ciao bella italian grill

triedciaobella after my favorite italian place (cafe tuscany) closed. was very happy with my experience! i ordered pesto linguini with spinach and mushrooms that wasn't on the menu and my server had their chef fix it for me. i started off with their garden salad with house dressing and garlic bread. the salad was fresh and the dressing light and tasty. the garlic bread was a little dry, but otherwise good. the main entree was superb. i read a review where the reviewer complainted about the pesto and i can see their point although it wasn't bad. the pesto needs to be a little less creamy so the the pesto favors come out more. i had a glass of melini chianti also and it was fairly mild (i prefer bold reds). bill came to almost $40 with tip, but it was really good for not being cafe tuscany. i look forward to eating here again!

generic italian.ciaobella was recommended by a friend, but i don’t understand the fuss. the restaurant is in a good location, and the place is clean and casual. overall, the food was ok, but the meatballs were the worst i’ve ever tasted. they were just gross.
service was terrible. our waiter was pushy. he was constantly trying to shove wine down our throats. he constantly interrupted our diner conversation by demanding wine orders. we didn’t want wine. after saying “no” multiple times, he finally got the message. hands down, he was the most obnoxious waiter i’ve ever had. despite his insistence to push up our bill, he never brought out our appetizers. his efforts to generate sales were counterproductive.
other than pushy service and the horrible meatballs, the experience was so generic i really can’t say much more. and that’s sad. this is a mediocre establishment. if you’re hungry, visit huey’s next door.

lunch review. i'll begin by saying that i really likeciaobella for dinner (see my earlier review); however, in my opinion, their new lunch misses the mark. for a little history,ciaobella served lunch at their old location next to kroger but stopped it when they moved to the spot on erin way. sometime after moving, they started an off-shoot, lunch-only spot, called carmella's that was attached to the main restaurant. it even served lunch on saturdays, which was a personal favorite. anyway, they closed carmella's and eventually resumed a m-f lunch service atciaobella but with a few of carmella's offerings. i say bring back carmella's (even if it is still calledciaobella to avoid the awkwardness and confusion of different names/same space)! i just find the atmosphere atciaobella for lunch to be dark, depressing, and a little stuffy; whereas, carmella's was well-lit and generally bustling. i also enjoyed the expanded sandwich offerings of carmella's versus the predominantly pasta-laden menu atciaobella. perhaps they can come up with a best of both worlds option by utilizing the windowed carmella's space more and making the overall atmosphere and menu a little more low-key. maybe it's just a personal preference, but i'm not really interested in lunching there again with the current set up.


-----12 oct, 2011-----

great mid-range priced dinner. we had a great dinner atciaobella this weekend. they have a nice patio (which there are far too few of in memphis) and variety of selections. i opted for the spinach salad and wild salmon entree, and both were delicious. i was particularly impressed that the salmon was wild and not farm-raised or "atlantic." my entree was $20, and it was as good, if not better, than some of the $30+ fish entrees i've had at more upscale restaurants. service was on the slower side, but not to the point of being bothersome. overall, it was a great meal at a mid-range price.

chef johnathan steenerson and his team atciaobella invited me over for dinner the other night to get to know them, to serve as a ‘guinea pig’ for a couple of new dishes, and to try out some of the stalwarts on the menu. i was happy to accept after embarrassingly letting them know that i had recently eaten at the restaurant, and that because it was a last minute decision, i only ended up with a terrible cell phone photo. i couldn’t use that in the blog as evidence of how good it had been. so, the professor and i met up over in erin way and settled in for an intense night of deliciousness. they led us back to a nice, well-lit (good for photos!) booth in the back and our great server cole got us started with a round of drinks. i’ll go ahead and get this out there, but when i was talking to jonathan during the meal, i was hyping up how good the service was, and he let us know that it was only cole’s second day atciaobella. props to him, as he was excellent, as in knowledgeable, nice, a

great atmosphere. good menu variety. food is good and tasty. service was friendly. patio is small but really nice - shaded in the evening. prices were a smudge high but not entirely unreasonable. over all - a very good experience. to the reviewer who compared it to olive garden: seriously? nothing wrong with og but they are the applebee's of italian food... this place,ciaobella, has soul and spirit, and much better food. i recommend caio bella.

i have a theory. if it takes the chef over 30 seconds and several breaths to describe his carefully prepared dish, it’s probably going to be incredible. in fact, it might even cause a culinary explosion in every single one of your taste buds. one of my favorite dishes of the evening that sparked this theory indeed had the longest description, so lengthy i had to hear it twice and slowly to get it all down. here’s the complete description given to me and christopher by chef brannon: chilled orzo pasta salad tossed with the house dressing, baby greens, red onions, roma tomatoes, black olives, feta cheese, and baby heirloom tomatoes. (explosions definitely erupted.) to say our meal atciaobella is one of the best we can remember is not an exaggeration. i also say this not because our fine dining experiences have dramatically decreased due to financial problems (that’s a whole other story), but let’s just say i’m officially tired of eating taco bell nacho supremes

follow up review.... i have now been tociaobella in person; my last review was of take out. the place is in a strip mall which i generally would be vehemently opposed to....but they managed to pull off a nice atmosphere with both the indoor and outdoor seating. beats me how because i was absolutely surprised. the service was awesome. i mean from the moment we walked in to the second we left they were johnny on the spot with seating us, taking drink and food orders, the timing and delivery of each course, on and on. couldn't say enough good things about the staff. the food was not the best italian i have ever had, but by memphis standards (sorry memphis chefs and cooks you just don't know good italian) it was very good.

i saw a complaint about the pizza and i haven't tried it so i can't comment. however it should be noted that the author of that complaint recommended carrabas...really? got any other good recommendations? like say olive garden or macaroni grill? seriously?

anyway i still don't get the greek foods on the menu but the tiropitakia and spanakopitakia are delicious. i guess southern italy is supposed to have come from mediterranean influnce or something...i don't know? anyway all in all really good place no complaints whatsoever.


-----09 jun, 2010-----

really good...italian?...restaurant.. so this is a combination review from myself and my wife. she actually went and ate there and was nice enough to bring me takeout. her review of actually visiting the restaurant was that her server was great and the restaurant was clean and nice. she said her food was very good and the prices were reasonable. prices be d@mned...she paid so i will just comment on the food. she lugged it all the way back to midtown and it was still warm and very good. i had the patistisio...probably spelled it wrong...yummy. so here is where i put the question mark behind the word italian in the title...half the menu here is greek food. good greek food but greek food nonetheless. so i guess if you are looking for a full italian menu well not here...but if you are looking for a very interesting selection of greek and italian this place is a good starting point! i will eat here again for sure.

great place!. had another great meal atciaobella. its hands down the best italian food in mid-south....don't miss the veal picatta and the daily seafood specials are outstanding. nice bar too.

some of the best pizza in memphis!.ciaobella is delicious. they have an excellent wine list, friendly staff, and most importantly, delicious food. i always order the pizza. the greek pizza is one of my favorite pizza's in memphis. the salads and side items are also good.

best italian food.ciaobella has the best pizza and italian food in memphis. its cozy and quiet atmosphere makes you feel right at home. service is great and food is even better. have to try it if you love italian food and wine!