayed in the Little Italy area, so we decided to try this placed because it was close to our hotel.The biggest critique was the service, it was not good at all.- The server wasn’t attentive at all. I asked for the heater to be turned on twice and it never happened. A runner brung out our food but we didn’t have silverware so we had to flag the server down for that because he didn’t check on us. He never came back to check on us unless we flagged him down, he continuously just walked by.- The runner that brought my sister’s appetizer reached over my food as I was eating instead of walking over to the other side to give put her food down.I had to tell him to walk around when he came back with the entrees, I thought this was common sense especially working in food.Food- Octopus Salad was okay, my sister said the lettuce soggy and the octopus could’ve been cooked better.- Rack of Lamb was great, I tried the risotto and I personally wasn’t a fan but my sister loved her meal.- Lasagna was very good, no complaintsOverall there are way too many Italian restaurants in the area to settle for subpar service and dining experience, pick somewhere else.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 2
Sarah Douglass
This place was so lovely! The gnocchi gorgonzola was SO tasty!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
we love Sorrento every time we're there, Lucho, Herman, and Emmanuel always make us feel like family and treat us that way. This is our favorite restaurant in San Diego and we tell all of our friends and family. The food is exceptional and entirely authentic. The staff are cheerful knowledgeable, and if you show up twice, you will be family from then on.
Laura Dennis
We chose to have dinner at Sorrento one evening after reading so many positive reviews, and we ate outside in the courtyard area. We had the pappardelle bolognese and the penne pasta with chicken, mushroom spinach in a creamy sauce. The penne dish was definitely our favourite out of the two. The white wine we had wasn't totally to our taste but still drinkable. Alex was our server and he was very friendly. We chose not to have any dessert but Alex brought over acomplimentary cake which we thoroughly enjoyed! We had a relaxing and enjoyable evening here and would highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
In a town with a plethora of Italian restaurants, one can find mediocre and great. Sorrento is great. We have eaten there 3 times and have been pleased each time. From the super nice wait staff who made us feel like visiting friends to the excellent food, we had a good experience. The one complaint I have is that this restaurant subscribes to the belief (universal among modern restaurants) that loud music makes for festive feelings, resulting in happier customers. Loud music means loud talking to be heard above the music raising the noise level to require more shouting and less hearing of dinner companions. But since no restaurants in Little Italy are quiet, I still highly recommend Sorrento. I said, I still recommend Sorrento.
andrea herrington
Fabulous dinner, exceptional service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Maloree Alymani
What a cute and unique experience this was. I was walking along and noticed this place, I ordered a meatball sub, and pistachio cheesecake. Everyone was so attentive, going abombe and beyond, and I was only taking out. Imagine how attentive they are when they you eat in!? And also .. Food 4/5 the meatballs had so much flavor, just enough sauce. I’d say only thing I would want is extra meatballs, cheesecake … SO YUMMY! Whole experience, 100!!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Steve W
We went for Happy Hour, which was from 3-5 on a Thursday. My husband had the meat balls and the Bolognese off the main menu. I ordered the Marguerita pizza $10 on the Happy Hour. The Happy Hour cab at $8 a glass was great and a generous pour. My husband had a Stones IPA at $7. We thought all the staff were kind and caring and the food offered great value for money. Would definitely recommend and return again.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Karun Naidoo
Amazing pizza cooked in the authentic
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lydia L
Awesome pistachio burrata pizza, seafood pastas, definitely going back for those. Not a great aperol spritz or bread basket. Long wait for food but they seemed to have a full house.Second visit in dec 2023, less impressed, margherita pizza was basically cheese pizza not expected style with chunks of mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, half of our group was not impressed with their pasta or fish dishes, not sure we’ll return.
Really lovely food and service. We love this place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Derek Johnson
Fantastic service and nice lunch fare.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Kenny Amers
Fantastic food and nicest staff
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
KostasMol
Not what we expected from an Italian restaurant that they speak English with a heavy accent. Pizzas came out soggy. Seafood pasta sauce was watery like soup and had 2 shrimps (for $26.50!!!). Bread was some type of a synthetic dough that tasted artificial. Waiter seemed a little annoyed that we requested a few teaspoon fulls of Parmesan cheese. We usually go to one of the other Italian restaurants right across the street, but thought we would change it up this time since the overall atmosphere was inviting. Never again.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 2
E.M. Ross Sobrera
Had the Christmas special filetto at the server's suggestion, and I was not disappointed. It was a generous cut of meat covered with fresh market mushrooms. The gorgonzola sauce was perfectly seasoned and added so much flavor to the steak.All servings were sizeable and all the food ordered was super tasty.The only star deducted was for ambiance, on account that we were seated inside the restaurant but kept getting hit with the smell of smoke from people having a cigarette outside. To be fair the restaurant isn't to be held responsible for this, and I only mention this for those who may be sensitive to the smell.All in all, a great place to have a family meal!
Visited from out of town and stayed in the Little Italy area, so we decided to try this placed because it was close to our hotel.The biggest critique was the service, it was not good at all.- The server wasn’t attentive at all. I asked for the heater to be turned on twice and it never happened. A runner brung out our food but we didn’t have silverware so we had to flag the server down for that because he didn’t check on us. He never came back to check on us unless we flagged him down, he continuously just walked by.- The runner that brought my sister’s appetizer reached over my food as I was eating instead of walking over to the other side to give put her food down.I had to tell him to walk around when he came back with the entrees, I thought this was common sense especially working in food.Food- Octopus Salad was okay, my sister said the lettuce soggy and the octopus could’ve been cooked better.- Rack of Lamb was great, I tried the risotto and I personally wasn’t a fan but my sister loved her meal.- Lasagna was very good, no complaintsOverall there are way too many Italian restaurants in the area to settle for subpar service and dining experience, pick somewhere else.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 2
This place was so lovely! The gnocchi gorgonzola was SO tasty!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
we love Sorrento every time we're there, Lucho, Herman, and Emmanuel always make us feel like family and treat us that way. This is our favorite restaurant in San Diego and we tell all of our friends and family. The food is exceptional and entirely authentic. The staff are cheerful knowledgeable, and if you show up twice, you will be family from then on.
We chose to have dinner at Sorrento one evening after reading so many positive reviews, and we ate outside in the courtyard area. We had the pappardelle bolognese and the penne pasta with chicken, mushroom spinach in a creamy sauce. The penne dish was definitely our favourite out of the two. The white wine we had wasn't totally to our taste but still drinkable. Alex was our server and he was very friendly. We chose not to have any dessert but Alex brought over acomplimentary cake which we thoroughly enjoyed! We had a relaxing and enjoyable evening here and would highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
In a town with a plethora of Italian restaurants, one can find mediocre and great. Sorrento is great. We have eaten there 3 times and have been pleased each time. From the super nice wait staff who made us feel like visiting friends to the excellent food, we had a good experience. The one complaint I have is that this restaurant subscribes to the belief (universal among modern restaurants) that loud music makes for festive feelings, resulting in happier customers. Loud music means loud talking to be heard above the music raising the noise level to require more shouting and less hearing of dinner companions. But since no restaurants in Little Italy are quiet, I still highly recommend Sorrento. I said, I still recommend Sorrento.
Fabulous dinner, exceptional service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
What a cute and unique experience this was. I was walking along and noticed this place, I ordered a meatball sub, and pistachio cheesecake. Everyone was so attentive, going abombe and beyond, and I was only taking out. Imagine how attentive they are when they you eat in!? And also .. Food 4/5 the meatballs had so much flavor, just enough sauce. I’d say only thing I would want is extra meatballs, cheesecake … SO YUMMY! Whole experience, 100!!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We went for Happy Hour, which was from 3-5 on a Thursday. My husband had the meat balls and the Bolognese off the main menu. I ordered the Marguerita pizza $10 on the Happy Hour. The Happy Hour cab at $8 a glass was great and a generous pour. My husband had a Stones IPA at $7. We thought all the staff were kind and caring and the food offered great value for money. Would definitely recommend and return again.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Amazing pizza cooked in the authentic
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Awesome pistachio burrata pizza, seafood pastas, definitely going back for those. Not a great aperol spritz or bread basket. Long wait for food but they seemed to have a full house.Second visit in dec 2023, less impressed, margherita pizza was basically cheese pizza not expected style with chunks of mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, half of our group was not impressed with their pasta or fish dishes, not sure we’ll return.
Restaurantji Recommends
Really lovely food and service. We love this place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fantastic service and nice lunch fare.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Fantastic food and nicest staff
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Not what we expected from an Italian restaurant that they speak English with a heavy accent. Pizzas came out soggy. Seafood pasta sauce was watery like soup and had 2 shrimps (for $26.50!!!). Bread was some type of a synthetic dough that tasted artificial. Waiter seemed a little annoyed that we requested a few teaspoon fulls of Parmesan cheese. We usually go to one of the other Italian restaurants right across the street, but thought we would change it up this time since the overall atmosphere was inviting. Never again.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 2
Had the Christmas special filetto at the server's suggestion, and I was not disappointed. It was a generous cut of meat covered with fresh market mushrooms. The gorgonzola sauce was perfectly seasoned and added so much flavor to the steak.All servings were sizeable and all the food ordered was super tasty.The only star deducted was for ambiance, on account that we were seated inside the restaurant but kept getting hit with the smell of smoke from people having a cigarette outside. To be fair the restaurant isn't to be held responsible for this, and I only mention this for those who may be sensitive to the smell.All in all, a great place to have a family meal!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5