Pernicano’s Ristorante in Rancho Peñasquitos shared a heartfelt farewell note on the restaurant's social media, announcing it will soon close its doors. For generations, this family spot in the Canyonhill Center has been the scene of birthdays, team banquets, post-game pasta feeds, and weeknight red-sauce comfort, the kind of place where servers knew kids by name and pizza boxes rode home on the passenger seat.
Pernicano’s roots reach back to the mid-1940s, when George and Isabelle Pernicano opened their Hillcrest restaurant and famously handed out free slices to introduce "pizza pie" to a city that barely knew the word. George - an Army Air Corps veteran, early minority owner who helped bring the Chargers to San Diego in 1961, and a fixture with the trademark handlebar mustache - was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame in 1996. He died in 2016 at age 98, but the family’s imprint on San Diego dining endured for decades through a constellation of restaurants run by the Pernicano brothers.
At its height, the brand stretched across the county, including the landmark Turquoise Street location on the Pacific Beach/La Jolla border and the storied Hillcrest complex with Casa di Baffi. The PB restaurant closed in 2019 after more than 70 years; the long-vacant Hillcrest property was demolished in 2022 to make way for new development. Through all those changes, the Rancho Peñasquitos dining room remained a steady constant - an old-school refuge of pizzas, baked pastas, pork chops, and checked-tablecloth memories.
In the farewell message, the family thanks guests, staff, and friends for "48 wonderful years" - more than 80 combined when counted with earlier family ventures - and emphasizes that the laughter and support shared around their tables will stay with them forever. It reads less like a press release and more like a love letter, fitting for a restaurant that always felt more like a neighborhood living room.
Pernicano’s Ristorante's final day is Thursday, September 26. Those who want to say goodbye - and savor one more plate of their favorites - can visit the dining room at 9932 Mercy Road in San Diego's Rancho Peñasquitos. For more information, visit pernicanosristorante.com.
Originally published on September 6, 2025.
