Ciro Italian Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Athens

Went last night and I was so disappointed. Food and service are definitely lacking. We received bread that was still frozen in the middle and I ordered spaghetti, which was mediocre at best. Sauce was bland, tasted frozen, and had to pay extra for a meatball (which was not worth it). Our waiter was awful. Calamari was oily, boyfriends short rib ravioli was ok, but was served with veggies that were clearly frozen. We waited 30 minutes after being seated to order. Being a former waitress I am quite understanding, but this was seriously bad. I've had more tables at once than there are in this entire restaurant and have been more attentive. Had to constantly ask him to fill water and had to wait about 10 minutes before he actually did it. Never cleared plates of the table or took menus (all things a decent waiter should do). And I know it wasn't just us who got bad service from him. The table next to us waited forever to get their check collected, despite their efforts to flag him down (another waitress ended up getting it from them). Definitely not worth 5 stars, I'm assuming the other reviews are from friends of the owner or something. I was so excited for a italian restaurant in athens but I am let down. Especially sucks being a college student wasting the little money we do have on a less than...

We visited early in the evening as a party of two. Upon arrival to the nearly empty restaurant, we asked to be seated. We were asked if we had reservations, which we did not, and then were told we could be seated at the bar. We were not given the option to wait for a table. Because the bar did not have much space, we asked again if we could be seated at a table after we had a drink. The hostess denied our request to be seated at a table and we felt very disrespected. Earlier that day, I had checked the website and Facebook page to be sure reservations were not required - and neither page said they were. The photos on the review show the restaurant 25 minutes after our arrival - with a still empty restaurant. We elected to leave the restaurant as opposed to staying and paying for a meal at that point. Given the high rate of Covid in January 2022, it was also very concerning that instead of spreading patrons out, they had over half of the guests shoulder to shoulder at the bar. The bartender was fantastic during our visit and the drinks were very high quality - which is what warranted the two stars on...

Edit: since my old review, they must've changed some things back and it's pretty great again! My mushroom ravioli didn't have any truffle oil in it last time but oh well. The drinks are great too, especially import beers, and you HAVE to get the calamari here as an appetizer. Even if you hate calamari, you'll love this. Great staff too! Only thing I can say bad really is that the wall seat cushions need replaced badly, but that's trivial.

About a year and a half ago this was on my top 3 favorite restaurants in Athens, up with Jackie O's, Casa Nueva (which has also fallen a bit) and Salaam. The mushroom truffle ravioli isn't as nice as it used to be and somehow, it's rather runny/oily. They've also stripped extra vegetables that used to come with entrées, now for salmon, you'll just get some broccoli. It's a good restaurant, especially for a date (as long as you're not sitting on the front wall or outside), but the value and generosity just isn't there anymore. I think how you guys were 1½ years ago was a lot better. The shortcuts in quality but with the same price...