Cardellino

Cardellino trades on Goldfinch Street in Mission Hills and is the most relaxed of chef Brad Wise's San Diego rooms: handmade pasta, pizza from a wood oven, and a menu the restaurant describes as melding a midwest chophouse with a trattoria. It opened in early 2020 and has stayed a neighbourhood restaurant rather than an occasion one.

Its alcohol-free offering is short but properly constructed, printed under a Spirit Free heading on the same card as the cocktails. The cheapest is also the most straightforward: a cantaloupe and mint limeade at ten dollars, made in house, which is the right answer for anyone who would rather avoid spirit analogues altogether. Bella Vita, at thirteen, is built on a non-alcoholic aperitif with orange and raspberry — the spritz shape, without the wine. Solar Flare at fourteen is the ambitious one, using aplós arise with lemon, ginger and turmeric, a combination that lands closer to a sour than a soft drink and has enough acid and heat to hold up against a plate of pasta.

The fourth line is Athletic Brewing's non-alcoholic golden ale at eight dollars, which is the sensible accompaniment to pizza and the item most likely to still be on the list whenever you visit; the two built drinks rotate with the seasonal cocktail card.

A few practicalities. The restaurant is closed on Mondays and serves from five until nine early in the week, until ten on Friday and Saturday. Happy hour runs in the first hour of service and is worth knowing about if the full prices look steep. The room is small and the pasta list is the reason most people come, so book at weekends. This is a licensed restaurant, not an alcohol-free space, and the wine list is long — but a non-drinker at this table has four printed choices at three price points rather than a bartender improvising, which is the distinction that matters.

The restaurant describes itself as a story steeped in fire, char and steak, and red sauce, parmesan and truffles — which is an accurate summary of a menu that runs wood-fired steaks alongside handmade pasta. That combination is also why the drinks list is worth having: an aperitivo-shaped drink before a plate of pasta is a specific thing a non-drinker usually has to give up in an Italian restaurant, and here it is printed on the card at thirteen dollars. The pizza and pasta are the reason most of the neighbourhood comes, and the bar seats are the easiest to get without a booking.