I just moved to Eugene and from the reviews I was drawn to coming here to check it out. Â
The visit was somewhat of a disappointment. Â One is the time for food to be done I ordered a small 8 in pizza and it took almost 30 minutes to get.
Another disappointment was that it felt like I was ignored for a bigger table with more people.
However the plus side is that the pizza was pretty good. Â If you are patient the outcome will be good. However, 30 mins for a pizza is kind of dragging.
If service was better this review would have been a 5.
Hubs and I went to eat here tonight and it was FABULOUS! Â The atmosphere was great, the waiter was very attentive, the food was very good. Â The food was like eating at a high class restaurant with their decorative plates and awesome beyond the normal menu. Â The pizza is prepared and baked in a wood burning fireplace which you can watch. Â I highly recommend this place! Â We will definitely be going back again :D
Review Source:Ciao was good, but I was hoping for more. I arrived STARVING before my whole party could meet me. I had to really work to get the waiter to notice me to order a salad for my pregnant self. The salad was fine--it had a ton of lean chicken breast but wasn't particularly amazing.
The pizza the group settled on was also fine and dandy, but nothing like La Perla downtown.
We also ordered a Ravioli special. Like everything else, the ravioli was fine. The pasta exterior seemed somewhat undercooked.
One thing that was very, very good was the foccacia. It's delightful.
All in all, it was food. Probably a lot better than the other options in the area.
I moved to Oregon almost 4 years ago from Connecticut, and have had nothing but disappointing Italian food every time I tried. I don't know why Portland can't seem to get it, but it's nothing compared to home.
I recently moved to Eugene for school and have drove by Ciao Pizza quite a few times. I decided to call in a take out order tonight on a whim. Now I know this is only one time that I've tried it, but this food rivals the Italian back home. I always get chicken marsala at Italian restaurants, and decided to give theirs a try. One of the best I've ever had. Seasoned perfectly, the Marsala sauce was perfect, mushrooms were just the right texture. On a side note, their balsamic vinaigrette tastes exactly like my mother's recipe. That right there makes this place an A+ in my book. This place is the real deal when it comes to Italian food. Who knew I'd find my comfort food in Springfield, OR! The pasta tastes hand-made, the bread is delicious. And I got a HUGE portion for the price. Not to mention the salad was super fresh. I can't stand getting a salad and seeing that the tomatoes aren't ripe or the lettuce isn't crisp. Definitely not the case with Ciao Pizza!
Needless to say, I will definitely be back. This place gets 5-stars for sure. None of that faux Italian bologna that I'd say Portland is known for. Can't wait to try all of the other menu items!
Today, we went to Ciao Pizza on Gateway.  Three or four years ago, they had pretty good pizza which I would have rated 3.5 to 4 stars (for Eugene, that's good).  Today?  Wow. Yuck. I gave them 2/5 stars just because there are worse places out there, like Papa's, Cozmic, Abby's, and the usual suspects of national chain restaurants which are just absolutely dreadful.  I ordered the Margherita, my daughter ordered the Toscana.  When it arrived, it looked disgusting.  I am used to Margherita having an orderly appearance of red (tomato sauce), white (mozzarella), and green (basil).  The Margherita side of the pizza was nasty.  It looked like someone had vomited  partially digested toppings on there - it was a mixed, saucy mess. The crust was dry and crunchy on the edges, which is alright with me, but looked underdone all the same - and the middle WAS underdone.  Yet the bottom was burned black.  For the life of me, I do not know how this was accomplished.  The Toscana did not look much better - as it had bacon on it and I do not eat bacon, I only tasted the chicken pieces.  They were just meh.  My daughter said the pizza itself was terrible.  All in all, the flavor was just bad.
My younger daughter had "macaroni and cheese," which was made not with macaroni, but with shells, not to be picky, I'm just saying - you're an Italian restaurant. Â You all should know your damned noodles. Â The sauce on the mac was fair. Â I can, and routinely do, make massively better sauce in my own kitchen. Â
When we first started going to this place, we really liked it. Â But this slide downhill that we have been witnessing in the past two or three years seems to be continuous and worsening. Â I really like to bring my business to local places, and I like to see locals succeed, especially if they start out as food snobs ("foodies"), as I am. Â But based on this and other remote experiences, we are unfortunately done with Ciao.
My advice to the owner? Change your menu. Â It's tired. Â The pasta dishes are boring. There is too much meat on your menu. Â The sauces are not that great (my last experience with their pasta - other than the mac and cheese today - was not positive, either - my own homemade lasagna is better, my own cheese sauces are better - if I am going to pay for it, I expect the food to exceed what I can do in my own kitchen with no recipes or Italian chefs around). Â Try a seasonal menu, and do specials that are not just a selection off the regular menu at a discount price (what is that? It's cheesy). Â Lighten up your sauces and dishes. Â And by George, get some new chefs! Â In my opinion, the owner should visit the place, order something, and reassess the future of this restaurant. Â I doubt he would want to eat there, either.
The pizza at Ciao is 'A-OK' ... not the best around these parts, but not awful either. Â Maybe 3.5 stars for the pizza.
Despite its location, its appearance, and the other places in the near vicinity, Ciao Pizza isn't a branch of an aggressively growing corporate-food enterprise. Â They are affiliated with the Excelsior Inn/Hotel.
On my second, and most recent, visit, the service was rather poor. Â We waited a long time to receive our very simple pizza. Â The pizza-making person actually came out from the back to let us know that she had miscommunicated with the server and offer her apologies. Â That was nice. Â The server disappeared for a while before bringing us the check. Â Then, he really disappeared after giving us the check and saying he'd be right back. Â Thankfully, I had the right amount of cash to pay the bill. Â But, I could have just skipped out. Â We were literally the only people in the place by the time our bill was brought to us.
1 or 2 stars for the service, but my partner has been there a half-dozen times and said that she's never had anything like that happen at Ciao before. Â I'm not inclined to rush back over there but, when I do, I hope it's a better experience.
We were passing through Springfield recently, and picked this place on a whim. It looked like they had good yelp reviews, and the menu sounded great.
We started with a salad. Really, really tasty. The lettuce was fresh and crisp. The toppings all fit together perfectly. We then moved on to the pizza. Clearly the ingredients were fresh. Wood firing each pizza was a nice touch and really came out in the flavor.
The waiter was extremely friendly, and the prices were very good.
This is a Springfield 5 star (probably a Seattle 4 star.)
I believe I've figured out optimal strategy for Ciao. Â It appears that one of the daily specials is always a pasta dish paired with a salad, which is important when considering that the regular pasta dishes come ala carte w/ a small portion of crostini bread (the crostini is fresh out of the oven, I watched them prepare it.) Â By itself the pasta isn't enough for a meal, and pairing the Insalata Mista salad w/ pasta outside of the daily special costs 37% more, so you're getting great value with the special. Â The salad comes on its own plate and is fairly large, so I suspect that it's no smaller than the regular salad from the menu. Â The food quality is high, which makes being able to get full on it at this price point pretty awesome (underrated I might say.) Â I think the special is always a ravioli dish as that's what its been 3/3 times I've checked. Â I would strongly advise to roll with whatever the special is, otherwise you're probably not going to be happy w/ what you got for the price (but hey, I'm cheap, your mileage may vary.)
These are outstanding:
Ravioli con Carciofi       Â
Artichoke Ravioli tossed in a Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce
The raviolis are made offsite via the Excelsior Pasta Shop. Â They tasted great - I've got no problem with them being frozen for local shipment.
Our party of 13 came in unannounced and the waitress moved another party of three over to seat us. We were seated in less than five minutes and had our drinks in fifteen minutes. Our waiter split the check in whatever way we wanted and the food was fantastic.
We were very impressed by the quality of the service and of the food. Thanks Ciao Pizza!
My family and I went in here because the idea of brick oven pizza sounded really good. Â We walked in the door and were hit with the great smells that usually accompany a good pizza place. Â A waitress was seating another couple (that turned into a party of 6) and pointed us in the direction of the last table available. Â That is the last contact we had with any employee in the restaurant.
We sat down and looked at the menu on the table and decided what we were going to order for dinner. Â We sat there and waited, and waited, and waited. Â The table of six that I mentioned earlier was given their drinks, their appetizers, salads, etc. Â We never had any wait staff come to the table to find out what we wanted to drink, if we wanted food or anything.
The couple sitting next to us made a comment about how rude that was and that is was unusual for the restaurant. Â They had eaten there several times and were impressed with the quality of the food and the service.
The whole time that we were there, the waitress was more concerned with flirting with the kitchen staff, cleaning up the bar area, flirting with other customers that she couldn't be bothered to come and take care of her customers.
We left there after about 1/2 hour and went across the parking lot to Five Guys where the service was considerably better and we were actually served.
Up in Oregon in hotel and i need someplace to go thats within walking distance. Â I see this place and its like "what the heck i'll go there". Â Its located in a strip mall and you wouldn't think much of it, but it is surprisingly very great and would definitely go back. Â I ordered the Ravioli Caprese and it was fantastic and had a lemon almond tart with raspberry sauce. Â it earned these five stars
Review Source:I enjoyed my pizza and my wife enjoyed her salad. The crust was crisp and nicely finished on both the bottom and around the edges. The sauce was flavorful and not too thin or thick. Good amounts of toppings on the pizza and the salad.
Service was excellent and the restaurant was clean. From order to food on the table was about 20 minutes. We watched them make the pie and put it in the oven and then monitor it's progress. Once the pie came out it was immediately cut and served, still piping hot at the table.
I was pleased with the food and the experience and will happily return.
Wood fired pizza and calzones with proper mozzarella cheese yum! Service was nice and friendly. The building is small, so I dont suggest large groups. I got the margherita pizza which had fresh mozzarella and basil for lunch for $7.95. Delicious. They make and sell wood-fired bread(s) as well. Next time I am going to try there pasta!
Review Source:We found this place by accident on a Starbucks stop and decided to eat dinner. It wasn't busy, and the server said he could get us a wood-fired pizza in 10 minutes, so we decided to go for it (we were on a long road trip and were eager to keep going). We ordered a half cheese/half prosciutto and basil pizza and the Oregon salad. Both were delicious and the service could not have been more accommodating. It was kid-friendly too, which was great for our 3 little ones! Definitely eat here!
Review Source:The Server was very knowledgeable about the menu & described things very well. The atmosphere is good, but quite empty considering it should still have a lunch rush. That may be due to many choices to eat in a small area. I enjoyed the ravioli & would recommend this place for a nice meal. They make their own pasta which is nice. I've got to come back for a pizza.
Review Source:I will definitely be back! Okay, only because I accidentally bought two Groupon offers for Ciao the other day.
This is not the place to pop in for a quick pizza on your way home from Target - there is tons of waiting, to order, for entrees, for a check. At first I thought maybe my expectations were out of line, considering that this higher-end pizza restaurant is located in a strip mall, but we just kept waiting and waiting.
The pizza (each comfortably feeds two) wasn't too bad: tasty toppings, good proportion of toppings/sauce/crust and an unfortunately bland and flat crust seared in a wood-fired oven. Pizza begins with the crust, right? We also tried a ravioli dish that was gummy and a bit bland.. They dusted the plate with the same Parmesan that sits in a shaker on the table - it looks, tastes and smells exactly like the stuff in a green can sold next to the spaghetti at the supermarket. I was kind of shocked that they'd resort to this.
The menu is pretty much pizzas, calzones and pastas, each for $12-15. Â The complimentary foccacia was yummy.
Had a mini pizza and a great Ninkasi oatmeal stout here for around $12.
The pizza was decent, but nothing really "wowed" me. Sausage pizza used sliced pieces of a round sausage instead of the round balls you typically find at other places. I noticed the pizza oven had a digital readout and the temperature was a little over 600 degrees.
I really like the open layout of the bar encircling the pizza oven. They also let me have a free appetizer of extra focaccia bread they had.
Easy access off the North Springfield exit of I-5 makes for a good place to grab lunch/dinner.
3.5 Stars
Ciao Pizza has awesome atmosphere. You almost feel like you're in some café in Europe. They have very Italian-style pizza. I ordered the Margherita (to share) and it was nicely cooked with good ingredients. I will note, however, that there was extra flour on parts of the bottom that wasn't especially pleasant to eat. We also got a loaf of the foccacia, because it was so good. The cheesecake is also a treat; they write "Ciao" in chocolate sauce on the plate, which was a nice touch. This place is not for massive NY-style pies, but instead personal Italian meals.
Review Source:Classy Pizza Place? WHAAAAAT?
Lol crazy I know but it's true. A friend and I dropped in because we had heard they had a gluten-free pizza crust. Unfortunately this wasn't true, but we stayed and ate anyway because we found the place charming.
The restaurant was centered around a brick-oven and the décor was modern but comfortable. The staff was nice and dressed smart. The service was fast (it helped there was only 2 other people in the place).  And the pizza... oh the pizza!
It was doughy and fluffy and probably the best crust I've had and the toppings were healthy and tasted fresh.
Another plus, the desert was delicious. This is something I don't really think about at a pizza place.
Down side, a tad expensive for such small serving sizes. I wouldn't suggest going with a group because not everyone would get fed. More like a good date spot, or girl night spot.
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