La Taverna restaurant opens in Hillcrest

A pizza at La Taverna, an Italian restaurant that opened in late February in Hillcrest.

San Diego Union-Tribune

March 10, 2021 9:23 AM PT

La Taverna, a new Italian restaurant with dishes inspired by the cuisines of Rome and Sicily, opened in late February in Hillcrest.

Taking over the space formerly occupied by Malandrino Ristorante, La Taverna serves an all-organic menu of house-made pastas, wood-fired pizzas and classic Southern Italian dishes.

The restaurant serves a wide menu of Italian wines. Diners can build their own pasta dishes with choices of six sauces, 12 pasta noodles and seven proteins. There are also antipasti dishes, salads, soup, risotto, plated entrees and nearly two dozen varieties of pizza.

Open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily for outdoor and takeout dining, La Taverna is at 3650 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Visit latavernasd.com.

Pam Kragen writes about restaurants for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Email her at pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com.

Restaurants Eat | Drink

Pam Kragen

Pam Kragen is a feature writer who specializes in writing human interest, dining, theater and opera stories. She joined The San Diego Union-Tribune staff in October 2012 after 27 years at the North County Times, where she served as the Arts & Features Editor, as well as the paper’s longtime arts writer and theater/opera critic. She is the president and co-founder of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from San Diego State University and completed fellowships in theater criticism at the University of Southern California and opera/classical music criticism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She reports from the U-T’s North County office in San Marcos.