Ciccio — Restaurant in Yountville

We had been looking forward to this reservation for 1 month. At first it was ok with the extremely close tables (3-5”) in between each one and the loudness… for me it was nostalgic of living and dining in NY, my partner wasn’t thrilled as he could barely hear me and it wasn’t even as busy as a weekend night m(some empty tables).

The wine was good, the olives were good and the pizza was delicious (it is not easy to find good pizza in the Bay Area after living in NYC.

I got the cacio e Pepe, Got the White truffles… 1st of all, I think they forgot to add them initially as it was really bland, I won’t say bad, it was tasteless… ps… it’s a $75 upcharge for white truffles… they tried to make it better by shaving more on there… didn’t really help and definitely not worth the upcharge. The roasted greens were extremely over salted… don’t bother. The espresso was extremely acidic. We are coffee connoisseurs. We’ve lived and dined all over the world, including NYC, Bay Area and Europe… not sure why this is in the Michelin Guide book as a “Bib.”

The cacio e Pepe would have been maybe better as an actual bucatini/pasta dish, not as a ricotta gnudi… and it’s like they forgot the pepper all together. It’s $28 for 5-6 1.5” gnudi plus $75 for the white truffle… which is tasteless (please note, aware that “truffle oil” is not the same and overly strong.)

Sadly, we were disappointed. Our server was really great from the beginning, but it felt like at the end she sent other ppl over which wasn’t really appreciated and we were surprised they charged for the pizza they “gave” us bc they didn’t want us to leave hungry as the cacio e Pepe was not close to finished or satisfying.

Sour end to what started as a great night. Partner wasn’t thrilled with his pork chops, not really into fried food. But that was a mistake in his understanding. He couldn’t hear it was fried bc of the noise and by then we didn’t have our...

Ok ill admit it up front, I shouldn’t be reviewing Italian restaurants in the U.S., which I usually avoid. I’m italian, I make fresh pasta, pizza and have had some of the best meals of my life in Italia and at my Nona’s table. But I heard great things about Ciccio, and we love Charter Oak, its cousin, so we went (someone also treated, so hey).

On to the food:

Focaccia? That’s not focaccia, its sky high bread - focaccia should be thin and bubbly and crispy. I’m not sure what that was.

Pizza - crust was ok, a little dense, certainly not a Napoli pie. But Avocado? I’m open to California Pizza, I make them, but big chunks of Avocado just don’t belong on a pie, it was like a bad joke of a Cali-Pie.

Pork Chop Milanese - this is the reason I decided to post a review. Milanese is pounded thin and gently pan fried, served tender crisp. At Ciccio it’s clear they just throw it in the deep fryer, like they are making a Torta Milanese up at Azteca Market, the taqueria in Saint Helena (which is great BTW). But we are not in Mexico, we are in Italy, this is what happens in Yountville.

Swordfish special - was undercooked and limp, not grilled like a good spada grilliata in Sicilia. More like a crudo- I’m up for rare in the middle tuna, it’s not how you cook Spada and this was raw in more than the middle.

Desserts were good, wine list had some nice whites and values (Greco was nice) but scan over to the reds and the prices - are we in the same restaurant?

Room is nice, outdoor very nice, but I just don’t get the line out the door and the hype. Again, Charter Oak is fantastic, we go there often, not sure what happened here.

Welcome to Yountville, where it’s Valentines...

I think I just found my new favorite restaurant in Napa. I love everything about the place. Outside doesn't even look like a restaurant. Very understated. Inside felt casual and comfortable. Service was perfect and just watching the servers move about the room it was clear they worked well together like an efficient humming orchestra. We ordered the lamb sausage pizza, gnudi, agnolotti, Caesar salad and tiramisu. LOVED everything, although could have skipped the gnudi as it is quite the large yummy cheese pills. I would prefer to save my richness intake for more of the agnolotti with mortadella and the pistachio topped sauce which I have to say was THE most delicious pasta bite dish ever! I usually am not impressed with small filled pasta bites but I was just schooled. Loved the texture, and the mouth watering sauce was to die for. I could have licked the plate. The lamb sausage pizza sounds weird but omg it was excellent. It had a tangy and a bit spicy seasoning with a good crunch. Not too oily and perfectly executed. The salad was also excellent as every other reviewer can vouch for. The tiramisu looked a bit meh with several large brownish looking lady fingers soaked in its sauce, topped with a simple whipped layer of mascarpone mix and a sprinkling of quality shaved chocolate. It was saturated with sauce yet held up well in the chew and bite. It was understated by appearance but absolutely delicious. As full as, I easily could have made a calorie intake exception and ate another all on my own. I would bet that everything Ciccio was cooking that night would have been delicious and memorable. It was a good night to eat great food at Ciccio,... and I...