We wanted to go out to dinner tonight with my sister and her husband (and the nephew, of course) but we’re tired of the same-old-same-old so we decided to go somewhere we’ve never been before. We picked this neat Italian place in Oceanside over by Albertson’s on Mission, just off Douglas, called Capozzoli’s Pizzeria & Restaurant. It’s actually where Killer Pizza From Mars used to be.

Based on the location, I was hesitant. As soon as we walked in though I was glad we came.

The owner’s name is Joe. His dad was just inside the front door hugging everyone as though he was greeting family. It was strange at first, but he was completely comfortable welcoming “his friends” to his son’s “home.” He hung in the small waiting area with us for a few minutes getting to know a little bit about us. Then he wished us a great evening and wandered off to visit with the rest of his new friends.

We were seated shortly thereafter and were welcomed with a basket of bread and glasses of water. Our waitress came by and got our drink orders, brought our drinks, then our food. She was very friendly and talked to us like we were, well, family.

Dinner was really good. I ordered the Chicken Piccata and was very happy with it. Brian and EmaLee ordered the Linguine Pesto and they loved it. Jon ordered the Veal Parmesan and was surprised by the size of the medallions.

Dessert was dreamy! Em ordered the Chocolate Cake. It was very rich and extremely moist. It was almost like eating fudge. Brian ordered the Spumoni and swore that it was homemade. The Dark Chocolate Gelato was typical (which is always good).

It just so happened that there was a woman there that sings in an opera club up in LA so they asked her to sing for everyone. They got everyones attention and we listened as she sang three songs to us, the last one being Ave Maria. It was beautiful – she was really good.

Good food, good company, good entertainment. A bit pricey. We’ll definitely go back again but can’t go too often because of the price. I would totally recommend it as a good date night restaurant, as long as you don’t mind being treated like family while you’re there.