pernicano’s

Pasta! There are not a ton of Italian restaurants up in the Mira Mesa area and one evening when Laura came over to hang out with me (so we could watch some Downton Abbey together) she was in the mood for pasta. Pernicano’s came to mind after considering the other nearby options. Pernicano’s is new to the area, though there are other locations in town. It’s located just off Mercy Road, across from the KFC and in the same lot as the Chervon gas station. Not really a glamorous location being tucked behind a gas station but at least the parking was easy.

The restaurant is a cute little place with a fair amount of seating inside. There’s a bar area and also a salad bar. Laura and I sat in one of the available booth’s at the restaurant. There’s also an outdoor patio for seating. Perhaps dog friendly as well?

They have a pretty good selection of different items to select for dinner options. The items are a bit on the pricy side but luckily Laura and I are into sharing everything. Here are links to their menu:

Menu Page 1 | Menu Page 2 | Menu Page 3

[garlic bread / $3]

We decided to start off with some garlic bread and I was quite pleased with it. The bread was nice and soft on the inside with a nice crusty outside. There was plenty of buttery garlic flavor and the bread tasted great dipped in the marinara sauce.

[caesar salad]

Since we shared an entree, we had the option of a trip to the salad bar or a Caesar salad. Laura went to go scope out the salad bar and decided the Caesar salad would be the better option. Our waitress was nice enough to split the salad for us – this is half!

[calamari / $12]

I spied calamari on the menu and since Laura is my seafood buddy it was an obvious choice. The calamari had a nice light batter to it resulting in a lovely crispy-crunchy coating. It came with two sauces for dipping. One was marinara and though I don’t quite remember the second sauce, I do remember it was slightly spicy to give the calamari a little kick in the pants. 

[cannelloni / $17.95]

Again, our waitress was nice enough to split our order. We decided to go with the Cannelloni. 

It had a good amount of gooey cheese melted on top and nestled into a bed of meat sauce. 

The filling was pure meaty goodness with a mixture of beef and chicken. It was quite rich – almost a little too rich. Mostly I could taste the beef which was a more dominant flavor than the chicken. I was hoping it would be mixed with some ricotta cheese on the inside (though it didn’t say that on the menu, I still hoped) but I suppose if I had wanted something cheesier I should have ordered the manicotti instead. Laura and I were glad we shared the dish though considering how rich it was from the meat filling paired with the meat sauce. It was delicious but also a dish that was on the heavy side. I wonder if you asked nicely if they could stuff some ricotta in there for you? That would make it the perfect dish for me!

Pernicano’s also has a happy hour menu from 4PM-6:30PM with beer, wine, and appetizer specials. 

All in all though I was pleasantly surprised by the experience at Pernicano’s. The service was excellent, our food was delicious, and the atmosphere was really nice. The location is still kind of oddball to me but it’s close enough to home that I don’t mind it too much. Definitely a spot I’ll have to take Jake to try out a few more menu items.

Pernicano’s | (FB)
9932 Mercy Rd.
San Diego, CA 92129
(858) 271-5250