Ciro's Italian Eatery

My husband and are staying at Massanutten and we were having trouble finding good places to eat. We stumbled into Ciro's when we were at the grocery (Ciro's is located in the same parking lot as the Food Lion grocery store in Elkton). What a pleasant surprise! We have been at the resort only 5 days and have been to Ciro's twice already and would go again if we had the time. The salads are obviously freshly cut (not bagged salad) with a nice amount of fresh vegetables included. My husband said he wasn't hungry and was not going to order a full meal.... He tried the lasagna. It was a huge portion, but he ate the entire plate and scraped it with bread to get every drop. I ordered the spaghetti, which is my specialty at my own café in Ohio. I also ate all of my meal(which was also a large portion), and enjoyed every bite. The flavor was different than my own, but I feel just as good, in a different way. (and I am a real critic usually, especially of spaghetti!). This place is a must if you want a really good meal, for a really good price, and want really good service. A++++++

Ciro's was recommended by friends who live in the area.  It's just about the closest restaurant to the resort we were staying in, but I thought it was going to be overpriced because of that proximity.  Our friends told me it was very reasonable, so off we went for our last dinner during our stay in Massanutten.

This is a big place, with at least three different dining areas.  We were seated at a table in one room, and I was freezing.  In addition to the AC, ceiling fans with lights were projecting a strobe effect on all the tables.  Both my daughter and I thought we'd have epileptic attacks if we stayed there, even though thankfully we don't suffer from that condition.  We moved to the next dining room, and the problem was solved.

We started with calamari, which we ordered only because my husband won't touch the stuff, so I never get a chance to have it.  And it was delicious - light, crisp breading and a light but tasty red sauce for dipping.

I noticed on the chalkboard at the entry that the evening's special was Chicken Pizzaiola, for $10.95, and it was served, like all the entrees, with spaghetti, salad and garlic bread.  Our waitress wasn't forthcoming with any of the specials, so I was glad I'd seen it, because it was exactly what I wanted after the fried and breaded calamari.  My daughter and I decided to share it.  We were also overjoyed that we could order a single slice of pizza for the little guy and not have to deal with yet another "children's menu" dinner that he'd decide not to eat as soon as it was served.  Feeling fizzy, we also ordered a bottle of Riunite Lambrusco at the very reasonable price of $11.

The kitchen split the entree for us, and what a surprise:  I thought I knew what Chicken Pizzaiola was, but this had the delicate red sauce from the calamari enhanced with capers, which gave it a stupendous flavor.  The dinner salad was fresh and covered with cheese, provolone I think . The spaghetti was a bit softer than I'd like, but not overly.

The pizza slice was the biggest I've ever seen, and my boy scarfed it down, pronouncing it the best he'd ever eaten.

The only thing that marred this wonderful dining experience was the presentation of the check.  That dinner special, unusually priced lower than the regular chicken dishes on the menu, was listed "Special - 12.95"  on the check.  The waitress didn't blink when I pointed this out, and returned with a corrected check, saying "Gee, I don't know how this happened."  Over a lifetime of restaurant meals, sure I've been overcharged before.  But what made this seem particularly egregious - and deliberate - was that we were the last people to leave the restaurant.  It was an electronically printed bill.  You mean no one else throughout the evening ordered the special? No one else noticed they were overcharged? The original check also had the bill's total repeated on the bottom, listing it with the notation that this was the amount on which to leave the gratuity, and that amount included the tax.  The revised check, also electronically printed, recalculated the tax, but never changed the amount to tip on.  Very strange, indeed.  Why should a restaurant with such a lovely atmosphere and such good food play around with the bill?  And because I do not think that this was accidental, I'm reducing what would have been a five-star rating to four.  Though only a two-dollar mistake, it was one that left a bitter taste, instead of the sweet one it should have.

Came here after experiencing the Skydrive. Very good food and service. The Sicilian pizza is top notch. Price is on the inexpensive side. Highly recommended for the neighborhood.