Via Cibo — Restaurant in Grande Prairie

Via Cibo....."Away Food" in Italian. Too good to resist....

There are virtually no true Italian restaurants in Grande Prairie (although some would argue Padrino's and Calabria are....the former is niche fusion Italian; the latter is essentially a deli---nothing wrong with that).

Firstly, Via Cibo fits into that perfect spot of homestyle, hearty Italian food, that goes beyond an Italian meat sandwich to go...... served fast & hot at a very respectable price.

The menu is pretty straightforward, with counter ordering placing it on par with any fast food chain, except with quick and delicious Italian fare.

We settled on a couple of quick-to-make dishes of bruschetta and Carne Piccante pizza.....with wine & imported sparkling water, the cheque was $41.

Not sure if they had a wood-fired oven, but the pizza was well cooked and flavourful....not exactly Napoli style but still soft & crunchy thin crust. The only criticism is there wasn't a shaker of Parmigiano cheese (there was chili oil and hot chilies) and the pizza was cut into New York slices (4....)

The bruschetta was tasty on crisp loaf bread with a drizzling of balsamic vinegar; which didn't really add or subtract from the dish. The toppings were fresh.

Friendly staff that DO bring the food to the table (so, not like a burger joint), However, seating and decor could have easily accommodated whatever food they chose to serve.....it's street food; not bow tie & evening gown food.

Plenty of parking in the lot, wheelchair accessible & parking.

Eat in, Take Out, Skip-The-Dishes available.

If you're looking for something beyond an Italian Sandwich to take away, where you can sit and enjoy your meal with a glass of wine or bottle of beer for a reasonable price, this could...

We were the first ones there on a Friday night, and there seemed to be people training on till - which was fine. I paid cash and the girl had trouble making exact change and had to pull from the tip jar, but her math was off so I had to correct her. They didn't give me a table number, and I didn't know I had to grab one, but there weren't many people in the restaurant yet.

When the food eventually (probably 25-30 minutes after being ordered) started coming out, I received my friend's order - carbonara instead of my Alfredo, but the lady who set it down in front of me said it was Alfredo. I had to ask if it was actually Alfredo after taking a bite, and they said no that's the carbonara. They kept trying to give us incorrect food meant for another table as the restaurant started filling up.

There was a gentleman sitting next to us waiting for his friends to arrive and the staff kept asking him when his people were coming because they didn't have enough seating to accommodate the Friday evening rush. I thought that was rude. The table had been sitting dirty for a long time before he showed up too.

The food itself was decent, but overpriced. It's hard to find a restaurant who hasn't been affected by shrinkflation though. The chicken Alfredo and soda I had came to about $25. Good food, but that's so expensive for some noodles, sauce and a tiny bit of chicken. Not sure if I'll be going back, but when I do I'll probably avoid going on a Friday...

Went there on the (i think) 2nd week of their opening. Ordered Alfredo Fettuccine and paid extra for GRILLED prawns. The timing wasn’t really bad. When the order came, i noticed right away the GRILLED prawns. They weren’t grilled at all. It clearly didn’t even touched a pan. It was either boiled/steamed and they were so tiny. I pictured 2-4 prawns with their tails on had some color from a grill but these prawns were tiny (like the ones you see out of a frozen mix seafood) and translucent. I finally was able to taste the pasta itself and found that the sauce was on the bland side. It was wayy too watery. Felt like right after boiling the noodles it went straight to a sauce with pan, tossed it and served. They could have reduce it for a bit to concentrate the flavor. I informed the lady that worked there and she told another guy who talked to me. They didn’t do or offer anything about it. I wasnt expecting a free meal or anything but he didn’t do anything about it. He just acknowledged it though and told me that the chef is new and will let him know about it. Thats it. Bought myself a brownie, it was heavenly! The best brownie I’ve had so far in Grande Prairie! I wanna go back again and give them another chance and see how that would go. Forgot to...