Ciao's authentic restaurant is really a hidden treasure in the working class city of Vista, run by two Italian chefs with their endearing Chilean wives. The intimate buffet lunch on weekdays is delicious, fresh and well priced. The artichoke chicken is my favorite, with a beautiful walnut balsamic blue cheese salad, fresh pizzas, home made bread, etc. Weekend nights are busy and fun as well.
Ciao's also catered our school's Christmas banquet and our own daughter's wedding !! It was wonderful, complete with all of the tables, chairs, tablecloths, napkins, china, silver, and glassware. The chef came and prepared a four course meal with his wait-staff to spoil our guests, who have raved about it since. Enjoy !

I loved the rigatoni cooked al dente perfect and the Chicken Marsala is awesome. Fast service and a great atmosphere.

I've lived in Oceanside 10 years, and just now became aware of
the existence of this fabulous local gem of a family style Italian restaurant!
The dining area is warm , cozy and very Italian. The dinner choices
are numerous and entree costs are very reasonable.
The orders are large enough to be shared, and the wait staff
are very warm and friendly! The antipasto salad, spaghetti Carbonara and Pasta
stuffed shells with cheese and spinach were fabulous!
(ditto on all the comments made by "the bionicwoman"'s review.A large
group arriving as we were finishing made for a loud atmosphere)
This restaurant will likely become one of our favorites for Italian dining!
PS, we also are eating delicious leftovers as we type!

This restaurant is run by Italians who direct the cooking and recipes, so authenticity is not a problem and the food reflects that. This is not a big restaurant, and not lovely to look at outside. However the food is all the difference. Large portions of standard fare. Their pizzas are very good as well. They don't have a creative menu, and the food is heavy, but that's what doggie-bags are for.

Oh yeah! Italian food at its finest - large portions, excellent choices and the wait staff are so friendly you feel you're eating at someone's house! Makes for a very enjoyable evening. Their special plate with mussels, clams, fish, crab is to die for!