ciao bella italian grill

great little italian place.servicewas a little slow initially, but solid after my waiter finally got to me. i had the lasagna. portion was about medium sized, but was excellent. their marinara was good without being too sweet. they do not allow firearms, which did cost them a star.

delcious food andserviceat a great price. great lunch, dinner specials, and happy hour in the bar! best martini in town!

try the beef gnocchi, spinach and strawberry salad, fig and prosciutto pizza, and lamb burger!

generic italian. ciao bella 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 pushyserviceand 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.

we came in at 3:30 in the afternoon so we really weren't expecting greatservicesince it is an off time. however, we were blown away! great staff. very attentive and happy to see us. food was a delight too. we had chicken carbonara, italian spinach, home-made (i promise) toasted raviolis and chicken scallopini parmigiana. we will be back!!

lunch review. i'll begin by saying that i really like ciao bella for dinner (see my earlier review); however, in my opinion, their new lunch misses the mark. for a little history, ciao bella 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 lunchserviceat ciao bella but with a few of carmella's offerings. i say bring back carmella's (even if it is still called ciao bella to avoid the awkwardness and confusion of different names/same space)! i just find the atmosphere at ciao bella 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 at ciao bella. 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 at ciao bella 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.servicewas 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 at ciao bella 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 theservicewas, and he let us know that it was only cole’s second day at ciao bella. props to him, as he was excellent, as in knowledgeable, nice, a

great atmosphere. good menu variety. food is good and tasty.servicewas 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, ciao bella, has soul and spirit, and much better food. i recommend caio bella.

follow up review.... i have now been to ciao bella 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. theservicewas 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.

overrated and overpriced. pizza is ok, not great
pasta dishes were overcooked and tasteless.
the atmosphere is great and theservicewas very good.
go to carrabas or brooklyn bridge for real italian food.

great italian. great restaurant, greatservice& great food. we love to come here to celebrate birthdays! i have never had a bad experience here.

awesome!. the food andservicewas wonderful and amazing! we each order an entree and passed it around to sample. we ordered the chicken ravioli, lobster ravioli, scalopinni chicken parmasean, and pastisio. for dessert we ordered tiramisu, chocolate lava cake, and chocolate mousse cake.

still a fan. we went to caio bella again last night and it is still delicious.
the food is excellent. the dining room is warm and cozy.

we ordered the following:
escargot for appetizer
fume blanc for the wine
1 person greek salad to share
chicken carbonara & shrimp alla toscana

the escargots were fragrant and prefectly cooked.
the greek salad was good, not spectacular but very well done.
the pasta dishes were a nicely prepared. i do have to say that the shrimp in the shrimp alla toscan was perfectly prepared. cooked just right where it was not hard and rubbery like many other restaurants nor was it undercooked. it was perfect.

i've been here many times before for functions in their party room and have had thier small appetizers which i have always thought were good. but the dinnerservicehere is excellent. i have to warn that it is more on the expensive side but they do a wonderful job in the kitchen with the preparation of the meals.

i would definitely recommend this place but be ready to spend a little here. next time i might try one of their pizzas.

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

the place to be. the atmosphere makes you feel at home. the patio is perfect, like eating on your back porch with the benefit of seeing all your friends and neighbors. the menu is a combination of old greek memphis recipes and just good italian food. the thin crusted pizza, especially when ordered extra crispy is the best i have ever had. that includes a lot from a number of different cities and states.
whether you eat in the dining room, on the patio or in the bar theserviceis excellent.
the ownership/management never misses a chance to make sure your visit is enjoyed.
this is my favorite restaurant in memphis


-----23 jun, 2009-----

good food excellent service