Mia Francesca

My wife and I had lunch here last week. I had the Gnocchi Bolognese, while my wife had spaghetti meatball. My gnocchis were starchy while the meat sauce was bland and tasteless. The spaghetti and the sauce for some reason was greasy and slimy. Meatball was gamy. All and all, it was a one-​and-​done for me.

First of all ask for Amy. The food was amazing but made that much better with Amy. Patient. Understanding. Great recommendations. The lentils and spinach app was so good. The Sea bass with tomato jelly (usually with swordfish) is a must. Top it off with homemade lemincello and you have the perfect meal.

I absolutely LOVE this place, excellent service, ambience & the food is to die for. They are constantly changing their menu which is great. The waiter actually said if it’s not on the menu they can make it for u. Awesome!!!

The food was mediocre. The Branzino was too sweet. The salmon pasta tasted like a dirty martini. And the service was off. Very off. we didn’t get spoons with the ice cream and it was melted by the time we got a hold of someone and got the spoons. The water glasses are so small and they never refilled our water bottle until it was too late. The waiter could not remember more than one thing at a time. I wouldn’t go again.

This place is fun, cozy and reasonably priced.
Came here previously and enjoyed the environment and food.
Came here for New Years Eve Dinner and had a blast. It was busy but not crowded. Drinks and food were very satisfying. The service was great and the people were all enjoying themselves.
The live mariachi band was a great addition to ring in the new year.
The calamari and salad we chose were great before our entrees.
The wait wasn’t long and within and hour and a half we were out and about.
Thanks for providing good food and a great place to unwind as we gave thanks for all the blessings of 2015 and wishes for 2016!
I’ll be back for sure.

We had a wonderful lunch today at Mia Francesca’s to celebrate my mom’s birthday. We had the private room in the back– the table was set up to accommodate her 14 friends comfortably. Jose was our server– superb service and fantastic food. We will definitely be back and so appreciate the great meal!

Mia Francesca is not all that impressive in my honest opinion. All of the new restaurants in the area have actually stepped their game up quite significantly, but for some reason this place just never meets the expectations of my party or me. Have only been here during lunchtime, but the servers and even the hostess seem genuinely disinterested in customers and if you’re trying to fit a meal within a reasonable timeframe, good luck. The place itself is actually quite gorgeous complete with indoor/​outdoor seating and is very well decorated. The food is somewhat below average in taste, presentation, portion and authenticity. The items that I have had were all fairly bland (penne, gnocchi) and left quite a bit more to be desired afterwards. Overall, there are plenty of better options for Italian food and a couple better restaurants within the vicinity that I’d recommend over this place until they fix their issues. I want it to work, as I really love Italian food, it just doesn’t…
Pros–
Location
Décor
Indoor/​outdoor seating
Decent wine list
Cons–
Service
Portions
Food is bland
Below average Italian
Presentation
Price for what you get
Parking
Average beverages

Amazing service from Dan! The salmon and homemade cookie with gelato was to die for! The manager was running around and very present… just wanna hug her lol we’ll definitely be back!

My family just had a horrible experience here. The female manager at this location is extremely unprofessional and rude. We just came to this restaurant because of an advertised coupon that had a take 20 off of 60 coupon. We normally dine at the competing restaurant next door, which we love. The coupon states that it cannot be combined with alcohol. This is why we spent over 60 in addition to the food, because we knew alcohol was not a part of the discount, or else we would have gladly passed on the wine. The waitress said you cant use it on Wednesdays because the wine was half off. When speaking with a manager, she stated she realized their coupon was very unclear and offered to take 10 off. We would not have gotten the wine had we known. (even half off the wine was 30 bucks) The coupon was out on the table when we ordered. I told her she needs to have her staff tell the guests if you take advantage of our wine special tonight, we cannot honor any coupons. She was very snobby and said it is a family business, and they would not give us our full coupon offer. Really? Fighting someone who still spent $ 100.00 over 10 bucks?! She should have said, I will honor it, but know for the next time. (even though it is not stated on the coupon) I am in sales, management, and customer service and would have never argued that way with a paying guest, who came in to use her coupon and got upsold on a bottle of wine to boot! Shame on her because we will never come back. The 10 bucks was way more important to her than a local client. There are a ton of great restaurants in this neighborhood. Go somewhere where they are honest and appreciate taking care of their guests.
p.s– the managements response states alcohol is not part of the coupon «excludes alcohol», but then wants to limit the usage of it by upselling alcohol and then you cant use it for your food? Clever!

Great experience here. Not sure why the rating is so low. Fantastic martini (no ice particles, super cold, perfect twist), killer pasta dish with fennel sausage, shiitake mushroom and parmesan cream sauce. Wife had an excellent red wine. Service was top notch and after dinner head to the movie. What’s not to like? Will definitely come back.
Much better than the place next door.

Mia Francesca has the best Chicken Parmigiana in San Diego.
Service is excellent and Kevin, the manager does a great job.

Felt rushed at the dessert hour and the waiter tried to clear our plates when we were still finishing dinner. Luckily they had cannoli’s I had to request them since they weren’t on the dessert menu.

I came here with a friend on a Sunday afternoon and I was pleasantly surprised that they have a happy hour menu on the weekend. We tried the cauliflower, meatballs, and the polenta. We didn’t really care for the polenta but they did let us take it back. We also ate a lot of the house bread they bring out. I also got a refreshing Riesling which was lovely on this warm summer night. For our entrée we decided to share a plate of pasta. Instead of ordering of the menu we asked for a customized order which included: mushrooms, garlic, asparagus, sausage, Bolognese sauce, and linguini. The waiter said they could make it happen and you know what, it tasted really good! The service here was also really good.

MIa Francesca: Now THAT’S Italian!
I’ve had the pleasure of dining at this venue on multiple occasions and have ALWAYS had a very enjoyable experience. I have brought family, friends, business associates, and dates to dinner with the utmost confidence that the result would be an exceptional dining experience. I have consistently received complements for choosing this restaurant and introducing others to this venue.
SERVICE: Their service is second to none. ALL customer-​facing personnel (i.e., hostesses, servers, busers, bartenders, managers, etc.) REALLY understand and promote customer satisfaction. Their business model should proliferate throughout the hospitality industry as the standard customer service metric that should be used to rate all restaurants!
QUALITY: Even though I have many personal favorites, since I have visited this establishment many times, I have experienced and enjoyed numerous culinary creations that are regular menu items as well as specials. With any item that I have selected from their extensive food and beverage menus, I am assured that item is creative, delicious, and well worth the value. They use only fresh ingredients and prepare and pair them perfectly. If they have the ingredients available, they can also sometimes provide specialty off-​menu personal favorites as well.
AMBIANCE: You can tell that EVERYTHING about this establishment has been carefully planned with great attention to detail. It is an upscale establishment capable of satisfying any type of dining requirement and provides a very comfortable vibe. I have never been rushed and have always been given a choice regarding my seating preference, whether inside the formal dining area or outside on the front patio. Even though they graciously accept walk-​ins, I would highly recommend making reservations in advance of your visit, particularly with larger parties.
You can’t go wrong with Mia Francesca — Buon Appetito!

Our lunch was absolutely delicious. Our server, Alonzo, was WONDERFUL and we got in and out in under an hour. I will definitely be back and make Mia Francesca a regular dining spot!

Cute ambience. Easy to get a table. Their Mia Francesca Blue Cheese Salad was good. Their Roasted chicken and potatoes was good. Veal Parmesan was just ok.
Overall I’d give it a 3.5 star. It was a bit pricy for what we had. $ 130 for 2 people including an inexpensive bottle of wine. Good for corporate dinners, but not that great if I had to pay for it myself.

Yummyfull! My friend, Evelyn is treated like a queen at this place. So I jump at every chance I get to join her. We usually sit at the bar and meet new and interesting people, without fail!

Enjoyed the outdoor seating and the food was really good. I had the salmon pasta and it was really tasty. The service was good and the manager came around to check up to make sure we were happy.

I have been to Mia Francesca’s over 20 times. Never a bad experience. Excellent service and the food is SPECTACULAR!!!
My favorite dish has been the Pork Chop, when they have it on the menu. If you order the ½ chicken dish, ask for extra sauce and extra bread. You will Love it. They refresh the menu regularly, but will make anything from previous menus they have the ingredients for.
Servers are knowledgable and management attentive. Every visit a manager stops by to make sure we are satisfied.
Salads are excellent, especially the Caesar. Caprese tomatoes are the most flavorful I have ever tasted. You simply can’t go wrong here!!! I’ll be here another 20 times… this year!

Had another nice experience here last night. After an early movie, we got lucky enough to snag two seats at the bar. Since we indulged on popcorn, we wanted a light meal and a couple cocktails. The place was hopping. The restaurant was packed as well as outside. The bartender poured me two reds I’d asked to try and of course I went with the Barbera, also the more expensive one. They have a nice wine by the glass menu, but not much to choose from on the lower end. Nice wine and even the middle of the road wines are $ 13−14/glass.
We decided to try the Risotto alla Genovese minus the Genovese! I’m not a sausage person so we asked for them to take it out. It was supposed to have sausage, peas, garlic white wine and mozzarella. The peas were hard! I think they tossed them in at the very last second and they weren’t softened at all! The risotto was creamy but honestly, not the best I’ve had. Just ok.
We also had the Branzino Gamberi alla Nocciola which is roasted seabass with shrimp, shallot, and roasted hazelnut salsa, all for $ 27.
Not bad, the fish was sliced so thin on half of it, that it was dry. The thicker end was better but crusted so it was a bit hard too. I love seabass, but Chilean is my all time favorite. The shrimp were cooked perfectly and well seasoned. Another miss for me. I have had their salmon all fresca which is a nice dish with tomato, avocado, red onion, olive oil, basil and lemon over asparagus but I wanted to try something totally different. Always worth a shot. But would not order that same dish again.