ioEnta restaurant — Restaurant in Cali

We visited IO Enter, a Syrian–Italian fusion restaurant, and were impressed by how authentic both the Syrian and Italian dishes tasted — truly a highlight and a pleasant surprise. The location is beautiful, and the restaurant’s design is aesthetically pleasing.

Unfortunately, the service experience was disappointing. Despite being the only guests at first (and only two more arriving later), we had to wait 30–40 minutes for our food. It took 10 minutes to receive the first glass with ice cubes, and an additional five minutes for the second. The juice we ordered was extremely bitter and more reminiscent of tea than actual juice. Salt and pepper were not provided at the table; we had to fetch them ourselves.

The service felt unprofessional and inattentive. The staff member appeared disinterested in his work, which impacted the overall atmosphere. Given that the restaurant was nearly empty, we had expected faster and more attentive service.

In summary: excellent flavors and a lovely setting, but the service needs significant improvement to match the quality...

This restaurant serves delicious and unique pizzas. Some of the pizzas are traditional Italian Neapolitan-style (margherita and quattro formaggi) and others add Syrian ingredients. All of the pizzas are made with very fresh ingredients and are served just as they come out of the oven. Some of my favorite pizzas here are the zaatar and the sujuk. The zaatar pizza is is full of delicious spices and has fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, pistachios and mint on top. It is light and refreshing. The sujuk pizza looks like a basic Italian/American sausage pizza, but the pizza sauce is made with red peppers and the sausage itself is homemade and packed with delicious and unexpected spices. This pizza is unlike anything I have tasted before. I was lucky enough to try all of the pizzas at this restaurant and all of them are absolutely delicious. Also, the owner of the restaurant and staff are very friendly and go out of their way to make sure you have a great experience. I cannot recommend this...

ioEnta is a wonderful experience to the curious and adventurous palate, the fusion of such exquisite cuisines (Syrian and Italian) comes to reality in the creative menu that ioEnta offers bringing to you a wave of aroma, ancestral tastes and the gift of cultural exploration. The restaurant is cozy and relaxed, the warmth of the oven makes it extra special and the view of the kitchen allows you to watch as Ali, Leah and their team prepare the delicious meals. You will not leave ioEnta without learning at least one or two interesting facts about the Syrian cuisine and its mouth-watering ingredients from Ali, who is always looking to share and get to know your impressions about the food.

ioEnta is my personal choice for a night-out with the fam in beautiful Barrio San Antonio. Give a try to my favorite highlights in the menu: for an aperitif an artisanal local beer, for an entrée Zaatar with focaccia bread and for the plat principal Sijjeh Pizza!...