Dora Ristorante, a new Southern Italian coastal cuisine restaurant from the owners of North Park’s popular Cori Trattoria Pastificio, will open to the public on Thursday in UC San Diego’s new Theatre District Living and Learning Neighborhood in La Jolla.
Octopus, pizza and pasta entrees at Dora Ristorante, which will open Nov. 20 in UC San Diego’s new Theatre District Living and Learning Neighborhood in La Jolla. (Kimberly Motos)
Dora, at 9165 S. Scholars Drive, is owned by chef Accursio Lota and his wife, Corinne Goria, of La Jolla. The 100-seat restaurant and bar is situated at the southwest corner of the UCSD campus and across the street from the La Jolla Playhouse campus. As part of the couple’s partnership with La Jolla Playhouse, the Dora team will design prix-fixe menus and cocktails that are themed to each production in the Playhouse’s future seasons.
Dora Ristorante’s married owners Corinne Goria and Accursio Lota pose for a photo inside the restaurant on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025 in San Diego, Califonria. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The restaurant offers three menus: lunch, dinner and pre-theater, a prix-fixe, three-course meal for La Jolla Playhouse showgoers. The menus will change with each Playhouse show. The opening pre-theater menu is inspired by the theater’s now-playing musical “Working Girl.”
The dinner menu includes pizzas, pastas, seafood and meatballs, as well as a seafood cous cous, grilled octopus, focaccia, vegetable dishes and more.
La Jolla’s Dora restaurant owners unveil opening plans, team
Designed by the architectural firm Bells + Whistles, Dora has a 14-seat oval-shaped central bar, a 16-seat private dining room, six-seat table for chef’s menu dining and patio seating for 46.
The restaurant’s wine room will offer 350 bottles of predominantly Italian wines from small-production wineries, as well as U.S. West Coast options and 15-20 world-class selections.
Hours will be 4-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays and 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. Reservations are open at doralajolla.com.
The interior of Dora Ristorante, which will open Nov. 20 in UC San Diego’s new Theatre District Living and Learning Neighborhood in La Jolla. (Kimberly Motos)
Dining and Cooking