Vegan-friendly
Lacto
Ovo
Pizza
Italian
Beer/Wine
Delivery
Take-out
Non-veg

Serves meat, vegan options available. Italian-run restaurant in San Diego's Little Italy since 2015. Menu has a vegan section offering items like spinach ravioli, lasagna, fettucine, fried mushrooms, and cheese substitute. Vegan gelato and tiramisu for dessert. Makes pasta in-house. Open Mon 12:00pm-9:30pm, Tue-Thu 4:00pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sat 12:00pm-10:30pm, Sun 12:00pm-9:30pm.


152 Reviews

First Review by vsvihla

ronitw

Points +911

Vegan
18 Jun 2026

Not Good Dinner

Tried the vegan lasagna. Not edible. Was recommended the vegan gnocchi. I asked whether there is any imitation meat and was assured it had only vegetables. It was full of inedible sausage. I ate some of the gnocchi and left the rest be.

AshleyLorden

Points +1335

Vegan
09 Jun 2026

Was served dairy, meh food

The staff served pretty obvious dairy to my group even though we told them we were vegan and ordered from that menu. Then said it was the kitchen’s fault. Once we got food it was very simple and overly salty. Not at all worth the price.

Updated from previous review on 2026-06-09

Pros: Focaccia and pesto served before food were great, Some staff helpful

Cons: No guarantee of getting vegan food, Food quality just okay, Food and service don’t match price

briandrutledgegmail.

Points +118

Vegan
06 Jun 2026

Awesome Service & Delicious Vegan Options

This restaurant, located in the Little Italy section of downtown San Diego was nothing short of amazing. Our server was so pleasant and helpful and the piazza seating was really great for people watching. We had the plant-based Calamari, Pepperoni Pizza and Lasagna just to try out the best of the vegan menu. It was also a nice surprise that the pesto and bread brought with our drinks was vegan! There was also a great selection of NA cocktails and beer. Well definitely go back next to we travel there.

Updated from previous review on 2026-06-06

Pros: Service, Food, Ambiance

Cons: There really wasn't any....it was a perfect.

ChristyMarklingBoring

Points +130

Vegan
30 Mar 2026

Great food, great location, great vibes

The staff was incredible, food was amazing, location and vibe so much fun!

Updated from previous review on 2026-03-30

Pros: Food, Service, Vibe

caesarion

Points +356

Vegan
14 Mar 2026

🤌🏻

Very friendly staff — we had the pep pizza, lasagna and gnocchi. The food was all very good, but the gnocchi in particular was 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻

Updated from previous review on 2026-03-14

lentils_af

Points +1128

Vegan
26 Feb 2026

Wow

Tried four things (see photos) and loved them all. The pasta dish with the mushrooms was particularly good.

Updated from previous review on 2026-02-26

Iworkforwine

Points +62

Vegan
23 Feb 2026

Another FANTASTIC vegan Italian meal!

A MUST VISIT!
Dedicated vegan section included on the regular menu.
Plenty of options.
The meal was DELICIOUS.
Even the foccacia was served with vegan pesto. YUM!
Photos of CALAMARI, FUSILLI del Sud, Lasagna.

Updated from previous review on 2026-02-23

JoshHyatt

Points +540

Vegan
06 Feb 2026

Amazing vegan Italian

Civic is an amazing Italian restaurant with incredible food and a wonderful vibe in Little Italy. It has a full authentic vegan menu. I had the vegan fried calamari, the vegan lasagna, and vegan cannoli. All of them were amazing. I would give this place five stars if I could, but they do serve a traditional Italian menu that is not vegan as well. It’s a great place for vegans and non-vegans to travel too something for everyone.

Updated from previous review on 2026-02-06

Pros: Food, Atmosphere, Staff

Cons: None

JadaH.

Points +89

Vegan
21 Jan 2026

Expensive but worth it

The puttanesca was very good and a pretty generous portion. So cool to see multiple vegan options. Would definitely come back to try the other items!

Updated from previous review on 2026-01-21

adriagarriga

Points +32

Vegan
24 Dec 2025

Delicious Italian food for vegans

Their pasta dishes with fully vegan sauce were delicious. Their free focaccia with basil sauce is probably vegan too, though I’m not completely sure. The owner used to be vegan and developed versions of Italian dishes to match.

Updated from previous review on 2025-12-24

Cons: A bit expensive, expect to spend ~$50 per person

MaryT

Points +580

Vegan
16 Dec 2025

Very nice menu options

Very nice menu for vegans. Besides pasta, pizza, antipasti there were desserts, wines, and happy hour foods. A little pricey but we were happy with the food and service.

Updated from previous review on 2025-12-16

Isabelmoo

Points +309

Vegan
27 Nov 2025

Incredible pasta (separate vegan menu)

Expensive but some of the best vegan pasta I’ve had. They offer a separate vegan menu which is nice. My vegetarian friend also LOVED her meal and cocktail. Good service too.

Updated from previous review on 2025-11-27

NigelGentry

Points +100

Vegetarian
08 Nov 2025

Great variety of vegan items

It's great that Civico 1845 has a separate vegan menu and a nice choice of vegan items on there. We had the vegan calamari, vegan pepperoni pizza and the vegan caprese.
The latter two were delicious. The calamari was very much like real calamari. I've only had calamari once before, decades ago, and wasn't keen on it, but we'd thought we'd try the vegan version. The marinara sauce that came with it was delicious.
The owner greeted us when we went in and said goodbye when we left. They seem to care about their customers a lot here.

Pros: Delicious food, Friendly staff

Cons: The calamari is just like the real thing!

TAEVeganOH

Points +107

Vegan
26 Oct 2025

Absolutely Amazing

Vegan Calamari is crazy delicious. Vegan lasagna amazing. And a nice selection of vegan desserts as well. So good. Will be back.

Pros: Selection for vegans, scratch made dishes, Vegan and sustainable wines

Cons: Parking difficult in area of town-use ride share

cocobean1989

Points +34

Vegan
25 Sep 2025

Vegan options

Amazing place that caters to vegans looking for authentic Italian food. I went there the other day and had their Caprese Salad, so fresh with basil, Mozzarella, and heirloom tomatoes. Their calamari made from pea protein was so delicious. I will definitely be back!!

Pros: Atmosphere, Food, Service

LauraDreisbach

Points +298

Vegan
14 Sep 2025

Amazing Italian vegan menu!

Treated my niece to a nice birthday dinner and we were so happy at Civico. We each did mocktails and they offered us free beautifully made focaccia with olive oil. My niece ordered the fusili with vodka sauce and I had the mushroom pasta with this delicious meaty jackfruit. We were blown away by the flavor and how rich everything was. The one disappointment was the tiramisu, we ordered it to go and it was put in a paper cup and didn't have much flavor. But overall a beautiful restaurant that's proudly served vegan options since 2015!

Pros: Fresh pasta, So flavorful, Big portions

Cons: Tiramisu was a miss, Quite pricey!

amalija

Points +32

Vegan
12 Aug 2025

Extremely disappointing

Besides the technical failures of our meal, the worst part of my experience here was the dishonesty. The menu lists “homemade” pasta, and in many of the photos online (whether it’s via their website’s menu, third party delivery services, or review sites like Happy Cow or Yelp) it’s evident that the pasta does look homemade (namely the fusilli). I paid $32 for a small plate of store bought pasta, bland tomato sauce, and plain eggplant with maybe 1/2tsp cheese and 1/2tsp basil. It was supposed to have some kind of vegan sausage, but there was none. The most redeeming part of the meal was the basil pesto that came with the bread, and the vegan calamari which was actually tasty. The artichoke salad was just like 1C of quartered artichoke hearts from a jar—for $10.

Other aspects of our meal, for my non-vegan family, was equally disappointing in terms of how their food was prepared. I was embarrassed to have ordered it for us.

Pros: Basil pesto with the bread, Vegan calamari

Cons: Dishonest, overpriced “homemade” pasta, Bland sauces, Small portions

5150_68

Points +350

Vegan
16 Jul 2025

30th Anniversary with my Wife

What's not to like?! The fact that an Italian restaurant even has a full vegan menu is amazing in and of itself. This was our first time here, and my wife isn't vegan, so it truly is an amazing option for us. Service was great (thanks Naomi 😊), and my vegan calamari and pasta was out of this world!!! 😋

Pros: Vegan calamari, Vegan pasta choices

zoierose

Points +754

Vegan
30 Jun 2025

Such good vegan italian

We love this place, it’s a great spot for true italian vibes that don’t sacrifice flavor when veganized. It’s probably my favorite vegan lasagna of anywhere! We usually do make a reservation to be safe. I love a variety of options that are all decent portions too.

CullenBair

Points +56

Vegan
16 May 2025

Ok

Calamari was good but a bit salty. Lasagna was okay but very heavy on the ground beef. For the price I wouldn’t recommend

VRunner

Points +404

Vegan
03 May 2025

Yum Lasagna

I ordered take out a night before a half marathon. I know you’re not supposed to mess with your diet the night before a race but I had no issues the next day. I have been eating a low salt diet lately and the lasagna, while delicious , tasted really salty to me. I think this is due to my taste buds changing. I also ordered the bruschetta which was quite small and I wouldn’t order it again due to the cost was $19 through a delivery app.

Pros: Lasagna was close to the real thing. , Several vegan choices including dessert

ArielaSchnitman

Points +1464

Vegan
26 Apr 2025

Really good and lots of options

They have a separated vegan menus with lots of options.

The pasta was really good!

KarenCantwell

Points +68

Vegan
26 Apr 2025

Outstanding !

This was the best vegan Italian food I’ve ever had at restaurant. Homemade pasta. The sauce was incredibly flavorful. Vegan caprese salad that my Omni friends couldn’t believe was vegan. Vegan tiramisu that was off the hook. If I lived in San Diego I would be a regular at this place. Truly outstanding.

Pros: Excellent appetizers!, Excellent pasta!, Excellent desserts!

theokaforceawakens

Points +98

Vegan
30 Mar 2025

Great Vegan Italian

My family went here in December and had a fantastic experience. We ate outside. Staff was friendly. The cook (owner?) came out and talked to us for a while about vegan food. Everything was at least solid, with few things standing out. As simple as it was, I really liked the bread. The calamari was creative and is probably my favorite vegan version. We love their Bruschetta. And the olives make their Spaghetti pop.

archaeofiero

Points +1881

Vegan
25 Mar 2025

Rats

Wish I'd read the previous review about their health department issues before I ate here 🤢🤮. The food was pretty bad, as much as I appreciate vegan options, it's not good.

The vegan calamari was the only thing we liked out of the 4 dishes we ordered.

hlcurtis29

Points +70

Vegan
22 Mar 2025

Wasn’t as good as hoping

Vegan lasagna was just okay.., ambiance was just okay.., bread was not that good, kids pasta was not great at all.., overall, left slightly dissatisfied.

PaulaSaracen

Points +24

Vegan
19 Mar 2025

Temporarily Closed for Health Violations

Due to a health inspection on 3/12/25, Civico is temporarily closed. One of the major reasons is due to vermin infestation (rats). They have been struggling with this for years and this is why I never eat there. I walk by in the mornings and you can see rats running in and out from the street.




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