San Carlo Cicchetti Riyadh — Restaurant in Municipality of Olaya

Well .. let's start : the review was re- reviewed on November 8th 2021 as the quality went down significantly .

New update at the bottom.

Location , one of old areas in Riyadh but still classy and good . Parking could be an issue .

Reception : dry average but the issue is not the attitude , I came without a reservation and they didn't declare it clearly that they don't want to seat me Indore as I didn't have a reservation , asked me to wait for an unpredicted time not less than 45 min , despite it was early night middle of the week .

We finally agreed to be seated outdoor and here we have the action ;

For 30 min : no waiters , not plates , no glasses and nothing .

We called one of the waiters ( white male ) and asked him if we can change the table to indoor for better service ,

He said sure I will double check and come back to you .. then he just ignored us and went to another table .and never come back .

We were extremely lucky that night .. a philippino waiter ( Mr Don don ) toke over the service of our table and we started our night ....

He made me give 4 stars otherwise I was planing to give only 1 by just changing all the experience to ana amazing one .

Food :

Perfect , we had the octupus salad that was crazy good . Burata pitza was great too . Mr Don don suggested the truffle ravioli and it was great idea . Amalfi mojito and japanese mojito was good too . Dessert : we got the mount cristalia and was from another world .

Prices : not bad at all compared to other italian restaurant in Riyadh , and for the food you are going to enjoy I think prices are really good .

Would I come again ? I just made another booking for Friday lunch with family .

Things I want to try again ? The dessert and to have Mr Don don again .

November 8th 2021 ..

Table service was zero .. help yourself is the new logo .

We were not served at all , plates were placed on the table and you shall serve your guests .

Tables were not clean enough, spotted and glass bottoms marks are clearly visible .

Cleanliness was even worse, the drink glass was sticky at the holder from waiters hands .

Tables didn't get cleaned from empty glasses or dishes till we asked for it , many many times .

Service gets zero out of 10 this time unfortunately .

Would I come back ?

I will think twice before I come

Would I invite someone ?

No .. never ... The place doesn't reflect a classy...

love cicchetti I 've been here for friday family lunch, I expected and this is just as a great. beyond having andenjoying an amazing italain cusine here, I enjoyed the atmosphere of the restaurant design that is chic yet warm and inviting, even though I was expecting its not crowded in this fiery atmosphere during Friday afternoon but I surprised by that the restaurant is crowded and requires advance reservation I asked the so kind gentelwomen receptionist to put me in the queue if any. She apologized and said I will register your number and call you back. after less than five minutes passed, the receptionist called me and said my table is ready. I was very pleased as I was hungry and since most of their dishes are suitable for sharing, we ordered five dishes, all of which were very delicious, tasty, and presenred gently, but the restaurant needs to review thier menu price versus food portion which is a bit lettle for the menu price. The risotto zucca was served inside the fresh pumpkin. It was a wonderful and delicious choice for our child. The fried diavola shrimp served in a glass cup with spicy Calabrian sauce and french fries were the first dishes that arrived at our table and it was delicious. Then the tartufo pizza served with its delicious ingredients buffalo mozzarella, porcini mushroom, black truffle and rocca Topped with a thin slices of parmesan cheese and truffle oil. Finally, Veal Milanese a large, thin slice of fried veal with olive oil, garlic and rosemary, served with bone on top and I don't forget the refreshing mixed berry mojito, but it needs to increase mix volume and reduce ice cube and lemon. It was a lovely & awesome experience to have a family friday lunch out. The staff is friendly and helpful, the distribution of tables inside the restaurant needs to be reconsidered in terms of number and floor plan to ensure smoth walk way instead of passing via many tables , and I suggest that the external area should be taken advantage of, especially On the beveled side. and I think they need to enhance the resturant facade. I highly recomend it for romantic occasions, quick gathering, but be sure to make advance table reserve to Get ready to enjoy a fine Italian dining...

I’m somewhat disappointed with my experience at this restaurant. The ambiance is nice and cozy and the servers friendly and attentive that’s the good. The bad, management is not remotely familiar with hospitality and not at all responsive to customers needs. We were seated in the back section and when we sat down there was only one table with two customers. The waiter was taking to long going over every item in the menus the other table. After 10 minutes of waiting we asked to have our order taken and we were told we have to wait for this one waiter that is taking to long at the other table, 5 minutes later I flagged someone who appears to be a manger he said just a minute and then, he returned to say you have to wait for the busy waiter. I waited few more minutes and grabbed another manager who asked another waiter to come and take our order. I learned later that the first manager was actually the general manager. I’m sorry but that’s not hospitality and customer service. We ordered and the food was under whelming the vitello tonato had nice meat but the sauce was more like a deli tuna salad than a delicate sauce, with both the texture and taste disappointing. Smoked chicken salad was good but not overly creative. Our last appetizer was the four corn salad again not meeting the description of being served in a cream foam instead it turned out to be unappetizing heavy cream and truffle oil sneaked in although not in the description, and I happened not to like truffle oil. We had one dish that was successful it was the gnocchi gorgonzola and the beef short ribs was good. We finished with lemon sorbet and papa toto. I would say there are better Italian restaurants at this price point and I have no reason to...