Little Italy is a somewhat hilly neighborhood in Downtown San Diego, California that was originally a predominately Italian fishing neighborhood. It has since been gentrified and now Little Italy is a scenic neighborhood composed mostly of Italian restaurants, Italian retail shops, home design stores, art galleries, and residential units. Little Italy is one of the most active downtown neighborhoods and has frequent festivals and events including their very own Farmers Market.
Little Italy is located in the northwest end of Downtown, just a couple of blocks away from the Embarcadero. It is located north of Columbia, south of Middle town, southeast of Core, and west of Cortez Hill. It is also located on a hill thus giving its hilly terrain. This district is bordered by West Laurel Street to the north, West Ash Street to the south, Interstate 5/Front Street to the east and the San Diego Bay to the west and Pacific Highway to the west.
India Street, the thriving commercial corridor, runs straight through the heart of Little Italy; intermingled with high-density mixed-use buildings and single-family bungalow style historic properties. A fairly easy walk, San Diego’s Little Italy is over 48 square blocks filled with rich Italian culture; which allows visitors to absorb the people, sights, and overall atmosphere.
Little Italy & Gaslamp District, San Diego
Restaurants:
In keeping with Italian roots, there are a number of great restaurants in the area as well as pubs and gelato and coffee shops. For sit down style Italian dining try Bencotto, Zia’s, Trattoria Fantastica, Po Pazzo, Mimmo’s, Buon Apetito or Sogno Divino or for a lower price fare try Fillipi’s Pizza Grotto. For Italian style deli and food shopping, Mona Lisa is the spot. For gelatos, espressos and paninis, Pappalecco has the authentic Italian flavor or Cafe Zucchero for bakery items. Little Italy also has an American fare at Burger Lounge or sports bar action at the Waterfront. If a British Pub is your style, try Princess Pub. Get a unique Mexican experience El Camino or Argentine flavor at Puerto La Boca. Finally, at the top floor of the Porto Vista Hotel is the Glass Door for that Sunday brunch.Little Italy has several pizzareias and gelato places plus pappalecco and cafes with an Italian flair mostly run by native Italians. Also there is the Queenstown Public House,Craft & Commerce restaurants offering a huge range of local cuisines for you.
The Nightlife in Little Italy:
To celebrate the nightlife in Little Italy, you can go towards the waterfront bar and grill that are serving local brewed burgers and ales since a long time. You can also go to the Princess Pub and grille that are owned and operated by British people and you can enjoy the traditional fish and chips and watch a huge time watching different games.
You can also have some amazing fun time inBootlegger, Ivy Nightclub, Gaslamp Tavern, Sevilla Nightclub situated in Little Italy.
There is a group of retail shops and art galleries provided from the Kettner Art & Design District. These galleries and shopping spots offer you luxurious home furniture and also unique fashion accessories. You can get a huge range of furniture starting from contemporary designs to antiques.
At the Bella Stanza, you can get great designs of sconces and chandeliers, ceramics that would provide you the essence of Italy.
Boutique shops are available in Fir Street Shops, and they offer a big collection of scarves and uncommon jewelry.
There are some remarkable hotels like La Pensione Hotel, Little Italy Inn, Porto Vista hotels in Little Italy. All these hotels give luxurious facilities towards their guests and have the capacity to accommodate a huge number of guests in the tourist seasons.