Ciao Bistro

This place is outstanding in every way!!! When we arrived, Lucas greeted us. We were seated immediately and a memorable experienced commenced. The shrimp was done to the right temperature, the pasta was exact and the wine was divine. The service was fabuloso as well!. I highly recommend this p;lace…

A 5 star review doesn’t exactly come easily from me. I value a number of things that I’ll itemize later in the review.
Ambience — easily one of the best parts of the experience. I ate at Ciao back when they were across the bridge and they were great then but the new location in downtown Fernandina Beach is great. The historic part of the city makes for a great, romantic dinner setting.
Quality of service — wait staff was knowledgeable and attentive, not much else needs to be said
Food quality — well above average Italian food, the lasagna I had was perfectly cooked and not soggy (I’m looking at you, Olive Garden). I would easily recommend that dish as a first tasting of this restaurant’s offerings.
Location — parking downtown can be annoying, but it has always been that way and I can’t fault the restaurant for that, still I feel it merits mentioning.
Price — I won’t lie, you’re going to pay 25 dollars a plate in a lot of cases, but you can pay less if you choose your meal more carefully, but limiting yourself by your wallet is not something I recommend at a place like Ciao.
Go to Ciao with your significant other and enjoy yourself. Thank me later.

First time dining at this location, yet greeted by Lucca and made to feel like an old friend. We were promised a great Italian dining experience and they delivered. Meatballs were like Grandma used to make. The Shrimp scampi had just the right amount of garlic. And the bread seemed like fresh baked. Service was friendly and attentive and the ambiance was like an Italian dinner party in a friend’s house. If your friend is a chef. We’ll be back.

Very cool location close to shops and multiple dining options! The food is fresh and delicious! We had a large group and we sampled a little of what everyone ordered and everything tasted amazing! The service was excellent!
The food runs a bit pricy $ 7 for a side salad not included with the meal and entrée runs $ 15 – 25 range!
Next time I am in the area I will stop in again!

My boyfriend took me here for our one year anniversary where we sat inside. There is an outside area, an in between with the bar and then the inside. Great atmosphere, EXCELLENT service, EXCELLENT food. We both received a piece of warm complimentary bread which was perfect. They served it with what looked like a special type of olive oil infused with herbs. WE shared the bruschetta which was served lukewarm, a little on the colder side. I’ve never had it unless it was hot so I’m not accustomed to it being so cool. Not sure if they meant to serve it that way. We both enjoyed it either way just fair warning to anyone expecting it to be hot. The Zuppa Di Pesce I ordered however was so hot I nearly burned my tongue. That’s not necessarily a bad thing in my book. There was A LOT of calamari in mine, more than anything else that was in the dish. I wasn’t really feeling it but I’m an adventurous eater so I had to give it a go. It seemed like the italian version of paella. Also, the dish was served with buttered garlic bread but the herbs they used was unlike any garlic bread I’ve ever had. It was amazing and I’d consider going back for that alone! My boyfriend ordered the capellini di angelo with chicken which was not served with the amazing garlic bread. Of course I had to try his food and it was incredible. I was so happy to have leftovers the next day that he didn’t eat. Our waiter was remarkable and my boyfriend said he enjoyed the service because he seemed to carry himself with a sense of pride in what he was doing. He had every quality you would want in someone who works in this type of industry. They give you the bill in a DVD case which my boyfriend loved considering he is a movie buff, we liked the charm in it. 5 out of 5

Great location in lovely Fernandina Beach. Wonderful atmosphere and service. The owner makes everyone feel at home. I had eggplant parmigano and my wife gnocchi sorrento. Excellent — perfect texture with the eggplant. The gnocchi tasted homemade — the sauce — savory. The tiramisu was the best I have ever had — but light almost like a pudding

My wife and I had dinner here on 11÷12÷15. The staff was very friendly. The food arrived quickly, as it was only 5:30. I had the shrimp scampi and my wife had the chicken Parmesan. The shrimp was good, but the pasta was very heavy on the lemon. The chicken was very thick and the texture was chewy and weird. Sauce was decent, but neither of us finished the meal.

We sat outside in the patio since the temperature was mild. We didn’t have a long wait for the food. The food was wonderful. Everyone at our table enjoyed the Caesar salads and Caprese salad. For the main course two of us had «Spaghetti con polpette di carne» (spaghetti with meatballs) — really tasty. The others had «Farfalle con pollo» and «Chicken ciao» — they were also very good. We all agreed that we would love to eat there again.

If you want to wait for mediocre food for an hour and a half after waiting for your table, this is the place for you. We get it — it was a busy night on a holiday weekend, but we ordered our cioppino and rigatoni bolognese as soon as we sat down, and it took 90 min for the food to arrive! While we waited there was no bread, no offer of a beverage on the house, no check-​in from the server (e/​g: your food will be out soon, or sorry it’s taking so long). We watched five other tables get seated, served, and leave the restaurant before we ever saw our food. There was no offer for a free dessert. And, after waiting that long, you’d expect a masterpiece, but I could’ve made a better bolognese myself in 15 minutes. I give it two stars because the ambiance is nice, the bus boy was sweet, and the bruschetta we ate at the bar before we were seated was good.

Really good food and friendly atmosphere! The caprese, bread, and fettuccini are fantastic. The food came out hot and quick. One of the best meals I’ve had on this island.

Wonderful food, service and atmosphere. While vacationing in Fernandina each year we have been passing by this place. We have our, tried and true, local favorites and don’t really like trying anything different. Our teenage daughter pleaded with us to go here and we reluctantly decided to give it a try. Boy were we impressed! Everything from the appetizers, bread, pasta and pizza was amazing. We loved it so much that on our last night there we all had to decide what we wanted our last «BEACH VACATION MEAL» to be… the overwhelming consensus was Ciao Bistro again! This is going on our list as the first place to eat every time we come into town!

Best Italian food. The lasagna is delicious. My third year coming here and will definitely come again.

This place has amazing Italian food. It’s got an okay atmosphere, they cram you in like any Italian restaurant, and it’s pretty loud. The wait staff was nice. This is a good place to come for a nice bite to eat with a few friends. The Rigatoni Chao was very very good! The calamari was a good appetizer. My only complaints was the atmosphere, but it was great food.

Atmosphere was nice! Food took forever to arrive! Meal was bland. Son’s meatballs were cold! Family came in that was apparently well known! Our waiter was at their table a lot! Half way through our meal he finally brought the tablespoon to spoon the pasta with a fork! Had to ask for ice in our drinks! Not as good as the restaurant that was located here two years ago!

We had great service & the Lasagna & Penne Con Polo were fantastic
The fried cheese balls were awesome.
Great way for us to celebrate our 35^th Anniversary.

4 Stars for easy quick seating on a Friday night and good atmosphere!
We went here as a spur of the moment, no reservations, let’s hope they have a seat for us restaurant. And also heard around town this was a the place to go for Italian food. So we gave it a whirl!
Surprising enough we got seated right away around 5:30ish, so it wasn’t too much in the rush hour dinner hour. I ordered the seafood lasagna and my husband ordered the veal with angel hair pasta. Both were delicious and tasty. My only comment is I think I like the more traditional lasagna with the meal sauce. And the veal dish was a bit over seasoned with lime and capers.
Overall, our experience was good and our waitress was great! I would love to go back again and try something different on the menu.

Ciao is one of the nicer places to eat in Amelia Island. It’s a little Italian place with a great ambiance in the historic downtown section. We stopped in here for an early dinner after a long day. Good choice. I only had the calamari and the bruschetta, but they were both excellent, and my hubby said his eggplant parmigiana was outstanding. Good Italian wine list and superlative service from the small yet attentive staff. Definitely worth several return visits.

This place has great service and some of the best food in Florida. Get the bone-​in veal parm.

Great Italian restaurant in the downtown historic area would highly recommend visiting here it was small and quaint and had very nice ambience. Everyone was happy with their meals had a nice selection of wines as well.

I attended an event here recently and had a wonderful time with fabulous food. The pizza was so thin and flavorful! The Watermelon Napoleon was a fresh bite of summer. My son’s favorite was the Mozzarella in Carrozo… a great switch from cheese with marinara sauce. The owner, Luca was a wonderful host! We will be back very soon!