Monello in downtown San Diego's Little Italy produces roughly 800 pounds of fresh pasta per week, earning its place as the home of the cheesewheel pasta on Fir Street between Kettner Boulevard and India Street. The signature dish — cacio e pepe tossed tableside inside a whole wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano — headlines a Northern Italian menu of up to 27 pasta varieties alongside risottos and Neapolitan-style pizza, a Milanese street-food format distinct from the red-sauce Southern Italian traditions at Buon Appetito Restaurant. Women-owned and rooted in Milan's aperitivo culture, the kitchen runs a weekday Milanese Aperitivo program that includes complimentary small plates with cocktail orders. Mediterranean seafood — whole branzino, grilled octopus — rounds out the carb-forward menu, and a sister restaurant, Bencotto, operates next door with an overlapping Italian format. The Italian wine list leans toward Northern regions to match the pasta-heavy menu, a pour-and-plate pairing approach that runs parallel to the enoteca-style wine service at Davanti Enoteca Little Italy in the same neighborhood. Full-venue buyouts accommodate up to 85 guests for family-style or coursed Italian menus built around the tableside cheesewheel experience, house risottos, and a Northern Italian wine program.