Via Cibo

Well. .. . Can’t recommend the pizza. After placing our order we think they lost it.. . It took at least 20 minutes for our pizza to arrive, and it wasn’t busy at the time. The toppings were tasty but sparse. The crust was horrible, soggy and limp. More like wet paper and flavorless. The girl that took our order was great and is wasting her time at a fast food place. Can’t say we will be back, although I hear the pasta is good but in my opinion everything is far too expensive for this type of place.

I gave this review 3 stars because of both the price and portion. Unfortunately this time round, i didn’t find the staff at the register overly friendly with no real acknowledgement of my arrival. Yet all this being said, you do get a fair amount for what you pay, and food is good.
When you enter, there is the ordering menu to the right, along with a cash register. (They also deliver the food to your table)
All of the names are different, and for say more complex then any other Italian restaurant menu, so be sure to look at the description bellow the title of the item before ordering it!
I personally had the margarita pizza, the dough is fresh and so is the rest of the ingredients.
Another one to try on the menu is the braised beef… Although it might not look like much, it is quite rich and filling, so you may have to share, or get the rest packaged up to go.
The overall visit was satisfying, despite some of the staff, and will probably be coming back in the near future!

This place was awesome. Came for dinner with new friends and left very full and a little tipsy. You order, pay and they bring everything to you. I skipped desert but next time for sure will save room for the brownie and gelato.

A special trip to Via Cibo is warranted after working up an appetite navigating the mazes of Ikea. The restaurant’s name translates to «Street Food», which begs one to think of simple Italian yumminess: paninis, pizzas, sandwiches and pastas.
The prices are slightly (about $ 1 to $ 2) cheaper than other local Italian restaurants with similar offerings (Famoso, Double Zero, Una). The ordering/​paying process is cumbersome. You order at the first till, pay and grab a number at the second till at the other end of the counter, choose a table and they’ll bring you your order.
I’m going to tell you right now most of their menu is mediocre except their pizzas. You SHOULD spend your money and belly room on their pizzas. Their prosciutto arugula pizza is one of the best I’ve had in Calgary. I love the whole tomatoes in the sauce, the generous topping of arugula, and the flavorful prosciutto even though it was cooked. The crust is light and airy yet hearty enough to fill hungry bellies.
They have a good selection of coffees, Italian sodas and Fiasco Gelato. We make our own floats with Sanpellegrino and Gelato.
I love the self serve water fountain, chili oil, and chili flakes. Despite the convenience setup, the staff are nice and friendly. We were pleasantly surprised when they gave us freshly grated Parmesan after we couldn’t find Parmesan shakers. They’ve got none of that sawdust powder most people lovingly call «cheese».
If you happen to be in the area, skip the chain restaurants and get great quality pizza at Via Cibo. Your belly will thank you.

This is a good restaurant if you want to eat Italian food. I’ve only tried the pollo alla Grillia and I would have it again. It is a clean place an they offer Italian sodas. overall a good experience.

The gnocchi was so fresh and heavenly and the pollo pesto pizza was very satisfying. They do not skimp on ricotta cheese on their kale salad, so good! It was very quick and affordable and we definitely would go again if in that area :)

Update: after vowing not to go back to Via Cibo, our friends wanted to meet us there just a couple of days after our initial visit. I told the manager what happened earlier in the week, and she was very apologetic and reduced the price of our meal. This time, all of the food was very good, as was the service. I still think it’s a bit pricey, but Via Cibo is no longer on my boycott list :-)
3.5 stars (due to the price)
We decided to check out Via Cibo for the first time for lunch today. After getting over the initial shock of the cost of lunch ($ 40 for two sandwiches and two sides and a $ 4 can of San Pellegrino), we took our first few bites of our meal. We immediately noticed that the salad served with the sandwiches was well past it’s prime. After bringing this to the attention of a staff member, he said «oh sorry about that» and that was the end of it. Then I bit into my sandwich, and to my dismay, the tomato on the sandwich was completely rotten. The rest of the food was quite good — maybe they were just having a really off day. In any case, we won’t be back. 1 star.

Nice casual place for a quick dinner. Staff were friendly and attentive. Found the food itself a little boring, but tasty enough.

Love the chicken salad and truffle fries. Everything there looks good. Hardly fast food tho, but easier access than the 17^th Ave location. Expensive.

This place isn’t quite a fast food restaurant and not exactly a sit down pne either, it’s a concept that is righ in the middle — AND it works!
I’ve now been here 6 times and I’ve ordered all the flatbread sandwiches, the Ossobuco pasta, picante pizza, arugula salad and Cavolo salad. I loved it all, the food here is simple, fast and good. The staff are very nice and accomodating. I would say if you’re int he area and craving a burger, stop in here instead and try it.

I don’t know a lot about Italian street food, but I did enjoy my visit to Via Cibo. It was a Friday evening, a bit before the rush, and I had the prosciutto piadino. It was a big flatbread sandwich, it tasted good, and I was full when I finished. My friends enjoyed a special of the day pasta and the ossobucco sandwich, and we tried the Italian donuts for dessert though I only had room for one. Those were very good.
From other reviews, I would guess that there is trouble if you go for lunch, but it’s a good choice for supper if it’s steady but not too busy.
Signage explains a high standard for ingredients and a focus on suppliers, so those who quibble at the cost of ‘street food’ should understand that this isn’t Subway. Pizza prices are comparable to other Napolitan pizza restaurants, and some of the pasta dishes are a bit cheaper than I’ve seen elsewhere.
I won’t rush back tonight, but if someone suggests Via Cibo for supper, I’d certainly go and enjoy a sandwich and Italian Soda. Just don’t sit in the path of the door if it’s a but chilly outside.

More like 3.4 stars, not quite 3.5 — so I’ve rounded the rating down, my apologies.
I’ve been to Via Cibo when they’ve recently opened, and generally liked the place — except for that blast of chilling wind every time the door was opening.
If you can imagine an upscale cheap lunch place — which is not that cheap now that it’s upscale — that’s what VC is.
Smaller portions, fresh, well made food of decent variety. Sort of what Subway should have been if it wasn’t Subway already.
I don’t mind at all to drop in anytime, and you shouldn’t either — just keep in mind it’s getting busy during the lunch hours, and parking may not be available in the immediate vicinity of the front door.

It’s hard to get a good feel for what Cibo Via is all about. Probably because I expect a similar experience to Cibo DT, I can’t help it, it’s clearly a more relaxed market experience with fast service.
But they just serve regular italian restaurant fare. I don’t know what makes these street food? I’ll have to scour through episodes of food shows to find out.
The food was great, albeit a little over priced. I’m ok with Via Cibo, but preferrably would go to the 17^th ave restaurant for the similar food and price.

Only earned 3-​stars but wanted to give it more. I heard great things about Cibo and watched Via Cibo get developed every time I went to get my skate sharpened at the nearby Hockey Experts.
My wife and I were hungry so I was pumped to give it a try… high quality, authentic Italian fast food… I mean fuck yeah… basically the best idea on stoner planet.
So we go in and I order a Carbonara with chicken and my wife orders the Calabrese sandwich. Mine was pretty decent considering how fast it came out (but nothing memorable) but my wife’s sani was disgusting. It was literally ice cold slop (mozza, tomato sauce, basil all mixed together… no meat) It was weird because the bun was toasted and warm but the slop was ice cold and tasted like when you mix salsa and sour cream together. I know that Calabrese salad is meatless but this sandwich definitely lacked something substantial.
Don’t get me wrong… I live near this place and will definitely give it a second and third chance because I like the idea of fast Italian food, but if they fuck up an easy sandwich like that again then it might be tough to justify a return.

I recently gave this place a try after seeing it in the Deerfoot Meadows complex. I have to admit, I wasnt sure what to expect thinking that perhaps would be an upscale Sbarro (remember the 80’s?) — however I was in for a pleasant surprise.
The concept is simple– order at the counter and they will bring out your food when ready.
The food was definitely the star of the show — as a vegetarian, I ordered their basic pizza with basil, tomato sauce and cheese. It was delicious — the tomato sauce had a lovely acidity balanced by a delicious crust that to me had a touch of sweetness… yum. The large basil leaf on top of the pizza although lovely visually, wasnt necessarily easy to eat or incorporate into each bite — definitely no biggie though. Last but not least was the mozzarella — handmade, creamy delicious and fresh.
I had a side caesar salad to start which even as a side was plentiful — the croutons were noteworthy — crunchy and flavourful and the dressing once again tasted fresh and made with care.
After we sat down, I noticed they had a really cool draft type handle at a drink station that serves soft drinks — I wish I had known before I got my drink, I would have really liked to have used it! I am a big kid and somewhat addicted to Diet coke too.
The décor inside is very cool — clean lines, deep browns accented with white and red.
So here is where the restaurant earned top notches in my books… the service.
Everyone was genuinely friendly, and customer focused. A gentleman (manager I think) came around and asked us how are meal was and I said to him that we were loving the place, so surprised and happy we were there. The manager was so nice and said «Can we buy you each a dessert?» Wow! So nice… we each had a scoop of gelato which was equally delicious and satisfying… The manager was Tabrez and was fantastic.
By the time we left it was packed — so you may want to grab lunch early say 1130. Cibo is a welcome addition to the Deerfoot meadows complex, and a much needed step up from the fast food fare around there.
Bueno.

I was here over the weekend, just before noon. There was a slow steady stream of people coming in for lunch.
It was my first visit here, and wasn’t sure what the ordering process was. You get in front of this big menu board, with different sandwiches, pasta’s, and salads to choose from.
To me it was a little overwhelming as to what to order. I just saw the first thing that caught my attention and ordered it, as to not hold the line behind me. I ordered the Pomodoro from the pasta section of the menu. My wife ordered a Insalata Pollo Balsamico. My two young boys ordered cheese pizza’s. The person that takes your order, then hands you a table indentifier wand with a number on it (That’s whatI call it). When the food ordering process is finished you head down the counter and order your drinks, and then pay for your order. After paying you find yourself a table to sit at and wait for the food to come to you. It didn’t take that long for our order to come out, I’ll say between 10 – 20 min.
As for pasta dish, it came out quite hot (the noodles anyways), as for the meatballs that came with it they were siding on the cold side of luke warm. I liked the taste non the less. My wife enjoyed her salad, and what can I say about the boys pizzas. My boys are happy eating frozen pizza out of a box. Not saying that the pizza’s were bad, I asked them and they both said they liked it.
I also noticed a sign of the wall, stating that everything was made from scratch. This may be so, but not from scratch that day. The meatballs were obviously made ahead of time, due to them being colder then the pasta itself.
I have tasted «just made» meatballs for example at Double Zero.(Awesome one’s)
My only complaint about Via Cibo are the prices for this «Italian street food». My pasta dish was $ 9.00, and add $ 4.00 for 4 meatballs. $ 13.00 for basically eating spaghetti and meatballs is IMO a little high.
This isn’t a bad place for let’s say a date or if you eat alone, but if you eat out as a family $ 65.00 for lunch is a little steep. I’m the only one who ordered a pop to drink the rest of the family had water with their lunch. Pop and canned juice are $ 3.00 each. It can quickly add to the bill if you drink pop, juice or alcohol.
In conclusion, I will probably not come back to Via Cibo just on the shear cost of everything on the menu. I am glad we tried it though. Everything taste wise was good, just have to be more conscientious when eating with the family.

I have been here 3 times now and love it, well most of it. I have had the steak sandwich with tuscan fries, the linguine pomodoro with meatballs and the ossobuco linguine with a caesar salad. All were quite good, maybe a little shy on meat on the sandwich but I loved the bread, excellent. I didn’t care for the caesar salad, not enough dressing and mine was served without croutons while my buddys had fresh croutons. Not a big deal, the ossobuco more than made up for it.
I haven’t had the pizza and will skip it, it looks limp and soupy. I will be back for the great pasta and sandwiches though.
Prices seem a tad high but the food is good, and we are in Calgary, everywhere is expensive and seems to be getting even more so.

Wanted to try out the new kid on the block. Met up with a few friends on a Monday night. They didn’t have their liquor license yet, but no issues there. As it turns out it arrived the next day so they are licensed people.
It’s a self serve style set up. Decide what you want, order it, pay, and they bring it to you. Our group tried a variety of items, meatballs, salad, pasta, fries and of course, pizza. Everything had flavour and our group was happy. Although the arugula had seen better days both on the pizza and in the salad. The fries on the other hand, truffle fries, and osso bucco fries… holy hanna delicious!
The pizza was Neapolitan style, albeit soggy in the middle. Flavour was there and I’m hoping being newbies they are just ironing out the kinks. They sell their food as street food and there are quite a few different menu items to choose from.
I love that it’s a family restaurant and I can bring my kids one day. We will be back.

I’ve found my new favortie restaurant!!!
I couldn’t wait for this place to open and I must say it was worth the wait. My man and I went opening night and it was awesome. We walked in and there were already a few people inside. We walked up to the counter and were greeted by a friendly young man who seemed very eager to take our orders. Once we decided on what we were having we place the order and were given a number for our table, and were directed down the counter to the cashier. Another young man greeted us there and took our drink order and we payed. I have to say all the staff seemed happy to be there and there was excitement in the air. We took our drinks and found a table and I would have to say not even 15mins later we had our food! I couldn’t believe how quick it was so impressive!
The tuscan fries are to die for! And the pasta was cooked to prefection I was totally blown away with how delicious everything was!
I will definitelybe returning on a regular basis to this place in the future.

«This place is going to make me fat»
You too might be saying this after your first meal here. The food is delicious and you’ll be wanting to eat here every day.
Unlike their downtown location, this is the fast and friendly version of Cibo. They are serving up Italian street food at prices that won’t leave a hole in your pocket. You order first, take a number on a stand, and then find a table.
The «street food» description could be a little misleading. Don’t think food truck style meals. Think street-​side café. The portions are lunch-​sized but so are the prices. You won’t be getting a big, heavy Italian meal; just something the right size to fill you up.
The fiancée and I came on opening night. When we were driving home from work we saw the «now open» signs going up so we ran our errands and circled back to have dinner. The place was busy, but not packed. Just as fast as people were walking in, tables were turning over to make room for more.
When you walk in you place your order first. There’s a nice large menu that could be easily read if there is a long line. Its broken down into a few main categories like salads, wraps, pasta, pizza, and sides. The prices for the mains come in around the $ 9 – 14 range.
My lady and I got the Pasta Al Pesto, Picante Pizza, and Tuscan Fries to share so that we could try a few things. The pasta was cooked nicely and had a good flavour. One of the ingredients was sun dried tomatoes which usually means there might be a few flecks scattered throughout the dish. Not in this bowl. There were nice big chunks of them and more than enough to bring out the amazing flavour they always have.
The pizza was good and hit the spot, though not the best you can get for this style of pizza. If you want something fast with great ingredients then this is a good choice. However, if you want a pizza in this style that’s done really well then this isn’t the place for you. The crust was really wet. Yes I know that this is supposed to be a wet pizza, but this was a little too much. Maybe it should have been left in the oven for a few seconds longer.
The tuscan fries were excellent. The rosemary flavour really carried throughout. The fries were light and crispy and the sauce on the side added a tang to finish it off.
The service was great. You could see that all of the staff were eager with many of them sporting big smiles. We maybe had to wait five minutes before our meals came out. Closer to the end of our dinner the manager came around to ask how things were and to see if the food was satisfactory.
Overall it was an excellent experience. I’ll be back many times in the future, though probably not so often that I actually will get fat from eating here.