Cielo Blu Grill

More often than not we find ourselves here after wine tasting in the Carlton area. It’s very convenient after closing down those last few tasting rooms on Main St as we often do. My best advice is to make a reservation here when you first get to Main St so you aren’t rushing here with the masses when the tasting rooms close.
The Italian fare here is probably 3 and ½ stars, but a little wine and the genuinely kind staff bump the experience to a 4 for me. Carlton is just one of the friendliest places to go wine tasting and this restaurant keeps the town’s hospitality going. Prices are decent and I have always been too stuffed on their carbs to finish my meal. Yay leftovers!
Stop in, reminisce over a great day (or cry over some receipts) and and soak up some of that wine with some pasta. Or pizza. Or burgers. Or steak. You get the idea…

Out on the wine trail, love the little town of Carlton and I loved the French Dip. We both ordered the same sandwich for lunch. It came out served with piping hot French fries, Like every place should serve their fries. I like it when they are too hot to eat when they are placed in front of me! The thinly sliced roast beef, piled high, was lean and juicy on a toasted roll. I enjoyed the last drops of au jus, almost asked for a cup to go. Nice little place, great service and the food served at other tables near by looked good. I’ll be back.
PS owners should check their business status on Unilocal.It said they were closed and no link for the menu. I almost did not go there. If I kept looking at my phone and not where I was walking by I would have missed a nice French Dip.

I wanted to like this place – the waitress was great and the menu looks so good… but the windows were very dirty, the bathroom smelled of vomit and the sauce tasted like a can of unseasoned tomato sauce. Our food took almost an hour to arrive. The waitress was very embarrassed about it at least. She was nice.

In a word, tragic.
Ugh. Can I have the portobello mushroom spaghetti and could you soak the portobello mushrooms forever in balsamic vinegar so I only taste vinegar? Oh and then could you pour about a cup of olive oil onto my noodles and then let me have to ask for parmesan cheese to give it some flavor?
Ordered a glass of red and I swear it looked like a wine tasting portion. I let them know this and they informed me that they have automatic set pours, in wine country? You have got to be kidding? One server said, it does look like a short pour. Another came over to explain to me that the glass is wider so it just looks like a short pour.
I was told by a local person that there was a restaurant that just had a cook quit. hmm. I wonder.
The pictures look better than the food tasted so just a heads up. I sometimes hesitate to put up pictures just because of that fact.

After a lovely afternoon sipping wines through Yamhill County, the HorseRadish was closed so Cielo Blu was the grab bag decision of the evening. Now, I am a diehard Unilocaler, but come on — Carlton’s downtown is literally two blocks long. So the risk was taken, and even with suggestions from some of the tasting rooms.
First, upon arrival we were greeted by a friendly — if not disheveled — hostess who got us right to a table, and provided water. Pretty good so far… after several minutes we were greeted by a staffmember who informed us that one of the main refrigerators had gone out overnight and there were several entrees not available due to potentially affected ingredients. Again — appreciated the candor and certainly not the establishment’s fault — these things happen.
After ordering wine, we ordered two appetizers — the stuffed mushrooms and the caprese… and then each ordered an entrée. I ordered the penne with vodka sauce and my friend ordered the roasted chicken with a double side of veggies…
45 minutes later, we got a bowl full of mushrooms with some funky breaded thing — it was supposed to be cheese, but this was more like stuffing crumbs mashed with something else unidentifiable. This dish was literally brimming in a cream sauce of unknown origin. The sauce was meh and the weird stuffing was super-​meh. The caprese was OK, but small and it doesn’t take 45 minutes to make a caprese salad plate.
30 after that (yes, really), our entrees arrived and they were really the icing on the cake. My penne — vegetarian, fyi — had pieces of unidentified meat of two different types floating around in it, and also some linguine from another dish. So gross. Really. Really, really gross. At what point in the cooking/​prepping process did these two dishes converge? GROSS. I will never know. The chicken was TINY — like literally smaller than my iPhone, and was naked on the plate with about two zucchinis chopped as if they’d been thrown in the air by a blindfolded frat boy wielding a sword. Did I mention the zucchini wasn’t cooked? It wasn’t cooked. It was cold and while it had made contact with the pan, none of it could even be considered cooked. Or even al dente. It was just plain old raw-​ish.
The staffperson came over to ask how it was, and we said «not great», and instead of asking how she could make it better, she said she would give us a 10% discount and explained that the chef had been out all week and one very new employee was making all of the food and that he really didn’t know how to prepare all of it.
Ok. backing up…10% discount for meat and foreign noodle debris in a vegetarian dish, and for raw zucchini cut the size of marshmallows… I rarely complain about my food at a restaurant, and I do mean rarely… and the only times I have, the establishments have been accommodating to find something else on the menu or to have comped the entire meal. 10% equaled $ 7.00.
Can’t come back, won’t come back, and can’t possibly ever recommend. Just pretty damned disappointed.

We arrived at the restaurant for lunch and there were many open tables… this should have been our first clue. We were seated promptly and given menus and asked if we wanted some warm bread? I was surprised to be asked such a question because usually when I go to a restaurant that has a complimentary appetizer such as bread or crackers… they are just brought out. Anyway, we got the bread and our salads came shortly afterwards. The bread was good as were the salads but neither stood out as something special.
So we ordered our main courses… I ordered the Eggplant Rollatini and my wife ordered the Fettuccini Barese. Our main courses arrived within 10 – 12 minutes which kind of surprised me as one would think it should take a little longer to prepare such dishes properly. As the waiter left the table she said she would bring us some more bread to have with our meal.
All I can say about this meal was that it was very bland and seemed to come from a freezer. My Eggplant Rollatini was so overcooked it was like eating oatmeal mush and the Marinara Sauce topping it was lacking the seasonings you would expect of a good marinara. My wife’s Fettuccini Barese was just plain awful with all the ingredients floating in about a ¼ cup of butter or oil in the bottom of the bowl… it was also lacking proper seasonings.
We never got the bread to have with our «meal» as the waiter never came back to our table after she brought out our main courses out? She wasn’t busy as the place was almost empty so I’m not sure what her problem was?
We have a simple way to grade restaurants. We ask our self if we would we go back for another meal? For Cielo Blu, we would not return for another meal and would not recommend it to anyone visiting the Carlton area.
It’s sad as there are some nice wineries in the Carlton area but good restaurants are difficult to find.

I eat at Cielo Blu frequently and I do not have any one «usual» order as the more I try the more favorites I have. Delicious burger and not just for an Italian restaurant, Pollo Scallopini is TDF (to die for) and the salads are hearty enough to keep me content all day or until it’s time to eat the leftovers and the bread is exactly the medicine to make any tuckered out wine taster less sloppy, I mean happy. If you’re interested in more than bread, I recommend the calamari and the stuffed mushrooms.
I’m not one to complain about wait time, so I won’t. The service has always been great in my experience, but if they’re swamped the wait on food may be longer.
If the place looks crowded, sit back and enjoy the bread, this is a small town and life is good, so enjoy the slow pace, that’s why you’re here and the food is worth it.

Okay, maybe it was all the wine I was testing along the way in the tasting rooms, but this food was mighty tasty. I came to terra vina to pick up my order (that will be another review) and after sampling wines, my friends and I agreed we needed some food to soak up the alcohol.
We scouted the restaurants on Main Street and agreed Italian, and my oh my was this tasty food. They offer smaller portions and regular/​large portions, make your own pizzas, and some tasty looking pastas. A word of warning, the small portions are mighty big.
Several of us went for the roast pork with stuffing and vegtables. All very good, and surprisingly the brocolli had some crunch in it. The bread for dipping in olive oil and balsamic vinegar was almost melt in your mouth tasty. (Never had a bread that I would describe that way, but this was really good.).
My friend ordered the portabella mushroom pasta which she said was pretty good. We saw some tasty looking pizzas coming out of the kitchen, big lucious looking green crisp salads. I know where I will go next time I am in Carlton and hungry for pizza.
The service was fine for us, they seemed short staffed, but we weren’t in a hurry so all was good as far as I was concerned.

bono is a self trained chef. his calzone is to die for and I have not met a meal yet that he has prepared, that i did not like. the guy is a master. the entire restaurant is a wonderful experience and the staff are fantastic. after a day of tasting fine wine in carlton, why not end it with an absolutely memorable dinner at cielo blu!

When I think of wine tasting, I envision splendorous views, the slightly tart taste of a pinot grape and sampling exquisite bottles of vino. When I think of Italian food in Oregon wine country, I think of Cielo Blu.
The executive chef, Bonifacio Solorzano, had years of Italian restaurant experience before he moved up to Carlton to help start up Cielo Blu.
Accompanied by a lovely lady, the first thing that we saw upon entering was Chef Solorzano toiling away in the open kitchen. The space itself is built in a century old building and painted from the floor to the ceiling with wisps of clouds and slightly abstract art.
As we perused Cielo Blu’s comprehensive wine list of local artisan wines, I ordered the blu cheese stuffed mushrooms. They came, as thick and meaty as bite of steak, treading in a mushroom cream sauce.
The waitress brought rosemary bread fresh out of the oven. It was all we could to contain ourselves while we both savored the delirious smell of the freshly baked bread. My companion elected to sample her bread with the mushroom cream sauce; I preferred mine dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Their bread is to die for.
Being a rather cold day, I elected to try some comforting food. Their new Cannelloni dish is prepared with ricotta cheese, spinach and chicken stuffed in two crepes. This is draped with Parmesan cheese and served with a lovely cream sauce.
The lady choose the linguini portabella mushroom pasta with some chicken added in for good measure. It came with the handmade pasta prepared al-​dente and sauteed portabella mushrooms lavished on top. Sweet and moist sun-​dried tomatoes pared with pine nuts rounded out the dish.
Their Pollo Parmesean isn’t bad, but my favorite dish here is the Pollo Scallopini — the delicate texture of capellini pasta prepared with chicken, artichokes, prosciutto, capers and a lemon butter sauce.
Perhaps the only lingering let down was the cold temperature of the interior and the lack of proper cloth napkins. Heavy paper napkins are not functional and a cold room lacking good lighting is not very romantic!
At $ 9 to $ 12 a plate for lunch, this is a great value for food of this quality — and a great beginning for your wine tasting adventures.

I’m a local, and I’ve been here a bunch of times. Probably … eight.
On all but two occasions, the food has been AMAZING. Really unbelievable. I had several different pastas and different types of meat. Desserts are okay, salads are just «ho hum.» But the main course dinners are really terrific. Good enough that it doesn’t matter about the other courses, in my opinion.
Service is really good. Nice, local people who own the restaurant and wait on you themselves. I’m not friends/​related to anyone who works here, either.
Ooh, design is not good, either. The painted clouds have to go. If you can’t do something well, don’t do it. It’s a big open room that needs to be sectioned off into more intimate spaces with better lighting.
The food is not expensive at all by Portland or local standards. I read the other reviews, and I don’t think those people are accustomed to paying $ 10-​$ 18 for an entrée, which is approximately what we spent.
The reason I’m not giving it five stars is because once we got very «so so» food — everyone at the table. And once my daughter’s teacher was eating at the table next to me and she had to send her food back because it was undercooked, and bad. This didn’t happen on the same night … maybe the chef was having a bad day.
But if you’re in the mood for a big Italian meal, Cielo Blu is a good bet.

What do you do when the rain won’t end? Pretend it’s not there and head out into wine country. And what do you do when you’ve sampled lots of wines but have not satiated your hunger? Head to a tiny town and try some Italian food.
We were at Cielo Blu very early in the evening and it was still light out. They must’ve just opened because it was pretty cold. Our waitress was very nice and on top of it. The ambiance was okay. Cheesy sky painted on the ceiling (yes, it suits the name), decent artwork, plain tables and chairs. Large open room that felt a bit cavernous without many customers. The menu is extensive, so it took us a while to make choices.
The food: my meal was delicious, and worth 4 stars: Penneola Vodka with procciuto, basil and onions. My salad was average. My boyfriend’s meal was worth three stars at best: a special of shrimp scampi with bland spinach risotto. The scampi was unimpressive.
Most entrees seemed expensive for what they were. I wouldn’t come back another time, though if you were cruising through and you really wanted Italian food, it might be worth your while.

My husband and I went there about a month ago and the service was terrible. Our food arrived well after the food of two large parties that were seated later than us. In fact, our food arrived almost an hour after we ordered. When we asked the management why, he seemed unconcerned and sent our server to us. She explained that the dish I had ordered (chicken parmesan) took longer to prepare. The apathy was really annoying but the food was good so tonight we gave it a second try. MISTAKE! The service was again incredibly slow and when we inquired as to our wine (which took twenty minutes to arrive after ordering and came after our salads) the staff and management could clearly care less. It is really disappointing because the food is really good and the staff in the kitchen (viewable from the seating area) seem really on top of things. If all you care about is a well prepared food, then enjoy. If service and management who care about their customers mean anything to you then stay away.

I had a really great time at this place — but it was only because we had fantastic company, and we brought our Italian wine distributor, so we had wonderful wine… otherwise it would have been a bust.
Here’re the problems:
— Silverware are like hunks of metal — huge and hard to eat with
— Glasses too small for water
— Glasses too crappy for the wine! COME ON, we are in the middle of the wine country here… what’s the deal with bad wine glasses?
— Clueless waitress… nice, waitress — but it was empty in there, and we couldn’t get service to save our lives. We had to have someone from our party go get a new wine glass — we waited as long as we could, but please, we need wine!
However, I am giving this place 3 stars because the food was pretty good. I had lamb, and it was done just right — a must when you eat lamb. Also tried the alfredo, but wasn’t too impressed… I’m usually not though because it’s so much better when you make it yourself. I tried most of the dishes that hit our table, so the filet was also good, and cooked correctly. Some dish with red sauce was very average. So, in conclusion I guess that meat is the way to go here… oh, and yes, the bread rocks. So, meat and bread. Eat the meat and bread.
I’ll also state for the record that I would LOVE to have this place be good — Carlton needs a good place to eat, and this just isn’t it. If they can change a few things, and bring the prices down a little, then it might have a chance.

So my best friend’s dad just opened a restaurant.
It’s not getting five stars for that reason though, oh no.
It’s some of the best italian food I have had in a LONG time!
It’s a little on the spendier side, but damn, it’s soo worth it.
I have never had such a succulent fettucine alfredo.
The rosemary bread that comes complimentary is
fresh, yeasty and fluffy. It takes every vice I have to resist
the urge to pick the loaf up with both hands and cram
it into my salivating mouth, bite after bite after bite …
The pizza oven is huge.
Like Freddy Krugar would love to trow someone in there.
The bar overlooks the kitchen, too,
so as your enjoying a glass of wine,
just like you would at home, you can have a word
or two with any of the chefs :]
I love you, italian food.
I hate what you do to my thighs, but baby, I love you.