Ciao Restaurant (Reported Closed)

Doesn't Recommend

katiasasha

Joined 5 years ago

Decent food, HORRIBLE service. We made reservations for dinner before a show. When we arrived, the waitress led us to a table towards the back of the restaurant right between a service door that wait staff were coming in and out of constantly and the restroom entrance. There were many open tables. When we asked to move to another table, the waitress was extremely rude and said they were completely booked with reservations. I said we did have a reservation, and she led us to another table next to another service entrance and snidely said it was the only other possible table we could have. Our next waiter seemed completely distracted. I ordered the Insalata de la Casa, and he brought me the Insalata Mista, saying that most people who order the house salad really mean the Insalata Mista??? We were never offered fresh pepper, which they do have and serve (as it was served to other diners). He then couldn't get us out of there fast enough. While we were still eating our salads, our entrees arrived. Our pasta entrees were decent, but certainly nothing to write home about. We had requested the shuttle to arrive at 6:45. At 6:15, he came over and said, "15 minute warning." And at 6:25, he said the shuttle was there. We felt completely rushed through our meal to the point of not even being able to enjoy any part of it. I later called the manager to complain about our service. He asked for my phone number and told me he would call me back, and then never did. I think their main objective is to rush as many showgoers in and out of the restaurant as possible, with no regard whatsoever to service.

Recommends

owleypatrol

Joined 5 years ago

highly recommended!!!. One of the only gems in downtown LA, I've been going to Ciao for years. Great authentic Italian food, I go here when I need to get pasta fix. I love my old faves, the seafood pasta but have been enjoying one of their new dishes, the pan-roasted branzino. Service is great as well!

Doesn't Recommend

getluckie

Joined 5 years ago

1st visit was good, 2nd, they were closed due to a health inspection. I stumbled across this place one evening walking around LA. The food was fairly good.

Last night I had relatives visiting and I suggested that we meet there....I called a few minutes before and was told that their water heater had just exploded...Ha! My relatives were standing out front..pointing at the sign from the health inspector --Closed due to Vermin.

We went around the corner to the Firehouse and had a good dinner.

Doesn't Recommend

soar210

Joined 5 years ago

I do NOT RECOMMEND this place. Frankly, the server was extremely rude. Food was OK.

He brought me the check and I wanted to check the receipt so I was looking at the receipt with my credit card in my hand, and he basically stretched out his arm toward the check while I was still checking the receipt. And he stood there with his arm out like that.

I wanted to make sure they got everything right since there were five of us and we ordered wine too.

Soon he just walked away as if he was mad or something and didn't come back to get the check from me.

My 5-year-old nephew wanted to go home so badly so I went to the front counter on our way out and gave him the check. He handed me a copy for me to sign and just walked off again without saying anything like "have a good evening" or any kind of greeting. I thought the quality of the service at this restaurant was incomparably bad compared to the restuarants that I've been to in the LA area, such as Denny's or Olive Garden. He didn't even tell us his name and what the today's specials were when he first came to our table. I know that everyone has a bad day once in a while but if it's your job to serve your customers who come to dine at your restaurant and pay money for that, you should be more responsible for how you treat your customers regardless.

Doesn't Recommend

tartouffe

Joined 5 years ago

A carb ingested nightmare.... This restaurant is a surreal throwback to Las Vegas in the early 90's - the "Italian" cuisine is actually a morose blend of Californian and Hawaiian (you can smell the Spam) with hints of hospital cafeteria. Overall, a diverting way to OD on mega-doses of sodium in most of the dishes including the irresistible bread basket. But the real killer is the service - haughty, impatient and actually bordering on malevolent. Why anyone would pay money to be subjected to such an inhospitable and mediocre place is truly mystifying.

Recommends

mgadow

Joined 8 years ago

Great experience all around. My date and I went before a play recently and had a great experience all around. The valet and shuttle to the theater was very convenient. The food was delicious. Our waitress was very attentive and friendly, while at the same time giving us our space. She asked if we were going to see a play and made sure our entrees came on time so we wouldn't be late.

Recommends

jdtobe

Joined 6 years ago

Service, Ambiance and Taste Trifecta. I read many positive reviews about this restaurant and thought I would see if it lived up to the hype. The day of my meal I made a reservation that I had to change it twice because I was late... once for traffic, and once because I was ticketed two blocks away for no front license plate on my car. So needless to say I was not in a good mood to begin with.

Upon arriving to the restaurant I was pleased to find valet parking for only $6 and that I could pick the car up AFTER my Concert (11:30pm). They also have a free shuttle that services theaters in the area (Staples Center is walking distance). So my mood began to improve.

We got in the restaurant, were immediately seated and pampered by our waitress. The fresh baked bread is more than the hype can describe (they bring several varieties!). Great wine list and knowledgeable staff. I was torn between several dishes and the waitress made the perfect recommendation for what I told her I was in the mood for (got lobster filled ravioli and shrimp). Dish was simple, great flavors, portion size was perfect (not like some places that provide huge portions of average tasting food to trick you into thinking you are satisfied) ... good since I ate so much bread. I often find that even good Italian restaurants will hide seafood that is not fresh under overly rich and overly complex sauces... not the case here.

To top it off, they felt so bad about my ticket they provided me a great desert - the flour-less chocolate cake.

Amazing service, food, staff. Lives up to the service I have received in 5 star restaurants in Australia, Europe and throughout the US. Oh, ambiance is great too!

Doesn't Recommend

mikesilv1

Joined 6 years ago

Terrible Valentine's Day. My wife and I made reservations at this restaurant for Valentine's Day. From the website, the menu seemed delicious and reasonably priced. When we arrived at the restaurant, the waitress informed us that there was a set Valentine's Day menu and that we could only order off of that - the kitchen could not make anything else for us. It was a price-fixe menu for $60 a person! No one had told us about this, and $60 per person was too pricey for us. When we complained, an extremely unfriendly manager came over to us and told us there was nothing she could do. She was very unapologetic. The only thing she offered us was that we could order select items off the price-fixe but we would be charged $30 an entree (which was more than they worth off the regular menu). We would have stayed but because she was so hostile, we decided to leave and go to CPK across the street. That meal was excellent!

Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Businesspeople, hotel guests and concertgoers dine on Italian specialties in a landmark downtown building.. In Short
This lavish, high-ceilinged dining space inside the historic Fine Arts Building fits somewhere between a wine cellar and a private library. The traditional Italian menu includes antipastos and salads such as the insalata Livornese, a mix of spinach, avocado and crabmeat drizzled with mango vinaigrette. Pastas include creamy fettuccine with filet mignon, seafood risotto, and grilled-vegetable rigatoni. For dessert, try the assortment of European pastries.

Doesn't Recommend

lpfalzone

Joined 8 years ago

Not Worth It. This restaurant is pretty, but the service was bad and the food was just so-so, did not seem authentic italian to me. They had the door open when it was 50 degrees out, and would not shut it! I guess they cared more about trying to attract customers then keeping the ones they had happy. So, instead of sitting in the main room, we had to sit by the back door, where they had a private party. We were a table of four sitting in a small booth in the back while 90 percent of the front room was wide open!!! The food arrived promptly, but the waitress never checked on us. I do not think they offered us more water, once we declined to buy bottled water. She never brought us our lemon we asked for. The desserts were good but the food was salty, and the meat was tasteless. The pasta is not home-made. We had theatre tickets, and it was a disaster getting out of there. The place was not even busy but the valet took our ticket but forgot to get our car. So we waited 15 minutes. We won't go back.