Exploring San Diego County one restaurant at a time

Spirito’s Italian Diner

Spirito's Restaurant & Pizzeria sign overlays a photo of a man sitting at an outdoor table at the restaurant. In front of them is a plate of homemade ravioli, pizza, and a bowl of fresh salad with bread. To the side are a bottle of Acqua Panna water and a bottle of San Pellegrino.

Authentic Jersey-style pizza in North County

There is a sign outside the restaurant that reads in white capital letters Spirito's. There are tables outside the restaurant near the entrance and the facade is wooden with a red brick on top.

Location: 2508 El Camino Real, Suite E, Carlsbad CA 92008
Hours: 
Tues. – Thurs. and Sun. – 11:30 AM – 8 PM
Fri. and Sat. – 11:30 AM – 8:30 PM; Closed Mondays

Matthew outside Spirito's smiling in background. In front of him is the table with a margherita pizza, ravioli with country bread and house salad with a slice of bread. There is an acqua panna and a san pellegrino with the number for the order.

Spirito’s Italian Diner is sandwiched between a Coffee Bean and a Mexican restaurant in the mall across from The Shoppes at Carlsbad. It’s not where you would expect great Italian food, but their homemade dishes are spectacular.

Their local fame comes from being featured on a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (DDD) episode from 2013 hosted by Guy Fieri on Food Network. Jennifer and I fell in love with their pizza the first time we tried it and have been going for a few months.

Classic East Coast Italian food in SD

On the table is a margherita pizza served jersey-style. A margherita is a classic chese pizza with whole tomato slices baked in and basil on top. The crust is cooked nicely to be crisp, but not to burn. Shadows from the sun float over the pizza.

What keeps people returning to Spirito’s is the quality of their dishes. They have authentic, Jersey-style pizza with a thin but durable crust that makes for a savory, authentic East Coast bite.

The sauce on the pizza tends to be a bit sweeter and goes well with a gooey mozzarella. Everything melts together in a hot, delicious mess of great cheese, sauce and toppings. What’s nice about their crust is it holds up to a lot of toppings and won’t mope in soggy grease.

Other dishes include pasta, subs and classic Italian entrees like chicken parmesan. When we went, I got cheese ravioli, their signature dish. It’s an old family recipe made with creamy ricotta and beautiful pasta. These homemade ravioli are giant. There are four to a dinner plate served with a slice of their country bread.

On a white plat are four large cheese ravioli smothered in a tomato gravy sauce with a piece of their toasted country bread. Their is parmesan melted on top and flakes of parsley. The ravioli looks precariously piled on one another before we dug in.

Their tomato gravy has such a rich and deep flavor to it. There is a tangy acidity mixed with a sweetness that mellows out as it goes down with the silkiness of the pasta. The pasta with the sauce melts in your mouth with the ricotta. They sell jars of tomato gravy in their shop. If you want to take one home for a gourmet meal, it’s worth the flavor.

Their meatballs and eggplant parmesan are two other gourmet items. Like the ravioli, these meatballs are enormous. You can add a meatball to any entree, and regardless of if you finish it, it’ll make your meal better. Roman meatballs are made with raisins and pine nuts.

The eggplant parmesan is firm and crunchy as you bite into the succulent vegetable goodness. A sandwich here is almost best to eat with a fork and knife to sop up all the sauce.

There’s some delicious cooking happening at this small diner. If you’re looking for Italian in North County, it’s quite the treat.

Service and Atmosphere

Spirito's dining room has chairs on either end is large space in the middle for customers to walk in and out for take out orders. There is a long sign that reads "Spirito's restaurant and pizza" with photos of their family below. A man looks out the window enjoying a summer afternoon.

The service has been good every time I’ve gone to Spirito’s. If you’re picking up takeout, they show you your order and double-check to ensure everything is correct.

If they are busy, making your order will take a while because they have a small kitchen. If I’m calling in a pizza, it’s taken anywhere from 25-45 minutes. But, everything came out quickly, in 15-20 minutes for our dine-in meal that day.

On a wall inside Spirito's to the left of the entrance is a poster signed by restauranteur and celebrity/tv personality Guy Fieri who featured Spirito's on an episode of his show in 2013.

I recommend grabbing a table outside if you can. I find sitting on the patio a bit nicer than the inside. It can be a bit cramped and busy as people come and go, picking up and placing orders.

The vintage interior gives off old-school Italian pizza joint vibes and reminds me of Voltero’s, a great pizza place in Clairemont Mesa that closed long ago. Walking in, you’ll feel a bit of the slice of life from Jersey.

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Jennifer in a red sweater eats outside Spirito's dinner. She is looking at the camera and taking a bite of pizza. In front of her is the pizza pan, salad and water. The sun shines on the patio with ivy vines crawling up the building columns.

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Next time, I’ll write about the incredible meal my family and I had at The Rady Shell in Downtown San Diego.

Additional Links

View Spirito’s menu.

Watch owner Mike Spirito making roman meatballs and cheese ravioli on Food Network.

Try Spirito’s homemade pork and beef ragu recipe.

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