Mona Lisa Italian Foods

Destiny Alberico

Coming here to the Mona Lisa was absolutely amazing! My two brothers and I had a wonderful experience with our server named Kyle. He was very attentive, kind, and efficient in his service. I hope the owners or manager of this restaurant acknowledges Kyle for his superb service especially because he made us feel so welcomed like we were all friends. As for the food it was a 10/10 for freshness with amazing flavors. They also served free bread. From my brother’s opinion he enjoyed the cocktails Kyle served. We will definitely come back for sure! I hope more people can enjoy this authentic Italian restaurant like we did! :)

Jay Schimke

Don’t get your hopes too high. We went at 8 o’clock on a Sunday night and there was only one other table (a 3 top) in the restaurant. They sat us right next to the other table that had a toddler that was having a hard time, later a 4 top came in. The waitress was terrible. She took forever to check on us, I ordered a beer and she never brought it out until I reminded her 15 minutes later. She had nothing else to do that night but she hung out behind the bar. Our table had two soups and two salads, she brought out the two salads then she brought out one soup with nothing else in her hands, a few minutes later she brought out my soup, I have no idea why she didn’t bring the two out together. The two bus boys were fine, Trey was very attentive and kept checking on us. The food was mediocre at best, but I expected that for little Italy in San Diego. It’s not world renowned. Everything was well portioned, had lots of sauce and a ton of cheese. Unfortunate for them I lived in Italy for six years and this isn’t the mark of a good Italian place. I had the cannelloni and it was OK, my wife had that Caesar salad with chicken and she really enjoyed it, the price of this was very reasonable, but she wasn’t impressed with her garlic bread. There were a couple of chicken marsalas on the table and my mom got the linguini with white clam sauce which was filled with clams. I probably would’ve given them 3 1/2 stars if the waitress was better, but the fact is the service can affect the entire dinner.

Beth Cato

We visited the market, not the restaurant. It's convenience store-sized and packed with American and imported Italian goods galore, ranging from sweets to deli meats to alcohol, chilled and at room temp. I was there in search of cheese, and I was delighted to find unusual Italian imports and reputable American makers as well.

Christopher Gorrie

Mona Lisa is a classic Italian spot in SD on the very northern edge of Little Italy. The building has two parts: one is the deli and shop (which is fabulous) and the other is the restaurant (which this review covers). The restaurant is relaxed and chill, nice for a date or a family dinner vibe. The staff are prompt and courteous, and check in regularly. The menu isn’t gigantic but it has a wide selection of pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, meat entrees, salads, and seafood. For all the upsides of the restaurant, the actual food itself isn’t much to write home about. Don’t get me wrong—it’s decent, and certainly not bad tasting, undercooked, or badly prepared. It just has no pizzazz and tastes slightly bland. It’s something you could get anywhere. That said, it’s worth trying at least once. The meat ravioli is house-made. So I suggest trying it. The veggie pizza and the salads are also pretty good options. The Italian sodas are good as well.