Not sure if you remember our Facebook Poll earlier about defining yourself as a foodie. Most of the people identify themselves as the “Discoverer”, who is always in search of new, local and ethnic food. At SDF, we are always fond of discovering new places and food that we’ve never been to and ate before. That’s why when we go to lunch, we like to mix up our options with old places and new places.
So the other day, we went to a new place, where not one of us had been before. Funny thing is that Caffe Calabria is located near the intersection of 30th and University, right under our noses but none of us heard of it before.
It’s a nice cafe and restaurant, where they bring in greens and vivid color in their decor.
They offer various kinds of Panini’s for lunch. I was a little bit disappointed, cause when I looked at the reviews online, I was actually expecting to try their Neapolitan pizza. Their pizzeria is open only in the evening. 🙁
That’s their wood fire oven where the Neapolitan pizzas are made. Oh well, let’s order some Panini.
Me and Michael both ordered the Prosciutto Panini. They also gave us fruits as a side, which was nice. It was surprisingly tasty. The panini was warm with thin slices of prosciutto, cheesy mozzarella cheese and tomato. The texture of the prosciutto was soft and chewy, and it was enhanced with the ingredients and the savory, crunchy texture focaccia bread.
Darren had the Tacchino Panini with turkey, grana padano, tomato, and artichoke hearts.
We sat at the bar, because there were no tables available at that time. Looks like they have a wide collection of wine during the evening.
Michael being the daring gastronomer who likes to try almost anything ordered a coffee. He must have liked it because he took the it with him back to the office and finished the coffee. How do I know? Because….
He took a picture of his coffee and send it to me. He didn’t know that there was this little guy in there, until he was on his last sip. Eww. I bet that this guy might have accidentally flew inside the cup without anyone noticing.
Even hough the panini was good, the discovery of a fly in Michael’s coffee kind of made me lose my appetite. To be honest, I might have to think twice about paying another visit for the pizza. Anyways, I’m just sharing what our experience was like. At the end, it’s your decision to decide whether or not you’re going to give this place a try on their food or coffee. Feel free to leave a comment if some of you have been there or tried their pizza before. We always like to hear from you on your good or bad experiences. Hopefully this isn’t the norm at Caffe Calabria.
Caffe Calabria
3933 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92104
(619) 291 1759
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I was excited to see this post since we’ve had their coffee before (served at other places) but never had it at the actual location. Sadly, that last photo of the drowned insectoid friend made me gag! Thank goodness Michael didn’t swallow that! Yikes!
Nice post – I consider it a preview to my future visit to this place (despite the fly). 🙂
I actually thought it was a coffee bean at first! Once I realized it wasn’t, my stomach turned upside down. Despite the incident, I will probably give them another shot in the future. (Although I’m sure I will look twice before starting in on my drink!) I look forward to reading about your experience, CC.
I will give this place a shot too. I’ve been on Fall break for work so it’s nice being out and about instead of being cooped up in the office. I’ll let you guys know how the coffee is and I will make sure to check for stray bugs! Ha ha.
I remember one of your old posts and there was a baby roach in the food (from the infamous “Phat Fail” post)!
Come on folks and posting a pic of the fly is a bit too much. This has been a unusually high season for the little critters and I’ve dined at Calabria more than a dozen times and in fact hosted my work Holiday party last year.
This place is simply great!
Depending on when you go will determine the experience. As noted the pizza oven is not fired up until the evening. So if you go early, sit outside and enjoy what is arguably some of the best coffee in San Diego. Some may not realize that coffee is the primary business of Calabria, and that they supply fine coffee all over San Diego.
So early is coffee, panini and pastries. Chill outside and people watch and bring your pet.
Evenings take on a different chill as the oven is firing up amazing authentic pizza. Fresh arugula is one of our favorites, not to mention the very fresh salads. (try the burrata)
Reasonable house wine by the carafe, really cool staff all along while sitting in candlelight.
It is simply one of our go to spots!
It’s always nice to get healthy discussion going on here. I appreciate your comments Rocky. No doubt Caffe Calabria is usually a great spot to frequent, but critter season or not, I’m here to report on what I find… good or bad. I do want to go back and try the arugula pie you mentioned.
Finally went! Had the iced coffee and my friend had a cappuccino! Excellent coffee! Will have to come back for their food as we already had lunch prior to our visit. Their panini and salad choices look quite tasty.
ps. no extra “protein” in my drink! and I’m glad you posted the photo of the fly. I appreciate your honesty. i wouldn’t hold that one thing against the restaurant myself.