Nestled in the affluent coastal neighborhood of La Jolla Shores, Piatti Ristorante & Bar offers you the opportunity to dine in one of the oldest and most well-known restaurants in the area. The traditional Italian eatery has been charming locals and tourists with exquisite California-Italian cuisine for over 25 years. It offers guests a warm and inviting atmosphere with their light and airy indoor décor and two romantic, shaded patios. Its European design is only enhanced by Italian inspired, seasonally developed menus that utilize local purveyors of fresh ingredients. This outstanding trattoria is just blocks from La Jolla Shores Beach on popular Avenida de la Playa.
Piatti Ristorante & Bar Ambiance
Imagine dining at an intimate patio table for two under a giant ficus tree and romantic strings of light. A cool breeze wafts salty sea air into the darkening night. Dinner is finished, and you’re lingering over a bottle of Tuscan Sassoregale Sangiovese when your mate pops the question. You realize the moment is even sweeter when he reveals this is the same table where your father proposed to your mother a generation ago. Yes, this really happened at Piatti Ristorante where they’ve been serving up both romance and the finest Italian food for a quarter of a century.
Inside, the dining areas are awash with light from glass doors that open onto the front patio and large windows overlooking the back patio. The design is simple, clean, and elegant. The color palette is neutral with white ceilings, beige walls, light tiled flooring, and white table linens. Sansevieria and other live plants, modern chandeliers, and contemporary artwork enliven the space, and the open kitchen concept with an open hearth pizza oven add a warm friendliness.
Piatti Ristorante & Bar Food
The genius behind Piatta’s menus is Executive Chef, Pepe Ccapatinta who has been with the restaurant since its opening, and is one of the primary reasons for Piatti’s longtime success. He’s been creating carefully curated menus featuring recipes from all over Italy since the restaurant’s start, and he has no plans of going anywhere in the near future.
Ccapatinta’s lunch and dinner menus share many of the same options. You’ll find an extensive list of antipasti, insalate, pizzas, panini, pastas, and secondi. Appetizer selections include items such as herbed cauliflower cakes, grilled polenta, bruschetta, and veal sweetbreads made with wild mushrooms, garlic, and white wine sauce.
A favorite among Piatti’s salads is the organic Spinach Insalta, topped with Honey Crisp apples, cherrywood smoked bacon, blue cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. Popular small plates include the roasted butternut squash pizza and roasted leg of lamb panini. The wild mushroom rotolo pasta is a must-try. It is a time consuming and technically difficult pasta dish to pull off, and Ccapatinta does it perfectly.
You have so many delicious options for your main entrée here. The selections range from meatloaf, lemon herbed half chicken, and lasagna to grilled ribeye and veal scaloppini. The Saffron Pappardelle Pasta topped with shrimp, tomatoes, garlic, chili flakes, arugula, lemon, and white wine broth gets lots of praise on review sites.
Piatti Ristorante also offers an extensive list of wines as well as a decadent dessert menu with Italian favorites like Tiramisu and Crostata al Limone – Meyer lemon and raspberry torte, with raspberry sauce. They also provide a separate gluten-free menu for those who struggle with food allergies.
As the culinary cherry on top, Piatti’s even offers a brunch menu every weekend from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. You’ll find a collection of small plates, sweet breakfast entrees, and savory breakfast entrees. Fan favorites include Fritelle – blueberry ricotta pancakes topped with mascarpone cheese and pure maple syrup, as well as Frittata Gamberi – an open-faced omelet with roasted tomatoes, rock shrimp, goat cheese, spinach, and roasted potatoes.
Piatti Ristorante & Bar Details
The restaurant is open every day for lunch and dinner, and they accept reservations. They can also host a wide variety of events from engagement parties and rehearsal dinners to birthdays and corporate events in either their indoor banquet room or on their outdoor patios. Piatti also offers catering services for events being hosted elsewhere. While the ambiance here is classy, dress is casual. They have a full-service bar and televisions, but no WiFi. There is only street parking available for automobiles, but they do have bike parking.
Piatti’s success has allowed them to open a total of nine additional locations over four states. They have four more California locations, one in Colorado, one is Washington, and two in Texas.
Piatti Ristorante & Bar Neighborhood
A well-manicured, upscale, neighborhood, La Jolla is an energetic area known for its charming shops, unique eats, and world-class art. It is also a cultural epicenter with attractions that include Warwick’s, the neighborhood’s oldest continuously family-owned bookstore, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and its collection of thirteen exquisite murals created by a collaboration between the La Jolla Community Foundation and Athenaeum. This coastal village is most notable for its collection of prominent beaches which include Black’s Beach, a surf and nudist beach; La Jolla Shores, a family beach; La Jolla Cove, a snorkeling/kayaking playground; and the Children’s Pool, a kid-focused beach.