Alfio’s Buon Cibo

Food is delicious. It’s a bit rich and heavy, so go hungry! The empanadas and friend zucchini appetizers are fantastic. We had the skirt steak
entrée and it was very tasty. Service was good. Will definitely return.

Excellent dinner and service! Kelsey took care of us and had some great suggestions. She was friendly and genuinely interested in assisting us, especially with our menu questions. The short rib ravioli was amazing, as was the seafood risotto. The atmosphere was relaxing and the staff was very knowledgable. We had an excellent experience and really look forward to visiting again!

It was busy Friday night and celebrating my BF’s late-​Birthday. We took a quick seat at a high-​top table by the bar. It took quite awhile for a server to get to us. We started to think it was a mistake to take a high table in a corner of a restaurant. But, as we finally got our server, service was phenomenal.
For Apps, we got Empanadas, and Butternut Squash Mascarpone Soup. The empanadas shells were perfect! Crispy to the bite, and delicious as you eat it. The soup was creamy and sweet, a nice combination of savory and sweet. My BF got the Seafood Risotto, and I got the Crab Cake and Shrimp Ravioli. Both entrees were for sort of a miss. Seafood Risotto was the better one. The ravioli’s sauce just seemed to miss taste. Other than it being creamy, there wasn’t much to it. Not even salt, seafood, or a sweet taste. The risotto was better because at least it had the seafood flavor and a abundance of seafood. Gelato was super good, as they make in-​house.
Overall, honestly entrees were overpriced for what I got in the end. I am always willing to pay for the price if the food was good, but in my case for my dish, it wasn’t. I would just come back for Apps next time, and the gelato.

This was my second visit to Alfio’s. The first time was top notch, tonight not quite, so this review meets the two in the middle at 4 stars. The service has always been great so 5 stars for that. First off the table was wobbly, which as a customer is kind of irritating, but it is what it is so I didn’t mark down much for that. As a starter, I had a seafood stew and its was just ok. Not much flavor to it, but certainly not horrible. The complimentary bread and butter was delicious though. The entrees were terrific. Steak ravioli and saffron chicken risotto. Highly recommend both. Finally, because I checked in on Unilocal I got a free scoop of gelato. Chose the salted caramel chocolate chip. It put the salted in salted caramel though, so not exactly delicious. All in all, I like Alfios, I will go back. I just may not order the seafood stew or salted caramel gelato again.

If you are looking for a mix between Italian and Argentine cuisine look no further! I always start with the Empanada trio which is incredible. The beef, cheese, and pork are blended together in a stuffed pastry and explode with flavor. I then move onto the mushroom ravioli in a creamy vodka sauce which is out of this world good. Finally I always end on the seafood risotto. This mixes shrimp, lobster, crab and mussels and it makes it hard to share this dish with anyone at the table it’s so good!

Heard a lot about this place so was excited to try it. I am not sure if my disappointment was a symptom of high expectations or the fact that I recently had a few amazing meals. We started with the empeñada trio which was good… But not the best I’ve had. I may have misordered as well. I am an east coast Italian guy so my Italian food standards are a little high. My gut said to stick with the Argentinian grill but the waitress really sold the scallop risotto. I was underwhelmed. The scallops were overlooked and had only 3 on the $ 35 plate. I really don’t care about money if the quality is there but it just wasn’t. My wife had the saffron chicken risotto. That tasted like Rice a roni. I saw a few tables with the grill items and they looked delicious.
For dessert… We had the cinnamon bread pudding. It recently won some awards and I love bread pudding so why not. It was more like French toast with red hot on it. It was not good at all. I had one bite. Seriously don’t waste your time with this.
Lastly for my final disappointment. The Wine list. I am a huge wine geek. You have a South American/​Italian menu. Soooo many geeky wines to those on there. I’m not saying the whole menu has to be geeky but one or two wouldn’t hurt. How about a Falanghina or an Etna Rossa?
Ok. All that said I do think there is something here. I probably won’t seek out this place again but if friends wanted to go I would give it another shot. At least I know what not to try and would def opt for the meat options.

Oh my gosh. Alfio’s is sooo good. I took my fiancé here for his birthday and am so glad I did. I’ve been wanting to try Alfio’s for awhile but just never seemed to get around to it. Now that I know what I’ve been missing I won’t wait long to go back.
We started our meal with the empanada trio and each empanada was unique and flavorful. My favorite was probably the spinach and cheese — it was so gooey and cheesy and amazing.
For our entrees, I ordered the short rib ravioli and my fiancé ordered the scallops. The short rib ravioli was rich and creamy. I wasn’t sure if 4 raviolis would fill me up but after two I was about to fall asleep in my chair. As for the scallops, my fiancé didn’t offer to share which speaks for itself over how good they are.
To finish our meal we had the mint chocolate chip gelato and sea salt Carmel gelato. The mint chocolate chip was definitely minty — a bit too strong for my taste. It was the kind of minty that makes drinking your water after burn. The sea salt Carmel was amazing! It was my fiancés birthday and unfortunately they don’t do anything except put a candle on a dessert you order :(I do wish they gave a special birthday treat because it’s fun to be pampered on your birthday!
Alfio’s is great for a casual or special occasion and a place I can see myself enjoying with my fiancé, friends, and parents.

Alfio’s has won me over! I can’t say enough good things about this place. The staff are wonderful, and the last time we dined, Alfio himself came out to ask how our meal was. Try: Empañadas appetizer and short rib ravioli. Best ravioli and empañadas I’ve tried to date!

There have been a string of restaurants here but I think this one has a real shot. I love the atmosphere here. It is surprisingly large and they have a great bar area. We sat at the bar and ordered a couple glasses of wine and the empanada trio. all three were very good. I would have loved to have some sort of sauce for them like chimichurri and maybe some pico but they were very flavorful. It comes with a spinach and cheese, buffalo chicken, and spicy pork shank with
caramelized shallots and cheese. YUM!
They had a nice wine selection. I ordered the Boneshaker zin based on the name alone. I had never tried it before but it was very good. My wife chose a decent malbec but after tasting my zin her second glass was the boneshaker. :)
We were really enjoying ourselves but we already had dinner reservations across town at Forno. I have a feeling we would have been happier here. We will be back very soon for a complete experience.

I have to start by saying the service here was amazing. We had reservations but ended up having to wait almost half an hour for a table. But the restaurant staff apologized numerous times and we were even given a drink while we waited.
Our waitress Sarah was attentive and knew the menu inside out. Initially I was only going to get a salad but she talked me into getting the chicken risotto. I will say this was not my favorite dish of the night only because the risotto swallowed my plate. I think I saw 3 pieces of chicken in the dish. But Sarah did warn me it was A WHOLE LOTTA risotto. I should have listened. All in all it was still flavorful. I wish they would balance the dish with an equal serving of both chicken and risotto.
For dessert my friends and I were able to get a free scoop of gelato thanks to our Unilocal check in! We shared the strawberry, cookie dough, and spiced pear gelato. I will say my favorite by far was the spiced pear.
Take away: Good food, nice ambience and friendly staff. Definitely worth the wait.

I will start off my review by saying that it is always a good sign when you are in a debate of what to order on the menu because there are so many good options!
I went to Alfio’s Buon Cibo last night for dinner with a few friends. We waited for about half an hour before being seated at a hightop table. We decided to start off our meal by ordering the Buffalo chicken empanadas. According to our waitress, Sarah, these empanadas are going to be entered at the Taste of Cincinnati this summer. The Buffalo chicken empanadas as were very good! I thought that they were very similar to the ones at Che which coincidentally has the same owner.
After much debate, I decided on these steak ravioli. Although there were only four raviolis on the plate, they were HUGE! The sauce is so rich and delicious. The ravioli was amazing! I was so excited to take some home to have for lunch the following day!
For dessert, we decided on the gelato trio thanks to our free check in offer through Unilocal (thanks Unilocal!). The trio consisted of a spiced pear, cookie dough, and strawberry poundcake gelato. All three were very good. However my favorite was the spiced pear. This is a must try!
I will definitely be back to Alfio’s Buon Cibo. The food was great as well as our service. It also helps that its close to my home and definitely beats driving all the way downtown for a good meal!

For Appetizer we had the Empanada Trio, it was decent starter, I like the spinach over the spiced beef and spicy pork shank pastry…
For the main Entrée, we had the Keegan Special of the day. it was Ahi Tuna and Scallop… which was an amazing dish. Definitely the Best Tuna I had ever… I would definitely go back for more…
For dessert we had a their Cinnamon Bread Pudding… it had a kicked to it… but was very tasty and addicting, good thing is they came in three slices… =P
The Atmosphere was quiet and dim, which was very relaxing… a recommended place for a special occasion…
They Service was good they were friendly and provided some good feedbacks…
They also have a late harvest Riesling which was incredible. very sweet and crisp…
they ladies must try…
Overall… this is my favorite restaurant in Cincinnati…

Very nice restaurant, great atmosphere, service, and food. Our server was very helpful at explaining the popular dishes and making suggestions. I was very intrigued by their award winning ravioli that I asked the server about splitting my order to get half ribeye ravioli and half short rib ravioli. Turns out this is very common, so don’t hesitate to ask if you come here. The ribeye ravioli was awesome. It has a creamy Asiago and marscapone sauce with intensely flavorful red peppers, the taste is of a prima vera type pasta. As far as the short rib, this was a more savory sauce, a mushroom marsala. Glad I decided to try both, because our server said she loved the short rib ravioli the best and I actually liked the ribeye the best. To each his own.
Anyway, I also learned they do special tasting nights with wine pairing once a month, but you have to get on their email list for the invite. I hope to make to one of those, I scoped out the menu for the one this both and it looked impressive.

Where else in Cincy can you get a slice of Italy AND Argentina? My husband is from Chile so we are always trying to find a place with empanadas and this hit the spot!
We went on a Thursday night and easily got a reservation the day of. We were promptly seated and greeted by our server. We started off with the empanada trio– you must get this! After having so many empanadas in Chile, these are on par. The dough is chewy and crispy and the three flavors were delicious. One is a spinach and cheese, one chicken, and one beef – all very flavorful.
My husband had a hard time deciding on which ravioli to get but then the server told us we could pick two to mix! He chose the short rib and the beef/​tomato. These are good size ravioli, not your chef boyardee nonsense! They came on a plate with three on each side. My husband was in love with the short rib and the creamy sauce. I tasted them both and they were mouth-​watering.
I chose the seafood risotto for my main entrée and was not disappointed. It was extremely hot but I’d rather have that than it be cold. It came with shrimp, mussels, and scallops and a small bowl to get rid of the mussel shells. I took home a decent amount too because this is a huge portion!
For dessert we chose the crepes – a must have! These are very similar to «panqueques» in Chile. The dessert comes with two crepes rolled up in dulce de leche (similar to caramel but richer and thicker), topped with strawberries and blueberries. This is perfect to share for two.
The service was wonderful! Our server told us how much she loves working there and how she has tried everything on the menu if we had questions. I will definitely be coming back to try even just some appetizers and desserts!

I have been want to to try this place for a long time — love Hyde park but hate the parking. It’s definitely worth the trip! The waitress was really friendly and enthusiastic about the food and the food is amazing!
empanadas three way — pork short rib special, spicy beef and prosciutto. They were all really good but the short rib one was the best! The meat was so soft and flavorful.
Butternut squash soup — so good, hit the spot on a cold night
Short ribs ravioli — Amazing! The meat and sauce goes so well together. I got some crushed red pepper flakes to add a kick to the dish.
For desert we got the special which is habanero smore bacon gelato cake — it was good but I think the bacon crust is too hard to be on top of the gelato it was really difficult to dig into and eat. There was a candied orange in top of the habanero marshmallow which is a little weird. The marshmallows was really good and had a slight kick to it.

Alfio’s has quickly become one of my favorite restaurants in the city. The food is five star but the prices are four star, and you can’t beat that! The Empanada Trio and the Short Rib Ravioli are life changing! The pasta is house made, which really sets it apart for the other restaurants in the same price range. Between the Empanada Trio, the Short Rib Ravioli, and the Banana Cream Pie martini, I could leave there fat, drunk, and happy every single time. The staff is incredibly knowledgeable with both the menu and the wine list. If you’re unsure what to order, ask them to guide you and you will not be disappointed. I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing a few different wines form their menu that have all be recommended by the staff and was excellent. The portion sizes are large, which is fantastic for large groups or for extra hungry people who look forward to some delicious midnight leftovers.
One thing to note is the tiramisu. It’s excellent, but not at all a traditional tiramisu. It’s more of a very delicious chocolate cake. So if you’re expecting a light dessert with ladyfingers, you will be disappointed.

This is my favorite place, full stop. This is where I ask to go for my birthday, these are the short rib ravioli I dream of, this is the place to take me if you love me.
On a more serious note, absolutely ask your waiter about your wine pairings, their staff is some of the most knowledgeable and so far it has been 3 for 3 of waiters who suggest amazingly refreshing and absolutely complementary wines with my dinner selections. Their menu is varied, and I always wish I could eat 4 entrées and a few apps in one sitting, so bring friends who like to share.

A group of nine of us ate at Alfio’s last night. We each had something different and each of the tastes were amazing.
The appetizers were out of this world. They were so good that we ordered some to take home for the next day. They were all fabulous like I said, but we chose to order the empanadas to take home.
Their steaks were also mouthwatering. Our fish was outstanding. The sauces and side dishes were all scrumptious.
Even our gelato at the end of our meal was very good.
I look forward to returning to Alfio’s.
If you haven’t already been there, you should try it.
If you’ve been there, you should go back.
It’s definitely worth a second time. I don’t usually like to go back anywhere twice, unless it’s amazing. (There are too many good restaurants out there)
Bön appétit!

I had Alfio’s on my «list» of places to try for a long time, but had put it off because I usually prefer to go downtown or to OTR, rather than Hyde Park.
Wow. I am so glad we finally tried it. We came back again two weeks after first trying it. This is definitely abnormal, as we usually wait at least a few months before revisiting.
The restaurant is a fair size. The ambiance feels a little crowded because of all of the tables (even if it’s not full). The dress is nicer than most, which I prefer. The service was really good. We had a waitress that really helped answer our questions and directed us to the popular dishes.
The wine list is large. You can definitely find something on there that you would like. For an appetizer, we started with the empanadas. These are awesome. The order comes with three and you can mix and match which ones you want. The spinach and cheese and the prosciutto and red pepper were our favorites. For entrees, we tried the ravioli and the seafood risotto.
You can split the ravioli into two orders to try multiple kinds; however, you should just take my word and only focus on the Short Rib Ravioli. This was the whole reason we came back within weeks of our first visit. Just order two servings of the Short Rib and you’ll be in heaven. During our visits, we also had the Steak Ravioli and the Crab and Shrimp Ravioli. In our opinion, both of these were good, but not in the same league as the short rib.
The seafood risotto was okay and had a fair amount of mixed seafood. But, I am very critical of my risottos because there are many good ones in the city. I probably would not order it again.
I was very close to giving this 5 stars. The noise level is the only reason it is not 5. If you only take 1 thing from this review, GET THE SHORT RIB RAVIOLI. You will thank me later.

This is a LONG review so TLDR: Get the butternut soup, get dessert ANY dessert. Everything is good but the ravioli is best. A side order of risotto makes everything better.
And dont let your boyfriend order whatever he wants or you will end up tasting half the menu. ;)
We came here during our anniversary vacation in Ohio.
I picked it off Unilocal because my boyfriend loves italian food, especially ravioli. We had spent the day at kings island so we were really hungry.
The inside seating is so loud. I asked for a able outside even though it had been sporadically raining, because I would rather be a little wet than deaf. However, we still got great service even though for a while we were the only couple on the front patio.
We ordered the empanada trio. To be honest I was not impressed by their regular menu ones as much as their special empanada, which was a spicy chicken one. It was soooo good. I wish they would make it a regular menu item.
I also ordered the butternut squash mascarpone soup, and my boyfriend ordered the cioppino. The butternut soup was our favourite, but he really loved the cioppino.
I would say the butternut soup is a must-​try.
For dinner my boyfriend ordered the steak ravioli and the five cheese angus ravioli. the portion size was very large and he was estatic. Honestly the ravioli was amazing, definitely the highlight of the meal.
I let him order for me, since we had come here for him, and the waitress talked him into trying the chimichurri steak. She super talked this steak up, so maybe it set my expectations too high, but I thought the ravioli was much better. The steak was well cooked and well-​seasoned, but after eating the ravioli I would have preferred more ravioli. It came with some delicious parmesan potatoes though, and some seasoned broccoli that was delicious. I have no idea what they did to the broccoli but even my boyfriend ate it.
We split an order of risotto, I really recommend the risotto. I was extremely impressed– it was well-​cooked and had a great flavor.
Bear with me, but for dessert we actually both got dessert too? I KNOW I KNOW sooo much food but we were celebrating and hungry. We got some sweet potato and brown sugar gelato and that was actually amazing. It was my boyfriends fav
We got the goat cheese cheesecake and it was phenomenal, it was one of my favourite desserts I have ever had out. I went home and looked up a recipe.