Ciaobasta Reviews

Very modern and fresh interior. Simple menu with pasta and mains. Calamari was fantastic. Service was just ok. Food came out fast.

Amazing authentic Italian food. One of my favorite Italian places in South Orange County.

EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT!!! Each family member had something different from the menu and each plate was perfection. Please go here when you visit San Juan Capistrano! You won't regret it!

Wonderful Atmosphere and great service. Friendly and professional staff.

My family loves this family style Italian restaurant. Every time we come they greet us with a warm smile and you are immediately embraced by the friendly atmosphere. Outdoor seating is a must while you have the San Juan Capistrano sunset clouds glowing overhead. I highly recommend getting the bruschetta appetizer and trying some of their chefs creations of amazing seafoods for your entree... My favorite is the halibut but the branzino and sea bass are also amazing.

The best Italian food we have found since moving to California 3 years ago! We will be back!

Delicious! The bread was amazing and we loved the olives in the dipping oil. We stopped to eat here on our road trip and we were not disappointed!

If you want real Italian go to Ciao Pasta. Pasquale is the real deal

Always delivers great food and service! Glad they're are back and open. Love all the updates!!

Excellent service by staff, the pasta was excellent as well.

Just a few steps from visiting the Mission, we had a delicious lunch of fresh salads, pastas, and pizza. All served by our friendly waiter in the comfortable outdoor dining room. Ranks right up there with the Italian restaurants back home in NY and NJ.

Canceled our wedding anniversary after we had reservations. They were busy with their locals and decided it would be better, knowing it was our wedding anniversary, to not upset their locals and dishonor our reservation. Unfortunately, we will remember to NEVER come here and pass the good word on that they don't really care. I think it might be that we'd asked for a high chair and possibly they don't want children there during a busy season. Shame.

Beautiful courtyard across from the Mission. Service was wonderful and the food 4 stars! The Halibut was delicious but sauteed spinach should have had some garlic and lemon. I highly recommend.

Great food and service. I enjoyed the outdoor dining experience.

Great outdoor spot with genuine Italian pasta. Mangia !

Branzino fish better prepared than other places. Vegetables were fresh and better prepared than a lot of others - cooked to correct tenderness with the correct amount of seasoning. Appeared to be a well run restaurant. I liked the interior design and music.

Was there for my son's wedding reception, had a wonderful Italian luncheon with antipasto, salad, bread. All of it was wonderful. Very gracious host and staff.

The food here is amazing! An easy choice is the Ciao Pasta, but basically everything is really good!

We've been here a couple times. The last time the pasta was so salty it was inedible. The steak was good and they have good drinks. There's not much of a view. Not sure we will be back here. There are too many good restaurants in the area.

Delicious food and an accompanying environment, though the waiter was a bit high stress and not very polished. Still a great place overall tho!

Accommodating to seating. Excellent service. We were recommended the special, delicious

Best authentic Italian cuisine on the west coast by far!

Such a disappoint tonight. We have been to this restaurant on several occasions and tonight the food was a bust. I had the Fettuccine Pino and it smelled like tuna helper. The Alfredo sauce was so watery and the chicken was over cooked and dry. My wife had capellini and she enjoyed her dinner.
I hate giving this place a 1 star but tonight their kitchen was missing the boat on my entree!!

Best place to have Italian food in San Juan Capistrano!!

Very excellent food.. The choices of all the dishes are quality at the highest level.. And the service is excellent as well,.

Delicious food. Newly remodeled and a nice atmosphere with a great patio. Can be difficult to see from the street and parking can be tough, especially on the weekend.

Best Italian experience I've ever had. The food, the waiters... Amazing! We will be back!

I remember the first day it opened over 20 Years ago. I was looking for a new lunch place and came across C.P. the day they opened the doors. We have not stopped coming back. Rotelle, Farfalle Carciofi,, and Penne Norcina are a few of our all time favorites. BTW, You have to special request the later two. Pasquale and family have done a remarkable job over the years. We have broken bread here with many of our family, friends and clients and will continue to do so. Mangia Benne!

Parking is very scarce at busy times. Good food but expensive for what you get!

This was my first visit and sadly my last. I took my son for dinner because we had a school meeting to attend and we were starving. We arrived at 5pm and were literally the only people in the restaurant. Ignore the (2) dollar signs, it should really be (3) or (4). Just the two of us (both drinking water) cost $50. The staff was very nice, although very slow considering we were the only people in the place. I ordered a soup and a meal, however the soup was large enough for a meal all by its self. I had to take my pasta home. I decided to warm it up the following day, and I found a very large black rock and it almost broke my tooth. I found a few other small black rocks, so I threw away the entire plate. I am guessing they came from the mushrooms and can only assume they weren't properly cleaned. It really upset me because not only did I spend a lot of money on the meal, but I was anticipating eating it for dinner, therefore I didn't have anything to eat. The best part of the meal was the bread and the company. I could have eaten down the road for far less expensive.

The food was excellent and the service was fast and accurate. Very good creative Italian dished, can accommodate slightly larger groups. Very nice outside patio when the weather is nice.

Great Italian food and service. My family had a great experience.

Dined there after a trip to a mission. Food was excellent and tiramisu was actually out of this world!

Everything was delicious - from the fresh baked bread, to the caprese salad, to the minestrone, to the salmon salad to the pizza! Only criticism is the soup could have been hotter. Be sure to make reservations; they're busy even on Sunday nights.

Love this restaurant. Ate there on Valentine's Day and have to say this is the only restaurant that I have ever been to that does not raise their prices or make you order off of a set menu just because it is Valentine's. They will forever have my business for just this fact alone, not to mention the great food and service!

One of the best places for indoor and outdoor dining.

Their minestrone soup was great. I loved the pasta with vegetables I ordered. I would recommend this to anyone.

The food is tasty, but not enough, it's overpriced and they're understaffed.......disappointed:(

Great service, great wine selection, food was good.

Love this place, we have been going there since the first week it opened! It is a must stop on trips to or from OC or LA. Any more, we don't go much further than the seasonal specials menu. Every dish is better than the menu's description and the owner is able to directly import wines from his Italian home which pair perfectly. The staff is attentive and never intrusive, knowledgeable be and friendly. The owner/chef is frequently out checking on his guests and ensuring that you're dining experience is at it's best.

I had the lasagna and was delicious. Every time I have the chance to dine there it is always fabulous with great food and friendly servers.

Spectacular location for enjoying amazing wines, salad and pasta on the outside patio directly across the street from beautiful Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Our server Ruben was attentive and helpful in recommending menu items and our three dinners were perfectly prepared.

Freeway close Ciao Pasta is an obligatory stop for any true foodie traveling between San Diego and Los Angeles. After dinner, enjoy your stroll around this historic & picturesque town, dating back to 1776!

Ciao, pilgrim!

Good happy hour with value. $5 draft beers and wines, very good Cabernet for the money. The $12 whole Neapolitan style pizzas are very flavorful and one of the best I have had.

Never been disappointed by this family owned authentic Italian restaurant. Great food, great atmosphere, great service.

My wife and I stopped in for lunch and very glad we did. The atmosphere was cozy with an old world feel. We sat on the large patio and enjoyed the mid day weather. The food was excellent! Fresh very generous portions and quick to the table. The staff were friendly, accommodating, and present. We will be back for sure; maybe dinner next.

Excellent, Excellent service, food and ambiance....

I love this place. The food is excellent and the servers are very friendly.

It was great food and the service excellent I'm going back and price is reasonable

Ate here for lunch before visiting the San Juan Capistrano mission. It's right across the street.

Nice atmosphere, not very busy at lunch time when we went on a Saturday. The bread was fresh and soft and delicious. The other food was good, but not worth writing home about. The pasta I had was much too garlicky. I couldn't finish it because it was so strong.

Worth trying, but stay away from the pasta with garlic!

I really love the food and service and this is one of my favorite restaurants, but I did not like that the tables were not socially distanced. It felt very crammed and no one was entering/leaving with masks. Many other places seat every table but have a giant sheet of plexiglass in between tables. It's an easy solution. I won't be dining in again until this is resolved.

Very lovely, you wouldn't think much of it from outside but going in, it has a great bar area, patio seating, food is very good

The chicken was tough, lasagna burnt edges, we saw our waiter one time, we had to wait for someone to find our bill. Limited menu, NOT kid friendly

Have been going here for over 15 years. The food and experience is 5-star every single time. The best, hands down.

The owmer Pasquale is very accommodating and the always ready to please. The food is top-notch. The patio is beautiful.

The atmosphere was great. But one of the waiter guys who served us water was rude. The italian girl who took our orders were very nice though. The street parking was available for the lunch, and the area is beautiful.

We picked up lasagna curbside, easy Peezy and delicious! We got a lasagne that supposedly served 4, but it was large enough for 8! It included salad, bread and cannoli. Ciao Pasta is our favorite Italian restaurant! Great service and Best. Pasta. Ever.

Great food. Bread and oil is amazing. Mozzarella is great. Chicken parm is the best I've ever had - comes with fettuccine alfredo.

I came yesterday with my wife and had a great experience. The focaccia bread was perfect. The fried calamari was tender and the batter was crispy and light. The Portobello Ravioli was really amazing. I wanted to drink the cream sauce. The Beef Carpaccio was really good. It's hard to find Carpaccio at all anymore and this was a particularly good example. There are a lot of capers on it, so you may want to request none if you don't like those.

Service was attentive. Ambience was nice. We sat on the patio and there was a nice little breeze in the afternoon which made it very comfortable.

The only thing I would change is the pacing of service. Dinner came when we weren't done with our first course. Not ideal.

All in all a very pleasant experience.

This is my favorite restaurant in the area. The service and food are always excellent. I haven't actually eaten inside since the patio is so nice but the remodel looks great. You really can't go wrong eating here.

The happy hours is the best around. The Margarita pizza is the best. House Chardonnay is good.

Food was spectacular, and the service was absolutely amazing!!!

So many delicious dishes and choices; outstanding service, and contemporary interior, across from the historic mission. We'll return soon!

Best treat of the day! The food excellent with a beautiful traditional Italian setting. No complaints. The pizza was like eating a cloud!

Went for a rehearsal dinner and they were very attentive. Never wanted for anything. Great food and great staff!