Dora Ristorante

We had the absolute pleasure of dining at Dora last night with friends to celebrate a birthday, and it was a phenomenal experience from the moment we walked through the door. The atmosphere is stunning — the décor is warm, elegant, and filled with thoughtful details, especially around the bar. The open-style kitchen adds such a welcoming, intimate feeling, almost like being invited into someone’s home. A special shoutout to the our server Cole and sommelier, who helped curate this amazing evening. We started with the anchovies, and I can honestly say it was one of the best anchovy dishes I’ve ever had. Next came the octopus and the squash salad, both absolutely unforgettable. The balance of flavor, texture, and creativity in every bite was truly masterful. For entrées, everything was exceptional, but a few dishes stood out as truly next-level. The noodles in white sauce with shaved white truffles were completely out of this world — rich, delicate, and indulgent in the best way. And the dry-aged steak may have been one of the best steaks I’ve ever had in my life. Seeing an herb mop brought out alongside it was such a unique and memorable touch. We also took full advantage of the Amaro cart, which was such a fun experience — getting to sample a variety of different amaros was the perfect ending to the meal. Overall, Dora delivered one of the best Italian dining experiences I’ve had in a very long time. Every detail was thoughtful, every dish was incredible, and the hospitality was top-tier. We will absolutely be back.

Very elegant Italian restaurant opened by the chef of Cori. Delicious food, great service. Our server, Zoe, was very knowledgeable and helpful. Lovely decor. I had the great seafood couscous and my friend has the gnocchi with sausage. Highly recommended!

Such a good atmosphere! All the furniture and lighting made the place cozy but upscale at the same time. Loved the dip that came with the focaccia. The arancini was very cheesy and mushroom-forward. The pasta was al dente and flavorful. Shoutout Ari for the great service and thank you to Steve for the friendly vibes.

Awesome Restaurant! We’ve been big fans of Accursio‘s cooking for the last 12 or 13 years. Love Cori Pastaficio! His other restaurant. DORA—Beautiful room and great outdoor patio. Very nice wine List. The food is incredible. Had the meatballs, the salad with persimmon, raviolis, and the chicken dish. Nice desserts! Servers were knowledgeable,friendly and efficient. They’ve only been open for three or four days. Can’t wait to go back. Coming back for dinner a week from tonight.

This restaurant was amazing. Service top tier. Vibes great. I ate the ravioli and it was really good, we also got it with the focaccia as a starter and that was great too. The portions are not massive, but I was full from what I aaa given. Our server was Ari she was bomb and very kind. Good service.

Amazing pizza! The first time my son B ate the crust! It was straight out of the warm oven.😃 Staff is friendly and informative. Lovely ambiance and interior design. We will be back!

The food, presentation and service were all phenomenal, with an authentic character and ambiance to tie it all together, providing a 5 star experience. Our server Cole was excellent as well!

Fantastic new restaurant in La Jolla by the Playhouse. Design is cool and a feast for the eyes, but super cosy and inviting at the same time. Beautiful bar, private dining room also. The food was delicious. Plenty of options from interesting starters of which my favorite was the Arancini Balls with truffle , the delicious fluffy homemade Foccacia with an eggplant and olive tapenade and the melt in your mouth octopus. There were multiple Pasta and Pizza options and we got the one with prosciutto which was delicious with perfect pizza crust. We also had the spinach ravioli and the gnocchi with pork sausage was a surprise with incredible and unique flavor. But the favorite was the seafood stew with Sicilian couscous which was very different. Wow. The flavors. I’d come back again just for that. Desserts (chocolate one was great especially) and cocktails also were excellent. Loved my Sicilian sour with Amaro and egg white foam! Yum. Anyways, def will be back. Oh I almost forgot to mention the warm and friendly service also. So attentive and just made the dining experience that much more special. Nice to see a restaurant not rely on just expensive decor like so many recent new additions in SD but then fail on food and service and charge you $25 for a cocktail. No thanks. 2 thumbs up for Dora! Highly recommend.

We had an incredible experience dining here. Every dish we ordered was outstanding -- the octopus was tender and full of flavor, the polpette were rich and comforting, the gnocchi were perfectly cooked and really well balanced, and the spaghetti al pomodoro was simple, fresh, and beautifully prepared. You can really taste the care that goes into each dish. The staff did an amazing job from start to finish. They were attentive without ever feeling intrusive, and they made the whole evening feel welcoming and effortless. The vibe of the restaurant was also perfect -- warm, inviting, and lively in the best way. Overall, a fantastic experience all around. We'll definitely be coming back!

Simply amazing. Branzino was outstanding. Great crisp with the blackening finished with a delicious sauce and wilted radicchio. Deserts- must try all, we did and no regrets. Not yo mention the stunning interior and warm friendly and fun team. Great Experience!!!

Service was stellar. Ambiance was lovely. Food was fabulous! The drinks were also great. Accursio never disappoints. His Grandmother (Dora) would be proud. Can't wait to go back with friends!

Love love love this new place!! First of all, allow me to tell you that the design of this new restaurant is absolutely stunning. This is no cheap furniture or random thoughts design. You can tell a designer is behind this very Italian setting. Service is attentive, yet friendly and welcoming never overbearing. The staff here is simply offering you to take you on an experience with Chef Accursio and trust their suggestions. The menu is sophisticatedly simple, and this is exactly how Italian does it. No overly though recepies, yet very detailed technique and high quality ingredients is what set a part this restaurant from hai competition. There parm ham appetizers is not your ordinary prosciutto, as well as the ravioli with foratage. If you know quality, you k so this is way beyond any ordinary Italian out there. I recommend coming here only if you truly know about Italian and not expecting American Italian flair. This is not it. This is Italian and rather you know it or you don't. Self proclaimed foodie out there, with no sense of education or culture, do not come here unless you know your stuff. Well done Chef Accursio, do not get discourage by the ignorance of few. Keep up the good work

From the same ownership as a Sicilian restaurant in the North Park neighborhood, Dora Ristorante opened two weeks ago in the Theatre District of the UCSD campus. The place can hold about 100 customers with an oval central bar, private dining room, and a chef's counter to complement the main dining area which had indoor and outdoor seating. The interior decor was quite elegant, and you could tell a lot of resources were spent to make an upscale ambiance. Reservations can be made on OpenTable, and the restaurant's website provided suggestions on where to park nearby for free (e.g. surface lots, underground garage). My friend and I sat under the covered and heated outdoor patio during the first week of business. A pre-theater menu was provided that featured choices across three different courses with available wine pairings. We skipped this and went to the regular one-page dinner menu that had three to four options in each of six different categories. Our first selection was the Focaccia. It was served as a round sourdough loaf with a dish of caponata that was a vegetarian eggplant salad. I thought this was unique compared to spots that provide extra virgin olive oil with balsamic vinegar as a dip for the bread. The caponata tasted like a salty relish. We then split the Polipo Alla Griglia which was grilled Mediterranean octopus with cannellini and pesto trapanese. The dish looked beautiful, however there needed to be a larger tentacle or more than one small one for the price. The octopus was cooked to the right degree of doneness as it was soft. My entree was the Cous Cous Di Pesce which was a seafood broth containing prawns, calamari, mussels, and clams. It was served in a shallow vessel with a side of small couscous pearls. I poured the pearls into the bowl to consume with the savory stew. I preferred the pearls to be larger for easier scooping. The prawns were slightly overcooked while the other seafood ingredients were fine. Overall, I thought Dora Ristorante had a solid debut with such convenient proximity for patrons of the La Jolla Playhouse.

My friend wanted to come and check out this new restaurant in La Jolla. There is a parking garage and luckily it was free because of the holidays. The restaurant was decorated very cute and would be nice for either date night for family dinner. We ordered the Focaccia for an appetizer and it was delicious. We also ordered the grilled octopus and came it tender and very flavorful. For our entrees we ordered the Ravioli and Cous Cous Di Pesce. I enjoyed the sauce that was on the Ravioli. It filled us up pretty fast. For the Cous Cous Di Pesce the broth was amazing but we noticed that the broth had this grainy texture to it. We brought it up to one of the servers that was assisting with our table and she assured us that it was normal and it was the reaction of the broth mixture. She also stated that she confirmed it with the chef. After we continued to look through the broth we found a shell filled with sand :( we really enjoyed this place but at the end of our dinner it was kind of disappointing to find that. Also felt like our concerns were just ignored. We just left it at that because we didn't want to make it seem like we were complaining.

Great new addition to La Jolla. The food is delicious, and the service is excellent. It's the perfect spot for a romantic date or a nice dinner out.

Arguably the best Italian restaurant in San Diego and it's only been open two weeks. They capture the vibe you would hope for from an Italian restaurant, and they keep the menu simple/high quality. Special thanks to Francesca who is a spectacular bartender and lovely person! I recommend bringing a few friends so you can try more dishes... the pizzas, pastas, and appetizers are all really well done.

good new italian restaurant in La Jolla. nice well curated decor, good polished service. the food is good, simple pasta dishes that you can find in many other places around town, nothing that will blow your mind but it can still make a nice dinner out. I had the ricotta spinach ravioli and my wife the pomorodo bucatini. I will be back when they rotate the menu

Zoe was amazing The decoration is super cute. Their drinks are amazing and our server Zoey definitely improved the experience

We had a great pre theater lunch. The Arancini was delicious, as well as the ravioli and the insalata. Zoe was very attentive. Will definitely be back.

Zoe was a wonderful and attentive server! Good food and reasonably priced. Wishing the best for this new restaurant directly across from the La Jolla Playhouse!

The atmosphere is great, beautiful restaurant! The food is delicious, I can't wait to go back. Lucas, Zoe and Jay were amazing, great service.

Had higher hopes for this restaurant. Super cool vibe, very nice staff but the food was just okay for me. Much better pizza/pasta at Isola. Didn't appreciate having to pay an extra $3 for a "slightly dirty martini" and another $1 for the blue cheese olives. C'mon this is ridiculous. Will I be charged for use of the coupe glass next??

The food was great. The service was excellent. Mark and Francesca were knowledgeable and very attentive. The inside was inviting and gave a comfortable feeling. I will definitely be going back with family and friends to try more of what they have on the menu. Polipo Alla Griglia (Octopus), Focaccia, and Polpette Alla Griglia (Beef Meatball) was the bomb, by the way. I wasn't able to take a picture of the Polipo Alla Griglia (Octopus) before I devoured it, lol. On a serious note, make a reservation and check them out!!!

Absolutely outstanding. Amazing food. Amazing service. The Ambiance is beautiful. I liked it so much, I have been there three times since they opened last month. I actually planned a holiday dinner in their private room for a party of 16. The manager, Steven, was so easy to deal with and made the evening extra special. Thank you to the entire Dora team. Lucas, Cole and Steven were great.

Horrible food, service and ambiance!! Waited 20 min to get attention of the server for drinks!!

We had a great experience here with delicious food and excellent service. We started with a cocktail at the bar from Francesca. Drinks were delicious and she was friendly and fast. We got a table for dinner and our server Ayla was attentive and gave great recommendations. All the food was very tasty, but the ravioli was definitely my favorite. Great ambiance and a few nice touches like cleaning the table between dishes. We are glad to have a nice spot for dinner in the area and will definitely be back!

This relatively new restaurant is conveniently located adjacent to the La Jolla Playhouse which makes it perfect for post or pre-show meals. We were there for a pre-show lunch prior to a matinee. We were greeted by Gavin who was an excellent host throughout our meal. Our waitress, Chelsea did an excellent job,! Apparently this was the first time the restaurant had lunch service, but everything went smoothly.....especially making sure we were done within enough time to get to the theater. We started with 2 appetizers. The first was the Insalata di Finocchio, a light & delicious salad featuring persimmons. We also had Popette meatballs which were great with. Just enough spice. We also had a Margarita pizza. The sauce and crust was great but the crust was very thin and soggy in the middle. The menu that day was not the full luncheon menu they featured on their website & while the choices were good it was limited. I assume they will eventually add more items. All in all I would highly recommend giving it a try......great atmosphere, easy parking, good food & excellent customer service! We will definitely be back.

We had high hopes for this place as it's new and there's a-lot of competition in the area. The bartender was amazing and so sweet. He provided excellent service. Unfortunately the food was so lacking. The pasta sauce was so bland, absolutely 0 flavor. The octopus was SO smelly the lady sitting next to me at the bar made a comment about how it was ruining her appetite. Embarrassing! Overall nothing you can't find elsewhere not impressed at all!

We thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our dinner at Dora. The dining room and bar are beautiful and transports you to a stunning Italian villa. The service was attentive, friendly and professional. We ordered a variety of menu items to share, each of which was full of flavor. Modern interpretations of coastal Sicilian dishes. Loved it all! Our cocktails were delicious and they had an impressive wine selection. We'll definitely be returning soon.

Great food, great bar, great staff, great vibe - checks all the boxes! We tried several appetizers, pastas, mains and desserts, plus had a couple of lovely drinks. Nicely paced dinner, thoughtfully prepared dishes. I understand they will slowly expand their menu, so we'll be back to try other things. This time we had the caponata, the focaccia, and the boquerones - delightful! We shared the ravioli and the gnocchi (yummy), then hubby had the chicken and I had the branzino. Everything was delicious and fresh. Desserts were lovely, too. I'm so excited to have a new and excellent Italian restaurant to go to!

Great service! Wonderful staff! The owner went above and beyond to make sure everything was right!