Via Cibo — Restaurant in Calgary

The food is always as good as the rest of the franchisees.

The service has been consistently lacking. On the second visit I noticed how a number of customers waited a long time before getting their food including one gentleman who had ordered take-out. 6 people waiting in line seemed a bit long considering the dining area was not even 1/3 occupied. Finally, someone from the back of the house moved to the front to assist in the cooking.

I requested chilli oil for my order which took 30 minutes to arrive. No chilli oil. An employee did stop by to ask if everything was okay. I asked for chilli oil which he said he would deliver right away. Half way through my pasta I decided to fetch it from the counter myself from another employee.

Knowing how slow the service is, I decided to try them out recently, a few minutes after they opened and with no other diners around. The food orders took 20 minutes. (I decided not to ask for chilli oil this time.) The cashier delivered our food and said that they had just opened and the oven still had to warm up. Silly excuse. When you open your doors to your guests, EVERYTHING should be ready! Guests don’t really care for excuses.

Looking around, I noticed the table tops had crumbs and food stains. I had to wipe down my table with paper towels and water from their front counter faucet. The cashier didn’t even notice me taking water from his nearby faucet.

Having observed how the staff move in the front kitchen during my visits there, I can see why service is slow. They lack a sense of urgency and have poor communication.

The better choice has and will always be Via Cibo in the south east. Watch them move and hustle! 10 minutes tops to get food - no matter how busy they are! THEY keep their tables clean constantly too. The north Via Cibo staff should visit the south to see what they’re...

This is quite a read so fasten your seatbelts!

I began this experience by being the most understanding person ever as I work at a restaurant and I was there for the Mother’s Day rush at my job all morning too. But as the experience became progressively worse, my patience just grew thin.

Walked in ~ 7:15 and the floor was half full but there were a couple of parties waiting for take out. Ordered, was told it would be a 15-20 minute wait, was about to pay with 20% tip, guy behind me asks for a refund because he had “been waiting for 2 hours”. Right off the bat I say “if your kitchen is feeling overwhelmed, it’s okay, I’d be happy to take us somewhere else” and she says that if it takes longer than 15-20 mins she’ll let me know and they can issue a refund.

I sit down at 7:24, salad comes in at 7:33, I had to ask for my own cutlery at 7:41, pizza at 7:53, I ask for the ETA on the pastas because the table beside us had told me they’d been waiting 40 minutes for their food, they say 5 more minutes, at 8:01 we get pastas with missing add ons (chicken), they said they’ll bring me a new one. She gets to the table with a side plate of chicken to add to the pasta myself 🤦🏼‍♀️

I asked THREE times for her to tell me that if they were overwhelmed we’d be happier going somewhere else. As a customer, I would have preferred to be told at the till “Unfortunately our kitchen’s just in the weeds right now and we wouldn’t be able to provide you the service that you deserve” instead of being told to wait x time with no follow through and be given that kind of service. Nothing at all was done to compensate for the terrible service. 20% tip for nothing.

Anyways. Safe to say that I will not be going here again and urge you not to go...

Came here for lunch a weekday and the restaurant was empty. The staff was attentive and helpful, the ambience was cozy and relaxing, but I couldn't give a 4 or 5 star for the food.

We ordered a caprese salad, a carbonara with chicken, and a mushroom risotto with shrimp. The tomatoes and mozzarella cheese were decent but they put a big dash of salt and pepper on the salad, which made it overly and unnecessarily salty - would have been better just to drizzle a bit more balsamic vinegar and olive oil to enhance the flavour. The risotto was mushy and the rice was overcooked. It was however flavourful. The carbonara was nicely seasoned but the pasta was also on the soft side and lacking the al dente texture. They might have used fresh pasta that was overcooked or was not made right.

Overall, the food had good value for the price since other Italian restaurants often charge way more for a risotto and carbonara. Felt like mediocre home cooked meals when mom or dad was not super in the mood to cook for the night.

The staff "encouraged" a Google review and gave us free Italian donuts. I would say this is still a restaurant to go with kids that enjoy softer rice and pasta texture, but definitely do not expect an authentic Italian meal experience...