Spirito's Italian Diner

Mark Bedney

Wow with all the great reviews we were so excited to eat here. Well I don't know what happened but everything was flavourless. The tomato gravy was blah, the meatball didn't taste like anything, and their garlic dressing just tasted like oil. Also we ordered 2 servings of spaghetti and there was barely enough gravy for one. On top of it we ordered to go and it took almost 50 minutes to get our food which we ended up throwing most of it out.

Laura Black

Great little deli-style, Italian restaurant. Featured on Guy Fieri’s “Dinners, Drive-Ins, and Dives”. This is our second time here. For this trip, we had the chicken parmigiana and the meatball subs. Their red sauce is excellent. The sub rolls are the perfect consistency - soft on the inside with a slight chew on the outside. (Always gets an extra side of sauce for dipping). The chicken parmigiana portion was large, came with a side of bread, and pasta. Small establishment with some inside and outside seating. Large menu selection of entrees, pizza, calzones, salad. Everything you’d expect from a mom and pop pizza restaurant. A must stop.

Andrew Gray

Been going here ever since it was in Carlsbad Village Square. Never had a bad meal. The cannolis are to die for.

Papa Knows

There was a time when I would have told anyone who was looking for a great slice of pizza, a great meatball, or a great plate of pasta with a sauce that only Italian angels could have made, that the place to go (if you lived within a reasonable distance) would be Spirito's. I first saw them on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives about seven years ago. As a displaced New Yorker living in Los Angeles, I am on the eternal search for really good Italian food. The weekend I saw that episode my wife and I drove the 90+ minutes to get there, and we were not disappointed. We met Mike, the owner, and of course we spoke at length about him being from Jersey, life, and of course, food. Well, fast forward seven years and Mike has retired, and with him went everything that made Spirito's so special. Today (4.9.22) we ordered our normal whole pie, antipasto salad, meatball and sausages in their special gravy. Nothing tasted the same. Not even close. The sauce (gravy) has lost its zing. Gone is the taste of all the fresh ingredients that was slow cooked for a long time. The meatball, which was normally tender, juicy, and spiced just right, tasted like, well, it had no taste I could pinpoint. The pizza? Forgetaboutit! I mean literally, forget about it. I'm so disappointed because another place which I could once count on for a 5-star meal, has just come down to a generous 1-star. Sorry, Mike. I hope you read this review, because they're spitting on your name.