Cibo Trattoria — Restaurant in Vancouver

Don't go here for lunch; that's all there is to it. These guys are all about the bait and switch, a rather short-sighted business model, if you ask me. Personally, I love trying out lunch specials from as many restaurants as possible. From my point of view, it's a great opportunity for a restaurant to show people what they're made of at a bargain price, and you know what? If they offer good quality, I'll tend to return and try their dinner menu as well. Some places really will blow you away with what they offer at $12-$15 a meal.

Essentially, Cibo advertises a main + a glass of wine for $13. Sounds great right? The second you walk in however, the waitress tells you what a junky special it is, and that you should really order something else off the menu. Once you say that no, you intend to purchase the initial offer presented (you know, the one that got you in the door in the first place), then comes the sneering look of disdainful disappointment on her face.

So what does Cibo offer up for $13 which they use to build their customer base? Basically a pauper's meal: a half glass of wine accompanying a rather small portion of plain tomato sauce and peas over pasta (great for vegans, I suppose) but the question is, why would you offer a special which you yourself are ashamed of? Because you lack pride and confidence in the work you do. There's no other possibility. More to the point, these guys are completely out of touch with the level of quality that you can actually get in the downtown area for $8 + $6 (Main + alcoholic beverage). Cibo = sub par on every level, based on my...

Boring bland food, terrible service. 14 of us reserved the private room for a good friends birthday. We sat for an HOUR before waiter took out drink order. For every drink ordered, it took 30 mins to arrive. We had to wait another 30 mins to order food. Food took another 30+mins to arrive (appetizers, not mains). My husband and I only got 3 of the 5 dishes we ordered. They forgot 2 of our dishes. Despite the waiter helping us with suggestions on what to order. They messed up another order on the table (despite a disclosed allergy!) & the poor lady had to wait another 45/50 mins for the replacement dish (how does a replacement spaghetti dish take that long given the pasta is already made?). Dinner took almost 4 hours because service was so slow. Table of 14 should take 2-2.5 max. Pasta was too thick on ravioli, so instead of it having a nice chew/being al dente it just was under cooked. Ravioli dish was small, under-stuffed AND filling was dry (insult to injury). The air conditioning kept blasting intermittently, so temp would go from hot to freezing. Waiter tried to lie and say it was because of the wine kept in the wall cabinets.... the restaurant would NOT have kept wine in a room that fluctuated temp so drastically in a matter of hours. Waiter did not proactively mention 18% gratuity was included, and felt like he was hoping we would forget and tip again.

If this is how they treat a privately booked room of 14 people (deposit placed) imagine the service you...

This is a beautiful spot and the food is great. We came for brunch and everything was delicious. I had the frittata which was excellent and the French toast was very innovative and, more importantly, delicious, with nice berries and cream. The sausages with the traditional breakfast were huge and the eggs were done very well. A couple of people in our party got the tagliatelle which was also delicious. Service was friendly and the 8 month old in our party was accommodated very nicely. The coffee was great and although we didn't order alcohol the menu was strong. This place is fairly intimate, attached to the Moda hotel but separate. There are entrances from Street as well as hotel. There is a nice modern see-through fireplace and generally a very nice and unique decor. I had been to this restaurant a couple of years prior for a work holiday party. My then-employer booked the entire room which was great. The dinner and wine then were excellent as well, as was the service. I was surprised this place was not very busy at around 11 on the weekend. It did get busier by the time we left. I don't know what it is like at dinner but for weekend brunch I consider this place to be a bit of a hidden gem. I highly recommend Cibo (pronounced "cheebo"), whether for family brunch or a...