If you like good eats, good drinks, and sweet treats, Centifonti's in downtown La Mesa CA is the place for you! Kyle Whissel interviews owner Carol Tolosko to find out more about this amazing restaurant in the heart of downtown La Mesa!

They have an amazing range of food from breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. In this video, we spotlight a little of everything on their menu:

  • Chicken Fajita Salad

  • La Mesa Eggs Benedict

  • Spicy Penne

To learn more about Centifonti's, visit them in person or online!

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Video Transcription:

Kyle Whissel:

If you like good eats, good drinks, and sweet treats, we've got the place for you. We are in the village of La Mesa. We're checking out Centifonti's. Let's get to it.

East County, San Diego has a lot to offer: amazing food, a rich history, tons of community events, and amazing people and organizations. I'm Kyle Whissel with Whissel Realty Group, and this is everything East County.

Carol, how are you?

Carol:

Hi, how are you? Welcome to Centifonti's.

Kyle Whissel:

It's good to see you, neighbor.

Carol:

Yeah.

Kyle Whissel:

So I've been in here before with my daughter, but I don't know the whole story of this place, and I'm sure those watching don't know the story.

Carol:

Oh, geez.

Kyle Whissel:

SO tell us a little bit about what is Centifonti's.

Carol:

Oh, we used to be a candy store down the street and we moved up to be a full restaurant. We have gelato and homemade chocolates and pastries, full bar, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Kyle Whissel:

So what kind of food do you guys specialize in?

Carol:

Oh, all kinds. We have anywhere from pancakes to waffles to benedicts, and we have salads, burgers, and pastas.

Kyle Whissel:

And then tell me about this chocolatier title that you have. So I want to learn more about that.

Carol:

Oh. I'm fourth generation. My great-grandfather came over in the 1800s from Allison Island to New Jersey, and he was a chocolatier.

Kyle Whissel:

That's awesome.

Carol:

And my father was in the military, so it skipped a generation, and I started it back up when I came to La Mesa.

Kyle Whissel:

Okay, cool. And then I see a little das boot over there.

Carol:

Oh, yeah.

Kyle Whissel:

So tell me about-

Carol:

Oktoberfest. We have fun. We have a lot of people that want to challenge to drink them, and we only offer the lower volume of alcohol to those.

Kyle Whissel:

Okay.

Carol:

But we do have 25 on tap.

Kyle Whissel:

And you mentioned Oktoberfest. I know that's one of the menu events that happens here-

Carol:

Crazy.

Kyle Whissel:

... in La Mesa.

Carol:

We have Christmas in the village. We have Oktoberfest.

Kyle Whissel:

The car show.

Carol:

Car show's fun.

Kyle Whissel:

They are cool.

Carol:

All the old cars.

Kyle Whissel:

Okay, awesome. Well, I'm excited. I'm hungry, so I'm ready to eat some food. So let's go in the kitchen and check it out.

Carol:

Okay. Come on back.

So the first dish we're making is a chicken fajita salad. We have a tortilla that we cook up, and it looks like a taco shell. Then we have a mixture of romaine lettuce and spring mix with our dressing that we make, and we set that inside the shell. And then we have chicken cooked down with seasoning, bell peppers and onions, and we set that in there. And then we put avocado, sour cream, and black olives on top to garnish, and it's served with salsa. It's delicious.

The second one, eggs benedict La Mesa. That is a English muffin with a poached egg with bacon and shrimp and hollandaise sauce on top with avocado. And it's served with our red potatoes with bell peppers and onions sauteed with a slice of melon.

Third dish that we're making is penne pasta spicy. It has Italian sausage, a little garlic. It has black olives. It has marinara sauce. It's tossed together and served with a little bit of Parmesan cheese on top with garlic bread.

Kyle Whissel:

Well, I am excited to dive into this food. Look at this salad. Have you seen a salad like this before? Chicken fajita salad. Let's dive in.

So the thing about this is one, you've got presentation. This is a super unique presentation. What you can't see on camera is this tastes absolutely delicious. The salsa in there. The chicken is perfectly seasoned. You've got a fresh, crispy lettuce, a little avocado on there. This salad is delicious, guys.

If you guys have not been here before, you need to come check this place out. They have one of the most diverse [inaudible 00:04:09] I've seen in San Diego. They've got chocolates. They've got ice cream. They've got coffees, and they've got a bar and they've got some fun stuff coming upstairs as well. So highly recommend you guys come check out Centifonti's here in La Mesa Village. And they're our neighbors. We're going to be right next door to these guys someday soon. So highly recommend you guys come check it out.

If you enjoyed this episode of the show, make sure to share it with your friends. Like it, comment on it. Let us know how much you love it. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Everything East County.