Ciao Vito Restaurant

Excellent service - pretty place - easy parking on the street (Sunday at 5:30PM) - accommodated my vegan requests with grace and style. I""d definitely go back there. more

Usually I love this restaurant, but had an awful experience a few nights ago. The food took a very long time to get to us, and when it finally did arrive one plate was steaming hot and the other plate was cold. The steaming hot plate was pasta that was hard (not at all al dente). The other plate of pasta was almost crunchy it was so overcooked and dry. The waitress immediately took them back, but proceeded to offer up several different possabilities of why the food came to us that way. Just apologize and fix the problem, don't try to justify it. You'd think this place would be proficient at cooking pasta since they are an Italinan restaurant. Not the case this time. With so many great places to eat in Portland I don't think I'll be going back. Very disappointing. more

I called to ask questions about happy hour and the guy was so rude to me. I wanted to bring a group of people out for happy hour and I said the name wrong. They guy made fun of me then hung up. I called back to tell him I was hoping to bring 10+ people out to give them business and told him he was rude. he then told me that I was not welcome to come!!!!! I do not know why anyone would turn down business like that. The menue looks good but the people are JERKS!!!!! more

Discovered this place by chance one day after snowboarding. Instantly fell in love with the skirt steak. THe sides with this dish change but the steak is always amazing. THe pork chop is fantastic and unforgetable. The chop has changed my outlook on eating them while out. The Hapy hour Sugo of Pork with Penne is a meal itself and delicious. The happy hour lasts til 8:00pm every day and till closing(9:00)pm on Sundays. I love this place so much I want to work here on weekends... There is one bartender who could not be friendlier and has made us feel like family and quite frankly I feel guilty any time we eat anywhere else becuase I know she would treat us better. .. THe happy hour drinks are fantastic. If you haven't tried it within the last year Ciao Vito is something you are missing out on. I Pros: Excellent Bartender, Food, Happy Hour, Quality Cons: Small bar side seating area. more

We had a wonderful dinner with friends this weekend. The house specialty Margaritas were superb; our starters - the Flatbread & Polenta were awesome; the special Salad with Coppa was perfectly dressed with a berry vinaigrette; the Skirt Steak & Seafood Pasta were yummy; and finally, the dessert - Panna Cotta, Pots de Creme & Sundae just about over the top. Pros: excellent appetizers, salads & dinner Cons: a little ways out in N Portland more

I tried Ciao Vito a couple years ago and was disappointed, so I was not looking forward to going back... Pros: Food Cons: vito negroni - not so good more

Normally, I love the food at Ciao Vito. I am a total foodie and go to many restuaruants through out the Portland area so the I am no stranger to the few ""good"" italian spots we have. I was extremely surprised at the level of service we received this past weekend. After giving us the specials detail, our server seemed irritated that we asked for additional bread while we waited for our food (it was taking a little while but we are never too bothered by that if we know it is worth the wait). After dinner we ordered dessert and three bites into it found a long blonde hair in it! We are both brunnettes. When we showed it to her, she shrugged her shoulders, said ""sorry?"", and walked away. The apology WAS a question and insincere. No offer to take it away and then when we got the bill, it was STILL on there!! Pros: Good Italian Food more

This place is terrible. Service was awful. People around us who had been sitted after us and ordered after us received their food before we did. Asking about our meal didn't help either. We were ignored! The bartender serving us knew her order got messed up (or maybe she messed it up herself) and didn't even have the courtesy to give us another serving of bread! We waited 45 minutes after our salad to get our meal. When we did, one was of good proportion, but the pasta with pesto was the size of a small salad plate. This is what we waited 45 minutes for! And after asking for the manager, we never saw him/her! No siree, management did NOT want to take care of us!. Ceasar salad was only so so. Not worth the money we spent. There are SO MANY OTHER PLACES TO GO IN PORTLAND. Why EVER go there. Trust me, don't!!! Pros: Comfy bar stools Cons: Manager was not managing! more

My fiance and I walk in without reservation 7:15. We got sat immediately at the bar. After a lively bar area order, I get sugo pork, with polenta and ragu $18, my fiance, skirt steak with french fries $21. Ok, french fries at an Italian spot!?! the menu had only a few actual Italian words on the menu. The entire menu barely fills a page and mild. Pros: Decent wine and spirit collection Cons: poor service, non-authentic food, poor quality control mechanism, money making is primary concern not customers. more

Diners, please take note that most reviews are mid-2008 and before. Why? I'm not sure...maybe because not many folks are coming in anymore? Possibly. Went out Friday with neighbors originally for an excursion to Toro Bravo but left there after being informed of the 2.5 hour wait (um, no). Collectively decided to go somewhere closer to home and ended up at Ciao Vito. First time there for my wife and I. We were able to get a table upon arrival (good or bad thing I'm not sure). Hard to decide if our server was uninformed or aloof but either way I didn't get the best warm/fuzzy feeling from him from the get-go. We all split a few appetizers (crispy polenta w/ spinach and roasted beet salad w/ goat cheese). Tasty, but oh so tiny...I'm guessing we would have ordered additional if our server had indicated that they were so small. Interestingly we were told that they were out of croutons for the caesar salad (kind of odd to run out of croutons, no?) and that there was a change to the specialty pasta dish (bolognese instead of different beef sauce). No biggie as we passed on salads and between us ordered the skirt steak, linguini w/ clams, and two pasta specials. I can really only speak for the dinners my wife and I had but neither were anything to write home about. The steak was tender but entirely too salty and the steak fries were soggy. While interesting to look at, the clams were served in-shell on top of the linguini which made it difficult to try to eat...too much effort required to finish the dish. In addition, the 'sauce' was almost nonexistent...basically bare noodles. Should have sent it all back but didn't. Almost wish we had. Pros: It was somewhere to eat Cons: Wish we could have gone somewhere else more

ok, so i know that Alberta is this up and coming hot spot, but can the street get some better restaurants on it? This place is not all that, in fact i think it's a little blown out of proportion. The offerings on the cocktails were boring, the wine list, well, they need to get a new wine buyer cause i had to go through 6 tasters to find one that i could barely even put down let alone spend $10.00 a glass on. The menu needs help, maybe some salt? Some garlic? some flavor in our dishes? I was told the owner which is also the chef doesn't like to be asked for substitutions, well what if i don't like chorizo? You'd rather not have me buy the salad and lose out on the $$$ than just fricken make it without? Get rid of the ego dude, cause your food doesn' t stand up to the hype of the place. Flavor!!!! Go back to school. Pros: nice open kitchen, clean. Cons: tons more

I ate there just the other day (saturday). It was a lazy day outside but when we got into Ciao Vito the Chefs were busy as could be. The food that we say on the bar looked great and got our taste buds zooming. We ate some calimari that was full of flavor and more crispy and tender than i have ever had. The Salad too was just what you expect in the summer. flavorfull and harty. the Ceaser was a great twist moving away from the romain. Who likes cruchy water. the Kale was great. For Dinner we had the Scallops which were great. Liek butter is so over used but yeah they were firm and cooked rear, just right. Pasta with the Scallops was firm and fresh. yum yum. The Skirt steak that my huspand had was great too. This is maby the best cut of meat i have had. Tender, full of flavor and well cooked. The Potato salad was nice. sweat, sour salty and a bit spicy. Perfect combination. The service was a okay. Short to the point and let us enjoy what we had. Not over baring at all and did not rush us. The wine was noce and afordable. We would give this place full honors with five stars but hey, why not push them a bit more and see absolute perfection. Thanks for the dinner we will be back. Pros: Great yum yum food Cons: Not free but that is unreasonable more

We went to Ciao Vito last nite for a birthday celebration. My favorite Italian restaurant was always Tuscany Grill and I've been looking for a replacement since they closed. We made reservations for a Sunday nite, and were immediately seated in the comfy front booth with a beautiful glass chandelier. While service was a bit slow to start, I think our server was giving us time to settle in and peruse the drink menu. Her wine recommendation was spot on, and from then on, her level of attentiveness, appropriate and friendly. We had delicious beet salad (a bit small for $9) and baked pasta with spinach marinara (creamy sauce & perfectly browned top). The tagliatelle (sp?) was good, but not a re-order item (a little too salty). I agree with other reviews, bread from the get go would've been nice and the first round of drinks took a while to arrive. Overall, I'd definitely return if invited to join other friends, but I'll continue my own search to find my next, new favorite Italian restaurant. more

We went to Ciao Vito this past Friday. To my chagrin my friends failed to make a reservation ( that was my buddies job ) no biggie. The host got us in within ten minutes of our arrival ( not bad for 7:30 on a Friday night ) I agree with comments about the poor lighting. Too dark for my taste. My wife pointed out that the interior walls needed painting, hence the poor lighting. Now to the food & service. Pros: good hot food. great linguini & clams Cons: too dark. more

Had an irritating night here. First and last time we will ever eat at this restaurant. It?s surprising how lame and tacky this place is. The man who greeted us at the door never cracked a smile or had any greeting for us. It took 10 minutes just to get anyone to our table. Then the drinks took another 10 minutes. Our meals were longer. They must have forgotten about us. When my dinner was served it was soooo hot, it never cooled down. Obliviously reheated in the kitchen. Never once did the waitress ask us how our meal was. Hey, don?t waste time or money at this place. In an economy where dollars are scarce, save your dining dollars for a restaurant that appreciates your business and understands the basic etiquette of how to treat customers. Cons: Very POOR service more

I am surprised with the not so good reviews. I have been to Ciao Vito with my husband several times and also with friends. Their wine list is very well thought out. Prices are reasonable. The food was amazing. We had calamari and salad with blue cheese, both prepared very well and incredibly fresh. I had the flank steak, my husband had the seafood special, sea bass. I can't explain what they did to the bass, but it was the best piece of fish I have tasted in Portland metro in years. I begged my hubby to trade. We also finished the night and our bottle of wine with some nice desserts. This is where they were a bit shy and the service at times, a bit choppy. But over-all a mouth watering experience. It can be cramped, but they will do their best to honor your reservations and make you comfortable! Pros: Sea Bass special, flank steak with blue cheese, calamari, wine list Cons: dessert, service can be a bit touchy, but usually C+ to B- (Food makes up for it)! more

I went to CV with a group of friends. Our reservations were intact and when we arrived the table was set and ready, this was awesome, and I thought it was going to be a great culinary experience. We sat for a while and two different servers took our drink orders...I ordered a diet coke which came promptly in a skinny glass...about 8 oz I would estimate. As the rest of our party arrived and we looked over the menu someone said ""isn't this an Italian place? Shouldn't there be bread on the table? So I asked the waitress if we should get bread and she said ""it's included with the meal but I can bring it out now""...which meant we had one shot of bread and no refills...which she didn't tell us until AFTER we ran out of bread. more

Reservations mean nothing at this place. The hostess seemed very inexperienced and just keeps batting her eyes as she said sorry over and over. We headed to the bar to wait to be seated. After dropping $30 on 2 rounds of drinks, the hostess finds us just over an HOUR after we made our reservation. She says sorry (again) and says that they want to buy us a drink. Of course we had just ordered one, the bartender looked at her like I am not refunding anything. Low and behold no free drink or mention of it ever again. We finally get to sit 1.5 hours after our reservation (in a bar table about 2 feet from the standing crowd who is also waiting). The wait staff is very mediocre. The food was bland and boring. I had been here about 2 years ago, my how times have changed. Reservation = 7:30, Entree served = 9:30, Total Bill = $106, Never Eating at Ciao Vito's again = priceless... more

If you have not tried Ciao Vito's happy hour, what are you waiting for? Monday through Wednesday they do happy hour until 8 pm. It's great for professionals like us who can't ever seem to leave work before 6. My boyfriend and I went for an early V-Day celebration last week and had a great experience. THe prices were great and the portions were generous. We had an appetizer, 2 ""entrees"", dessert, and 4 drinks for $50!! The beer selection is well rounded and the cocktails are strong. I'm not sure why people were complaining about the service because we were warmly welcomed by everyone there, even if we were ""happy hour"" customers. Sure the woman who served us water didn't overly charm us with wit and candor but she's just serving water for christsakes. You always have to take City Search reviews with a grain of salt. Ciao Vito is one of those small, dark, and romantic places, I personally don't want servers and bussers shoving their charm up my a-- all night. So if you want a truly satisfactory and inexpensive later happy hour definitely give Ciao Vito a try. Pros: happy hour that makes my tummy and wallet very happy Cons: limited seating for happy hour customers more

This Alberta has become one of our favorite places for dinner out over the past couple of years. Last Saturday night sealed the deal for us. When we arrived for our 7:00 reservation we were told that our table wasn't quite ready yet. While we waited in the bar area our hostess approached us and ""comped"" the two glasses of wine that we were enjoying. A few minutes later, a complimentary basket of crispy calmari arrived for our munching pleasure. All of this was done with no prompting or complaining from us. We were ushered to our table just as we were finishing our appetizer, only 20 minutes after our original reservation. On a busy Saturday night, a slight wait might have been expected any way. Our meals were terrific, hanger steak and crab and pasta. Service was great, just the right amount of attentiveness. If you haven't tried this place because of it's slightly out of the way location, you should! more