Old Trieste - S San Diego

My experience was neither as good or as poor as reviews would have you believe. Contrary to negative reviews, service and atmosphere were impeccable, though we dined on a slow night. Contrary to positive reviews, this is not some hidden gem that you are missing out on. Food was fairly average and lacked the wow factor that warrants a 5 star review. The two standouts were the fried zucchini and fresh bread. Given the meat and fish entrees are priced high (over $30) my friend expected higher quality flavors of her filet mignon dish. Glasses of wine are overpriced at over $11 per glass considering they serve wines that you find standard around town for much less. These prices are also not listed on the wine list because the wine list does not list wine by the glass. The mushroom pasta I ordered was served in a massive portion and was the only vegan option on the menu. While I got two meals out of it and it was certainly a good portion size, it wasn't good enough for me to expect to return anytime soon.

Amazing! The ambiance is great, the fried zucchini a MUST!

Delicious Italian dinner, just perfect for a birthday.

Blast from the past old timey spot. And it's awesome. Leather booths. An old bar. 11 tables. The owner as the lead server and wife behind bar, daughter often running kitchen. Exactly what you want in a little neighborhood fine dining establishment. Excellent food to top it off. Pricing from the 80s is a bonus. Dont hesitate... just go and enjoy it yourself! You'll be glad you did ...

We came here for dinner on NYE. It's one of the last of the old school restaurants in SD. We loved the lounge like, rat pack vibe. Waiters wore suit and ties. Nice touch. Service, however was terrible. No one would help us figure out who to check in with for our reservation. 20 min later someone finally helped us. We were seated, drinks were ordered. It took 30 min before anyone took our order. It was almost an hour before our mediocre meals came...luke warm, smothered in So much fat slices of onion, maybe at least a pound of mushrooms that tasted like they were decomposing yet still were used. Sauce on my steak marshals completely drowned out the meat. My husband had a different dish and it was actually smothered in the same sauce as mine! Ok, we tolerated this because it's NYE and we knew we couldn't go anywhere else. So, dishes are cleared and it's another 30 min before getting our check. We were so deflated from this experience that we didn't even bother to go to the party we had planned to attend. This place is small and wasn't booked to capacity, seemed like there were enough servers. I'm guessing that problems in the kitchen combined with a staff that is rarely used to having more than 2 tables to each server was what hurt the evening. The owner just said it's NYE and that this is how it always is on a busy night. No apology, offer to maybe comp our coffee took place. I really wanted to love Old Trieste. I just cant.