Ciao Capri — Restaurant in Virginia

So excited to find this place! If you've ever lived in or visited Italy and are missing it you will find some nostalgia eating here. It's a cozy restaurant with romantic lighting, calm atmosphere, friendly staff, traditional Italian food w/beautiful seafood & pasta dishes.

When we walked in the door we noticed the soft Italian music playing in the background and the walls covered in gorgeous pictures of the island of Capri. Even though we arrived 15 minutes early they seated us immediately. Our server brought us water and fresh bread with a nice parsley and garlic dipping sauce to enjoy while we looked at the menu.

Our waiter was very knowledgeable of the dishes and quickly rattled off at least 4 or 5 specials that they were having that night. After looking at the menu for about 10 minutes my sister noted that this was probably the 1st time she's been to a restaurant where she wanted to try every single dish on the menu!

The wine selection was a bit limited then I'm used to for an Italian restaurant but it did have some nice options. I initially ordered the Nebbiolo but since they were out (a popular choice) I ended up trying their Nero D’Avola. Both lovely Italian wines you don't typically see at restaurants in NC.

For our primi piatti we settled on one of the specials, Cozze in Bianco (mussels simmered in white wine, butter, garlic, parsley) and the Polpette di Peppino (meat balls in Chiummenzana sauce). Both recieved 2 thumbs up from the table. The sauce for the mussels was so good that people were spooning it into their mouths.

For the secondi our table ordered the Tagliolini Nerano (which was the favorite of the majority of our party, but not necessarily your typical Italian dish). Surprisingly it was the sweet fried zucchini garnish that everyone really commented on.

We also ordered Ravioli con Aragosta (w/Lobster) which was one of the specials of the night. The table next to us kept saying how heavenly they were so we decided to try some. This was also a favorite at our table. The only critique was that the stuffing was more like a puree and while the taste of lobster was there it was lacking the chunks of flesh you would typically bite into in Italy. So while it was delicious, adding a little more lobster and texture would have made it exceptional! However, considering the price of the dish it was extremely reasonable for what it was.

I admit we stayed on the conservative side with our orders ending with the Gamberi Arrabiata -Shrimp sautéed with white wine, shaved garlic, plum tomato and crushed red pepper flakes, tossed with lingui​ne.

After having lived in Italy for the last three years it was exciting to eat here. Everything was excellent and next time we plan to be a little more adventurous with our choices and maybe try the rockfish or lemon risotto with scallops; which also come highly recommended.

I might add that the one thing that contributed the most to this authentic feel was the fact that one of the co-owners was there on the floor interacting with all the guests. This is very typical of a restaurants in Italy. Owners talk to their customers, and are constantly aware of orders; it keeps the quality of service and satisfaction high. We met one of the owners, Alberto. He stopped our table a couple times asking how our food was, what our favorite dish was and even cracked a few jokes making us laugh. He was so personable and even took the time to pose in a picture with us, which really says a lot about his commitment to his customers.

My only other request was that they didn't offer any vegan/vegetarian options (other than a salad) which is really important with today's growing market. While their kitchen may be accommodating to prepare something for a vegan/vegetarian guest, it would be nice not to have to request a special order and just be able to order it off the menu. It would be nice to add a simple tagliatelle ai funghi, Gnocchi alla sorrentina, or orecchiette di cime di rapa or any of the many traditional vegetarian dishes.

We are definitely looking forward to our...

Ciao Capri is a truly authentic family run Italian restaurant with fantastic food and a great ambiance and environment to go with it. Co-owner Alberto along his brother Peppino Mastromano do a fabulous job providing award winning cuisine while making their guests feel like family. Peppino is the head chef and Alberto runs the front of the restaurant. It is clear from the attentiveness and warmth of the staff that they have been doing this a very long time and know how to make guests feel welcome. The bar area is very well done and is large enough to sit 20+ guests while the dinning room has dim lights and beautiful photos of Italy making you feel like you are there. I started off with a great glass of red wine and also an eggplant appetizer which was delicious and fresh bread with fresh home made pesto was a staple being offered to everyone with a flavorful imported buttery olive oil. I had the ravioli for dinner which include fresh made pasta and a delicious tomato sauce and then finished dinner with home made cannoli's. Dinner was magnificent and the service and Alberto's personal attention made us feel like regular clients even though it was my first time there. Even though this place is located in a shopping mall the interior decorating and warm friendly vibe will make you think you are in a small cafe in Capri, the island where both of the Mastromano brothers are from originally and you will definitely be coming back to visit again. Great for families, friends and couples. Be sure to say hi to Alberto and ask for his advice for a great wine as we did - you will not be...

My wife and I went here for our anniversary dinner. Our waitress was very friendly and attentive. The food, however, did not meet our expectations.

We were very much looking forward to our evening, particularly due to the glowing reviews. I've never had authentic Italian food, so I cannot speak to how closely this measures up. I can say that what we had was very bland. The bread was bland and came with an olive oil and parsley dip, no seasoning. The calamari was cooked perfectly, but had no flavor. The tomato dipping sauce that came with them was watery. For my main, I had the taglioline nerano, a popular dish recommended by our waitress. It pretty much just tasted like noodles in butter. The shrimp themselves really had no flavor. My wife had the scallops, which were cooked perfectly, but came with an overabundance of risotto, which she said tasted like it had no salt at all.

I've been to Ireland and had authentic Irish food and a lot of it was bland, so I know some other countries don't season their food as much as we Americans do. But as much as I appreciate authenticity, I also want food that tastes good. The service and the surroundings were great, but I think I'll stick with...