Bencotto Italian Kitchen - San Diego

A pleasure as always. Both Bencotto and sister restaurant next door Monellos always deliver. Main major difference is that Monellos also has pizza on the menu. Quite good and thin crust. Otherwise both I would highly recommend.

First time dining here while visiting San Diego for NYE weekend. The spaghetti with pepper sauce and the penne with meatballs and arrabbiata sauce were both 5 star dishes. The Pane bread was just an average plain white loaf with olive oil and balsamic. Service was pretty good but a little after 5 it got busy and our server never came back to check on us after leaving the dessert menu with us to view, so after another 15 mins we had a different server cash us out. We would go back for the pasta dishes.

We opted for dinner at Bencotto in Little Italy, San Diego. Our choices were the TAGLIATELLE with fromagi sauce and the Mediterranean salmon, with a substitution of pasta for potatoes. While the salmon didn't quite meet my expectations, our overall experience was pleasant.

Stopped by for lunch today our server was Josue. The weather was great outside but we sat inside to be out of the sun. The many dishes and appetizers we had were all outstanding. Tried a couple cocktails as well which were delicious. Will be back for sure!

Food is a bit hit or miss. This was our third visit and it seems like it has gone downhill a bit. Service was really good though and saved the evening. We started out with a Cesar salad and that was good. My husband really liked the fried cheese on top. I had the short ribs and the gravy was well seasoned, but the meat was very bland and boring. There were three super thin slices of watery polenta below. In all fairness, the waiter warned us and suggested to substitute with pasta. Should have listened My husband had the lamb shank and that was really tasty and well seasoned. We finished with espressos and Tiramisu, which was very sweet and had a lot of cream and not a lot of Mascarpone and biscuits. It was ok, but nothing noteworthy. Price/Value didn 't line up for me, so I don 't think I will be back.