The food was very good! Everyone enjoyed their meal. A++
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Barefoot Tribe
Ciao was an incredible surprise. Best Italian dinner I’ve ever had. Ordered the spicy red sauce with chicken over penne-perfection! Atmosphere could not be better- inviting, warm, ocean breeze through the open windows. The owner stopped by to say hello, good man. Worth the drive from wherever you are in LA. Trust me.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Spencer Lee
We stopped in for lunch with our kids. We had a wonderful meal that we enjoyed family style, sharing several dishes. The highlight for me was the shrimp alfredo. Excellent attentive service. We will be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Katie Alcala
We have been here a few times and it’s always good. However this time was different and we won’t be back. We were a party of eight and just before we got our food i felt something crawling on my foot so I backed up my chair to swat my foot with my linen napkin and it was a large cockroach! My wife kinda freaked and anyways we laughed and stayed anyways. We got our food and began eating when both myself and my wife saw another very large cockroach crawling on the booth about an inch from my brothers head. My wife squealed at my brother. He slowly turned and calmly grabbed the massive cockroach which had wings btw with his napkin. We then decided to leave and we still paid because we ate most the food. Needless to say we won’t be back. Thanks Ciao for the funny story we get to share now with others. P.S now we know why it’s so dark in the restaurant. We literally had to use the candles to hold up to the menus!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 3
r french
Seems like the chefs and cooks just phoned it in. Cute little place good service but the food was so underwhelming. Boring bread hardly warm and so bland. Pizza seemed like it came from a school cafeteria so bland and boring. Rigatoni was so bland and just … yuck . Pretty high priced too.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
Michael Sayer
I start off all of my reviews with the positive attributes of a resturant, Which in this case is that the restaurant is on Balbia Island. Unfortunately that’s the only positive thing about this restaurant. At first blush the restaurant seems inviting, Located on the main street of Balboa Island with all the other shops and restaurants. Upon entering the restaurant and being seated at a table, the first thing you notice is the table is dirty and sticky. You don’t even want to touch it. The atmosphere is typical mid fair Italian, except for the continuous loop of 1960s music which does nothing to enhance the atmosphere. I ordered a glass of Cabernet, which was warm, making the wine undrinkable. We ordered an appetizer of focaccia bread which was unappetizing, the bread was stale. We also ordered the Caesar salad. Again, there was no attention to detail, the salad was covered with a cheap ranch dressing which again wasn’t even edible. We ordered the pepperoni pizza. Now, how hard is it to make a decent pepperoni pizza. While this restaurant figured out a way to deliver an absolutely inedible pizza. It was nothing more than a frozen pizza out of a box. It didn’t even have mozzarella cheese. It was covered with cheap yellow Velveeta cheese. All in all with a tip we spent $90. I highly recommend that you find a different Italian restaurant.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 4
Tina C
very good steam clam and cioppino
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ad Pacino
Pizza look like frozen pizza doesn’t worth $20. Their Italian beer are good
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Evan Quarton
The food was amazing. The staff could not have been more attentive. It was an outstanding meal with my daughter. She had the gluten-free penne with salmon. I had the angel hair with tomatoes, garlic and basil melt in your mouth... The Caesar salad was nice and crisp and the dressing was not overpowering
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Michael M
First, like any quality coastal city restaurant, this place is busy. Make a reservation ahead of time for best experience. What follows is worth the planning time: Classic NY Italian food done RIGHT. Exceptional service, my water glass was never empty and waitress checked in regularly. Fair pricing, grand drink selection, fun atmosphere. The tiramisu at the end of our meal was just a cherry on top of an already great experience.
Don’t waste your money on their caprese. The menu states “vine ripened tomatoes” which was far from the truth. The tomatoes that came out in the dish had zero flavor where slightly pink/lacking color and in no way were vine ripened.
The linguini Vongole with white sauce was a true standout delicious dish.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Gideon Shuster
Excellent food. Delicious. Very warm environment and large dishes enough to share..
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Superman Superman
I rarely write bad reviews, but this place deserves every word. Everything about our day in Balboa Island was perfect beautiful weather, warm atmosphere until we made the mistake of visiting Ciao, the so-called Italian restaurant with surprisingly high Google reviews.
We ordered pasta, calamari, and pizza. Before the food even arrived, I was already disgusted 🤮 wine glasses came with sticky stains, the water cups were cloudy, and the utensils looked like they hadn’t been properly washed in weeks. To make matters worse, our waiter had no clue what was on the menu didn’t know which dish came with what, couldn’t explain a single ingredient. Honestly, shocking for a restaurant. The food itself was mediocre, but the hygiene and service were absolutely unacceptable.
A few hours after we got home, my 5-year-old son started throwing up. I can’t say for certain it was the food here, but the timing speaks for itself. This place is a prime example of poor management and zero attention to cleanliness.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Tiffany Kjenstad
I love this place so much. It is small but packed with a lot of big taste! Salmon Piccata is hands- down the best sal.on you'll ever est!!!!
The food was very good! Everyone enjoyed their meal. A++
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ciao was an incredible surprise. Best Italian dinner I’ve ever had. Ordered the spicy red sauce with chicken over penne-perfection! Atmosphere could not be better- inviting, warm, ocean breeze through the open windows. The owner stopped by to say hello, good man. Worth the drive from wherever you are in LA. Trust me.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
We stopped in for lunch with our kids. We had a wonderful meal that we enjoyed family style, sharing several dishes. The highlight for me was the shrimp alfredo. Excellent attentive service. We will be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We have been here a few times and it’s always good. However this time was different and we won’t be back. We were a party of eight and just before we got our food i felt something crawling on my foot so I backed up my chair to swat my foot with my linen napkin and it was a large cockroach! My wife kinda freaked and anyways we laughed and stayed anyways. We got our food and began eating when both myself and my wife saw another very large cockroach crawling on the booth about an inch from my brothers head. My wife squealed at my brother. He slowly turned and calmly grabbed the massive cockroach which had wings btw with his napkin. We then decided to leave and we still paid because we ate most the food. Needless to say we won’t be back. Thanks Ciao for the funny story we get to share now with others. P.S now we know why it’s so dark in the restaurant. We literally had to use the candles to hold up to the menus!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 3
Seems like the chefs and cooks just phoned it in. Cute little place good service but the food was so underwhelming. Boring bread hardly warm and so bland. Pizza seemed like it came from a school cafeteria so bland and boring. Rigatoni was so bland and just … yuck . Pretty high priced too.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
I start off all of my reviews with the positive attributes of a resturant, Which in this case is that the restaurant is on Balbia Island. Unfortunately that’s the only positive thing about this restaurant. At first blush the restaurant seems inviting, Located on the main street of Balboa Island with all the other shops and restaurants. Upon entering the restaurant and being seated at a table, the first thing you notice is the table is dirty and sticky. You don’t even want to touch it. The atmosphere is typical mid fair Italian, except for the continuous loop of 1960s music which does nothing to enhance the atmosphere. I ordered a glass of Cabernet, which was warm, making the wine undrinkable. We ordered an appetizer of focaccia bread which was unappetizing, the bread was stale. We also ordered the Caesar salad. Again, there was no attention to detail, the salad was covered with a cheap ranch dressing which again wasn’t even edible. We ordered the pepperoni pizza. Now, how hard is it to make a decent pepperoni pizza. While this restaurant figured out a way to deliver an absolutely inedible pizza. It was nothing more than a frozen pizza out of a box. It didn’t even have mozzarella cheese. It was covered with cheap yellow Velveeta cheese. All in all with a tip we spent $90. I highly recommend that you find a different Italian restaurant.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 4
very good steam clam and cioppino
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Pizza look like frozen pizza doesn’t worth $20.
Their Italian beer are good
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
The food was amazing. The staff could not have been more attentive. It was an outstanding meal with my daughter. She had the gluten-free penne with salmon. I had the angel hair with tomatoes, garlic and basil melt in your mouth... The Caesar salad was nice and crisp and the dressing was not overpowering
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
First, like any quality coastal city restaurant, this place is busy. Make a reservation ahead of time for best experience. What follows is worth the planning time: Classic NY Italian food done RIGHT. Exceptional service, my water glass was never empty and waitress checked in regularly. Fair pricing, grand drink selection, fun atmosphere. The tiramisu at the end of our meal was just a cherry on top of an already great experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Both good and bad.
Don’t waste your money on their caprese. The menu states “vine ripened tomatoes” which was far from the truth. The tomatoes that came out in the dish had zero flavor where slightly pink/lacking color and in no way were vine ripened.
The linguini Vongole with white sauce was a true standout delicious dish.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Excellent food. Delicious. Very warm environment and large dishes enough to share..
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I rarely write bad reviews, but this place deserves every word. Everything about our day in Balboa Island was perfect beautiful weather, warm atmosphere until we made the mistake of visiting Ciao, the so-called Italian restaurant with surprisingly high Google reviews.
We ordered pasta, calamari, and pizza. Before the food even arrived, I was already disgusted 🤮 wine glasses came with sticky stains, the water cups were cloudy, and the utensils looked like they hadn’t been properly washed in weeks.
To make matters worse, our waiter had no clue what was on the menu didn’t know which dish came with what, couldn’t explain a single ingredient. Honestly, shocking for a restaurant. The food itself was mediocre, but the hygiene and service were absolutely unacceptable.
A few hours after we got home, my 5-year-old son started throwing up. I can’t say for certain it was the food here, but the timing speaks for itself.
This place is a prime example of poor management and zero attention to cleanliness.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I love this place so much. It is small but packed with a lot of big taste! Salmon Piccata is hands- down the best sal.on you'll ever est!!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food wasn't that great
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 4
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