Rustic Meatballs

I was pretty impressed in my first visit here today. The spaghetti is solid. The turkey and chorizo meatballs are tasty. The drink cups are small but good array of sodas. The tables are massive. The chairs are comfy. And the owners are way cool.

This place is just ok for me. Its an interesting concept (meatballs in all kinds of forms), but it could be done better. It’s close to my apartment and has decent food and a good price point. The service and the amount of time it takes to get your good is ALWAYS bad though. I even called ahead one time for a to go order and still had to wait 30minutes once I got there.

The spaghetti with aioli and mozzarella is to die for! The service was prompt and homely. The person taking our orders was courteous and pleasant to work with, you know who you are, Sergei. The torpedo was good too but I have an affinity towards spaghetti. The prices are fair. You’re definitely paying for a quality meal!

I tried this place and I couldn’t figure out what all the hype is about. Usually a spot on Unilocal with 4.5 stars will knock my socks off easy 4 star material.
I had a meatball sandwich that was just Ho Hum in my opinion. The meatball sandwich wasn’t anything I would write home about. The sandwich was big and filling but I expected something a little more amazing than good bread and a cheap price tag.
The place is a small and industrial.
I think if you like cheap sandwiches, meatball sandwiches to be more specific you may have found a place you will enjoy.
I may try this place one last time because I live pretty close. I definitely wouldn’t recommend going to far out of your way for this little place.
But hey some reviewers love it…
Happy eating!

This place is amazing! The food is incredible and the service is stellar. I love that there’s a variety of types of meat to choose from as well as sauces and cheeses. Everyone in my party ate for less than $ 15. Would absolutely come back again.

I’m coming every other week the food is great the place is very nice and overall I love the place .
I really recommend the swine it’s really tasty and malt in your mouth good job rustic meatballs :)

The sub in a wrap is fantastic and the craft beer is just righteous! Perfect for lunch I’ll be back! (German robotic voice).

Dry beef meatball w/​dry risotto. I wish I had ketchup or any sauce to add to the meatball n risotto. It did not live up to the hype. Atleast the meatball wasn’t greasy I felt like ate at a college dorm left over food.
One star for dirty wedge it was almost good, but the potato was rubbery.

Wow this place is amazing!
Fast
Yummy
Very cheap!
$ 5 for a meatball yummy sandwich.
$ 3.50 for Dirty wedges [those are to die for! super yummy!]
I go there a few times a month. I work close by so I have many options to eat out somewhere this place is one of my picks.
I would give it a 5 the only reason why I dont is… I wish it would have more opitions to pick from but I guess that is a trade of that might slow them down…

Good quality and delicious sandwiches! Good price! We were like to hit this place after the brewery nearby

This food is hella greasy. Me and my gf got subs, and mine looked retarded because I ordered olives and jalapeños on it. I guess rookie mistake, because you just gotta ask everything they have on these subs apparently because the guy who took my order went on lunch shortly after taking my order and ate a sub 2x the size of the one i paid paid for. Nice. Next time ill just ask for everything on it. The dirty potatoes were good, but super greasy again. I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack.
They have a chalkboard too, that’s cool I guess.

This place is amazing! I think we talked to the guy who owns the place and he was really helpful. The food was so good it prompted me to wrote my first ever Unilocal review. :)

Had three out of the four meat balls all of which were full of flavors the turkey is my first followed by the beef and chorizo falling close. Rustic meatballs in my own personal opinion is a specialty shop. I hope they keep up the great work

It’s tough to give this only 3 stars but I think it’s warranted. The food alone would get 4 stars from everyone all day.
I order naked trio of meatballs with bacon, cheese, zesty marinara. It was awesome! I also attempted to order those loaded wedges. It wasn’t until I was rung up and the order placed that I was informed they ran out of potato’s. It was 8.15 on a Saturday.
I was pretty annoyed by that because you would of thought that’s something they could of shared earlier. The other sides being offered weren’t all that appealing to me. They did offer to refund me but I just got some garlic bread or whatever instead. It was very OK.
Also, the place was dead and several places around it was hopping, which I found quite odd.
Overall the meatballs which is namesake are awesome but everything else just seems like an afterthought, which is just so disappointing.

Favorite place for lunch in this area. I’ve only had the subs but, they are the reason I keep coming back so there’s no reason to explore the menu. The bread is fresh, the meatballs and made to order and the combinations are endless. My current fave is the turkey pesto manchego sub

Talk about unique. Nice and simple place. Great service. The meatball subs were made from fresh ingredients and were yummy. Not large portions, but good quality. Price was very reasonable.

Very industrial warehouse looking place — chalk written blank walls. No wall menu just the laminated menu placed in front of you at the register. You can have your sub any way you want.
Meatball sub arrives and bam! Delicious! At first it didn’t look appealing but when you bite into it, it’s so fresh, meaty & cheesy just how I like it.

I’m not sure what differentiates a «rustic» meatball from a modern one – thankfully there are no mosquitoes to be found inside – but perhaps it boils down to the difference between Rustic Meatballs as a restaurant and its most obvious competitor, Soda and Swine. While I generally prefer the innovation of the former, the latter serves as a really comfortable and space downtown even if it’s a little outside the normal foodie areas.
Picking from the relatively simple menu, Rustic provides a solid treatment of the traditional meatball sandwich with the meatatarian options consisting of either beef or chorizo. (I don’t consider turkey substitutes as meatatarian.) Topped with mozzarella, the result is quite tasty, and they provided an exceptionally great meal deal during Comic Con.
Summary: Perfect last meal for eating in a creepy cabin near a lake while waiting for the slasher to arrive.

I have yet to find meatballs in San Diego that has knocked my socks off. One thing I like about Soda & Swine over Rustic is the diversity in their menu.
Rustic offers only four meatballs, one which is vegan so not really my style. They also offer subs, salads, naked (meatballs only), and some pasta/​rice dishes. They do a have a few sides, but it’s just potatoes and side salads.
I ordered the risotto with a beef (onion, parsley, and cheese) and turkey (onion, parsley, and sun-​dried tomatoes) meatball. The risotto also came with artichoke as a topping and the brown rice is cooked with onion, paprika, and cumin all in a tomato sauce. The flavors were nothing special in the dish.
One thing I don’t like is that their dish is faux-​risotto. It’s made with brown rice, whereas risotto is usually made with arborio or carnaroli and you can definitely feel the difference in texture between brown rice and the others. The turkey meatballs tasted exactly like the turkey meatballs I make at home. When I go out to eat, I’m looking for food that I’m either (1) too lazy to make at home, or (2) I can’t make at home. Overall, the cost was $ 10 for two meatballs and a collection of brown rice, spices, tomato sauce, and a little artichoke — two meatballs and approximately ¾ cup of brown rice/​risotto.
I was really excited for good meatballs because it seems that everyone raves about Rustic, but I just wasn’t impressed with the risotto dish. It’s not something that felt like restaurant quality food.

By far my favorite place to eat for a lunch break in downtown SD. Not only is this place one of the only affordable places around ($ 5 a sub), and it happens to be conveniently across from where I work, but the food is bomb.
The owner of the place is extremely sweet and knows my order by heart since I go there so much. I tried all the meatballs and my favorite is the chorizo and turkey meatballs over marinara.
If your in the area, definitely worthwhile to check it out.