Ciao Italian Restaurant &Bar — Restaurant in Myrtle Beach

We usually only visit this restaurant once a year on our trip to myrtle. In the past, we’ve had great experiences. Today, 5/26, was a very unfortunate experience at Ciao. Our waitress, Ina, provided very poor customer service. The first instance was when Ina told me the soup of the day was creamy broccolini. About 10 minutes later after my peers received their salads, she came back to tell me the soup changed. It didn’t make sense to me, but I brushed it off. This tells me that she was not doing her due diligence. The real issue was when my three peers ordered their entrees. They all ordered the spaghetti and meatballs - stated clearly. Next thing we know, she brought them spaghetti with meat sauce. We were all confused and nicely told her that the orders were wrong. Ina said she thought she heard them say ‘spaghetti and meat sauce,’ which is not even a listed menu item. I’m not sure how she heard that or assumed. This probably is due to the fact that she didn’t care to repeat our orders back to us before putting them in. Ina did not try to rectify the situation at all. She told us we could pay for meatballs separately. Why did we have to pay when she made a mistake? We tried to question her logic politely, but it was getting us nowhere. She simply didn’t care and didn’t want to provide good customer service by offering what we ordered. On top of this, she gave us a very rude, disingenuous attitude from that point on - as if it were our fault. We even had to ask for water refills; she was not attentive. She used unprofessional slang by saying “you feel me?” All the other waiters/waitresses were attentive to the tables surrounding us, so this is clearly not an issue with the rest of the staff. At the end of the meal, she said she wanted to make up for the issue with a free dessert, which was mind-boggling. We were full and just wanted to leave at this point, so we declined. Why in the world can you offer free dessert, but can’t offer the meatballs we ordered? We came for meatballs, not dessert. This tells me she probably didn’t talk to the manager to handle the situation appropriately. When we walked out to leave, we noticed her gossiping with two other staff members at the hostess stand, which sums up her professionalism and attitude. This was a very uncomfortable situation that is making us wary of...

Food atmosphere was good. I am allergic to onions and asked for my chicken Milanese to be without onions, they bring me well cooked chicken(overcooked) with a bed of salad and onions underneath. I kindly tell waiter to please change this because I can’t have onions. They bring me back my dish and it’s now Veal Milanese over a bed of onions !!! Now I said I’m sorry but not only did they give me onions again but now they switched my chicken to veal! I certainly did not ask for Veal! Thank god I’m not allergic to veal because this would have now been a health situation . The manager came and wanted to make sure we were ok not knowing that now they served me veal with onions . I informed him that they made a double mistake now . I said it’s fine just leave it. I didn’t eat my meal because it is definitely not what I ordered and I did not want to make a scene because that’s not the type of person I am. My father told manager that veal is his favorite meal mind you this was my meal not his , but the manager assumed I was fine ! Needless to say when bill came they charged me for my meal, no courtesy was given for the double mistake they made not once but twice with a bigger error second time around changing my dish from chicken to veal without any alert! I addressed the manager and expressed how I was a little upset about what occurred and he stated over and over WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO DO SINCE IT LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE SOME SORT OF EXPECTATION! He embarrassed me in front of my family by repeating this phrase 3 times . And also I felt embarrassed in front of other people eating at the restaurant. Money is not the issue here as I spent 600$ the day before at Bistro90, Its the way he handled the situation and made me feel like I was someone wanting to argue over a free meal. I have gotten better service at Olive Garden sad to say. I really hope the owner views this review and addresses the manager on how to appropriately handle these double mistakes in the future. A simple let me throw in a courtesy dessert for the trouble would of solved this issue easily and avoided the entire situation. I would of kindly paid for my wrong meal knowing they felt bad for their error . It’s simple customer service . Highly recommended by a friend and I had the worst...

ZERO if we could During our recent visit to Ciao, we encountered an experience that compels us to share and caution others, particularly those who may share aspects of our demographics. My husband, who is white, initially entered the restaurant alone and was greeted warmly by the hostess, who informed him there was no wait. However, the atmosphere shifted dramatically when he returned with me, who is black, and our 3 1/2-year-old daughter.

Upon seeing us together, the demeanor of the hostess noticeably changed. Her expression of surprise quickly turned to what appeared to be discomfort, if not disdain. Without a word, she led us past several empty and more comfortably located tables to seat us at a small, isolated table in a corner by the doors used by the servers, far from other diners.

When we requested to move to one of the many vacant booths, the hostess, still without speaking, moved us abruptly, leaving the menus on the table with a noticeable lack of courtesy. The whole interaction left us feeling profoundly unwelcome and hinted at underlying biases that were hard to ignore.

As financially successful individuals who have dined globally, including at Michelin-starred establishments, we understand the value of respect and proper service. Unfortunately, the treatment we received at Ciao fell woefully short of these standards. It is essential to highlight that such behaviors deeply impact the dining experience and reflect poorly on the establishment.

We left the restaurant without dining, deciding that we could not support a venue that treated us in such a manner. This experience at Ciao was a stark reminder that prejudice and poor service are still all too present in some establishments. We will not be returning and advise others, especially those from minority backgrounds, to consider our experience when choosing...