Buon Cibo Italian Specialties, a Sicily-inspired deli, sandwich shop, wine bar, café and market, opened Saturday in Miramar Ranch North, off Scripps Poway Parkway in San Diego.
Buon Cibo, the Italian phrase for “good food,” is a dream project for Tom Tarantino, one of the original co-founders of RoVino Rotisserie + Wine in Little Italy. Tarantino gave up his partnership in RoVino a few years to focus all of his energies on opening his new business, Buon Cibo, near Scripps Ranch, where he has lived for more than 40 years.
The Italian sandwich and deli counter at Buon Cibo Italian Specialties, which opened Saturday, Feb. 21, off Scripps Poway Parkway in San Diego. (Pam Kragen / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Tarantino is a third-generation San Diegan. His grandfathers, fishermen Pietro Tarantino and Gaetano D’Acquisto, immigrated to the area from Porticello, Sicily, in the early 1900s and settled in Little Italy. As a tribute to his roots, Tom Tarantino has decorated the wine room at Buon Cibo to resemble a Porticello streetscape.
Tarantino has worked in the restaurant industry for more than 30 years. He opened the popular RoVino Rotisserie in 2016 with partners Antonia Buono and Vincenzo Bruno. Then in 2019, the trio opened the Italian market RoVino the Foodery in East Village. Although that location didn’t work out — the Foodery closed in 2023 — Tarantino still had faith in the concept, so he decided to go solo with his own market/deli venture in North County under the name Buon Cibo.
A grab-and-go chilling case with fresh-prepared pasta, sauces and desserts at Buon Cibo Italian Specialties, which opened Feb. 21 off Scripps Poway Parkway in San Diego. (Pam Kragen / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Buon Cibo offers a wide range of imported grocery items from Italy, as well as deli salads, ravioli, desserts, charcuterie, pastries, grab-and-go heat-at-home pastas and sauces and Roman-style pinsa flatbreads, as well as weekend brunch service from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays and Sundays). The centerpiece of the deli menu are nine Italian and Sicilian sandwiches served on fresh-baked bread with imported Italian cheeses, salumi, vegetables and house dressing.
Tarantino is most excited about his wine menu, featuring more than 100 different options, including more than 50 Italian white, red and sparkling varieties, as well as a mix of wines from California, Oregon, France, Spain, Argentina and Chile. Beginning in March, he plans to begin hosting blind tasting events in the venue’s wine room.
Buon Cibo is located in a streetside retail space at the new Livia community at 10380 Spring Canyon Road. Its hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays. 858-293-8815, buoncibosd.com.
Romanissimo, a Rome-inspired Italian restaurant and bar, has moved to a new location at 644 Fifth Ave. in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. (San Diego Dining Group)
Romanissimo relocates and, expands: Romanissimo, San Diego Dining Group’s 1-year-old Rome-inspired restaurant in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, recently relocated to a larger space one block north of its former location on Fifth Avenue. After the Italian steakhouse Butcher’s Cut closed its doors in January at 644 Fifth Ave., SDDG leased the space so it could relocate Romanissimo from its previous location at Fifth and Market streets. The move was necessitated by the sale of the former building. As part of the move, SDDG has expanded the Romanissimo menu with dishes that include burrata caprese salad, spaghetti carbonara and pinza la mortazza. 644 Fifth Ave., San Diego. romanissimosd.com
Amuri Italian Cuisine, which specializes in Sicilian cuisine, has opened in the Scripps Highlands community of San Diego. (Amuri)
Amuri plans grand opening event: Amuri Italian Cuisine, a Sicilian-inspired restaurant on Mercy Road in Scripps Highlands, will host its grand-opening celebration at 2 p.m. March 22. The restaurant, helmed by chef Simone Tumminia, soft-opened in December with a menu that includes traditional Sicilian-style bruschette, pizza, pastas, cioppino, seafood, chicken and vegetable dishes. The March 22 event will include a celebratory toast with house-made limoncello and demonstrations of bread-making and the restaurant’s interactive cheese wheel pasta bar. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily at 9932 Mercy Road, Unit 109, San Diego. 858-397-2199, amurisd.com
Pizza Guys arrives in Mission Valley: Pizza Guys, the Sacramento-born pizzeria chain that ranked No. 2 on Yelp’s 2025 list of the Top 100 Pizza Chains in America, will open a fourth San Diego County location Thursday in the Morena district of San Diego’s Mission Valley. Founded in 1986 and now with more than 100 locations, Pizza Guys is known for its scratch-made-daily dough and unique pizza varieties like Spicy Luau, Artichoke Fiesta and Tuscan Garlic Chicken. The new franchise is owned by San Diego resident Mert Egilmez. It joins existing locations in Escondido, Oceanside and Pacific Beach. 5375 Napa St., Unit 105, San Diego. pizzaguys.com/location/mission-valley
Dining and Cooking