Old Venice- Point Loma

Old Venice Restaurant- Point Loma

2910 Canon Street
Point Loma, California 92106
(619) 222-5888




Truth be told, this is my third time here.  Some friends of friends frequent this eatery often and even work there.  I will still be as objective as the next person however.  We were only here to eat a few appetizers this time but I will add some commentary about other items we tried in the past.  They have a decent menu size with pasta, pizza, sandwiches, seafood, salads and other meat dishes.  I notice an Italian fusion kind of theme based on my limited experience.  We went on a Friday night around 730 and sat in the main dining area--they also have a bar area as well as an outside garden area.  On this friday, they had a great dj playing nineties hip hop which was random as the crowd was not a typical hip hoppy crowd.  By the time we were leaving around 10-1030, there was a live musician preparing to play on his keyboard.  The crowd is...random.  I hear its known for cougars and for may december romances.  Again, just what MY observations were.  If you know the area, it seems very plausible given the Point Loma money and the boating community down the street.  Beautiful houses in the area by the way. Now on to the food already! 

Steamed mussel, dinner portion.  Comes with a sesame garlic toast loaf.  Here is the menu description: STEAMED MUSSELS . . . . . $12.75

New Zealand green lip mussels steamed in a garlic, tomato,
basil, and Madeira wine sauce

Here is the lowdown.  Delicious.  Probably about 8-10 per order.  Not overcooked and very refreshing.  Tastes fresh and you can definitely pick up the wine undertones.  We halfway contemplated asking for a spoon to finish the sauce, but we exercised a modicum of self control this time.  This time.  

FOCCACIA . . . . . small $11.50, large $13.50
Italian herb bread baked with pesto, mozzarella and
parmesan cheeses, fresh roma tomatoes, basil, and feta cheese

This is fan-freakin-tastic by the way.  The crust is thin with crunchy on the outside edges and soft on the main part of the triangle.  Sorry the picture has a weird glow.  Apparently we were too hungry to wait for a untouched picture of the food to be taken before digging in.  Large chunks of feta, thin slices of tomato and large ribbons of fresh basil.  Im normally not a pesto girl, but this dish works.  We ordered the small size and I want to say it yielded 6 slices but I could be wrong.  Get it (I noticed on their website that their lunch menu has a lunch version for about 3 bucks cheaper).  

 HOMEMADE COOKIE . . . . . $3.25
A giant 6 ounce chocolate chip, walnut, oatmeal cookie topped with
more chips and covered with pecans....heavenly when heated and topped
with any flavor of gelato

The cookie was chewy in a perfect way.  Cookie was warm, vanilla gelato was perfectly sweet and creamy and toasted pecans a nice touch.  See the vanilla beans speckles?  If we werent so full, we would have licked this plate clean too.  

I have also had in the past the following items:

1. Roasted Garlic Bulb: roasted garlic and brie cheese with house bread.  Thumbs up
2. Walnut Gorgonzola Salad: Tomato, caramelized onion, red potato, caramelized walnuts and
   imported gorgonzola on gourmet greens with blue cheese vinaigrette.  The potato makes it.  
3. Proscuitto Penne: garlic, onions, peas and proscuitto sautéed in a roasted tomato sauce
   over penne pasta.  I only had a bite of this but I know that my friends who go here frequently have this almost every time.
4. This last item, I dont see on the menu.  My other friend swears by it.  Its a squid ink pasta dish with linguini noodles.  Ask the waitress and see what they say.  

Okay, so thats it folks.  Parking can be limited sometimes depending on the time of day.  There is a back parking lot which is where we parked although Im not sure if you were supposed to.  Its not super cheap here but doesnt break the bank either.  If I lived closer, I might stop by a bit more.