The 8 Best Restaurants in La Mesa, Ranked

Start with the momo. Himalayan Cuisine gives these Nepalese dumplings a whole section of its menu, and it reads like a choose-your-texture game. There's steamed momo, with a house Himalayan sauce for dipping. There's chilli momo, steamed, then fried and tossed with onions and bell peppers. Kothey momo gets pan-fried for a crisp bottom. And then there's the sizzler momo, steamed dumplings served on a hot plate over sautéed noodles with onions, peppers and Himalayan spices. That one is the table's opening move.

This locally owned restaurant on El Cajon Boulevard in La Mesa cooks Nepalese, Indian and Tibetan food off one long menu, and it's our pick for the best restaurant in La Mesa because it gets the most meals right. It's open for lunch and dinner every day, with lunch specials on weekdays from 11 to 2. A vegetarian, a spice lover and a table that can't agree on anything can all eat well here, at the same time.

Past the dumplings, the Himalayan Specialties section is where to look next. Chhoila comes in chicken or lamb, and the thali puts a whole meal on one plate: dal, curry, rice, naan, yogurt sauce and pickle. If someone wants the comfort classics, the Indian side has butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, paneer tikka masala and garlic cilantro naan. There's chow mein, too, with its own spot on the menu.

Reviewers keep landing on the same things: the momo, the curries, generous portions, and a kitchen that cooks to the spice level you actually ask for. Groups especially praise the service, which matters, because this menu is built for passing plates around.

Here's how Himalayan Cuisine edges out Antica at number two. Antica is the place for an anniversary. Himalayan is the place you'll end up on a random Tuesday, and then again on Thursday with more people. The menu is long, so go in with a plan: one curry everybody knows, one Nepalese specialty nobody's tried, and a plate of sizzler momo in the middle. Say your heat level out loud when you order.

Francesco Basile was born in a small fishing village on the Sicilian coast near Palermo, and he went to culinary school in Palermo. He cooked seafood at a beach resort on the island of Elba and rolled pappardelle by hand at a mountain ski resort. In the late 1990s he ran the kitchen at Panevino in the Gaslamp Quarter. Then, in 2001, he opened Antica Trattoria on Lake Murray Boulevard in La Mesa, and he's still the chef and owner a quarter century later.

That's the reason to book: handmade pasta from a chef who has been doing this for more than 30 years. The Tortellacci are homemade spinach and ricotta ravioli in tomato sauce, finished with burrata and basil oil. The casarecce come with a white Italian sausage ragù, pistachio pesto and porcini. Start with the polpettine, which the menu calls Nonna's braised meatballs, with San Marzano tomato and whipped ricotta. For something richer, there's a Carnaroli risotto with grilled prawns and a lobster citrus sauce.

The praise for Antica centers on the handmade pasta, the risotto, the wine and the service, and on a dining room quiet enough for a real conversation. If Himalayan Cuisine is the everyday answer, Antica is the night you plan around.

It's dinner only, starting at 4:30, and weekend tables need a reservation. Wine fans should look at the early-week deals, which have included half off select bottles on Mondays and Tuesdays and no corkage on Wednesdays. Planning something big? Parties of 15 or more can set up a group menu directly with the chef.

The drunken noodles at Signature Thai Cuisine start with fresh wide rice noodles and pile on garlic, egg, bell peppers, onion, bamboo shoot and Thai basil. Next to them, put the panang curry, made with coconut milk, green beans, peppers, carrots and finely chopped kaffir lime leaves. That's the pairing diners rave about most at this Lake Murray Boulevard spot, and it's the reason it lands at number three in La Mesa.

The praise is specific: freshness, the spice, friendly service, and those same three dishes over and over, the drunken noodles, the panang and the pad see ew. The pad see ew is the gentle one, with Chinese broccoli, carrots, egg and sweet black soy sauce, so it's a smart order for a kid or anyone who wants to keep things mild. Heat runs from mild to extra spicy, and you choose.

Once you've got the classics down, the menu goes further. Khao soi, the curry noodle dish, comes with a chicken drumstick and sliced breast in a creamy curry, with pickled cabbage, lime and chili oil, and a nest of crispy noodles on top. Crying Tiger is grilled sirloin, and gai yang is herb-marinated barbecue chicken.

A useful tip for anyone with allergies: the menu notes that the curry pastes contain dried shrimp paste and that many dishes use fish sauce, so mention it when you order. Plan your timing, too. On weekdays the kitchen takes a short break between lunch and dinner in the midafternoon, while weekends run straight through. Ney, number eight on this list, is a short walk away on the same boulevard if you're mapping out future dinners.

"We are not fancy, we are who we are." That's how Nonno's Ristorante Italiano describes itself, and it's a good summary of this small, family-owned Italian room on Baltimore Drive in La Mesa. It has been cooking since 1998, with family roots it sums up as Sicily to San Diego. A local write-up posted on its own site calls the place small and always busy.

The order is the pappardelle. On the menu it's the Parpadelle al Brasato: braised short rib in a Sangiovese red wine sauce with portobello mushrooms, peas and onions, served over wide ribbons of pappardelle. Seafood people should look at Seafood My Way, with green-lip mussels, shrimp, clams and the day's catch in garlic, tomato, fresh herbs and white wine over black linguine. The menu has a sense of humor, too. The Steak Sinatra is a filet with porcini cream, and The Dean Martin is rigatoni with porcini, prosciutto and tomato. Entrées come with homemade fresh pasta.

Fans of the place talk about the pappardelle, the seafood pasta, the freshness, and the kind of family hospitality that makes a small room feel like someone's dining room. Antica Trattoria and Nonno's are a short drive apart and both carry Sicilian roots. Antica is the quieter, polished occasion. Nonno's is the family table, and it has actually been around three years longer.

Because the room is small, planning ahead pays off. Nonno's serves lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday and takes Sunday and Monday off. Reservations are recommended, and groups of six or more book with a card and phone number and need to cancel at least 24 hours ahead.

The Crazy Calabrese is a sandwich with some kick. Spicy salami and spicy gabagool get layered with creamy stracciatella and arugula, then hit with Calabrian chili spread and Calabrian chili honey, all on schiacciata that MammaMia bakes fresh every day. Honey, chili, cured meat and cream, stacked into one sandwich. It's the first thing to order at this Sicilian-Italian deli and market on Spring Street in La Mesa.

Then comes the pistachio question. The MammaMia Signature stacks mortadella with pistachio cream, stracciatella, pistachio crumbles and provolone, and mortadella with pistachio is the combination its fans single out. If you're feeling bold, La Dolce Vita puts Nutella and mortadella together with stracciatella and hazelnut crumbles. Yes, really. Vegetarians get the Tutto Veggie, with grilled eggplant, zucchini and artichoke, and there are nine specialty sandwiches in all.

One storefront holds three things: the market, the deli counter and Gino & Gianni's Pizzeria. The pizzas are homemade 18-inch pies cut into eight slices, and the pizzeria is the newer half of the operation. The pizza already earns praise right alongside the sandwiches, and so do the freshness and the friendly service. The kitchen also turns out house-made arancini, garlic knots, cannoli and tiramisu.

This is counter service, built for lunch or a quick stop, and it's the only counter-service spot on this list. Give yourself a few extra minutes for the shelves, which hold Italian sodas like A'Siciliana and Sanpellegrino, Italian chips and other imported goods. You'll probably leave with something you didn't come for.

Riviera Supper Club is La Mesa's full night out. It's a steak-and-cocktails supper club on University Avenue with a lounge attached, the Turquoise Room, home to cocktails and live music. The lounge stays open a little later than the kitchen. Reviewers love the dim, old-Hollywood feel of the room, the bartenders and the music, and it's the spot on this list people pick when the evening itself is the plan.

The steak list covers filet mignon, hanger, flat iron, Denver and a 16-ounce prime ribeye, plus a 12-ounce cut of prime rib with bordelaise and creamy horseradish. The big-occasion move is the 35-ounce USDA Prime tomahawk, which you order 24 hours in advance with your reservation. Start with the Turquoise Tots, loaded with bacon, bleu cheese dressing and chili oil, or the deviled eggs topped with bacon and paprika. For a drink, the Esquire Martini comes with bleu-cheese-stuffed olives, and the Rye Dem Cowboy keeps it simple with rye, demerara and bitters. Save room for the triple-layer chocolate cake with caramel and bacon.

The restaurants above it win on the plate. Riviera wins on the whole evening, especially for a group. Happy hour runs from 4 to 6, which makes an early start easy.

Casa Gabriela is where La Mesa Village goes to celebrate. Chef and partner Gabriela Lopez built the menu on recipes passed down from her grandmother, served with a modern touch, and the restaurant's spacious garden patio on La Mesa Boulevard is the setting people bring up again and again for parties and weekend brunch.

Start with the Birria de la Abuela tacos, "grandmother's birria," in corn tortillas with Oaxaca and asadero cheese, pickled red onion and cilantro, plus a cup of consommé for dipping. Then go big with "La Reina," the mariscos molcajete for two: scallops and shrimp in molten garlic butter with Chihuahua and Oaxaca cheese, roasted poblano and caramelized onion, served with elote rice and pinto beans. Vegetarians should look at the jalapeño and white corn lasagna, layered with roasted poblano, spinach and Oaxaca cheese between corn tortillas. Chiles en nogada show up in season.

Weekend brunch brings Gabriela's chicken chilaquiles with pipián rojo mole and two fried eggs, and Mama Lopez's huevos rancheros. The bar leans on additive-free tequilas, and there's a patio happy hour in the late afternoon.

It's the one Village pick on this list, and if you'd like to skip the car, the Orange Line trolley stops a block off the main strip. On Fridays, the Village farmers market makes a good warm-up before dinner.

Ney Restaurant brings Iraqi cooking to Lake Murray Boulevard, and the dish to know is lamb quzi. It's an Iraqi centerpiece: slow-cooked lamb served over rice, the kind of dish that anchors a shared table. At Ney, reviewers keep praising the quzi, the rice that comes with it, the kebabs and the hummus.

The menu is contemporary Iraqi, and it goes beyond the lamb. Masgouf, the Iraqi whole-fish dish, is on it too. The cocktails and the warm hospitality get plenty of love as well, so Ney works nicely when you want a sit-down dinner with a drink.

Ney is the newest name on this list and the only Iraqi kitchen in the lineup. If you knew the address as Izakaya Maíze, this is a separate restaurant now, with its own menu. It sits just down Lake Murray Boulevard from Signature Thai, so the two make a handy pair for anyone working through this stretch of La Mesa.

Go with a group if you can. Quzi is made for sharing, so bring a few people and put the lamb, a couple of kebabs and a bowl of hummus in the middle. Ney takes reservations, which makes a bigger table easy to lock in.