Ciao Italia Ristorante

Love this place. Food is delicious. Service is awkward, teetering on rude, but charming. This is what a busy family restaurant ought to be. Do yourself a favor and order the specials. They are always special.This is the best restaurant in the worst strip mall.

I would give this place six stars if I could. What a wonderful surprise. It is in a tiny strip mall so we were not sure what to expect. From the moment we arrived we were thrilled with our pick. The bread came hot out of the oven along with the olive oil & balsamic and fresh thyme dipping sauce. The wait staff suggested a bottle of wine based on our preferences and it was exactly what we described. I had a Caesar salad to start which had just a hint of anchovies- yum! Our entrees weee the veal piccata and pasta Alfredo with fillet. The Piccata was excellent. The sautéed spinach with masked potatoes was a perfect complement to the melt in your mouth veal. The Alfredo sauce was just rich enough and the fillet was good. We finished with the chocolate cake which was good, albeit a tad too rich for us. We will definitely be back.

The spot is worthy of a 3.5. They have been around since 1991 and that is the last time they did anything to the restaurant. That being said the garlic bread and caprese salad were good. The spaghetti was not. The red sauce was so mediocre and worthy of 0 to 1 star. I was shocked. This spot is better than some of the chains that surround this area but if you are from the area you are never choosing Ciao. The staff is amazing and you can tell they care but I would love to have them try a great dish, or even the most basic dish, from Chicago or New York and ask them for their opinion. I am glad I tried it, but I would never return if back in the area.

I feel naive calling this place a "hidden gem", as it's the longest running family owned Italian restaurant in central Florida, but this place really did blow me away. Located in a small strip mall by SeaWorld and the convention center, Ciao Italia is the best Italian food I've had in Florida, period. The penne vodka with salmon was absolutely amazing, I'll be dreaming of it for awhile now, but I'm still so excited to go back and try different dishes! My dad had the veal parmigiana and absolutely loved it. We split coffee and the tiramisu for dessert, and despite being incredibly full from dinner, I shamelessly scraped every tiramisu crumb off of the plate. Our waiter and hostess were kind and helpful, you can tell the staff really knows the restaurant and the menu items like the back of the hands, it's just a very neat experience overall. I only hope that they add this salad of the day to their permanent menu because it was absolutely spectacular (yes, I called a salad "spectacular")Will definitely be throwing this spot in my rotation of frequently visited restaurants!

Omg the alla vodka from here was so good! Caprese too. I could not believe this was in Florida. Service was great, ambiance was great. It made the perfect first dinner out while on vacation. I'd highly recommend for some good Italian.

We came here for magical dining because my boyfriend said he came years ago and it was amazing. Honestly wasn't impressed. The inside is cute and looks homey. The service was good but the food was sub par. I had the beef short rib and it was dry and very chewy. My boyfriend had a pasta with filet and it was meh. Desserts were good but not worth going back just for that.

Live this place. Feels like home but the food is better!! Service is fine dining at its best. You are treated as royalty from the moment you walk on. It's beautifully decorated and peaceful ambiance, perfect for couples or that special romantic night. No what the occasion, you will impress with this wonderful restaurant.I had the pasta fagiole soup, Caprese salad. Both were excellent! The soup is homemade and so worth it.Hubby had linguine and white clam sauce, which is one of his all-time favorites. But none like coming here. We shared a bottle of Montepulciano D' Abruzzo. Excellent Chianti wine but they have a nice selection available! It's an AMAZING Orlando locals place, so go check it out!! No matter where you are...it's worth the drive... And yes, they put fresh baked bread and seasoned olive oil on the table!!

This restaurant is located in a strip mall near SeaWorld that I had never noticed before but the Magical Dining menu looked good and we love trying new spots. It's a cute little spot that's decorated in Italian art. The staff was super friendly and attentive and they all seemed to work together which was nice. The food came out quickly and the portions were decent. We especially loved the pasta and filet dish and the lemon dessert.

decor like a fine dining restaurant. Food and service was excellentDesert was scrumptious

Good food and personal service. Wait staff does a great job at taking care of everyone's needs. I wasn't sure how he does it, but he does. We will be back