Cafe Luna

San Diego, United States

4.6

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 858-673-0077
Website:
www.cafelunasd.com
Address:
11040 Rancho Carmel Dr, San Diego, CA, 92128
b/t Windcrest Ln & Carmel Mountain Rd
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
2.7 miRancho Bernardo Transit Center
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
No
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Romantic
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Full Bar
Outdoor Seating
No
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Open now
Local time (San Diego) 16:44 Thursday, 28 November 2024

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 9:30 pm
Saturday 5:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Café Luna is a family owned Italian restaurant specializing in homemade pasta dishes with a European flair. Some of our signature dishes include our Fusilli Umbriaco and our highly requested Rosetta — a homemade pasta sheet rolled with ham and Swiss cheese that’s sliced and baked with cream and Parmesan. Café Luna also offers an extensive wine list and a full bar.

2012 San Diego A-​List winner, 1st place — Best Italian. Café Luna is located in Carmel Mountain Ranch, just off I-​15.

Café Luna is truly «A Celestial Dining Experience.»

History

Established in 1991.

San Diego Hidden Gem!

Meet the Business Owner

Jamie W.

Business Owner

Jamie Wimmer has been the General Manager of Café Luna since 1997 and is now the sole proprietor. Her goal is simple, provide a unique culinary experience based upon authentic Italian recipes using high quality house made fresh sauces and pastas and make dining out fun again. Chef Paden, a culinary genius, has the talent to wow even the pickiest palate. In addition our well-​trained staff prides themselves on excellent service and customer satisfaction. Service, that not only complements but enhances every patron’s dining experience.

These simple goals of quality authentic Italian food coupled with an amazing staff, who is committed to providing an outstanding dining experience has catapulted Café Luna to the top of the North County Restaurants. Café Luna has won several awards: San Diego A-​List «Best Italian» 2 years in row, Open Table awards «Best Italian», «Romantic Restaurant & «Hidden Gem» and now «Best Fine Dining» Readers Choice Award North County. Join us today!

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Nearby

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Subway
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20 reviews of Cafe Luna

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Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
I have been to this Italian beauty a couple of times now. Togo place for my fancy diinner dates with my husband. Great ambiance, and sometimes the live music is wonderful. I am a vegetarian so my personal favorite is the Ravioli Con Noci. I hear the specials are all wonderful too. Only catch? I feel its a little too expensive. Nevertheless, a beautiful delicious elegant treat.
Place rating: 5
Rancho Santa Fe, CA
My husband & I eat out a lot but in the two years since we’ve lived here Café Luna has become our favorite place. We usually try to vary the restaurants we go to, but now we want to eat at Café Luna a couple times a week. The poached pear salad is so yummy I could make a meal out of it. And the veal piccata is extremely tender. It’s hard to find anywhere that serves veal so we tend to order it often. We are definitely going back to try some of their other entrees and specials. (And the chocolate mousse).It’s always crowded so be sure to make reservations in advance. It’s shocking how many people they turn away on the weekends.
The service from Jamie and her staff is always courteous and efficient. We feel like family now.
Thanks to one of my golf buddies for the fantastic recommendation.
Place rating: 5
Poway, CA
I’ve been to Café Luna a few times recently, and I love it! The ambiance here is great, and the food is delicious!
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Delicious homemade Italian food! Complimentary bread and a really tasty sun dried tomato and garlic dipping sauce. Great selection of Italian and other wines, the Tuscan Rosso we had was smooth and bold. We started with a burrata Caprese salad, which was tasty but didn’t have much burrata. We shared the Rosetta (ham and cheese rolled pasta with white cream sauce), Fettuccine Bolognese, and Manicotti. The Rosetta was amazing! Very rich, creamy, and cheesy dish that I will definitely go back for. The fettuccine and manicotti were both good. We finished with Chocolate Mousse and Lemon Tart. The mousse was delicious, very fluffy and rich. The tart was probably the only thing we didn’t like. The service was also great, Kelly (our server) and Jamie (the owner) were both very nice and took the time to get to know us and make sure we were happy
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
My husband and I have frequented this restaurant and every time the service is wonderful. From the second we walk in the door they are attentive and friendly and helpful!
We have yet to be disappointed with any of the food we have ordered. It’s all delicious! I would highly recommend this place if you’re looking for great Italian food!
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
Dinner tonite at our neighborhood restaurant Café Luna in Rancho Penasquitos was fantastic as usual. Had their Veal Osso Buco served every last Saturday of each month. Never disappointed. Delicious, tender, and tasty. A bottle of wine, we’re satisfied. Always busy, need to reserved the Osso Buco though. Never been disappointed.
Place rating: 5
Escondido, CA
We love having Café Luna right next to our home! The food here is delicious — homemade and full of flavor! Try their specials, they’re always wonderful. The staff is very professional. It’s a really nice place to have a date night :)
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Italian food here is prepared at a high level. The chef comes up with recipes outside of the box and the creation comes out tasting fantastic! I had a baked salmon wrapped in pastry puff… wow! But became quickly full because I stuffed my face with their fresh house bread and garlic tomato sauce-​amazing! Price is definitely on the higher end but worth it for a nice dinner.
Place rating: 5
Cardiff, CA
My absolute favorite restaurant!!! Me and my boyfriend go here quite often (a few times a month) and I have been going here for years. We cant find any place as good as this!
The food is AMAZING and unique and they have great specials and good service! The chefs are amazing and Jamie is very nice and welcoming. I order the 2 dishes (Manicotti, and Ravioli con noci) They are both delicious and you can really tell everything is made from scratch, always! I also get the bruschetta to share with my boyfriend, and a Della Luna salad (extra dressing because its THAT good).
My boyfriend gets either the chicken special, the rosetta, or seafood and he is always extremely impressed. Which is surprising because usually the best response I can get out of him if I ask how the food is «Yeah, its alright» but when we go to café luna the response is always «This is SO GOOD.»
I have been going here for years and I happily drive 30+ minutes to get here since I moved from the area.
We have tried many many other restaurants near and far trying to find other places as good as this and we have not found it. I love Café Luna and it will always be our favorite!
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
Great food and service. We got there at 6:30pm, restaurant and parking lot weren’t too full at that time. By the time we left (around 8) it was pretty packed and the parking lot was full. I recommend getting there earlier so you can beat the rush.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Brilliant and delicious menu. Great ambience and décor. Staff is friendly and knowledgeable. Nice place for a romantic dinner or a business luncheon, or just to treat yourself! Sophisticated clientele. Don’t let its location in a strip mall (upscale strip mall, though) scare you off. A hidden gem!!!
Oh, and reservations are highly recommended.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
Loved this place. the house bread and dip was the bomb!
We ordered the elk carpaccio & the charcuterie+cheese plate as appetizers. The carpaccio was amazing, but the charcuterie plate should be called «fruit plate». There were more fruits, nuts & dips compared to the meats and cheeses. The $ 17 cost wasn’t worth it… really tiny portions of meat & cheeses.
The veal and the lasagna that we had for the main course were tasty. Service was good, though our server took forever to get the bread out.
Place rating: 5
Poway, CA
Still love café Luna! Great service, great food, and yummy drinks! Best restaurant in the Carmel mtn area by far… Love having a nice meal at the bar!
Best salad– hearts of palm!
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
I was craving good Italian food one night, and Unilocal steered me here. I was not disappointed. Despite having a hard time finding parking, it was a good sign seeing the dining room full. The wait time was a bit too long for me, so I just decided on ordering to go. I ordered the fettuccini bolognese and when I got home, I was very surprised to see hand made fettuccini!!! How awesome is that? Actually getting hand made fettuccini from an Italian restaurant. I had been so used to seeing store bought pasta, that I forgot some places still make their own pasta. The pasta was cooked a perfect al dente, and you got the nice resistance from the hand made pasta, plus the bolognese sauce. This was absolute perfection.
The only downfall this place had is the horrendous parking. Anything in the little lot in front of Café Luna is probably filled up (drove around 3 times before giving up and going to the next couple of lots). The Olive Garden parking lot is filled up (I’m not quite sure why that Olive Garden is still there considering Café Luna’s food is 1000x better.). The Residence Inn parking lot is for hotel guests only, which leaves parking all the way out by the Golf place or Party City. Admittedly, Café Luna is worth the walk.
If you’re looking for home made pasta that tastes delicious, look no more, this is it. (Plus, you could always stick your tongue out at Olive Garden right across the parking lot for giggles.)
Place rating: 4
Irvine, CA
Had heard good things about this place and tried is last Saturday. Great food.reasonable prices and the drinks actually have booze in them!!! yay…Has a small bar. it’s a small place in a strip mall I would say parking is the only issue. The owner is usually there and she could not be nicer. They are open for lunch during the week and close early around 930pm on weekends. It’s a intimate setting good place to bring a date…
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
Oh my goodness, I don’t eat seafood (I know kill me …)… But found out after tasting the complimentary dip which tasted weird to me… that there are anchovies in here! Yes, our waiter repeated to my horror (and for many .to happiness)…sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, salt pepper … La la la and then anchovies ! I’m surprised they served seafood complimentary. What about those with allergies and think this is a tomato sauce? My whole life I avoided seafood, and anchovies are the last thing I’ll ever eat… but why me !!!
Onto the ambiance which is absolutely amazing. Dimly light. Romantic and nice small bar adds an element to this restaurant. Service was extremely professional and attentive which I appreciated.
Food was great. I got filet mignon beef fettuccine pasta which was plentiful and tasty. The filet mignon beef was tasty and seasoned just right.
Fruit crisp for dessert was good but not what I expected. It was like a hot fruit cake, was hoping for that «crisp» which I didn’t get. It was just «okay» for me.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Holy crap this place is amazing! I just started working in the area and my coworkers brought me here for lunch. Maybe because it was raining, but the place was surprisingly empty for lunch. For the appetizer, we shared the scallops (3 scallops with thick cut pasta), which were really good and provided yummy sauce to dip the bread in. They both had the daily special– sushi-​grade seared ahi tuna on a bed of fresh pasta and a side of tomato mint soup, which they both loved. I had the lobster mac n cheese– the pasta was cooked perfectly, not overcooked/​soggy like most Italian restaurants, and the sauce was creamy and not fishy at all from the lobster. Our waitress was very polite and helpful when it came to service. I look forward to my next visit!
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
My sister and I like going on «sister dates» every so often. Most of the time it’s dinner and a movie. Almost every date we decide to go to Café Luna, it’s our favorite restaurant. You just can’t beat their Italian food.
Every time we go, we make sure we never order the same thing twice and we have yet to find something on the menu that isn’t incredible. We are always so impressed by this place.
Besides the amazing food that already won my heart. And stomach. The restaurant has a family vibe to it, we always feel cared about when we eat there. A very sweet woman, I’m assuming she’s the owner, never fails to come by the table and ask how we’re doing and how the food was. We’ve never had anything less than stellar service, our last server, Owen, was the best!
The list goes on and on! If you’re looking for amazing Italian, you must go. See you next month Café Luna!
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
You wouldn’t immediately think that this place is an italian restaurant right away when you hear the name Café Luna. What’s even more surprising to me was that the ambience is really different — it’s more on the formal side rather than the casual side (dim lighting, etc) which you would also expect because of the name.
Anyways, the service is attentive. They gave us waters right away. Happy hour here is just for the drinks and our waiter kindly allowed us to order even from the dinning area.
We ended up trying couple appetizers and some entrée:
— Sweet Potato Gnocchi was delicious. Portion is a teeny bit small for the price but it was nice to try it at least.
— Italian Slow Beef Braised Rib was also an outstanding appetizer.
— Tournadoes Gorgonzola was another beautiful dish. Two petit filet topped with gorgonzala, mushroom caps then finished with demi glacé. They also served it with a side of pasta. It was really good! You can definitely save the other half for another meal. My only complaint is that the sauce was too much, there was a pool of it on my plate.
— Pork Shank Osso Bucco with mashed potatoes. I had a bite of this and it wasn’t bad. I still prefer beef or lamb but it was still a good dish.
They will also give you bread and dipping sauce. Their breads are baked fresh with a nice crust and fluffy inside.
Overall, you should at least try this place once for their awesome italian dishes if you’re in the area.
Place rating: 4
Carlsbad, CA
At Café Luna, where love is king, when a boy meets a girl, here’s what they say:
‘When the lune hits your eye like a big pizza pie
That’s amore;
When the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine, that’s amore;
Hearts will play tip-​tippy-​tay, tip-​tippy-​tay
That’s a good scallopini;
Bells will ring… ting-​a-​ling, ring ting-​a-​ling
Have a tiramisu, or bellini!’