Nucci’s Italian Cafe & Pizza

One word. AMAZING!!! If I had an Italian grandma, this how I would imagine her food would taste.

Food is very good. Prices are high but not extreme. Servers are hard working and friendly. Just don’t sit near the green door in the rear — it’s hideous and opens to an unappetizing part of the kitchen.

Love this place! Def one of the top authentic Italian restaurants in the area. Nicole our waitress was incredible. So sweet, she really helped make date night fun. The bruschetta was some of the best I’ve ever ever had, crispy edges but super soft in the middle. Didn’t cut up my mouth like other places. The lasagna bolognese was incredible. Def recommend this place to anyone looking for a intimate spot for a great Italian meal.

Service is amazing. And thus salad was truly was so good! I added chicken and had no olives. The dressing definitely makes this salad. Very quick lunch. And the owner is super nice! Definitely will be coming here for lunch again Fridays!

Old, watery, bland, pizza was awful! The service was good but food lacks real Italian flavor and the veal is slightly tough! Won’t be coming back. Nice people but somethings not right in that kitchen

Excellent, family owned restaurant. I love this place! My favorites: garlic knots; pizza; daily, made-​from-​scratch soups and salads. Their lunch specials and Monday night family specials are great deals. The service is always friendly and attentive. I highly recommend Nuccis.

I’ve lived in the area for at least 20 years and this place is my all time favorite and Monday nights pizza night 10 bucks for a large two topping pizza and a salad you can’t go wrong the only thing I wish that the people were a little bit more friendly that do work there maybe they just need to greet their people a little bit better when you walk in the door other than that great place

Terrible service, I will not be returning to this establishment. My Co worker and I were out doing some Xmas shopping for a company party and decided to call in a to go order because we were in a rush. We pull into establishment 8 minutes before they said it would be ready. I go to the register and ask if we can sit down and eat our to go boxes there. The lady at the register says oh we don’t do that. I politely ask I can’t eat my to go box at a table? She looks over at her manager I assume and says «right? They ordered to go and now they want to sit here». Without looking up he says let them know. Whatever. Okay at this point in just ask for my to go plate so they insist on putting it on a plate now. Okay? I was so turned off by the unprofessional-​ism of this establishment. The waiter made it a point to pass our table. I still left a tip for the shitty service.

We’ve been eating at Nucci’s for twenty years since they opened. The food is always good, the service is often sketchy (the last time the server asked what we wanted to drink but never brought it), the décor is circa 1995. About ten years ago, I sent them a postcard requesting that they replace the blackened carpet. They did, and that is the only update they have made in the last decade. The owners should watch Restaurant Impossible for economical ideas. The dated wallpaper with the ugly border by the ceiling is tired. The oak wainscoting and chair rail are so banged up it’s depressing. The dusty silk flowers hiding a serving station are tacky. The carpet? Put down tiles or laminate flooring for easy cleaning and less smell. Buy some fresh paint and artwork. We will still continue to eat there, but I pray that the owners look around and spend a few bucks for a face-​lift.

Stopped by here with my parents while visiting the area. Of course being from NYC Italian food is a staple, but to my surprise Nuccis nails it with their own authentic blends.
The restaurant is larger than it appears from the outside with seating in the front and back, and some interesting italian artwork throughout. Immediately upon seating the waitress brought us drinks and brought tasty bread to nibble on.
I ordered the pollo melanzene, which was lightly breaded chicken with marinara sauce and eggplant with pasta. It tasted great. I later found out the cook has origins in brooklyn and nails that east coast flavor. Next time I am in the area and craving Italian I know where to come.

This is my parents favorite Italian restaurant in North County. I didn’t really think you could get much quality Italian food outside of NYC but I was proven wrong.
We arrived and the owner was there to greet everyone. We were seated quickly, and I was surprised how full it was for 5:45 PM. After ordering drinks, we were served garlic bread which was really tasty. I usually don’t load up on carbs before a meal, but I had easily 2 – 3 pieces of these addictive appetizers.
All of the entrees come with the choice of soup or salad. I opted first for the salad which came with a side of vinigrette and it was decent. Then, I ordered the Penne Lisa, which consisted of Grilled chicken, sun-​dried tomato, artichokes, broccoli, garlic & basil, in a white wine sauce (with Penne on top). This meal was a gem, as it was fairly healthy for an Italian joint and was really fresh. I didn’t feel like I got skimped on the portion of chicken either. I also sampled my brothers Pollo Melanzane, and the meat was very juicy and had just the right amount of marinara sauce.
I was to full for dessert, but i’m sure they would have nailed it. Great experience, all around and the waitresses were very friendly. I would certainly return.

Was looking for a place to eat that wasn’t fast food and ended up checking this place out. I was surprised that the interior was pretty big. Most of the staff seemed pretty friendly, always coming by to check if we were doing ok and if we needed anything. Most of the entrees come with the option of either a soup or salad, and garlic knots on the side. I had the soup, which was some sort of lentil & vegetable mix. It was pretty good. The garlic knots were good too, I’d like to try one of their pizzas if they use the same dough for it.
I ordered the Penne Lisa’s, which was a bowl of penne pasta topped with artichokes, grilled chicken, sun dried tomatoes, broccoli, garlic, and basil in a white wine sauce. I really liked this one, but I didn’t expect it to be as big of a serving as they gave me. I was only able to get through ¾ths of my meal and had to take home leftovers. If you like garlic, you’ll like this dish. Make sure you save a whole garlic knot for the end and soak up all the leftover liquid with it!
The food is a bit pricey, but they give you pretty good sized portions and it tastes good too. I’ll have to come back some time to try out the pizzas or other pastas.

I’ve had this spot bookmarked for awhile and have no idea why it took so long to go here! The hubs and I have another local Italian restaurant that we enjoy but decided to try some place new. We ordered a small pesto pizza, Stromboli and Caesar salad. I had thought the addition of almonds in the pizza sounded odd but, dang it worked! Paired with fresh chicken, juicy sun dried tomatoes, crunchy pine nuts, and my fave, pesto sauce, this pizza was to die for! The Caesar dressing was deliciously creamy and had the perfect amount of garlic and anchovie flavor without being overpowering. The hubs was too starving to let me snap a pic of the Stromboli but he didn’t talk while eating… that means it was delish! We will be back but this time, will probably dine in. I’m dying to try them garlic knots everyone raves about. Mangia Mangia!

Awesome chicken parm, and meatball subs. The owners are super nice people and honest. the waiters are fast and friendly.

We’ve been here quite a few times from living in Vista and service has always been great! Very friendly and you feel like a regular when you go in.
Food has always been good too. Not the best authentic Italian food I’ve had but the garlic knots are amazing!
Cute little Italian restaurant. :)

This place is very close to my place and I really enjoyed it. People love the garlic knots, but I’m a traditional garlic bread man myself. The garlic bread was very good and is a staple for me when it comes to Italian food.
This is a nice, local, family owned establishment that has some decent dishes. The Penne Amatticiana was good, but I didn’t care for their Chicken Marsala. Good Caesar salad and our server was so nice and friendly.
This is a place we would go visit again and again. Not a 4 or 5 star, but I reserve those for places that are beyond decent. This is a decent place for me since it is close and they have good garlic bread.

We visited Nucci’s last Sunday. I enjoy this place a lot. It’s a typical family owned Italian place where everybody seems to know everybody. It feels like a lot of regulars dine there. we ordered the calamari, some penne amatriciana, linguine with clams, and a pizza.
The large portion of calamari is the biggest I’ve ever seen. VERY generous and really tasty. My husband and son love the garlic rolls. I’m not a huge fan, but I get why people love them — they’re homemade and warm and that’s appreciated. The penne amatriciana was absolutely delicious — lots of spicy flavor, good sausage and a blush sauce. I really enjoyed it and the portion size was again very generous. My husband liked the penne better than the linguine, but said the linguine was not bad at all. My son liked his pizza (of course, he likes all pizza). I prefer a slightly thinner crust that’s less buttery, but I’m picky about my pizza.
We had a ton of food and leftovers for a very reasonable price and really liked the family atmosphere inside the restaurant. It’s nothing fancy, but they really care about their food. We’ll be back!

Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum! Love this place! It’s our go-​to lunch spot for office parties and business lunches.
Their food is always consistently high quality and spot-​on delicious. It’s filling and comforting with robust flavors, as Italian food should always be, but it’s also controlled and refined and well-​balanced. Essentially, it just tastes well crafted and lovingly prepared — which I’m sure is due to its being a family-​run restaurant.
My menu favorites include the Penne Amatriciana, Rigatoni Fra Diablo, Pollo Picatta, and Pollo Alla Griglia — but I’ve enjoyed EVERYTHING I’ve eaten here, so it’s almost as hard to narrow down that list while writing this review as it is to decide what to order while I’m sitting at the table. And of course, as everyone has already raved about: the GARLIC KNOTS are da-​bomb. Unlike everyone else, however, I am perfectly content with half-​filling on these before the meal, because that gives me plenty of leftovers to nom through later. ;)
Love this place and highly recommend it.

Excellent family owned Italian restaurant in the heart of Vista’s Shadowrige neighborhood. The food has a home cooked flair with attention to quality, it was nice to have a choice of soup or salad included with the entrée. Started off with the Brushetta Alla Romano this had fresh Roma tomatoes, garlic, basil with melted mossarella cheese. This was a nice twist on the classic appetizer compared to other places that serve it cold.
For the main entrée I ordered the Penne Amatriciana which was incredible, loved the spicy Rosetta sauce. This complimented the sautéed sausage, basil garlic and my favorite chill pepper for that extra kick.
On a final note the bill was also pleasing to the eye, their prices are extremely fair given the large uptick in big chain Italian restaurant prices. Most the dishes are very reasonably priced making this a great place for the average night out for a family. FIVE STARS !!!

First impression of walking in the restaurant is, the restaurant looks like an candidate of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen’s nightmares show. The décor and lightning really made me feel depressed. It was very old and dark.
My friend and I had lasagna bolognese and fettuccine Alfredo con pollo (with chicken).
I had the lasagna. It was very acidic, it tasted like its from the can. The flavor was just bland and not good. I also ordered tiramisu, however, it doesn’t has any coffee and rum flavor. The lady fingers in the cake were dry.
My friend also didn’t like her food. The cream sauce was very watery.
The best of the meal is the garlic knot roll. It was very good. The waiter was nice. Just not sure how this place got 4 stars.