Filippi's Pizza Grotto Little Italy

Not only are they a family run Italian restaurant for over 6 decades, but they bottle their own red, blush and chianti. Its only $16 and its a full 750ml bottle. Service is spectacular, unpretentious and they make everything in house. You even walk through the original business which is a deli/bodega to get to the restaurant. If you wanna purchase that amazing paprika blend you can do so there!Seriously Tina is an amazing server and provided exactly the atmosphere I wanted. You could tell she was OG, some of the best service I had all week in San Diego. I wish this was back home because I would come back once a week.

Absolutely fantastic!!! Short and simple, but delicious menu with great servings! The lasagna and veal are to die for, and very good priced wine bottles. The decor and ambiance are super cute and fun.

Feels cozy and citified at the same time. Food is super tasty. They have the best pizza sauce! I like the torpedo and the antipasto. A little noisy, and can get busy. We went around 530pm on Saturday and waited 10 Min. When we were done the line was out the door! Great Italian grocery too.

Service was outstanding. Food was very good. Overall atmosphere was pleasant and joyful. Will be returning here when I get that itch for Italian Food. Only problem is this is there best location, other locations in Chula Vista, and Mira Mesa do not compare at all. Would advise to stay away from those locations, both horrible experiences. As far as the locations eat at your own risk.

This place is wonderful. Good customer service. We all ordered something different and delicious. I’ve been coming here for the last 25 years and every time it’s just as good as the first time. All the staff ensures you have a good experience and hopes to enhance every moment. I feel this is the best location out of all the ones in Southern California. Keep up the great work guys. Your the best.

Cute little mom and pop shop & restaurant in little Italy. The entrance looks like a grocery shop at first, but has a super cute restaurant in the back.We ordered pizza and garlic bread. The pizza was not as good as we hoped for. The cheese was a bit chewy and a little too much for the pizza. The crust was thick and doughy which would be okay if the cheese wasn’t piled on top. I’m sure the pasta would have been a better option than the pizza! I plan to re-visit and try to pasta!

Great food. Entering the place makes you think you are in a grocery store, but once you sit and are ordering, the food is hot and plenty to take home. Kinda stuffy and hot so ask for patio table. Prices are about $16 - $20 per plate. (U can share 1 plate with a date.) Great staff.

Excellent pizza I have been in the pizza business for over 28 years and Filippi's has the best I ever had. They have fantastic service the last two times we were there we had the same waitress and she is right on getting refills for our drinks and if you need anything she is on top of it asap. The whole experience is great. This is the perfect find in little Italy. We have been back everytime we come to San Diego.

Very helpful and jolly staff. Food was exactly as stated. Real pizza oven which always gives the pizza that lovely wooden fired taste. Good value for money

Delicious pizza on the go! Many kinds to choose from, all good. Quick service. Small place, only about 6-8 spots to sit, but you can take the pizza to go.

Lovely place. The line can get a little long but that's just because of the way you have to get in. It's the deli then the restaurant so don't be fooled. The food is great and you get Italian portions with reasonable prices. Everything is made to order with fresh ingredients, many of which you can buy at the deli. Great service, very kind people who will laugh at your jokes and make small talk with you - it's like eating at home.

This was my first time in downtown San Diego. We stayed in a hotel close to Little Italy. What an experience and this restaurant really delivered. The wine was fabulous and the lobster was to die for!!!

By far the best pizza and lasagna I’ve had and their antipasto salad is superb, I know there are fancy places to eat in Little Italy, but please give yourself and opportunity to indulge in this family own restaurant.

We wanted some good pizza in Little Italy and we stumbled upon this place. Very authentic! We had to walk through a great little Italian market to get to the hostess station to be seated. Pizza was so delicious and cheesy! Would definitely recommend this place. Family friendly as well.

My family and I have been coming to this restaurant for over 40 years. They have the best prices, great food and good service. I love it.

Amazing! Try the torpedo sandwiches. They are big and hearty. Also the Fettechini is to die for. So delicious. The service is pretty good too. The ambiance is quaint. The restaurant is in back of the store. You enter first through the store that leads into the restaurant. Bottom line everything is good, you won't be disappointed. Make sure to come hungry, their portions are quite generous.

Such incredibly good pasta, especially the rigatoni and meatballs! Yuuummmmm! Need a little patience for service, but not bad since they are so busy! Definitely worth it!!

Pizza was disappointing, I was expecting an Italian style pizza, but got a thick dough pizza with a lot chewy cheese. My wife had ravioli and they were pretty good, I tasted them too. The place was nice, service was very good.

This has been my go-to pizza spot for years. Best pizza in San Diego. They have a rewards program where after seven purchases you receive a free meal (any pizza or pasta dish).

Enjoyed dinner with my son soon to be deployed. WAY TOO MUCH FOOD! If you decide to visit, you might want to consider splitting a meal. Salad could have been larger and entrees smaller. I had chicken parm and lasagna.

We were skeptical to try out an Italian place in San Diego (thinking it was all tacos, tacos, tacos), but man were we blown away. The pizza was fantastic, and huge! Toppings and base were balanced so well, and it was just fresh and delicious. You do have to line up through a supermarket to get into the restaurant which was interesting and fun, but just added to the experience. Make sure to have a wine with your pizza & pasta! Servings are really large and great value.

So delicious! Fantastic service. The lasagna is the best. Awesome.garlic bread. Great portions and good prices. I'll definitely be back.

The line of people waiting for tables is always long at Filippi's Pizza Grotto. But, as everyone in line agreed, totally worth it. I arrived at 9 pm on a Sunday night, thinking I'd out-smarted the system only to find a dozen people in line. But it moved quickly. Filippi's is old-style baked crust covered with generous sauce, cheese, and toppings. There's only one size, and I was alone, so I took the extra slices back to my hotel. The valet said it was his favorite pizza and acted like I'd given him a $20 tip instead of a slice of pizza. I asked the bartender if he liked Filippi's pizza. "Doesn't everyone?" he replied and I handed him a piece and got an ear-to-ear smile in return. If you want a solid, throw-back excellent pizza in San Diego, Filippi's is the place. It's an anchor in Little Italy.

Candidly... I don't know what all the hype is about. 🤷🏻‍♀️ We had the pizza... Too thick of a crust for my personal liking. The server was slow and she didn't seem like she wanted to be there. We had to ask for things more than once and when we had to remind her, she said "yeah, I know... I was going to get it."We arrived around 4pm... No crowds to speak of, we just watched the ladies at the register shoot the breeze with each other as we waited and waited....The parking lot attendant... AWESOME! really nice and friendly older man.

The service that we received by Tina was top notch. The food arrives fresh and hot out of the kitchen. The pizza tastes more like a Sicilian pie more than a NY thin crust style. I really want to not like the Lasagna because it looked so underwhelming, but, the fresh tomatoes that they use in the sauce and the cheese comes through immediately. Everything was really really flavorful.

First time visit, brought a small group with me and basically had an average experience for what was built up to have been something greater. We ordered a couple different pizzas, combo pasta plates, antipasto salad and lots of drinks. Pizza was incredible! The crust and cheese are beyond incredible. Salad was delicious. Pasta was the only down side and the cause for the average experience. Sauce lacked flavor and was watery. I think I need to come back again to see if I have a better or same experience.

Very good food , good wine good atmosphere and is not just a restaurant its also like a little Italian store or deli ware you can buy wine, pastas, and so much more.Prices are reasonable and the best thing is they have free parking if you are dinning at the restaurant...

Cheese on pizzas is of great quality, actually every ingredient is. 1 regular pizza is more than enough for 2 person after a long walk at the city. Delicious Pizza. Beer is at a decent super cold temperature so the only downside it's pizza takes a while to get to your table.Place inside is comfy, restrooms could be better.

Fun environment pretty unique in the fact you enter through a little shop to get to the restaurant. The food itself was good not the best I Italian I've had I just got the spaghetti with marinara and the meatball. The meatball was the best part mostly because of its size but the flavor was good as well.

We visited Little Italy and chose to Have dinner here tonight based on reviews. The atmosphere was nice and the food excellent. We ordered the margherita pizza. The service was good. There is free parking in the parking lot adjacent to the building.

Filippi's Pizza Grotto Little Italy is one of a kind. The ambience is warm and happy and the food is amazing. Our server, Andrew is probably one of the best servers there is. Always maintained a cool and easy going vibe and made our experience here above and beyond. Thank you,Filippi's Pizza Grotto Little Italy

Fake, don't be fooled by the long wait line through the store to the restaurant. We all stood and w as I th ed thinking we were going to get a great meal. The food was poor quality, a frozen pizza would have been much better. The huge impressive meatball was more breading than meat. The lasagna was cold. The marinara was good, and our server was great. I would not recommend.

My Lovely and I are Visiting SD for the day from Costa Mesa. Stopped to try fillipi’s and this place is SO authentic. Portions are HUGE and food is so Fresh. Prices are lower than surrounding businesses. Pepper steak sandwich and chicken parm are TDF. Server Junior Garcia is very kind .. and descriptive when explaining the meals. Stop here to eat. You won’t regret it. Also the PIZZA looked Delicious but I’m watching calorie intake so I couldn’t order it. Anyways. Cheers

If you're looking for value for money in terms of quantity of food, this is the place. We ordered one pizza for two people and could hardly even finish half! The slices are incredibly thick and smothered with far too much cheese -- it ends up feeling way too heavy and honestly made the pizza disappointing for all of us. Our margherita pizza was literally all cheese and virtually no tomato flavor whatsoever. The place is charming but the food quality just wasn't there in our case.

Great place to eat! Food was very filling and flavorful. Our waitress Adriana was quick to bring out our food and very friendly. Definitely will come back to eat!

last night was the first time we came to that fine restaurant. But It is definitely not the last. We enjoyed the evening a lot with the attentive service, with the finest meal and wine and with the honest cost. We will absolutely visit there in a short time.

There was an insane line to get a table which I assumed meant the place would be incredible. Didn't order pizza which might have been my mistake. The pasta was average, and the portion was huge. Most tables around only had pizza, that might be the item to go for.

When you walked into the shop you did not know it was a restaurant! Then it just started to unfold into room after room. You had plenty of odds and ends to look at while you were waiting for a seat and the food was sooooo delicious! We didn't want to leave that "little Italy"!

Our family took us here because they have eaten at this restaurant a few times. The look of it is deceiving because there is a store in the front that sells Italian types of food. We walked down a narrow aisle to get to the restaurant part and it seemed kind of small. Our hostess then led us through the small part into a very large area to seat 6 of us. We ordered a couple of pepperoni pizzas and a large salad (that was big enough for all 6 of us!). The waitress was very nice and the service was also very good. We would definately come here again.

Pizza is awesome! The sweet potato pizza is delicious. It's a great place for dinner with kids. It's not a big chain so seating is limited but the owner and workers make sure you're taken care of.

Pizza always has fresh and plethora of ingredients and flavorful real cheese. Get extra sauce. Dining in is always crowded and noisy and too compacted. Low, low light like The Godfather. Wait time can range from 15 minutes to an hour+. Parking- you got jokes. You will be walking because the restaurant is located in the heart of Little Italy. Order out and eat at home or nearby park.

Great food, pizza and salads and a funky classic Italian vibe with a wait to boot. Cheesy pizza and excellent lasagna plus all the usual dishes. Quirky and historical spot. Iconic Italian food joint. Doesn't disappoint. Expect a wait at the popular times. Expect leftovers if you're not careful. Enjoy!

Hearty and Healthy Family Style. Old School vibe that is friendly and inviting. A taste of San Diego that all should experience! Wonderful thick cheesy Pizza and best Chicken Parm in town.

I loved the food. I ordered a margherita pizza and meatball pasta. The pizza is one of the best I tasted. The pasta was also good. The place is kinda hard to navigate as it's in the back of a market with narrow aisle. I would definitely come back because the food is the star.

With 5k reviews this should be accurate assessment of the restaurant. Unfortunately it's not, we ordered three pizzas, two salads and pasta dish (rigatoni w/meat sauce). The Pasta was pretty good. Not great but better then a whole in the wall place. The pizza on the other hand. Was very blah. Now take in to consideration I'm a New Yorker and might be bias to others pizza. But for the price id pass on this place in the future.

Glad I found this place. Staff is super attentive and friendly. Portions are enormous. I wanted to lay down in the fetal position after eating but thought they may call 911. In all seriousness, the spaghetti and meat sauce was super. I will definitely be back when I come back to the area.

My favorite Italian restaurant! Been going there for decades. Love the atmosphere an the lighting. Look forward to walking through the small grocery store to the podium where the hostess takes you to your table. Besides the great food I love just sitting at my table and smelling the fantastic smells coming from the kitchen- never get tired of it!!! Enjoy!!!😃

I love this place. We come once a year during our annual trip to San Diego. We always get a basket of their wine to decorate with things from our trip and take home. Will fill with flowers, sand, small shells, etc. Awesome keepsake. Recommend bringing your own sharpies lolGreat food, huge portions, at good prices. I recommend the cheesy garlic bread, meatballs, and shrimp filippi

Irene is the BEST waitress ever!! She is so accommodating and goes above and beyond. The food is excellent as is the customer service. We will definitely be back soon!

I would have rated this place 5 stars if the waiter didn't troll me. I asked for a starter small size and i got two huge garlic bread. The food were great. But the waiter... Not so.