filippi's pizza grotto little italy

well, if i have to (go there). every so often a friend will say, "hey, how aboutfilippi'sfor lunch?" to which i respond, "do i have to?" it's not like the place is bad, there are just so many places that are better!

the food atfilippi'sis unremarkable -- the pizza's are ok, the subs are ok, the baked dishes are ok. the environment is ok, kinda dumpy, worn and tired. the service is ok (wait-persons always seem harried and curt). the entry is awful -- you enter thru a grocery store and the smell is horrible! the prices are quite reasonable, you're not paying all that much -- and that's what you're gonna get.

there are worse places you can go to grab a bite to eat. well. sorta. if you have to ...

been going tofilippi'ssince i was a kid. i'm surprised that there are so many negative reviews. i've been to a few of thefilippi'srestaurants and hands down, the one in little italy is the best. try it, you won't regret it!

our experience atfilippi'swas just ok. the portions are huge, and the pizzas are insanely cheesy - but our pizza was nothing special. service was ok. would go back to try some of the pastas as they looked pretty good.

i went tofilippi'sin little italy and i had to wait in line to get in but my hotel recommended it so i decided to give it a try and i was so glad that i did. i got the pizza which was wonderful. it has thick crust with lots of cheese and toppings. it was great! i was by myself and they didn't have individual slices so i ended up with a whole pizza but it gave me dinners for the rest of my trip so it all worked out.

this is the most interesting of the chain offilippi'spizza grotto. little italy is a great neighborhood but many of the restaurants are pricey and/or fancy. this is a casual family style affordable restaurant. when you walk in its like an old italian market. they sell lots of italian food there. you wait in line to be seated so depending on the night its quick or slow... the decor is old with brick and murals and old wine bottles hanging from the ceiling. the food is good and filling. the pizza isn't that big but its so cheesy and thick you will be full. the pasta dishes are good. the service is ok. they always say they have one size, medium (which is funny because that would be between large and small ?) this is a great spot for families.

don't order a pizza. beware:filippi'sdoes not serve pizza by the slice and there is only one size pizza, a 12".since the menu does not state that their whole pizzas are so small, we were shocked after paying $20 for a vegetarian special pizza.the pizza is said to include: cheese, mushroom, onion, bell pepper & black olives.there was a great deal of mozzarella cheese with a scant amount of mushroom, onion, bell pepper & black olives.what a complete rip off.the taste was alright.but for $20, to get a small 12" cheese pizza with a few pieces of vegetables....we could not have been more disappointed or disgusted after waiting 35 minutes.

don't order pizza here..or you'll be wasting your time, money & calories.

a little italy favorite!. one of my favorite spots in san diego is little italy. there are so many great restaurants in this area of town. i've been coming tofilippi'sfor many years. they claim to still be family-owned even though they have locations all over southern california. this one is the original that started in the 50's. the food is good and it has a fun family atmosphere to it (the portions are huge). i love walking through the italian marketplace at the front of the restaurant.

yummy. one of the best italian restaurants i've been to date. will be going back there every single time i'm in little italy.

while i don't know what the specific circumstances were for those of you who hated this place, all l i can say is wow!! that's got to be the first time i’ve heard anything bad regarding filippi's.

our server was very nice; we even tipped her double the normal amount because she was that good. she was very knowledgeable, knew everything on the menu, and also could provide an on-the-spot wine recommendation for some of us at the table (a wine that went well with the food we ordered). pasta was perfectly cooked and it was the best-tasting pasta i’ve ever had. i swear i could have eaten the pasta without the alfredo sauce, if it had come to that.

there's a restaurant of similar quality here in my home state that charges about double whatfilippi'sdoes, and they make basically everything from scratch. while this other restaurant is very good, i'd say i would even preferfilippi'sover them.

i'm sorry some of you had a bad experience, but all i can say is try it again. maybe they had an off night or something...but, they certainly wouldn't be on the list of top restaurants of 2012 nor have basically all positive reviews from the critics on this website if they weren't doing something right.

terrible! truck drivers' italian.... there was a 50 minute lineup and long-time customers told me it was worth the wait. the menu was not italian but american italian. the salad for two came largely out of a bag, and it was dressed up with olives, peperonchini, mortadella, and salami. dressing was probably kraft - out of a bottle. that was ok but nothing to write home about. the bottle of ruffino chianti at $19.25 was a steal. but the main was outright awful. the lasagne was a layer cake of pasta and ricotta, and it was totally tasteless. the sausage on the side was boiled (and not roasted or bbq-ed) and therefore tasted outright terrible. the large meatball was at least edible. all this was drowned in tomato paste without any spice. overall, it was a big pile of tasteless food, a vulgar orgy of ingredients without any balance. yes, it was cheap - and it tasted like nothing. no idea why everybody likes this and why 95% of urban spoon ratings are positive. somebody said thatfilippi'soffered basic italian. i'd call it basic american. overall the worst restaurant meal i can remember. the moral: do not trust lineups.

filippi's is good. i lovefilippi'sit's garlic bread is to die for!

filippi's norco. i totally agree. the quality of the norco cafilippi'sis a joke. the lady that owns that place in norco is cheap. she wants to charge filippi prices and produce bad food. go to temecula or san diego county and try it there.

filippi' norco. growing up we ate atfilippi'sescondido once a month for 10 years and loved it. i was excited to see one open close to me. man was i dissipointed the chicken parmisian was hard and dry as jearky. so i sent it back and got pizza. when it arived it was nothing like the 1980's high quality, loaded with toppings pizza i remembered. very little pepperoni and the cheese only covered half the slice. sad and cheap way to ruin a great legecy! :(

mama's food.filippi'shas been busy for sixty years for a good reason. great southern italian food at a great price and lots of it. the lasagna is to die for. the antipasta salad will fill up two people. the sausage is homemade and the pizza is wonderful. you enter through the deli where authentic italian aromas entice your senses while waiting to be seated in the back rooms. on your way out stop and buy some fresh macaroons for dessert, you'll be pleased.

try some place else. friends in ohio said we had to eat atfilippi'sin little italy. so decided to give it a try. i knew we were in trouble when we asked a question and the waitress answered, "duh". after she dropped off our food we never "saw" her again- but heard about all her troubles: knees, gallbladder surgery, etc. took over 20 min for her to bring the check after we did get her attention. try another location but stay out offilippi'slittle italy.

off the hook!. i live in sacramento, but visitfilippi'severy time i come to san diego. (thankfully my son is stationed there in the navy)
their food is absolutely wonderful and the cannolies are out of this world! i'm salivating as i'm writing this. :)
can't wait to get back to flilippi's!!