Ciao — Restaurant in Wausau

If this reviewed only the quality of the food and their attention to social distancing and COVID-19 safety, this would score a 3 or 4. Unfortunately, service is part of the deal, and the place either didn't prepare for this Wednesday night crowd or our server forgot about us. But the safety measures were extremely well done.

COVID-19 Safety: All staff wore face masks and in-person dining had adequate spacing and all surfaces were cleaned after patrons left. Outside dining seemed too closely spaced, but I’m assuming less concerns about droplets. They even use a QR code to access the menu. I wish they had a way for customers to use contactless payment as well.

Service: This was incredibly problematic. After being seated, we should have taken note of how long it took for our waitress to come to the table. After that, it went downhill. After taking our order we waited. She finally came back and said our bread would be up soon. And it was...20 minutes later. When she said our drinks were at the bar we knew better. Ten minutes later they finally arrived. Only the glass of Pepsi hit the right notes.

Deceptive practices: Train your wait staff to make it clear that the soup or salad is an add-on. After taking the entree order, train them to say, "Would you like to add soup or a salad to your order?" Rather than, "Soup or salad?" Trust me...the lobster bisque was only OK. My wife found it had a funky taste and my daughter stopped after two bites. I didn't mind the soup and ate the whole bowl. What I didn't like is how high my total bill was with the $18.00 bowl of tomato soup with flecks of lobster in it.

Food: I ordered Cacio e Pepe, my daughter chicken Parmesan, and my wife fettuccini Alfredo. My daughter loved how thin the chicken cutlet was and said it tasted fantastic, but she was not impressed with the pasta. Her quote? “I’ve had better at Olive Garden. My wife disliked everything about her meal. She said the fettuccini was too thin and almost “ribbony.”

The Cacio e Pepe was “Okay.” I’m wondering if they created the sauce in the pan, poured it in the serving dish and the placed the bucatini on top. My first bites were far too tough. There is al dente and then there is al notdonete; this pasta fell into the latter. I wish they had allowed the sauce to finish the pasta. Too little pepper in the first bites but after I thoroughly mixed and coated the pasta with sauce (something that should be done in the pan in the kitchen, it allowed the pepper to stand out.

To sum up, I believe staff needs training to make clear that soup and salad are add-ons. And, if Wednesday evenings are going to be busy due to “dine on the street” have adequate wait staff or close the dining room to allow a focus on customers in whatever space is deemed the priority.

It’s just a shame because we were excited to try this place because of their homemade pasta. But given the service and extra $18 for lobster bisque that was presented as if it came with the entree, I don’t know if we will return. I honestly make a better Cacio e Pepe at home, and we don’t have to worry about...

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Food: ⭐⭐ Atmosphere: ⭐⭐⭐

So, I love small businesses. To me it's the most American thing. But truth be told, I really don't think Ciao should exist. Here's why.

I'll start with the good.

This restaurant has amazing service / wait staff. I've never had a bad exp with the wait staff and people who work there. They are incredible. Another plus is, they are actually open most of the time (unlike a lot of Wausau restaurants).

However, the food is just not good. I've eaten here 3 times now. Hoping each time would be better. Each time have had a range of food. I think the first time was the baked chicken. Then it was pasta & french onion soup. And just recently, the veal chop.

Out of all this, the only thing I tasted and thought to myself, this is amazing, was the pork belly appetizer.

The rest of the food is just not right. Maybe it's my taste in food. Maybe it's the fact I expect italian food to taste italian (my point of reference is the italian food scene in New York City).

Often the flavors are just off. Or there is too much salt and it overpowers the entire dish.

Generally, I do not plan to go back after 3 experiences spaced out over some time.

The atmosphere is not bad. But it feels very open and hard to have a private dinner conversation there. The way it's designed also feels disjointed (designed referring to the themes, art, chairs, lighting, etc).

Maybe I'm expecting an italian feeling restaurant given the name. Maybe I'm just a picky ass hole. But I just don't think this restaurant deserves to be charging the prices it does with the type of food...

Really wish I could remember our servers name, I believe it was Raloui, or something along those lines. Real tall, older guy. Went there with a friend of mine a few weeks ago who just got back from the Army. Without a doubt one of the best servers I've ever had in my life. He talked with us for a while about school, work, what we got going on in our lives, etc. My friend and our server talked about their experiences in the military for a while. He also was very helpful with giving us a run down of the restaurant since it was our first time here. Real humble guy, apolgized for the wait on our food (even though it was only like 10-15 mins if that)even as far as to to tell us to "save our tips" for him because we needed it more than he did, which if that doesn't show ya how humble this guy was, I dont know what will. Can't express how amazing this server was, but I hope he knows he made our first time an awesome experience. As for the food, we got toast and some plate of clams for both of us to share, I ordered lobster bisque and my buddy got some sort of lobster Alfredo thing. It was all amazing, tasted fresh, seasoned great, wasnt cold, and the prices on them were pretty reasonable. The atmosphere was superb, very relaxing, almost romantic. Definitely will have to bring my girlfriend there sometime. I'm suprised I walked past this place so many times and never gave it a try until now. My experience was a 10/10 for the atmosphere, food and for the server, which I hope to see him again on our next visit. Highly...