Lupi Vino Cucina Bar

Reviews

• Vanessa T.

  star star star star star 12 July 2026

  This is hands down the best Italian food we've had in a while. Every plate was delicious and staff was great. Definitely coming back.

• Namir Y.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 11 July 2026

  Would give 0 stars if I could.
  
  In short: service was atrocious, food was shockingly/depressingly bad, server tried to tell us we hadn't tipped enough. Worst dining experience in San Diego maybe ever, and I grew up here.
  
  Here's the story. We went last night after not wanting to wait an hour for food at a neighboring bakery's pizza night (was super crowded there). 8 of us came in to an essentially empty restaurant. Fair to say that at least 50% of our party are heavily into food/wine, serious cooks, etc. Worth setting the context that way.
  
  Our server immediately pushed hard with wine sales, never even getting a clear "yes" before pouring from the member of our party charged with choosing wine. It took him 15 minutes to get waters for everyone at the table even though we asked immediately after he greeted us. It took another 10 minutes after that for him to take our orders. Now, we decided not to wait at the neighboring bakery due to the time, but here we were 30 minutes into what would've been an hour wait and we had just ordered. Not good.
  
  Another 30 minutes later our food arrived and WOW was it bad. The crust on the pizzas was not made fresh and tasted mealy, bland, and infused with a fake butter taste. The Trader Joe's premade pizza crust is 100x better than this stuff. The toppings were cheap, the sauce was way too salty, and the cheese was also bland and rubbery. Absolutely awful. The lasagna was worse than the cheapest premade frozen stuff as well-- no discernable cheese flavor, bland Bolognese, and an overwhelming taste of salt without other flavors to balance it out. Appalling.
  
  On top of that, our server acted really weird with our party. He picked on certain members of the party, giving them an unwelcome hard time, including not adding mushrooms to a pizza despite an identically-ordered pizza from the person sitting next to them. When asked, our server said "the mushrooms are underneath the cheese." The mushrooms were NOT under the sauce, in case you wondered.
  
  At the end of the meal, we got through the check with a mix of cash and cards from the different members of our party. On our way out, after a horrendous meal, the server had the gall to tell us we hadn't tipped enough since he only counted cash instead of looking at the credit card receipts. Just embarrassing.
  
  In short, we have no idea how this place is in business. Awful food, shamefully bad service. Never again.

• Tony D.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 10 July 2026

  I never post on yelp but I feel like I have to for this place.
  
  This place was terrible. The waiter was rude, the food was wayyy overpriced. I ordered a margarita pizza which was $17, it was the size of a dominos personalized pizza and it was undercooked. The crust was mushy and doughy still. But let's just forget about the food for a second. The waiter was rude to our entire party of 6, made jokes about not giving us water (which took 40 minutes to get) but also acted like he was out of certain dishes on the menu when they weren't...the whole experience was bizarre. At the end of the meal after splitting the bill and making sure the appropriate tip was left with cash and on credit card the waiter stoped one of us, holding cash in his hand, telling us it wasn't enough for a tip....
  
  Uh what?
  
  we explained to him there was more tip left on the cards and it wasn't just cash. He smiled and just turned around. I will never be eating here again.

• Audra D.

  star star star star star 2 July 2026

  This place is a hidden gem. The food is amazing - perfectly cooked and served piping hot. The waitstaff is friendly and courteous and knowledgeable about the wine list and the menu. I was visiting San Diego for one week and ate here twice. The second time we went, we were greeted like old friends.
  The osso bucco special was to die for. Perfectly cooked melt in your mouth served over homemade pappardelle. The chef's signature scampi dish was amazing - the prawns were gigantic and perfectly cooked. The manicotti was like homemade. The veal scallopini was deliciously prepared. The Margherita pizza was perfect - thin golden crispy crust. Just fantastic.
  I honestly can't believe this place is not packed every night of the week - except Mondays they're closed. But seriously it's amazing!
  If you want great Italian food at a reasonable price that tastes like homemade, eat here!

• Rafael G.

  star star star star star 29 June 2026

  This was one best atmosphere and singer was incredible with fabulous dinner. Great service