Pernicano’s Family Ristorante

Stay away! Placed an order for takeout. When I arrived I paid and was given my salad. After waiting an additional 20 mins I inquired about the pizza and was told“I already gave it to you” uh no she didn’t. Why would I still be there waiting. The young lady was insisting she gave it to me. She was rude. Restaurant was empty and she went back into kitchen «to check». Five more minutes passed when I finally went to see what was going on. She then told me they never made it. Ok mistakes happen. I was then told it would be ready in 10 mins. She then forced out an apology and said she would give us a dessert for the inconvenience. Got the pizza finally and headed home. Pizza was under cooked and salad was warm after the 40 min wait. Also no promised dessert (which I didn’t pay for or lobby for).It all went in the trash. I was upset and placed a call the following day and had the unpleasant experience of talking to the «Owner» Gary. He proceeded to tell me he talked to «his girls“and nothing happened the way I described it. Basically called me and my wife liars! I will never be going to or recommending this restaurant ever again.

I had heard about this place and driven by it for years telling myself that I’d eventually try it. Finally had the opportunity to do so the other night.
First impressions… From the outside, looks like a nice family Italian restaurant. Main parking lot is a little small, but there is a ton of parking in the back and beside the building. Interior reminds me of a no-​frills diner. Ambiance is about the same. They weren’t particularly busy, maybe three other tables being served and there were four servers tending to people, along with two people working in the open kitchen, visible toward the back of the restaurant.
Overall the staff was very nice and attentive to our needs. Didn’t feel like we were being ignored or forgotten about, they were receptive to any special requests and made sure drinks stayed full, etc.
Okay the food… I’ll start by give a couple of big positives. Both the marinara and meat sauces were excellent, a good foundation for Italian food. As for the rest:
–Calamari: Good, but a little under cooked and under seasoned. Their marinara sauce definitely made up for it.
–Salad (included with dinners): It’s basically just iceberg with a couple of heirloom tomatoes and some cucumbers. Not really worthwhile, wish they offered minestrone as an option.
–Chicken Parmesan (served w/​angel hair pasta): healthy size portion, cooked very well (not overcooked/​dried out) and breaded perfectly. Angel hair was cooked al dente, which in my opinion, is ideal. Their sauces complemented the dish excellently.
–Veal Marsala (served w/​angel hair pasta): Kudos for using a real piece of veal, not something chopped and formed, but it seems like tenderizing the meat a bit (or more) would have really made it more enjoyable. Also, the cheese was just thrown on top, partially melted (a few seconds under a top broiler may have helped). The Marsala sauce was quite good though! I really wish they would have put the pasta on a separate plate, given the two different sauces.
–Homemade rolls: Served piping hot. Really didn’t have much in the way of flavor or texture (made have been a little too much cornmeal on the baking tray?).
Anyway, I was happy with the service and the food was okay overall. I do want to come back to try their pizza, as I saw one being brought to another table, looking quite good (and from reviews, seems to be).

Pernicanos serves delicious food at this family owned restaurant, an institution in east county.
Sunday features their handmade Lasagna, served with a huge, fresh house salad and crusty, warm rolls for $ 10.45.
We love Gary’s lasagna, made according to their simple family recipe. Traditional pasta layers with ricotta, his flavorful meat sauce and mozzarella, all form a very large, delicious hot entrée.
Pernicanos pizza, pasta, salads and soups are simply delicious, and offered at reasonable prices.

I went for lunch and did the $ 7.99 buffet. The food was good. Not too many options to choose from though. Service was really good. Staff are very friendly. Small parking lot. The buffet did not have dessert or fruits.

My family and I have been eating at Pernicano’s in El Cajon for over 35 years. I have been impressed how the owner, Gary Pernicano, gives that personal touch in checking in with his guests from table-​to-​table to make sure everything is okay and to their liking. As long as I have eaten at his establishment, I have witnessed that he hires young women to hostess and waitress to give them a chance in establishing experience and self-​worth, which is hard to get nowadays — thank you Mr. Pernicano. I believe, in my opinion, that he has the best tasting pizza (not dry, not overbearing with cheese, just moist and yum!!!). Also, try the combination half spaghetti with meat sauce and fettuccine alfredo — not on the menu but Gary will make it for you. Maybe he will consider putting it on the menu someday. The mixture of flavor of the two is spectacular — a must try! All and all, this historic hometown restaurant is to be admired and supported for many more years to come. Thank you Gary Pernicano for the excellent quality food you continue to provide, and your support to the youth in providing them a future.

My review is based on customer service and the pizza! Kim was EXCELLENT! I called advance asking if she would grant my coupon on a take out order and she was very nice and did. Upon arrival she let me know she wasn’t suppose to on takeout. So I thanked her and totally understood. The handlebar pizza was Great loaded with pepperoni, sausage, onions and mushrooms. Very flavorful and will order again!
The salad was huge! Enough for 3 – 4 people. I wanted something different and this restaurant definitely hit the spot! Thank you Kim for great service! I’ll return soon! You have A new customer.

Ate dinner here for the first time. My husband really like it myself on the other hand not so much. The food tasted like something I could have made at home. I don’t know if we ordered the wronged items off the menu but everything was deep fried. The service was nice the owner was nice but the food was just avarage. I don’t think we’re be back anytime soon but maybe twice a year.

So I came in here with my cousin and we came for the buffet asking specifically for pizza. The lady said yes, we put pizza in the buffet. When it came out It was «pepperoni and sausage» I thought it was beef. Culturally and religiously I do not eat pork. After figuring out it was pork I let her know and asked if she could put in a cheese pizza maybe one slice. She refused and said that it is not possible. She said it doesn’t matter it’s not culturally accepted we can’t accommodate everyone’s needs. When all I said was instead of adding the topic next time just leave it cheese. I am so disappointed in this place and I will never go again. I felt discriminated against and very mistreated

This is the second time I’ve been here. The food isn’t bad. I had cheese tortellini with alfredo sauce and cheesy garlic bread. My dinner came with salad which was huge. The salad dressing seemed watery which as a bit of a turn off but otherwise, I’d come back again. Also, the staff is friendly and the owner eveb came by and asked us how our meal was.

This is a nice family run restaurant. It was not overly impressive. The food was just ok and to no real fault of their own (it happens), there was hair in my food which is a major turn off. I would not go back here by choice but I would return if a friend was interested in going.
Don’t get me wrong, definitely try this place out and decide for yourself. I am on the fence based on my experience.

We have come here 3 times and the food is generally pretty good! They have great garlic bread! The service has been a little poor each time however. We will keep coming back for the food though!

Came here for a $ 7.99 lunch buffet which was a pretty good deal. They had lasagna, vegetable pasta, ravioli, pizza, bread, salad, ricotta pasta. All in all good experience. They serve Pepsi however. Loses 2 stars for this reason.

I have been coming here since I was a kid! I have always loved the pepperoni pizza and antipasto salad! The cheese ravioli is very good too! The staff has always been nice over the years and do great when we have a big group of people. They definitely have room for large groups! Love that its family owned as well, I recommend this place!

Food was decent, their meatballs were good but ravioli and ziti need some work… Alfredo could use more flavor as well. We went for the lunch special. It’s a good deal but you wouldn’t know the lunch buffet existed (not the first thing you see when you walk in and only available from 11 – 2). Judging by their prices if you don’t go for the lunch buffet this place can get expensive rather quickly. But that really isn’t the reason why I’m only giving them 3 stars.
We (my fiancé and I) had our son with us who will be 2 in February. For starters we weren’t offered a high chair (which is kind of whatever he usually ends up in my lap anyways). But then my son was watching traffic go by on Broadway and east main and my son got excited so he banged on their glass window a little bit not really hard though. We got our son to stop but then the manager comes over and says «he really shouldn’t bang on that because it’s at a slant.» Which the window is built at a slant but it’s a HUGE window. If you actually think my 27lb child is going to knock out your at least 75lb sheet of glass then you aren’t the brightest crayon… So that ticked us off especially when my son was calming down already. This certainly isn’t a child friendly restaurant which is disappointing to say the least because it certainly is not a «high-​end» restaurant either.
We may or may not be back. But I certainly wouldn’t recommend this place as a first option for customer service. Our waitress was nice but she was super busy. We were here at 12:30pm today and she was the only waitress on the floor. I imagine that gets stressful for her. So yeah, not sure I would recommend this place to anyone.

Ordered pizza and spaghetti. Both were tasteless and I’ve had better sauce from a jar. They overcharge for the quality of the food and type of dinning environment. I would never go back.

I’ve been coming to this place since I was 12 years of age.
I absolutely love the pizza. Unlike all the other Italian places which are more Sicilian. This pizza has a thinner style to it but you can always ask for thicker. I also love the spaghetti in the garlic butter sauce. I always add some crushed peppers to it. The dinner rolls are made in the family (their dough) I asked and are amazing! You can even buy pizza dough if you wanted to make a pizza at home with the same texture. Theres a reason they’ve been open two years before disneyland opened; they’re awesome!

Great food at a good price. Let’s just say they get it right here every time. I have loved everything that I have gotten here. Pleasantly surprised at the dishes on the menu. Not an average Italion place! The food supercedes all other Italion spots I have been anywhere. I thoroughly enjoyed every last bite and Gary does a fantastic job transporting me to Italy.

Passing through town on vacation. Asked a local for a recommendation and they mentioned Permicano’s, which was just down the street.
We were thinking salad. I got the Lettuce, Tomato, Onion Salad, and my daughter the Tuna & Onion Sandwich.
I liked the way they served the salad, with the tomato and onion covering the top (uploaded a pic). Got balsamic vinaigrette and red wine vinaigrette on the side. I’d say the balsamic was the better of the two on the salad. The flavor was good, greens and veggies fresh. The plate it was served on was full/​teeming, but for $ 8-​$ 10 the portion was below par. I know they have to pay their light bill, just indicating for that volume of salad have seen others charge $ 6-​$ 8.
Daughter’s sandwich lacked something. She added more pepper than I’ve ever seen her add to any sandwich. Then later she said it needed some cucumber. The waitress gladly brought some sliced cucumber, and that seemed to do the trick.
The waitstaff. We were greeted promptly and warmly. Our waitress was friendly, and timely in taking our order.
Food service was a little longer than average based on what we ordered, perhaps, but it wasn’t of consequence. Everything was fresh, sandwich was toasted and warm. Refill timeliness was okay.
Overall we did enjoy Permicano’s. There are a couple of things noted for consideration or tweaking. The staff had a good vibe, seemed to enjoy their work and were genuine – and that goes a long way when considering a place you’ve been before.
A couple of suggestions on the food. And forever a fan of local, mom-​n-​pop establishments. :-)

This is the worst Italian restaurant west of the Missisippi! Took my wife here for her birthday and it was a nightmare. We both ordered the Veal Marsala. The Veal was deep fried and over cooked. It had no flavor and was rubbery. We both took 2 bites and pushed the plate away. The server was nice and understanding when I asked the veal be removed from the table and my bill. My daughter had the Alfredo fettuccine which was also a failure. The Alfredo was ok but my daughter said the frozen Marie Callender’s Alfredo was much better than Pernicanos!
The inside reminded me of a truck stop greasy spoon restaurant. We had eaten here in the 90’s several times and loved this place. Not sure what happened but it is time for them to call in Chef Ramsey for help!
One thing that was disappointing is the manager didn’t even come over to ask what was wrong. If you are looking for good Italian food look elsewhere as you will be disappointed with the food here at Pernicanos!

I’ve been going to Pernicano’s for many years. My favorite is the Seabass marinara. It’s a great place to take the family. Really good food, atmosphere with very reasonable prices.
It’s nice that it’s right off the freeway and there’s plenty of parking.
By the way did I mention that everything is homemade?