Civico 1845 in downtown San Diego's Little Italy launched the first full Italian-vegan menu in the United States when Calabrian brothers Dario and Pietro Gallo opened the restaurant on India Street in 2015. Chef Pietro — a vegan himself who trained at University Niccolò Cusano before turning to the kitchen — runs separate cooking equipment for the plant-based and traditional lines, a dual-track system uncommon among the Italian restaurants on a corridor that includes the Busalacchi family's Barbusa one block north. The traditional side of the menu pulls from the brothers' Cosenza roots — scratch-made pappardelle al brasato, scialiatelli with seafood, eggplant parmigiana — while the vegan side mirrors each category with house-made vegan cheeses, seitan ragu, and egg-free pasta. Gambero Rosso International ranks Civico 1845 among only four San Diego restaurants in its guide to authentic Italian dining worldwide, and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs certified the kitchen as an official ambassador of Italian cuisine. Vegan desserts include a proprietary tiramisu that Chef Pietro calls the only Italian-vegan version in California, alongside pistachio gelato churned in-house — a plant-based counterpart to the dairy-based gelato at Pappalecco down the block. Covered heated-patio buyouts for private events with fully customizable traditional and vegan multi-course menus represent the most complex bookings the restaurant handles.