“Ciao Trattoria is not your typical pizza and spaghetti and meatballs Italian restaurant, where the menu options for someone with a gluten allergy are limited to salad. Instead, at Ciao Trattoria just about everything on its extensive menu, including pizza and bruschetta, can be had in a gluten-free version. The only exceptions are the homemade focaccia and the baked sausage. Gluten-free menus are available, which when compared to the regular menu, provide proof of this restaurant's commitment to accommodating gluten-free diners. Cheeses are used in moderation, not as a coverup for lack of flavor in anything else on the plate. The roasted asparagus and broccolini are done to perfection. Salads are ample and can constitute a meal on their own. The shrimp scampi is prepared with a light lemon cream sauce rather than the traditional pool of melted butter. The Alfredo sauce for the chicken is also light, allowing the flavor of the grilled chicken to predominate. Everything tastes freshly made rather than poured out of a can or plopped onto a grill without any attention to seasoning; everything is moderately priced. Inventive cocktails change with the season, and on Wednesdays all wines are half-price. Good, affordable food and wine, an attentive wait staff, in a comfortable, aesthetically pleasing space where you can talk with those at your table without having to shout .... such a welcome addition to a community where for several decades "eating in town" meant getting a pizza or burger and beer; "eating out" meant going out of town . Having spent most of my life in Durham, I'd given up on the likelihood of an eatery of this quality ever appearing in this tiny downtown. Here's hoping that the fact that Ciao Trattoria is owned and managed by a fellow townie will bolster its chances of thriving for a good long time.“
Recommended
“Ciao Trattoria is not your typical pizza and spaghetti and meatballs Italian restaurant, where the menu options for someone with a gluten allergy are limited to salad. Instead, at Ciao Trattoria just about everything on its extensive menu, including pizza and bruschetta, can be had in a gluten-free version. The only exceptions are the homemade focaccia and the baked sausage. Gluten-free menus are available, which when compared to the regular menu, provide proof of this restaurant's commitment to accommodating gluten-free diners. Cheeses are used in moderation, not as a coverup for lack of flavor in anything else on the plate. The roasted asparagus and broccolini are done to perfection. Salads are ample and can constitute a meal on their own. The shrimp scampi is prepared with a light lemon cream sauce rather than the traditional pool of melted butter. The Alfredo sauce for the chicken is also light, allowing the flavor of the grilled chicken to predominate. Everything tastes freshly made rather than poured out of a can or plopped onto a grill without any attention to seasoning; everything is moderately priced. Inventive cocktails change with the season, and on Wednesdays all wines are half-price. Good, affordable food and wine, an attentive wait staff, in a comfortable, aesthetically pleasing space where you can talk with those at your table without having to shout .... such a welcome addition to a community where for several decades "eating in town" meant getting a pizza or burger and beer; "eating out" meant going out of town . Having spent most of my life in Durham, I'd given up on the likelihood of an eatery of this quality ever appearing in this tiny downtown. Here's hoping that the fact that Ciao Trattoria is owned and managed by a fellow townie will bolster its chances of thriving for a good long time.“