Just a few blocks from Flora in North Park, SONO marks the second and most personal venture from Ocean Mohamadi and Nino Cusimano. Opened in March, the Italian-inspired San Diego restaurant centers on a feeling as much as a menu, shaped by music, energy, and connection.
When Ocean Mohamadi and Nino Cusimano talk about their new restaurant, SONO, they don’t begin with the menu — they begin with a feeling. “We kept coming back to this idea of sitting around a table with friends, music playing, a little chaotic, a little intimate — where time slows down but the energy stays high,” Mohamadi says. “That balance became the foundation of SONO.”
Just a few blocks from their beloved North Park brunch spot, Flora, SONO marks the husband-and-wife team’s second venture — and their most personal one yet. The Italian eatery, which opened in March, occupies a University Avenue corner with a layered past. It has housed everything from another Italian restaurant to a speakeasy to a Mediterranean concept. Rather than be deterred by the space’s history, Mohamadi and Cusimano reimagined it entirely, unveiling an electric, immersive ambiance unlike anything that came before.
For Mohamadi, SONO North Park represents a new chapter — shaped by experience, relationships, and a deeper understanding of what it means to welcome people in with doors wide open. “It’s Italian in spirit, but not traditional in a rigid way,” she says. “We wanted something moodier, more emotional, a little more alive.”
An Experience That Evolves
In a city rich with Italian dining, SONO sets itself apart by leaning less on tradition and more on emotion. Instead of recreating familiar forms, the restaurant plays with pacing, energy, and atmosphere, allowing the night to unfold organically…