The team behind one of San Diego's more popular Italian restaurants, Cesarina, is ready to unveil Elvira, a modern Roman restaurant and pizza shop with a full bar opening this weekend in the 1930s-era building that long housed BO-beau in San Diego's Ocean Beach.
After relocating to San Diego from Rome, Cesarina Mezzoni and her husband Niccolò Angius started their Cesarina brand as a pasta vendor at area farmers markets before launching their first brick-and-mortar restaurant in March 2019 in Point Loma. In order to expand operations, the couple took over the space across the street that previously housed Richard Hosker Whyte Antiques with plans to open a compact bakery with a pizza component named Angelo. The couple has since rethought their plans for Angelo, due to the sheer size of the space, and are now considering opening the Angelo concept in a different space.
Earlier this year, Cesarina ownership leased the 2,400-square-foot, standalone building in Ocean Beach that housed Bo-Beau Kitchen + Bar for over a decade. The space has since received a complete remodel by Italian design firm Limes Architetti to become a new Roman-style restaurant outfitted with reclaimed materials and family portraits. The building now boasts a wood-lined dining room with a full bar, a covered outdoor patio housing a gas pizza oven, and a private dining area made to replicate an Italian grandmother's home.
"My great-grandmother was a self-made woman - incredibly independent and fueled by passion despite the lack of opportunities afforded to women in the early 1900s." said Niccolò. "The kitchen was her happy place, and food was her love language."
Named after Angius's 95-year-old great grandmother, Elvira offers a menu of traditional Roman cuisine ranging from house made pasta, wood-fired Roman pizza, and full entrees, with a menu that resembles a calendar. The restaurant will offer daily specials, including Fish Friday, Meatball Tuesday, Family Sunday. In the new year, parties of up to eight patrons will be able to reserve "Cucina di la Nonna, a private dining area accessible through the restaurant's kitchen that will offer a homey feel.
Elvira will open on Sunday, November 19, at 4996 West Point Loma Boulevard in San Diego's Ocean Beach. For more information, visit ciaoelvira.com and check out the menu below.
(Interior restaurant photos from OpenTable.com)
