SAN DIEGO – The plan was to indulge in Milanese pizza and pasta at a chic new restaurant, stroll the city's biggest arts festival and then move on to another downtown neighborhood.
But Little Italy, it turns out, isn't easily dispensed with.
The 48-block historical neighborhood near the airport and San Diego Bay has become one of the city's most thriving areas, with restaurants, shops and condos opening at a brisk pace. "Top Chef All-Stars" winner Richard Blais picked Little Italy for his first San Diego restaurant, which opened in March.
Ask locals anywhere in town for restaurant recommendations, and the list invariably will include at least one spot in Little Italy.
So, instead of a few hours there, I opted for an overnight stay — and could have stayed longer. I spent hours on Fir Street, and it isn't even Little Italy's main drag. (That would be India Street.) I felt like I lived there, exercising along the Embarcadero, chatting about the unseasonably hot weather with regulars at the city's oldest bar and having coffee with the morning dog walkers.
That's what makes Little Italy perfect for an urban day or weekend. It's a hipper, less touristy alternative to the Gaslamp Quarter, the restaurant and entertainment district most visitors think of when heading downtown.
Forbes just named San Diego the 10th-best city in the country for Millennials (ages 25-34) and said Little Italy is the best neighborhood for them.
Orlando Zuniga, a 33-year-old therapist, moved to Little Italy after living in La Jolla, Del Mar and Mission Valley. He loves the restaurants and shops, the Saturday farmers market, the camaraderie among business owners and how dog-friendly the neighborhood is.
"This is my favorite," he said.
24 hours in Little Italy
Noon: Check into Porto Vista Hotel. I found a deal for $107 on the mobile-only Hotel Tonight app and was lucky enough to get an early check-in.
I had been to the boutique hotel's popular fourth-floor bar, Glass Door, which offers bay views, but never booked a room. The room wasn't fancy but was a good size and comfortable.
The best part: There is no better location for a Little Italy stay because you can walk everywhere from there. I dropped my car with the valet when I checked in ($22 a night, reasonable for downtown San Diego) and didn't retrieve it until several hours after checkout.
1 p.m.: Lunch at Monello. This sister restaurant and next-door neighbor to the popular Bencotto Italian Kitchen — "monello" means naughty little boy — opened in late 2012 and features what the restaurant calls upscale Milan street food. Pasta is homemade daily. The thin-crust pizza is made with fresh cow's milk mozzarella.
The meal starts with complimentary lupini beans; the waitress tell us to think of them as Italian edamame and says we can pop them out of their pods or eat them whole. We shared the Pizza Monello, with spinach, roasted bell peppers, sausage and a mound of raspa dura cheese; equally rich cacio e pepe, pasta with extra-virgin olive oil, black pepper and pecorino and Parmigiano cheeses; and, in the only nod to healthful living, roasted vegetables light on the oil.
Regulars rave about Monello's happy hour, which it calls its "aperitivo experience." The restaurant provides complimentary appetizers with the purchase of a drink in the bar or patio from 4 to 7 p.m.
2:30 p.m.: Walk around a street festival. I was there for the 30th annual Mission Federal ArtWalk in late April, but it's hard to find a summer weekend without a festival. The two-day art walk, billed as San Diego's largest art event, stretched for several blocks and featured hundreds of artists, live music, dance performances and a variety of foods and drinks.
Ballast Point, a San Diego brewer with a new tasting room and restaurant in Little Italy, sponsored the beer and wine garden. The neighborhood throbs with excitement during festivals, the streets filled with people and restaurant patios and piazzas filled with people-watchers.
4 p.m.: Drinks and oysters at Ironside Fish & Oyster, a converted ironworks factory that opened in April and is a sister restaurant to Little Italy hot spots including Craft & Commerce, a tavern, and Underbelly, a ramen restaurant.
Ironside's intriguing exterior, featuring a wall of small, slanted open windows, has passers-by peering in day and night. There's a large dining room, a happening bar, a bakery and a raw-oyster bar where you can watch chefs preparing platters of oysters.
The craft-co*cktail menu is divided into sections such as uplifting, stimulating, fortified and seaworthy. And only at an oyster bar will you see co*cktails on the half shell: a drink plus a raw oyster. The Ironside Mai Tai comes in a Shamu-shaped ceramic mug.
5:30 p.m.: Walk, bike, run or take a pedicab along San Diego Bay on a path that fronts Harbor Boulevard. You can go nearly 2 miles if you head south toward the San Diego Convention Center and Petco Park.
There are plenty of potential stops, including the new Waterfront Park, the largest urban park to open in the city since the Balboa Park Expo debuted in 1915. The 12-acre park, built on former parking lots next to the County Administration building, features an 830-foot-long fountain, a children's play area, picnic and grassy areas and more.
Farther down, past the USS Midway Museum and in back of age-old Seaport Village, is the Headquarters at Seaport District, a lively new shopping and dining complex in the former city police headquarters There are old jail cells to visit, with visitors snapping Facebook photos behind bars. (One visitor ended up there by accident, thinking it was the bathroom.)
Head back to Little Italy for dinner on the patio at Juniper & Ivy, Richard Blais' new place, or a slice at Landini's Pizzeria. Or, to keep the Italian theme going at the Headquarters, visit Pizzeria Mozza, the latest outpost of a Los Angeles restaurant whose co-founder Nancy Silverton was just named Outstanding Chef, a top award in the prestigious James Beard Foundation Awards, the industry's Oscars.Watch the pizza makers brush the hand-tossed dough with olive oil and sauce and then plop down generous chunks of mozzarella and other toppings.
Another good choice at the Headquarters, if you're craving modern Mexican street food: Puesto at the Headquarters, an offshoot of a popular La Jolla restaurant. Try the filet-mignon tacos (you can sample three tacos for $11) and the mahi-mahi ceviche verde, and save room for the buñuelo ice-cream sandwich. If you really want a sugar fix, stop at Dallmann's Fine Chocolates and pick up a small box of Fleur de Sel, a gooey sea-salt caramel encased in chocolate.
9 p.m.: Nightcap at the Waterfront. No matter when you walk into San Diego's oldest tavern — which serves drinks from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. — expect a booming hello from someone behind the bar.
I picked a seat at the bar, and before I was settled in, a bartender said, "What's your name? I'm Hillary." Not long after, somebody else behind the bar handed me a business card good for a free drink on my next visit. "Back in my day, drinks were a nickel," it says. "Today, it's on me."
The Waterfront turned 80 last year. Squeezed amid the celebrity photos, military memorabilia, bumper stickers and police- and fire-department badges from around the country is an anniversary proclamation from then-interim San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. The place, which shows up on many a list of San Diego's best dive bars, is also known for its burgers.
9 a.m.: Breakfast at Influx Cafe. Order a croissant sandwich and a latte at the counter of this small cafe, then take them to one of the sidewalk tables and people-watch. I saw several dog walkers, including a professional wrangling four dogs.
10:30 a.m.: Shop on Fir Street. Don't miss the Fir Street Cottage Shops, a collection of boutiques. My favorite was Love & Aesthetics, which sells art, home decor, artsy R-rated greeting cards, gifts and more.
Owner Sean Barnes, a commercial interior designer and consultant whose Love & Aesthetics business card lists him as the store's curator, moved into the Cottage Shops last August. He moved to the edge of Little Italy from the Hillcrest neighborhood five years ago and calls Little Italy "the nicest section of San Diego."
"It's great because it's old school," he said. "You still have the Italians, so it's still Little Italy."
He recommended Caxao Artisan Chocolates Cafe & Tea next door. For lunch, Barnes is a fan of the meatball salad at nearby Zia's Bistro.
Little Italy
Porto Vista Hotel: 1835 Columbia St. 619-544-0164, portovistasd.com.
Monello: 750 W. Fir St. 619-501-0030, lovemonello.com.
Ironside Fish & Oyster: 1654 India St. 619-269-3033, ironsidefishandoyster.com.
Craft & Commerce: 675 W. Beech St. 619-269-2202, craft-commerce.com.
Underbelly: 750 W. Fir St. 619-269-4626, godblessunderbelly.com.
Waterfront Park: 1600 Pacific Highway. 619-232-7275, www.sdcounty.ca.gov/parks/Waterfrontpark.html.
The Headquarters at Seaport District: 789 W. Harbor Drive. 619-235-4014, theheadquarters.com.
Pizzeria Mozza: Inside the Headquarters. 619-376-4353, pizzeriamozza.com.
Puesto: Inside the Headquarters. 619-233-8880, eatpuesto.com.
Dallmann's Fine Chocolates: Inside the Headquarters. 619-238-0045, www.dallmannconfections.com.
Juniper & Ivy: 2228 Kettner Blvd. 619-269-9036, www.juniperandivy.com.
Landini's Pizzeria: 1827 India St. 619-238-3502, www.landinispizzeria.com.
The Waterfront: 2044 Kettner Blvd. 619-232-9656, waterfrontbarandgrill.com.
Influx Cafe: 750 W. Fir St. 619-255-0735, influxcafe.com.
Love & Aesthetics: 621 W. Fir St. 619-354-8441, loveandaesthetics.com.
Caxao Artisan Chocolates Cafe & Tea Shop: 621 W. Fir St. 619-379-2447, caxao.com
Zia's Bistro: 1845 India St. 619-234-1344, ziasbistro.com
Little Italy Association of San Diego: 2210 Columbia St. 619-233-3398, littleitalysd.com.
