Ciccanti Ristorante

best restaurant in around by far. more

Quite simply the best Italian restaurant in the area. As one walks into the restaurant he or she will not find lofty ceilings, nor a massive dining area, nor the ""copy and pasted"" culture of a chain like Olive Garden. What one does find is a small, quaint, family owned restaurant with an owner, Frank, that truly cares for the customer. Try to name another local Italian restaurant where you could meet the owner and chef, not a manager hired by a corporation. The walls are adorned with one of a kind cultural items, some expertly painted by Frank's son, not simply printed from a machine. One can take all of this in as they wait to order their meal. One gripe for some is that there is sometimes a long wait on busy days; however, I question these people as to why they want to have a ""quick meal"" at a family style, sit down Italian restaurant. What one gets is a many course meal, with plenty to eat while waiting for one's entree, traditional to the European style meal. There is always something to eat and drink as you enjoy your experience, lessening the wait for the excellent entrees. Prices may seem somewhat expensive until you realize what you are getting with your meal. A meal typically comes with bread, soup, salad, an entree with very generous portions, and a side. The food is excellent, homemade, and mentioned before in very large portions. I never leave dissatisfied nor hungry. The desserts are also excellent when I am not too full to eat them! The Baked Italia, a dessert conceived by the owner's son, ranks as the best I have ever eaten. One must simply try this, as words can not describe how excellent it tastes. I feel that a lot of the negative reviews written here either aren't specific enough to be valid complaints or are written by chronic complainers wishing to get a free meal, and were sorely disappointed when they did not. I would look past these reviews and try out the excellent food. However, one should not just take my word. Go yourselves and experience Ciccanti's, as there is nothing quite like it locally. Likely you shall become a regular customer just as I, and many others are. It comes as no surprise to me that Ciccanti's still exists after so many years in business in an industry where failure is the norm. It stands alone where many others have failed, and alone it stands as the king of local Italian restaurants. more

I wish all comments could come directly to me. I believe in my father and what he has accomplished in his life. Ciccanti's was opened on Oct. 31, 1987 and has remained while many, many places have come & gone. Those who live in the area now this as fact. I want to learn from the negative comments, so please be specific if something is wrong. Being opened to public criticism is hard enough, we can only learn and move on. This is a free country and I have let posts stay online. I haven't reported anyone to get their comments thrown off. People can judge for themselves. I have to take all words to heart and can only learn from them. I want to take my Neg2Pos to heart and make Ciccanti's something my father can be proud of me for..... I know, this is not a review, but a vow to the next step in what I can try and do to better ourselves. Oh, and by the way there aren't enough stars up there (in the ratings area, let alone the sky!!!) for how proud of my father I am. more

The worst restaurant experience my husband and I ever had. The food and service was terrible and the owner did nothing about it. We will never be back!!!! Please never go to this restaurant if you want good Italian food. Stay at home and open a jar of Prego and save alot of money and have a better Italian meal. I would not give it one star, but I could not get it to work for zero stars!!! more

I would like to put a negative star, but the program won't let me - Terrible, horrible service. A party of three and understand there might be a longer wait on a Friday evening for a table. But we were there for over 2 hours and didn't get our main entree. We were finally told that the reason for the wait was that until a party of 21 (that was there and seated when we first arrived) was served their meals no other tables were getting their meals. Meanwhile 2 other parties that came in at the same time as us (a party of 5 and a party of 3) received their entrees. The party of 5 was finished eating and the party of 3 was halfway through their meal. We told the waitress we were leaving to cancel our order and she said she would just charge us for what we had (drinks & salad). I said I'm not paying for anything. She said she would go speak to the owner. When she returned she said he was ""putting up"" our food now. I again told her we were no longer waiting and asked to speak to the owner. When she returned she told us that the owner told her he was too busy to come out. more

Our first impression when we entered Ciccanti's was not good because of the strong smell of a deodorizer.\r \r We had made reservations for 17 people. Eight were seated with their backs against the wall, making it difficult to get out to go to the restrooms. The service was extremely slow, blaming it on not enough busboys that night. Out of the 17 people in attendance, half of them were dissatisfied with their food. All the pasta dinners were so heavily covered with a thick herb tasting sauce you couldn't see the food under it.\r \r My husband's shrimp was soggy and when I told the owner he became hostile and said that was impossible since it were deep fried. Angrily he went into the kitchen to find out for himself but the food had already been thrown away. When he returned he use foul language to me. At that point I told he was a very ignorant man and he replied ""I know it"". I said I would never come back to his restaurant and his reply was ""I hope not"" \r \r He deducted half the price of the meal but still charged for the soup, salad and side dish which were originally included in the price of the entree.\r \r We left with a BAD TASTE in our mouth. more

We have 4 couples that go out together to eat every other week and like to try different restaurants. After dining at some great italian restaurants in the south hills, (Pasta Too, Carbanaras, Calabrias, Piaquadias). the consensus was that this was one that we would not return to. The service was extremely slow. From the time we were seated; like the other review, it took over an hour before we were served. The soups were minestrone and clam chowder. We could hardly tell the difference between the two of them. It seemed as though they both came from the same pot but had something added to one of them to change the taste a little. The salad was good. When it comes to the main dish all that we can tell you is don't order seafood. I had french fried shrimp that was actually mushy, while one of the others had fish that had to be old. It actually smelled. The ones that had pasta said it was ok, but would rather have gone to Olive Garden, which was right down the road. Oh well, you can't win them all.\r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r The soups were minestrone and newengland chowder. \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r .\r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r \r more

Lots of people working there, but no organization. Waited almost 30 minutes for a seat even though there were empty tables in the dining area. Some of the empty tables needed cleaned off, but no one cleared them despite the fact that there were people waiting to be seated. Waited over an hour to get our food after we ordered. Some foods were just ok, others were really good. Salads are excellent, however, I did not like the meatball sub. Prices are average. Probably will not go there again. more

Great place to have some great food and not empty the wallet. Pros: great sea food. Stuffed peppers were fantastic Cons: got busy and was a little slow more

Always consistently good food. Especially like his homemade sauce. Good selection of various foods including seafood and veal. Never had a bad meal and have tried most items on the menu. Pros: Food, service, ambience Cons: parking lot needs repair more

I went here with my Family while visiting in May it was very good. They have some of the best Italian food in the Burgh. Pros: Great Food, Decent Prices, big portions Cons: Parking more

The atmosphere at Ciccantes is very pleasant and relaxing. Frank himself tries to make your dining pleasurable. The appetizers are out of this world especially the stuffed deep fried olives. don't pass up the stuffed hot peppers either. Frankie makes Wedding soup the old way , I highly recommend it ,. more

Excellent food, especially the swordfish with anchovy and seasoning on top. I never had a bad meal at this restaurant. My parents also love their food and the parking is really convient as apposed to the restaurants in downtown Pittsburgh. Pros: food, parking, atmosphere more

frank and his flamily put out some of the best food more