Pernicano’s Family Restaurant

We got seated and no one came by to bring us water or take a drink order or anything. So 35 mins later, we left.

The most verbally abusive people I’ve ever seen. We went to meet our friend who arrived earlier and warned us about the attitudes of the women watching the parking lot like hungry vultures, but hey, how bad can they be? We were planning on going to Oscars and just park in their parking lot. They told my friend that it was a 30 minute wait for Oscars. Nope. Walk right up, plenty of seating. Thanks for lying to my friend in an attempt to steer us to your place instead. When we showed up and parked, two women popped out from Pernicanos, pointing at us. We proceed to walk up and pay the $ 5 parking fee in their payment stall. Parked in 7, paid in 7. One of the women walked up to us to tell us that we could come in for change, but I informed her I had a 5 dollar bill and paid. Cool. Let’s eat. A few minutes later, this same woman walks down to Oscars, approaches me and tells me «the tow truck is on its way because you are the ones who didn’t pay» Excuse me? You watched us. She repeats herself and I had to walk back, leaving my fresh meal to deal with this. I showed her I parked in 7 and paid in 7. She argues with me and says I will get towed. After more arguing, the guy who collected the money from the stall had told them the wrong stall. I decided to move my car and demanded my money back. Then took the time to educate her on the proper way of conflict resolution and not to walk up and threaten paying customers. Absolutely Ludacris. Will I ever eat there? Nope. Will I tell everyone not to park there, eat there or support their business, yea, here it is. How can a business survive with such bad employee behavior? Maybe demo your restaurant and turn it into one large parking lot?

A friend of a friend sent us here, if youse know what I mean… and if youse do know what I mean then youse betta keep youse mouth shut, capiche? Ok, not really, but my bro-​in-​law met the owner and was invited to dine there along with the other 12 of us. I honestly didn’t have great expectations, I’ve been to too many family owned Italian restaurants that were just old and tired. The history tied to this place is quite interesting, and the 20 – 30 signed photos of old movies stars adds to that… and yes, Frank dined there. The crown jewel of this establishment is Johnny, one of about 9 or so brothers, all Army vets, who not only runs the joint with the help of many family members, but also plays piano, accordion, and xylophone in the restaurant. Bring your little ones and he will seranade them with kids songs. Bring your wife and he will seranade get with a nice Sinatra song. Bring your bro-​in-​law Joey and he’ll seranade him with Elvis’ Hounddog.
We mostly had pizza which, with their homemade sauce and fresh ingredients, was very good. A few had their salads and pasta choices and all were tasty. Service was excellent.

I haven’t been to Pernicano’s in a while and this particular Saturday night we were out with some friends who suggested we go there. I am glad we did. We had the Eggplant pizza and an assortment of their pasta dishes.
The eggplant pizza was very very good. Crispy thin crust. Delicious eggplant. I was really blown away. The pasta dishes had a nice meat sauce and were standard for family Italian fare. We also had the large anti pasta salad. Again, good for this style of a restaurant.
This is a family restaurant that also tolerates large groups of adults who also act as if they are children. The service is good and the atmosphere is straight out of another decade. There was a piano player who, it seemed, didn’t stop playing once while we were there.
Thank you.

We got a carryout pizza with garlic and pepperoni. It was real good. I’m a fan of thicker pizzas, but for a medium thickness pizza, the flavors were great.

Beer, Pizza, and the Piano Music is the best. This is a family owned restaurant that provides excellent service. They even let us eat our tacos from next door. The taco place next door although is very good has no seating, thus our big party ventured here. We were able to eat out tacos and order lots of beer and their pizza. The décor is very 60s; so you get the old, but homely feel. When in town, this a great place to visit. They will take great care of you.

The only reason I don’t give this place one star is because my pizza came out ok and the old man playing piano was rad. Honestly, the staff here is atrocious. This younger server was chatting with her friend at a table the entire time and not paying attention to anything else. The older ladies were out of this world (not in a good way). We would ask for things and they would be talking right by our table without any sense of urgency. Take your conversations somewhere else ladies!
They were slow and seemed to be burdened if we would ask for things like a drink or a roll that came with the meal. We split the check a few ways and I swear, it took 20 minutes of utter confusion. We felt, because of her attitude, that we were in some way wrong for making her do simple math. I’ve been in the industry. I understand the tasks and sometimes downfalls of working in a restaurant. But this place is an absolute trip. No. Just no. If you have the chance, order your pizza to go. Or don’t come here at all.

After an amazing day at Sunset Cliffs, my friend and I were STARVING. We craving Mexican food but the restaurants that we found as we were walking were cash only. Then we saw this restaurant. I was secretly craving Italian as well, so it worked out. I was so glad they accepted debit :). This place is such a cute little restaurant. An adorable elderly man even performed on the xylophone with a smile. He even played the piano. It was too cute.
The food was delicious and service was great!

Really very slow… Food isn’t that great. Beer prices are ok. Deffinately not gonna come back, no air conditioning. Sitting in shorts/​tank too and sweating my butt off.

Best pizza and salad dressing for 3 decades… Family style restaurant… needs a makeover inside.

This place is a historic San Diego restaurant. The handlebar (combo) pizza is amazing. Great home made bread. A great antipasto salad. Large served 6. Bud and Red Hook on draft. Other bottle beers and wines.
This is family owned and family friendly. Mr P or Johnny to the kids comes around singing songs on his accordion. He is a great piano player and gets all the kids to sing along.
We called ahead for a birthday party. Mr Pernicano is so very generous.

Food was very good the handlebar pizza was so good and the hawaiin was not so bad either

Its all about the nostalgia here. I had not been to a Pernicano’s since the 60’s when I was 6 years old. I love places like this, but I am also scared to try them out because of the potential dis-​appointment. Good new. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. The entire staff was friendly and giving us all the stories about the family and how they had worked there since they were 15. The matriarch of the family was on the xylophone when we walked in and it took the atmosphere to a unexpected level. I wish we could have heard him on the piano. Maybe next time. The food was pretty darn good. Sometimes these old places have what was good food in the 60’s, but it just doesn’t hold up to modern standards. Again to my surprise it was good quality, taste and portions. I had the Rigatoni with meat sauce, some antipasto, minestrone, and garlic bread. All was right, on and the prices were very reasonable. We also had a half bottle of Chianti for $ 10.
I would recommend this place to anybody who wants to re-​live their childhood, eat some good classic San Diego Italian food, and be treated like a local by the owners (even if you are not).

Everything Wendy said is true. Great vibe, the whole family works there and a man was switching off music playing themes like the godfather on the accordion, piano, etc. Food was filling and just what I expected. Good food great venue.

Catching up on reviews, tonight. We come here now and again because of Johnny Pernicano. And for no other reason. It’s another era gone by and will not last much longer. So we enjoy it while we can. My Mother’s spaghetti was better, and so is mine. But for the price of Antipasto Salad and two Spaghetti dinners (that have way too much sugar added to the sauce), we can remember our childhoods, and our parents, listen to Johnny’s stories, and remember that other time that is disappearing fast. Salute, Johnny.

This place is a joke! Ordered a large pizza and it was very small! The waitresses pay no attention to you, the drinks are tiny, they charge for refills, and the pizza tasted like a frozen pizza straight from the box and the worst part is they charged us an arm and a leg. You can’t be serious! This place is EXTREMELY TACKY!

I came here because I heard everything is good. We’ll I ordered the lasagna and it was good, not amazing but good.
The wait was considerable even though the restaurant wasn’t packed so prepare for that or call in.
Check came out to about 20. For just lasagna and a coke, so a tad pricey. Family friendly environment.

Not so good.
I ordered a pepperoni and sausage pizza. The sausage had no taste except the fennel that over powered every 3^rd or 4^th bite. The sauce had way too much pepper and the pepperoni was lifeless.
The only good thing about thus pizza was the crust. Cracker thin and crispy and slightly burned around the edges.
I think this place is competing with chuck-​e-​cheese. The pizza tastes just as bad.

This is a total local Italian dive, which seriously only local PB and La Jolla families go to. Good food and awesome décor. I love the boat with a table in it kids can eat dinner in. Beware there’s NO A/​C!
My pizza crust was a bit burned and it’s pretty thin so kinda hard to eat without a fork and knife. A pitcher of beer for $ 7.50 is hard to pass up. The meat raviolis were homemade and good, but a bit soggy. The sauce is delish. The garlic cheesy bread was insanely buttered and garliced (yes I made that term up). But aaaamazing.
All in all it’s great for family’s with loud kids that live in the area, but can be a bit warm inside.

CASUAL. This place hasn’t changed very much over the last 25 years (except for a new TV, maybe) and that is a good thing. It’s all about bringing the kids and not having to worry if they’re loud or climbing on the Gondola, as everyone else’s children are doing the same thing. And yes, there is a real Gondola inside, how it got there is anyone’s guess.
Mr. Pernicano is the consumate host, entertaining us with ragtime on the piano and roaming the room, singing Happy Birthday to the little ones with his accoridion. His daughters are the waitstaff and sons work the kitchen. Expect to hear bickering among the kids — it’s their home after all.
Order the Handlebar (as in moustache) Pizza, it’s loaded and delicious. House wine by the carafe is probably from a box or jug and is incredibly inexpensive, the perfect accompaniment to the pizza. CASUAL. Enjoy.