Restaurant: Andiamo! Location: 5950 Santo Rd. San Diego, CA Phone: (858) 277-3501 Price Range: $7.95-$19.95

Number of visits: 1
Last visit before review: June 8, 2001

Randy had: Insalata Zeferino (baby greens, in dressing of tomatoes, basil, goat cheese, crushed red pepper), Melanzane Farcito (char-broiled eggplant baked with goat cheese and grilled vegetables), iced tea.

Jeff had: Insalata con Pollo Grillato (leaf lettuce, basil, char-broiled chicken, Gorgonzola cheese, golden raisins, walnuts, creamy raspberry vinaigrette), cream of tomato soup, iced tea.

Rating 9 (of 12) Good

Randy says: I thought that the dressing on the Insalata Zeferino had an interesting flavor. It had good ingredients like tomato and basil and was nicely seasoned. I also liked the baby greens. My only complaint was that there was more dressing on it than I would have liked, and I didn't taste the "hint of crushed red pepper".

Jeff says: Randy's salad was good, but I thought the dressing was too vinegary. One or two bites was ok, but I get maxed out on vinegar very quickly. My Insalata con Pollo Grillato had a nice raspberry dressing that wasn't too vinegary. The Gorgonzola, golden raisins, and walnuts were especially good and the basil added a nice flavor, but the chicken chunks were very small and there weren't many of them. The lettuce, which was supposed to be red leaf was instead green leaf, but that's fine with me. The salad also had shredded cabbage in it, which I was able to eat around. Also the salads came in unique rounded-square shaped bowls that make it look like they contain more salad than they do.

Randy says: Jeff's grilled chicken salad was quite good, except the dressing was too sweet for me. My char-broiled eggplant had a good flavor. It was nicely seasoned. The pureed basil was a nice touch. The olive oil was flavorful but there was way too much of it making the dish much too oily. This item on the menu had a heart symbol next to it, but I can't imagine how it could be considered heart-healthy with that much oil, even if it is virgin olive oil. Also, I didn't notice any char-broiled vegetables. There was a little more cheese on it than I like, but it didn't overpower the dish.

Jeff says: I liked the copious cheese that was on Randy's eggplant, but I wasn't too fond of the slimy, oily eggplant underneath. The cream of tomato soup was very flavorful and just creamy enough (not under- or over-creamy). Also, the meal came with homemade herbed bread squares and sauce for dipping. Unlike the usual plain vinegar and oil many restaurants serve with Italian bread, this had tomatoes, basil, and other herbs that made it very tasty.

Randy says: Jeff's cream of tomato soup was flavorful, but too creamy for my tastes. The herbed bread is similar to the Italian bread we've had elsewhere, but this bread was fluffier and less oily. I like the oil and tomato mixture that came with it. The iced tea was peach flavored and was sweetened. I liked it but would have liked it much better if they left it unsweetened and allowed us to decide for ourselves.

Jeff says: When I first tasted the iced tea, it tasted like that pre-sweetened, lemon tea you get from a mix, and I didn't like it. But as I drank it I got used to it and it seemed not so bad.

We were originally planning to have Mobile Waiter deliver something to us. In their guide was listed Andiamo!'s menu, and were intrigued by the many innovative salads and entrees with combinations of ingredients we really like. Unfortunately, Mobile Waiter had misprinted their guide and had mistakenly marked Andiamo! as available for delivery to our area, but we decided the food looked worth the drive.

Andiamo! is located in a strip mall in the Tierra Santa area of San Diego. We were there on a Friday night from about 7:45 to 9:00, and the dining room was practically empty. Before arriving, we weren't sure what to expect. Jeff thought it would be a storefront cafe with plastic patio furniture. Randy thought it would be an elegant room with white tablecloths. It turned out to be something in between. The room is large, unlike a usual store front, and is furnished with clothed tables and wicker chairs, but the booths were unclothed and seemed more casual. The floor is uncarpeted cement, which would make for a noisy room had it not been so empty.

We both wanted to try one of the many salads (priced as entrees), but didn't know if they would be enough for a meal so reserved judgement on whether to get anything else until after the salads. Since it turned out the salads alone weren't quite enough, we opted for an appetizer and soup. As we left at 9:00 and saw few people or cars in that strip mall or on the surrounding roads in Tierra Santa, we commented to each other that this kind of restaurant with its high prices and correspondingly high quality of food and type of ingredients used would be better suited to a more upscale, vibrant area.