Ciao Lavanderia

(Apparently restaurant has closed since we were there– bummer!!!) Was a bit skeptical based on previous reviews, but we were so glad to have given Ciao a chance! The food and service were excellent from beginning to end! The focaccia bread was excellent and paired perfectly with the appetizer special of mussels and clams– the sauce with the clams was TO DIE FOR. The lasagna and the prosciutto wrapped pork were really very good and paired wonderfully with our bottle of Laeticia Pinot noir. The tiramisu and the cinnamon pannicota were excellent finishes to a wonderful meal! We will definitely be back!

Our family stops in every few months. I always find it very pleasant and relaxing, and I like just about everything on the menu. My wife is gluten-​free, and they are able to help with suggestions and substitutions. I’ll make a note of what we have the next time so I can be a little more specific, but this is a family favorite.

New Sunday brunch! I have eaten here a few times for dinner and have always been very impressed with the food, wine, and service. The staff is extremely knowledgeable and courteous. We tried the brunch today and it was phenomenal! They have a wide range of choices from very healthy to decadent. I had a dish with asparagus, egg, arugula and smoked salmon which was excellent. My husband had the bananas foster french toast — he loved every bite. Even our daughters raved about the food (one happens to be a very picky eater). The brunch is a must try.

We had heard about Ciao for several years but never was able to eat there until this past Friday night when we were visiting in San Antonio. It was a great experience and we would love to return soon. The atmosphere was very cozy and it was nice not to be rushed but to just enjoy the table by the window and watch the busy serving staff courteously going about their business.
My wife and I shared a delicious salad made up of greens with goat cheese with a balsamic dressing accompanied by polenta points. We also tried the bruschetta topped with tomatoes and a balsamic reduction. She ordered lasagna which she allowed me to sample. The Italian sausage used in it really set it off. I chose the rainbow trout with pesto accompanied by angel hair pasta with a butter lemon sauce. It was incredible, very bite amazing. I had a really nice Italian wine to go with my meal. We were never rushed and we enjoyed our slow dining experience very much.
I wrote to the restaurant to tell them how much we enjoyed our meal. I want to return soon.

We had a groupon that was expiring yesterday. I called ahead and was told that all their reservations were booked, but walk-​ins were accepted. We had to sit with another threesome, but we enjoyed good conversations.
I had to approach the owner and ask for a server to come to us. I dont mind waiting as long as i’ve been served drinks. We ordered the bruschetta appetizer and it came out quite quickly. It was warm and quite good. About 30 mins later, our waiter apologized for the wait, blamed it on the kitchen, and brought out 2 more orders of bruschetta. Approx 20 mins later our entrée’s arrived. We had the scallops/​gnochi, pork/​polenta, and our daughter had a pasta dish. The scallops tasted extremely fishy and previously frozen not fresh, the pork was cooked well done instead of the medium the server said it was going to be, but the polenta was cooked really good. Probably the best thing on her plate. The pasta dish was probably the best.
We got the teramissu for our dessert and it was delicious. I asked our server to box up the rest of mine and my daughters dinner. He boxed up her’s, but forgot mine. When asked about it, he ran back, but they had already through it out. I’ve never been a fan of having the server box up my food where I cant see them, and this just reinforced my opinion.
Overall, I wouldnt return without another groupon. There is another resturant right next door that we will try next time.
Hope this helps.

Arrived on a busy Friday night at 7pm without reservations for two. The wait time was about 45 minutes so we put our name down a headed to the bar to grab a glass of wine while we waited. To much dismay they didn’t have a bar we could sit, wait & drink 45 minutes away. So we put a cell number down so they could call us (which they had no problem doing) and headed a few restaurants over to McCullough Avenue Grill. For appetizers Pete had the mussels (which were a bit too spicy for me). He enjoyed them. I had the Tomato & Mozzarella al Forno salad which was fair. As a main course I had the Pork and Polenta which was good. The pork was juicy and wrapped with salty Prosciutto made an excellent pair. Pete ordered the Osso Bucco which was delish! The bread pudding made for a wonderful dessert. Atmosphere was nice. It reminded me of a cozy little house with quirky paintings & décor. The only true complaint that I had was service. It was good… when we had it. The waiter was kind and did apologize.

Went here last night to give it another chance. If you see my last post about Ciao, you’ll see I was a huge fan. Not anymore. New owners not a good thing.
First off, service took forever. Our waiter was wonderful, just seemed the kitchen and the whole place seemed disorganized.
Our appetizer took so long, the waiter brought me another glass of wine to apologize. We ordered the polenta with mushrooms, and what finally came was two triangles of overlooked, hard, and almost burnt pieces of polenta, and minuscule piece of goat cheese atop a brown, almost tasteless (except for the salt) sauce. The polenta was cooked so fast the interior was still cold.
Entrees took an excruciatingly long time. We ordered a Salmon salad (cold) that came with two gelatinous globs of unidentified origin, and the Gnocchi, which was good (and hot). Within 5 minutes, the people next to us (who arrived during our appetizer) were served a steak and risotto. How that steak came out 5 minutes after the gnocchi is a mystery. I guess thick slabs of meat cook faster than precooked potatoes in that kitchen.
Atmosphere was of screaming kids at one table, and noisy kids running around at others. Entertaining part of the evening was the hostess (one of the owners) asking people if they had reservations. I do! Won’t be going back there again. Such a shame.

If I could give 4 ½ stars, I would. The ½ star reduction would be only for the amount of time it took to get our food.
This is a wonderful little gem set in the heart of Olmos near the roundabout with the fountain. I tend to favor locally owned and operated restaurants and this is no exception.
We went as two couples and there wasn’t a single item we didn’t like. I had the duck somethingorother and my wife had a gnocchi dish. Both were among the best we’ve had in town. Their menu is beyond the typical lasagna and pasta (however, our friend had the lasagna and said it was the best he’s ever had).
Do yourself a favor and give Ciao Lavanderia a try!

I purchased a Groupon to here on a whim. I had never eaten here, nor have any of my friends. But the deal was too good to pass up for a date night! I was expecting fancier atmosphere, but what they do have is great! The service was AMAZING. When we arrived at 6, there was literally no wait and plenty of open tables, but the place quickly filled up. The waitress still was able to accommodate us and took great care of us.
Our food was okay. Our Groupon included an appetizer, two entrees, and a desert. We ordered the bruechetta, which looked burnt but was actually very good. My husband had the shrimp risotto, which to me looked like a small portion, but he said it filled him up. The risotto was a little bland, but still good. I had the pork and polenta and it was AMAZING. We both ordered a desert… I got the peaches and panna cotta? And that was amazing as well. My husband ordered something different that we had never heard of before and was pleased. We also had beers with our dinner… My husband was over the moon excited that he was able to order a Kronenbourg with his dinner!
Overall this was a great place to eat. We probably would not eat there again without a coupon, however, because the prices are just too high for our budget. I think I paid $ 27 for the Groupon and our actually pre-​coupon total was $ 70+. We only had to pay an additional $ 22 for drinks and the extra desert. Other than that, this place was amazing! I hope there will be another Groupon available for them again soon.

If you’re craving unimaginative food, exorbitant prices and appetizers that would raise eyebrows even among patrons with undiscering palates at Golden Corral, Olive Garden, and Macaroni Grill, then by all means, eat here.
Where do I begin:
The garlic bread isn’t complimentary you have to actually order it off the appetizer menu… but fine, I get it: You want an upscale crowd, you charge for things most restaurants give out. The garlic bread came out and it was basically white bread rolls slathered exaggeratedly with butter so that it was impossible to eat them with your hands (you know, the way bread was MEANT to be served and eaten?).
The salads were actually not bad… but it wasn’t anything to write home about. They have their own special dressing… and as they should for being an upscale restaurant.
Nothing was spectacular about the wine list except some of the prices for bottles that at your local liquor store cost 15−20% of the menu price. When we did actually order a tempranillo I’ve never heard off before, our waiter didn’t even go through the whole corking ritual… just simply brought out an open bottle with four glasses. He meant well, but he really was just a kid… which leads me to wonder why they have a 19 year old be a waiter at restaurants that charge $ 20-​$ 30 a plate?!
All of this could’ve been at the very least mild annoyances… but the entrees came and much to our chagrin, it was absolute garbage. Let’s go plate by plate: The trout: Bland, flavorless and just all around sloppy. Overcooked angel hair pasta and a THIN sliver of trout. That was $ 22 down the drain. The Lasagna; A mild improvement from Stouffer’s ready-​to-​eat pre-​packaged lasagna, but quite honestly, not by much. The tuna didn’t fail to disappoint either, with sloppy presentation, lack of flavor and just all around bad taste.
Then the dessert: For $ 6 you get 4 tiny scoops of gelato of your choice.
Everything about the restaurant seemed sloppy. For four people the tab came out to around $ 150… for this much in San Antonio, we really expect to not only get great service, but a dining experience that’ll leave us breathless wanting more.
For a good upscale Italian meal, I think I’ll stick to Aldo’s or even Paisano’s.

How do these restaurants make it? They are in yupsville and I suppose have the yups regulars who can afford to blow $ 60 a bland and tasteless meal. This place has gone down in quality!
When it first opened they had a delightful menu with great prices, but lately, I couldn’t imagine eating here again. They had this delicious tomato, basil, mozzarella panini sandwich for $ 10 (which was a little mind blowing but worth it). Then raised the price to $ 15 and the panini was so toasted it roughed up the roof of my mouth.
Their soup has even lacked flavor and quality. How can you wrong soup?!
So Ciao, to Ciao Lavanderia. McCullough Avenue Grill has my business these days.

Honestly, this place is a terrible disappointment. Soggy, undercooked pizza… salads with nothing but stalks and stems (for $ 9?!). We recently gave it another chance because we had heard that it was under new management, but, wow… yikes.

Our favorite. Great food great service.

One star is being generous, and I’m only giving it that because of the attentive and hard-​working wait staff as well as the obvious ethic of the owner’s to please. But, the bottom line at any restaurant is the food, and It just didn’t work, on any level in this regard.
The Bolognese sauce I doubt had any pork in it, certainly no veal, and was just clumps of hamburger mixed with pasta. A travesty for this classic dish.
The eggplant parmesan was a salty sin. I tried to get through a couple of bites but the sodium levels were lethal, the eggplant tasted like it had been prepared hours ahead of time and had simply sat in a brine. Truly awful. I sent it back (the waiter certainly was apologetic and tried to please), but the special I ordered in its place, homemade lobster ravioli, while a notch above the eggplant was nothing special. It’s obvious whoever is working the pasta is a novice, because the ravioli was too thick, uneven, lumpy, pasty, and overly chewy. The lobster filling was passable, but noting special.
The only highlight was the wine, a very nice Syrah. Oh yeah, they don’t make the wine, they only sell it.
I had high hopes before I went but I simply won’t ever return. It’s really that bad.

An enjoyable time, with plenty of impressive flavors and reasonable price. I started with the caesar salad, which is big and bold, filled with artichoke hearts and anchovies. Entrée was penne and pancetta with peas. The pancetta would have been better crispier to contrast with the other textures in the dish but it was delicious comfort food. Dessert was the wonderful panna cotta with a tangy raspberry and orange grappa reduction. I enjoyed everything I had, but the menu options didn’t wow me or make me go «I HAVE to come back and try X!» Service was mostly good, our waitress was friendly but disappeared for awhile toward the end of our meal.
Parking is really insufficient. Not that you’d know from the inside, which was fairly sparsely filled. Guess all the cars outside were for the big brother Bistro Vatel!

I had dinner here again recently and this time was not as great as the first. I had the risotto again because it was just so delicious last time! Bad idea — the risotto wasn’t even cooked all the way; about half of it was still hard. Overall, the service was great; the wine and salad and my hubby’s meal were all good; it was only my entrée that was not. I really hope that this time was a fluke because this place has lots of potential. So while Ciao gets points for flavor and service, I am taking away points for being inconsistent and, obviously, rushed. I don’t mind waiting a little longer for my food if it means that it’s going to be cooked all the way. I was disappointed this time around and don’t think that I will return.

It is such a shame a restaurant like this has any customers at all. I guess it is because there are not enough restaurants in Olmos Park. The service at Ciao is so bad. They start putting chairs up on the tables when customers are still there and it is still 20 minutes until closing! And then the sweeping starts while you are still eating your food (I love dust around me when I am eating). They expect us to spend our money and then treat us like crap. The menu is overpriced as they do not give you what other restaurants do — like bread and parmesan (Ciao charge’s you). Average food served with poor service in an Ikea quality space. Be warned.

After hearing about this place from many different people, my husband and I were sorely disappointed. The wine list needs improvement, and our waiter agreed. I ordered a salad and eggplant Parmesan. The greens were wilted and the entrée was a pile of mush… and tasted like such as well. My husband ordered a calzone. It was average. Safe choice, I guess… but nothing fantastic. My wine tasted as if the bottle had been opened too long. After reading the other reviews I agree with «neighborhood restaurant» and «casual.» San Antonio needs a KILLER bistro. Unfortunately, this one does not fit the bill.

10/​29/​2006:
Another «jewel» from Chef Damien Watel. By far the best Italian I ate while in San Antonio. Great service & great casual décor as well…

I love this place! They have great Italian food. I have never been to Italy but I have taken people there that have it just brings them back. The servers are awesome. They know the menu so well I think they could recite it in their sleep. ;o) Very helpful when making recommendations.
My favorite salad is the portabello mushroom with goat cheese and polenta. They have daily specials on their black board. If there is monk fish on the board that’s what I usually go for. If not then it’s wither the risotto with shrimp or the pappardelle pasta with sausage and spinach. No matter how full I am I always get the panna cotta with orange and raspberry sauce.