The Italian Kitchen West - El Cajon

Eating took almost an hour to be served. when it came, it should be a combination of everything they offer. they swung everything together on a plate and drowned it in a cheese. They forgot to bring us our appetizers. we fed alfresco. the lady said she would come and bring us a heating and never came back. the server were friendly, but the kitchen let us down. we wanted to go to the olive garden, but decided to try something more authentic and we were completely abandoned. disappointed to say that at least. the first and last time we're leaving.

The service at the beginning was well received our drinks and appetizers in time. but the table we were sitting was sitting near the dressings that came out. then they slowed down and my partner could not order his wein. when I got the captive plate, there was a lack of sauce and taste. the server stopped checking on us, but I had asked for sauce to add and not get. when my partner finished his plate, the server remembered the sauce. I was ready to go.

We drove across town from the Eastside to enjoy this delicious food. The staff was attentive and friendly. The pizzas we had were the Spicy Blonde and the Combination and they were fantastic. The pasta dishes are good-sized and tasty. The tortellini and manicotti were really good. We cannot wait for our next trip back.

First of all, the food isn't bad here. They have a nice marinara, a tasty Caesar dressing, and tasty meatballs. The calamari was unusually rubbery, the meat sauce was too sweet, the salad was drenched in Caesar dressing, and the pasta was overcooked. Our server had a very dry personality that bordered on unfriendly and stand-offish.My main issue and reason for the low review is the fact the owners/managers/chef were not wearing masks, nor were some of the servers. I understand that we are in Texas where there are no rules, but it makes a bold statement that they don't care and that their comfort/beliefs are more important than keeping people safe. Perhaps they do Covid tests every day or every other day, but how is anyone supposed to know that or feel at ease? The website doesn't even have a mention of safety precautions.

For the first time coming here I was not impressed at all. For the Baked meatballs appetizer, meatballs were dry, cold in the middle, tasted frozen. Andres pizza, toppings falling out of the dough, soggy, bland. Chicken piccata, pasta was good actually, it was well seasoned and cooked properly, chicken breast dry though.