Busalacchi’s on Fifth

Nice addition to growing selection of resturants on 5^th Ave south of University in Hillcrest that aren’t gay bars. Great menu and tasty food.
Service was efficient and friendly. Cool bar that straddled indoors and out. Next time I’d like to sit outside on the inviting albeit small patio with fire and water features. Give it a try.

This restaurant has very spotty reviews, so I was a bit reluctant to try it out. I bank right next door at California Bank, and Busalacchi’s is so attractive from the outside that I always wanted to give it a try.
Glad I did. I really liked the atmosphere. It felt a lot like the restaurants I’ve gone to on Mulberry St in NYC, or the North End in Boston. The food is not quite the same, but it’s good enough to get me to return.
I wasn’t crazy about my filet, since it was cooked in an oven instead of a grill. No char and not much flavor, but the proper temperature. I would definitely request it be seared before being put into the oven next time. Despite this, my guest loved his meal and quickly devoured all of it, which is the reason for the four stars.
Looking forward to my next visit, even if it’s only for antipasti and dessert.

Stopped in for an afternoon coffee and a sweet (had the chocolate lava cake) and all was delicious. The new space is beautiful and relaxing, the service impeccable and the foam was perfect in my latte ;-)
Busalacchi’s have done it again. Can’t wait to go back for a real meal (heard they have lunch now too!)

I love this place! The décor is exciting, romantic and beautiful (love the outside patio). The food is delicious. I am a sucker for homemade pastas. Also, I could just order off of their salad and starters for dinner and be delightfully satisfied. Some items you must try are the ahi starter, the beet salad, the homemade pesto pasta, the homemade gnocchi with duck and the short rib entrée. Great wine list too. Our server, Alberto was so friendly and knowledgeable and really contributed to a wonderful evening. Can’t wait to go back!

My boyfriend and I went to Busalacchi’s for our anniversary last night and it is now my favorite place, literally! It is absolutely beautiful, the service was fantastic and most important… the food was AMAZING! My boyfriend had the Pollo dello Chef and I had the rigatoni with spicy sausage (cant remember the name) and they were both absolutely delicious. We sat in the outside patio and it was perfect. I have already made plans to go back!

Food was just okay but I a bit overpriced. Shared the calamari and the pulpo salad. I thought the portion size was small and each item was $ 9. Flavor was a bit bland. Nothing memorable or worth going back for.
I know it recently opened and I was surprised by the décor of it considering it’s just been built. It looks really dated. Kinda of reminded me of a model home in Santee or East lake.
Staff was super nice though but I can’t say I’ll be back to try it again.

It wasn’t a place I would totally be so excited about…
Just the usual so-​called classy resto on the corner of 5^th!
More of the family get togethers, birthday celebrations —– people seated inside, on the side, I noticed tables just for two — then they have the outdoor portion, take note: NO SMOKING ON THE PATIO (we tried, we were escourted outside the entrace, if you wanted to smoke)
Me and the girls were invited for a birthday dinner, long table for 11, great friends, new acquaintances– my brother by my side, just had to make the most of it.
Choose your starters and make great appetizers for yourself (cheese and bread), their Seafood Paella was delicious (Reese & Kaycee’s order), tasted also (Geoffrey’s) steak, it was pretty-​light-​small kinda, fitted just right for a lil’man. :)
My order? I don’t remember, THAT’S JUST THE EASIEST WAY TO SAY ‘IT WASN’T ALL THAT’…
The waiter/​waitress service was EXCELLENT!
Very pleasing personalities (all because, maybe it’s new) but yeah, you got a request, they will surely try to accommodate you as best as they can.
That I liked :)

Wanted to eat downtown where’s there’s a bevy of good choices unlike near our place up in Carlsbad where things are a bit limited. I guess the problem is that we didn’t stray very far from where we were able to find a parking spot Thursday night. We consulted Unilocal and saw this place only had 3 ½ stars… well…the place we stopped in for a drink beforehand had better ratings — but we couldn’t get over the smell.
The service was pretty slow considering the place was fairly empty (one huge party wrapping up but everything seemed to take a long time. Not only that but the food just wasn’t that good. He had the special ravioli of the day which was a butternut squash (six of them to be exact and way too sweet). I had some other pasta that I can’t really recall now — it was supposed to have artichokes and peas in it — but other than 3 tiny leaves of artichoke it was like a big bowl of mushy peas (and I’m not a big fan of peas).
The atmosphere was nice and the outside seating looked nice — but be warned if you go to the ladies room to pop in some cotton balls. It was like a classical concert in there.

Had dinner there last night. First experience with Busalacchi’s — had not eaten at the previous location. We requested to be seated outside — it was nice to eat ‘al fresco’ but the lamps kept us just at the right temperature. Waitress was attentive but not overbearing and it seemed as though the staff really helped one another out. Decided we would try our favorites that we usually have at other places. Started with the calamari — nice and tender. I had the bolognese — very rich, nice and thick, chunkier than most. My friend had the carbonara — creamy and flavorful. We ended with stawberry cheescake — light and airy, a nice compliment to the richly flavorful meal.
Definitely will go back and try other dishes

Jenny–
Jon and I were wandering up and down 5^th Ave in Hillcrest, trying to be spontaneous and not use Unilocal at all for dinner. After studying a few other menus, we decided that Busalacchi’s had to be the one that night!
Unfortunately we had just missed the Happy Hour that ends at 6 pm, but we still had some really good food. We started off with the lightly breaded fish meatballs. They were so-​so, but the complimentary bruschetta they give you is phenomenal! We also shared a cucumber mint martini (I’m a lightweight!) that was very light and refreshing. For dinner I had the Pollo Alla Chef. It was 3 pieces of chicken, topped with eggplant and fontina cheese and a cream sauce, served over spinach. The flavors were just splendid, and there was way more food than I could eat. But that just means more for Jon!
Jon–
Yes babe, I agree that the fishballs weren’t that awesome. The bruschetta was probably laced with crack, because I’m getting heart palpitations just thinking about it right now.
I had the veal, which was pretty succulent. I don’t usually eat baby cow, but the waiter really enjoyed it and I went with his suggestion. And I also enjoyed the remains of Jenny’s Pollo Alla Chef. She calls me her GD– garbage disposal. I’m happy with that.
A word of caution– dress well. We just stumbled in off the street and somehow, I just didn’t feel right wearing jeans and sandals. The service was good and I did see a few other diners in similar clothes, but I just felt weird about it. Hmm.. .

I guess I don’t understand the low ratings from other Unilocalers. I’ve had reasonably good experiences the (3) times that I’ve been here. The pesto crepes are something out of this world. The frutti di marre, lasagna, and tortellini is very exquisite.
The server is very friendly & knows his stuff. This is a cool & cozy getaway… if only for a few moments to forget about all the outside stressors.
I like Busalacchi’s and plan on going back.

Ever since we’ve moved to San Diego, we’ve had many people tell us we need to do dinner at Busalacchi’s. According to rumor, it was a favorite Tommy Lasorda who used to visit every trip to San Diego. But despite living in San Diego for 11 years now we’d never made the trip, similar to how you never take advantage of the museums and other tourist attractions in the town you live in. When we heard they were closing to move to a new location, we finally decided to give the place a visit.
The first thing that indicated to me it was going to be closing soon was that we were able to call on Wednesday and get a reservation for Friday — and call on Friday and push that reservation back 30 minutes without a problem. Upon arriving at the restaurant we saw why it was so easy — the place was empty, like tumbleweeds rolling through the restaurant empty (although I suppose that should be tumbleweeds made out of dried spaghetti to fit the location…) We sat outside on the patio, where there was one other couple who left about 20 minutes after we arrived giving us the patio to ourselves.
We started out with drinks — my usual manhattan (which was very good) and a white wine for the lady. We were informed of the specials, and settled on a lobster crêpe with a cream sauce. Despite the cream sauce it was still remarkably light and very tasty.
For dinner I went with the lamb chop special, which was just dynamite. The veggies it was served with were cooked well — a nice al dente. My wife had a seafood pasta dish with scallops and shrimp. She enjoyed it, but thought the shrimp and scallops were a bit overcooked (although she is picky about that).
I was fine going without dessert, but when the dessert tray arrived my wife had to have their apple tart. This was the first time the experience fell flat on its face. Dessert was *terrible*! How do you screw up dessert? It’s by far the easiest thing. The dessert tasted like it had been microwaved — the crust had no flakiness, no crisp — it was just terrible.
The service was very attentive, with just one faux pas at the end — the waiter gave us our check before we were actually done eating. Beyond that, he was very friendly and took great care of us.
It will be sad to see this place close down. If you haven’t been here already, I’d definitely recommend a visit. But skip the dessert.

Oh my, what can I say? Every guido that ever lived turned over in there grave when I was served «FROZEN RAVIOLI“S» for $ 22 dollars! Shame on you Busalacchi! I hope your nana gives you a spanking with her wooden spoon because you deserve it!
Lets start with the fact that I ordered the Special, Lobster Ravioli’s. I take one bite and realize it is Cheap Taco Meat masquerading as lobster, this is not Carnival folks. I tell the waiter, he says «We don’t even make Meat Raviloi’s». I’m like dude, This is freaking meat! He comes back after my insisting I’m not a total idiot and apologizes that they sent them the wrong ravioli’s. Now, the light bulb clicks on in my head and I say, «So these are frozen ravioli’s?», he says «Yes». Plus, any decent chef would realize these raviolis were very dark, Lobster is light colored, get a CLUE!
Absolutly crap! Terrible quality food and it’s obvious. The garlic bread reminds me of some cheap Italian hole in the wall in Flushing, Queens. Plus, let me mention the «Ned Flanders» look alike manager at the door is freaking unfriendly. I can’t believe this guys holds down a job. He was so rude when we came in, I almost immediately walked out. But we were hungry, so we put it passed us. Then a woman comes in for dinner «He says they are closed», she askes if there is anyplace he can recommend. He says” If your not going to a Busalacchi Restaurant, then NO! And I think they are all closed!” Wow!
This place really thinks The Godfather is going to walk in himself and give them 5 stars. I dont think he will be happy with $ 22 frozen ravioli’s and an arrogant prick at the door! Save your money, don’t come here!

Terrible diner quality food at an outrageous price.
We ordered cesar salad, caprese, seafood risotto, and butternut squash ravioli,
Cesar salad was just a bunch of dead chopped up romain lettus with balsamic dressing drissled on top. Caprese came with rubbery mozarella cheese. Sauce on the ravioli was already starting to congeal when it arrived at the table. The risotto was underwhelming.
For over a hundred dollar meal this was plain offensive.

I am honestly shocked at some of these reviews — one and two stars? Really? Are we eating at the same Busalacchi’s?
At the Busalacchi’s I know and love, the service is always on point, professional and prompt and the food is always so good I wish I could expand my stomach to hold more (and believe me, my belly can hold quite a bit in it’s current state!). The atmosphere is very romantic, almost like having dinner at someone’s home — someone who can GET DOWN in the kitchen, that is.
I have had all kinds of pastas from their menu and while it is admitedly pricey, it is worth every dollar when your mouth waters just thinking of your last meal there.

It’s ok. It’s not terrible but it’s not great, either, and, for the quality of the food, it’s overpriced.
The menu is «classic Italian»: straightforward Italian dishes, fish, beef, pasta, etc. Our service was very good so no complaints there.
I just think that the food needs a creative kick in the ass. There’s nothing wrong with serving classic Italian dishes, but if you are going to serve the old standbys, they better sing in your mouth.
I think the song here is «Is That All There Is?»

CLEAN UP YOUR ACT
Uhmmmm…where is the pride? I know you own several joints in SD… but come on… it’s quite obvious that you have let this establishment go down the tubes… went there the other night and it was nothing like it was in the past… and for the record… it was never great… but decent… now it’s in the below average arena and when you spend the money… below average will not suffice… What can I say? Jagoff waiter/somellier…When i say, «what is a good value Sangiovese?» that means make a recommendation that is not too expensive… it doesn’t mean to make me look bad by explaining to me that the more I spend the better it will be (because you’re wrong and sound like a fool)…Food was shlocked together by someone in the kitchen who obviously didn’t have much pride… Gordon Ramsey would probaly have a field day in this joint… I’m not going back…

Been to Busalacchi’s several times now and have not had a bad experience yet. Walking into the restaurant is like walking into someone’s foyer and sitting in their dining room for your meal. It’s intimate and the service is good, not spectacular. At our last meal here we ordered the frutti di mare and linguine alle vongole. Both were very good, especially the frutti di mare. They didn’t skimp on the seafood with that one, and it almost needed a little more pasta. We also recommend the antipasti di mare platter, which is more than plenty for four hungry people.
A little pricey, but worth it, and do yourself a favor and pick up a
gift certificate. We will be back!

Three-​and-​a-​half stars…
I live around the corner from here, and after 2 years finally went to try it. The ambiance and service were great and so was the garlic bread. I got the Lunetti; half moon ravioli-​like pasta with mushrooms. It was ok but not too flavorful… I’d had them add crushed red pepper to spice it up, which helped.
My fiancé had the Pappardelle con Osso Buco which was very tasty… a little salty, but I did like it. The pappardelle pasta was very nice. We also had the stuffed calamari appetizer which I thought was great. We used the $ 25
coupon as well (I think it was on sale for $ 2… good deal!)

A little bit pricey, the pasta was allright.
I thought the tables were too closed to each other, maybe it’s just me. I need more «personal space» than the average joe. The service was better than good, attentive, our glasses were never empty, but they did not hover. I like that.
Busalacchi’s has been around for a long time, so they must be doing something right.