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Ciao Osteria, Chef Antonino Di Nicola's Neapolitan Wood-Fired Pizzas and Italian in Centreville


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Wife and I tried it today. Didn't even know it was here even though they have been open for seven months. Pizza was good.

Service was fine. I wasn't really clear whether all pizzas are VPN or just the three under the VPN heading on the menu. The waitress gave a confusing answer when I asked, so I am still not sure. But I think they are all VPN?

Anyway, nice to have this place nearby. My kids always whine about going to Pupatella because of how far away it is. Ciao isn't Pupatella, but still good and much closer. I will have to take the kids soon.

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I got a note from my friend Ron in Centreville, who's originally from Philadelphia. I'm originally from Northern Virginia but lived in Philadelphia for 9 years and I've told Ron that the DC/Northern Virginia area doesn't have any solid Italian restaurants that I've been a fan of. He's recommended Filomena's in Georgetown and Zefferellis in Herndon. I haven't made it to either establishment yet. The note he sent me through Facebook said "Hey, have you checked out Ciao Osteria in Centreville? It was named one of the 100 Best restaurants in the US by OpenTable.com". I don't know what that means. I don't know how one comes upon receiving that honor, but we took notice.

I'm telling my wife about this place and she asks where its located. I look it up on Google Maps and I'm thinking, "Don't tell me it went into that old Ledo's location, which became a Scottos location which then became a Pomodoro location for all of 4 mos" Sure enough, that's where it is.

My best friend from Grade School, Brian, who is my daughter's godfather is visiting from LA and we took him to Ciao Osteria for a New Year's Eve dinner last night and we were really happy with our visit. The interior is absolutely charming. Very hard to believe it's the same space. It's very warm and cozy. With the Christmas decorations still up the place sparkled.

I had my standard draught Peroni while my wife had a glass of Negra Amaro which was nice and then a glass of the Montepulciano which she also liked. We started with the Bruschetta appetizer for $9 and the Burrata for $16. Both were good. The bruschetta bread was a little heavy, but fine otherwise. The burrata seemed like it cost a lot for a little, but it tasted sublime. Really smooth and delicious.

I went with the Spaghetti Carbonara which was excellent. There are so many hack restaurants that can't get such a simple recipe right and these guys nailed it. My wife had the Gnocchi Tricolore which were gnocchi dumplings with pesto, cream and meat sauce arranged to look like the Italian flag. This too was wonderful. Light and flaky dumplings and all three sauces were great, with the meat sauce being our favorite. My friend Brian got the chicken special which was moist and delicious.

The owner, Sal, came by the table to talk to us and he was a genuinely nice host. He spent a lot of time talking to my 10 year old daughter who was drawing in her sketch book. When he saw that she was drawing Manga he told her about the extensive time he spent in Asia while in the military and really connected with her.

We ended the evening splitting three desserts; Mango mousse (nothing special) the tiramasu (very good) and the showstopper an ice cream Bomba which was a combination of citrus sorbet and white and dark frozen chocolate -it was amazing!.

The restaurant has a beautiful pizza oven and they've apparently applied for VPN certification. I'm a Pupatella disciple, so next time I'm going to try their pizza. So nice to have such an excellent Italian restaurant only 5 minutes from home.

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Can't say much about the restaurant, but I have worked with Sal the owner for over 20 years at American Airlines. He is a captain on the 737. He flies turnarounds so he can be there all evening and most days. He used to own a restaurant in Mclean, but i don't know war the name of it was. He originally was opening the restaurant in Clifton at the old Heart in Hand location, I have never asked him what happened there. I may go tonight to check it out.

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My daughter is a huge lasagna fan, so picking an Italian restaurant for her birthday celebration was a no-brainer.  After perusing the dining guide for someplace close to us, we decided on Ciao.

We had a group of 8 and tried to make a reservation on OpenTable, only to be told that we exceeds the number of diners allowed to reserve online.  I called the restaurant directly and had no problem making a reservation.  We arrived and realized why they don't allow large parties to reserve via OpenTable.  The restaurant has about 12 booths total lining the two side walls and about 12 tables of 4 in the center.   When we arrived, one table of 4 was empty and the table next to it was finished but hadn't vacated the table yet.  We waited around 15 minutes for them to leave. No big deal.  Later in the night, the owner came by and told us they can sometimes squeeze a 10 top in, but that is the absolute limit for them.  He also told us they had acquired the Baskin Robbins next store and planned to expand into that area.  He said he was going to have a bigger bar in the back, more tables, and a gelato bar in the front.

We started with the bruschetta and the calamari appetizers.  As buzzy mentioned, the bruschetta was good, but the bread was very large and heavy, which made it difficult to eat w/o using a knife and fork.  The calamari was very good - tender and well-cooked and served with a lemon pesto sauce and a marinara sauce.  They also brought rolls out, with an olive oil/balsamic vinegar/parmesan cheese mix to dip the bread.

My F-I-L ordered the wine special because he wasn't familiar with anything on the wine list.  He worked in South America for most of his career, so he usually sticks with South American wines.  I did not see the wine list, but I would assume it was mostly Italian wines.  It was our only mistake the whole meal.  The wine was not very good and I would recommend avoiding it.

For entrees, four of us had veal.  I had the La Milanese, which came out with a heaping serving of arugula over a thin piece of breaded veal with two roasted tomato quarters and topped with lemon rosemary dressing and shaved parmigiana reggiano.  I enjoyed this dish, but had to search a bit to find the veal underneath the arugula.  It was a light but satisfying meal.   The other three got Fiorentina, which was sautéed and topped with fresh sliced tomato, eggplant, prosciutto and mozzarella with a cream sauce and side of pasta.  My sister was kind enough to share some with me, and I thought it was a much richer dish than what I ordered.  It was delicious.

My husband got the chicken special, which I believe was rolled with prosciutto, mushrooms, and mozzarella with a cream sauce served with a side of pasta.  He enjoyed it, but I wasn't able to get a taste of it. My mother got the Linguini Vongole, which was linguini pasta served with clams in a garlic or tomato sauce.  She went with the garlic sauce. We are half Italian and she used to make spaghetti and clams for us growing up.  She loved this dish and claimed she would order it again in a heartbeat.  She wouldn't say if it rivaled what she used to make, but she was very happy with this version.

Finally, the birthday girl got the Lasagna Di Carne, which were lasagna noodles with meat sauce, ricotta cheese and mozzarella served in a round dish.  Normally, she eats about half of any lasagna and takes the other half home.  Not this one.  Every bite was consumed!  I was at the other end of the table, so I didn't get any, but she really enjoyed it.

They offered a birthday dessert for the birthday girl, but we passed.  Don't judge, but she loves ice cream cake, so we went home to sing and eat Carvel ice cream cake.  For her, it was a perfect ending to a wonderful 18th birthday.

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They offered a birthday dessert for the birthday girl, but we passed.  Don't judge, but she loves ice cream cake, so we went home to sing and eat Carvel ice cream cake.  For her, it was a perfect ending to a wonderful 18th birthday.

Absolutely, totally off topic, BUT, I too like ice cream cake (consumed after consuming a whole bottle of lactose pills) AND I was just in the new chocolate/ice cream shop on King St in Alexandria, Kilwins, probably 400 block.  They have custom ice cream cakes that just look like they would be awesome.  I want to try one out, I wish they would offer slices to go!  They seem to be a chain, but I had some fudge and ice cream from there recently that was really good.  So if you are ever in that area...

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Solid homemade Italian food and pizza.  Caesar Salad is excellent, just don't go back to work after as  you will smell like a garlic clove.  Specials are listed along with normal menu - you can't really go wroing with anything on the menu.  They expanded next door and opened a gelato place (have not been there yet).  Desserts at Ciao are good as well, save room.

Staff is attentive and sincere.

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14 hours ago, Ferris Bueller said:

Solid homemade Italian food and pizza.  Caesar Salad is excellent, just don't go back to work after as  you will smell like a garlic clove.  Specials are listed along with normal menu - you can't really go wroing with anything on the menu.  They expanded next door and opened a gelato place (have not been there yet).  Desserts at Ciao are good as well, save room.

Staff is attentive and sincere.

My kid and I often go for gelato when we get haircuts next door at CC Salon. The gelato is very good.

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Had lunch here today as was in the area and wanted to treat myself to something not in my normal rounds.  Great lunch, small Caesar Salad and Lasagna - yea pretty basic, but great.  I rolled myself out of there as I managed to clear my plate.  Service was excellent and the owner stopped by my table (eating alone) and asked to make sure everything to my liking.  I watched him do this with every table, which, despite having a solid business, it is nice to observe at lunch on a Tuesday.  

If you like Italian food and weekly specials which are unique, this is certainly worth a visit.

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Went with Grover and some friends to a 4-course with paired wines dinner arranged by one of the friends on Wednesday night.  We were seated in the private, small dining area which is conveniently close to the rest rooms but far enough away that we weren't disturbed by others.  The food was okay, nothing really special.  We started with Bruschetta topped with burrata.  This was probably the most interesting dish presented.  (I'm going to avoid the wine pairings because they were okay but not outrageously outstanding.)  The second course was rigatoni with an unusual sauce which I can only describe as similar to bread crumbs.  Interesting and tasty. The third course was a small filet with broccoli.  I don't, as a rule, eat much beef so I had duck.  I had a bite of the beef and it was quite good, closer to medium than to medium rare but tasty.  The duck was actually the best part of the meal.  Nice and pink centered and well seasoned.  Dessert was tiramisu. Not really surprising or unusual but pleasant.  The final tab for two was over $400.   Yep, $200 a person.  While the food was good, it wasn't quite that good as the price to value ratio was not quite in sync and definitely not in the Roberto category. If we happen to be in the Centerville area we might go for pizza but for fine dining, I think we'll stick with Roberto's Ristorante.

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3 hours ago, Escoffier said:

Went with Grover and some friends to a 4-course with paired wines dinner arranged by one of the friends on Wednesday night.  We were seated in the private, small dining area which is conveniently close to the rest rooms but far enough away that we weren't disturbed by others.  The food was okay, nothing really special.  We started with Bruschetta topped with burrata.  This was probably the most interesting dish presented.  (I'm going to avoid the wine pairings because they were okay but not outrageously outstanding.)  The second course was rigatoni with an unusual sauce which I can only describe as similar to bread crumbs.  Interesting and tasty. The third course was a small filet with broccoli.  I don't, as a rule, eat much beef so I had duck.  I had a bite of the beef and it was quite good, closer to medium than to medium rare but tasty.  The duck was actually the best part of the meal.  Nice and pink centered and well seasoned.  Dessert was tiramisu. Not really surprising or unusual but pleasant.  The final tab for two was over $400.   Yep, $200 a person.  While the food was good, it wasn't quite that good as the price to value ratio was not quite in sync and definitely not in the Roberto category. If we happen to be in the Centerville area we might go for pizza but for fine dining, I think we'll stick with Roberto's Ristorante.

Dang. We have enjoyed Ciao's pizza in the past, but $400+ for a meal in a strip mall two doors down from where I get my hair cut.... pass

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On 3/10/2023 at 12:28 PM, Bob Wells said:

Dang. We have enjoyed Ciao's pizza in the past, but $400+ for a meal in a strip mall two doors down from where I get my hair cut.... pass

I'm reasonably sure the the pizza is still under a $100 a person.  :D

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