Mimmo's

While Ironside does nautical-warehouse seafood and The Grant Grill channels old-guard hotel dining, Mimmo's doubles down on something harder to find in modern Little Italy: unapologetic, portion-heavy Italian-American cooking served with actual warmth. This is the neighborhood anchor your parents would recognize—white tablecloths, wine bar up front, that vast India Street patio where you can people-watch without feeling like you're part of a street performance.

The menu doesn't chase trends. You're here for chef specials scrawled on a board (portobello mushroom ravioli that reviewers remember weeks later), Tuscan chicken with fettuccine that arrives in quantities bordering on absurd, and arancini stuffed with risotto and spinach that tastes like someone's nonna actually made it. The focaccia with herb olive oil is the move while you wait—light, properly salted, the kind of thing that makes you understand why people still come here for anniversaries instead of chasing the newest opening down the block.

The patio works for everything from business lunches to kid-friendly dinners, though be strategic about timing—weekend evenings mean you'll be dining alongside the big red chair photo-op crowd, which adds ambient chatter you didn't order. Parking on India Street is predictably terrible; the Waterfront Park lots are your best bet.

Downsides: portions are massive (plan to share or take home half), and the space gets energetic enough that intimate conversation requires leaning in. But if you want the Little Italy experience your relatives imagine when they book flights to San Diego—the one with actual lasagna and servers who don't rush you through three courses—this is still the go-to.