PARKING // parking is street parking only. There is no privatized lot. Good luck with finding parking it's always a challenge in this area. AMBIANCE // the Ambiance here is quaint, romantic and noisy. There are two seating sections one is elevated, no matter where you sit it can tend to get a little bit noisy but nothing outrageous. FOOD // I've been here numerous times over the years. The food was always consistently good. However this last time the food arrived at our table barely warm. I believe I know what happened. My one colleague ordered pasta with shrimp and a white wine sauce. That came out scalding hot. My manicotti and my other colleagues ravioli came out barely warm. They weren't staged properly. They were waiting to bring them out with the pasta, and they didn't set them under the heat lamp therefore they got cold. The complimentary bread has always been outstanding and still continues to be. The drinks are average, not strong but not weak. SERVICE // this is where this experience becomes interesting and unique. From the beginning the service was subpar at best. It was almost as if we were being ignored or overlooked intentionally. There were no refills on drinks. There was no inquiry how the entrees were. There was little to no follow-up. Very unique dining experience in and of itself. I have never experienced this and I have lived in major cities throughout the world. When it came time to conclude the experience. Ariana did ask if we wanted dessert. Myself and my colleague ordered a tiramisu. My colleague ordered one to go for her husband. She was charged for it, but it didn't come out until she inquired about it and then a young man, the same one who refilled my drink upon my asking is the same one who delivered her to go item. I requested a manager. I was told very directly that there was not any manager on that night that I would have to speak with her. I inquired who the proprietor or the owner was and she told me the name "Matt" stating that, "You will never hear from him and he won't call you back" she asked what the problem was and upon my explaining to her she became very argumentative cutting me off and interrupting me and speaking over me. She became extremely argumentative and unprofessional. She called me a liar. Telling me and my friends that we came in in a bad mood. Astoundingly we all looked at each other, as this was not possible. We were there for a celebration. Ariana continued to argue with us that she did come to the table and ask how things were, none of us recollect that whatsoever. At the conclusion of the evening, her unprofessionalism, unattentiveness and overall poor decorum has resulted in this review, a letter to someone named "Gabby" and a very unpleasant taste in our mouth for this small business. Which is extremely unfortunate because I really did love this place and I really did want to continue to frequent it. read more

Food was ok but there was no wow factor My dish was supposed to be spicy and it wasn't Wine selection is really good Pizza was good and a great crust on it Service was great and friendly read more

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Lots on the menu! We enjoyed amazing service here and excellent food. Highly recommend Papa Biagio's Bolognese. Generous portions and friendly staff. read more

Ciao Mambo - Italian Near Me - Missoula, Montana

A super cute restaurant with indoor seating only and a small pizza bar, we came in for dinner and were met with great staff. The host hooked it up when we thought we would have a big party and made room for us at the bar. Our waiter was pretty nice too, giving us good suggestions for our meals. We started with the caprese salad which I think may have been my favorite thing there. The presentation and the flavors were great and it was both light but refreshing. For our main we decided to try the chicken parm with the vodka sauce- I have to say this was probably the weakest item. The chicken could have been thinner as some of it was so large it made it a bit hard to cut. The sauce was not vodka like at all and the cheese they used had a weird aftertaste. It wasn't a bad dish but not something I would recommend to anyone. Their house bread was good but covered with a ton of cheese too (which also had a weird aftertaste). Great rose wine and fair prices - would like to try something different next time. read more

Delicious meal and great service! Our water was never empty and the food came out in a timely manner. The gluten free pasta was delicious and I love how you can customize your pasta, so I changed the sauce as well. The Parmesan cream sauce is pretty heavy but so delicious. The interior is well decorated and very cute. We had to wait 30-45 minutes on a weekend, but it was no problem since we shopped nearby. Great food! read more

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Only had the tiramisu but staff was nice and attentive even though we said from the start we were here solely for dessert read more

Ciao Mambo - Bad picture but great tiramisu. Honestly the best I've had in a while minus making my own! - Italian Near Me - Missoula, Montana

Judging from this visit, this restaurant is not as good as it used to be. Food: everything was overpowered by strong, soft-necked garlic. The bread was almost rendered inedible by it, and I love garlic. The restaurant sort of seemed cluttered. Management needs to look at the dining room critically and update as needed. Service: awful. My daughter has allergies. I've been known to tip 25% to 35% when servers actually care. This server did not. My daughter did not eat and I barely ate. Would've left but was with friends we rarely get to see. Will not return. read more

Wonderful Italian food, best in Missoula. I got the Lavender Lemonade mocktail. It was tasty but overly sweet. Bread is always great crusty topped with cheese warm and soft inside. I ordered my go favorite, Eggplant Parmigiana with pasta. One of the handful of vegetarian dishes. read more

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this place bangs. everything on the menu is good. the other location in whitefish is nowhere near as good as this location. Bolognese extra crispy. order it. read more

Ciao Mambo - bolognese extra crispy - Italian Near Me - Missoula, Montana

We met our friend, Kim here at her recommendation. It was busy on Thursday at 7pm. But, we were seated before very long. It's a fun dining room with tables by the windows and interior. Good combination of high tops and regular tables. I enjoyed watching the young pizza chef hand tossing the pie dough. Lost art? Not here! The menu is excellent from pizza to steak all Italian. Our server was delightful she seemed to be enjoying our dining experience as much as we were. Loved it! This is a beer and wine place, no cocktails. Food was good and value excellent! read more

I had just returned from a trip to Italy before coming to Missoula for a wedding. I ate some fantastic food in Italy and had lasagna that was incredible. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with the food at Ciao Mambo. It was very authentic and the taste & quality rivaled the Italian food I ate in Italy. The lasagna was as good as what I had eaten in Florence. We had a large party and they still supplied outstanding service to our group. All of our food came out hot and quickly. We were in the basement room which worked perfectly for our group. It was a great setting and enhanced our meal. Overall, it was an outstanding experience and a wonderful dinner. read more

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To start, portions are very big! None of the friends that I went to the restaurant with ended up finishing our food and we all had to take home our meals. If you are coming with other people, it is definitely fine to split dishes or do a family style of sharing. The complimentary garlic bread was very yummy. Super duper garlicky and very crunchy. The mussel broth appetizer that I got was very good. The broth was very garlicky and tomatoey and with slights hint of parmesan. Quite salty but it paired well with the bread. The fettuccine was a little bizarre to me and my friends as it tasted more sweet than savory. It was still creamy; but a sweet creamy. My friends had to add salt and pepper to get it to be how they expected the dish to be. Perhaps they were thinking they would get alfredo. Everyone however left the meal needing and wanting to drink a lot of water. Heavy salts and garlic flavors throughout. The tomato soup of the day which was not pictured is very good! Very fresh with some chunkiness and body to it. Service was good. The servers were nice and friendly. read more

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Food is always delicious. I love the papa biagio's bolognese and always order it when dining here.

If I could rate this 100 out of 5 stars I would. The food is AMAZING. Their garlic bread is phenomenal and it's probably the best fettuccine I've ever had in my life. Our server was great and helped with some wonderful wine suggestions and had lots of patience as we visited with an infant and an energetic toddler! The antipasti salad is soooo good too. Inside was cozy and beautiful and they use paper on top of the tables for kids to draw on. Will absolutely be back during every visit to Missoula! read more

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Good food good service but incredibly noisy. We were here on a busy Friday night and they seated us to the left between the pizza ovens the cooks and the door to the kitchen after a 30-minute wait. The guys at the pizza oven kept shouting orders to the guys cooking on the back line who were shouting at the wait staff over the clatter of the beverage station. And we had to shout over all of that just to have a conversation across the table 3 ft apart. Honestly it was a relief to get out of there into the relative quiet of the hip strip during tourist season. It might be quieter in the back but if you want to have a conversation over dinner don't let him seat you in the front. read more

Ordered tomato soup, salad and pasta bolognese, came with free bread. The pasta bolognese had too much garlic that was not all the way cooked. I started picking out the garlic halfway thru and put them on a plate. I still ate it because I was hungry and it wasn't terrible just not very good. They gave me my soup for free. The hostess and servers were beautiful and very friendly and nice. read more

Ciao Mambo - Plate of not thoroughly cooked garlic - Italian Near Me - Missoula, Montana

The Service was Great!! The Food is Delicious!! and the ambiance was Fantastic!! LOVE this restaurant every time we go here. I highly recommend this place. :) read more

Best restaurant in the area! The food has a rich and flavorful taste! Had this been the first day of our trip we would visit again!! The portions were a great size as well. We left with enough for the following day allowing us time to pack without worrying about finding dinner. The service was amazing. Waitresses check on us and held conversations like we were the only patrons on the packed house. The place its self is very quaint with outdoor seating. You can smell the deliciousness while you walk through the covered entrance lined with flowers. Try it! You won't be disappointed! read more

Ciao Mambo - Hot fresh baked bread with cheese and garlic - Italian Near Me - Missoula, Montana

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OUTSTANDING service and food! one of my favorite Italian restaurants ! i've been to italian restaurants in chicago, Boston, Seattle, Arizona, California, Miami, and this place is as good as you will ever find! read more

Amazing! Had we not made a rule that we had to eat at a new place the three nights we would be in town we would be eating here every night!! The bread for starters is the perfect amount of Parmesan, garlic, and butter....we could have kept asking for more but....more to eat Hardest part was deciding what we wanted for our main meals as there are so many amazing dishes to pick from! The tootsie roll hors D'oeuvres is a MUST! Honestly we all loved our meals and ate until so full we couldn't even squeeze in tiramisu for dessert read more

I came here on a Friday night for dinner. Someone that I met in town recommended me this place for good pasta and it truly was. It was just me and it took about twenty minutes to sit me. There was crowd and the restaurant had its dinner rush going. Among the many things I saw on the menu (familiar and new to me) I ultimately went with the lasagna because I cant ever say no to a meat sauce. The waitress started off by bringing me some garlic bread. This sliced up goodness topped with cheese was an amazing food item to start with. I restrained myself from eating all of it before the lasagna came. The Lasagna itself was good. Perfectly flavored baked and so good I had the entire thing. The service here was good, my waitress checked on me often. I sat in front of the kitchen and got to see an efficient and communicating team get through the dinner rush. Good food here and amazing experience overall. read more

Ciao Mambo - Lasagna - Italian Near Me - Missoula, Montana

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We had a larger party and were seated upstairs in a portion that was somewhat private. Great atmosphere, although it's loud Excellent service, good size portions and amazing food. read more

Growing up in Jersey it's hard to find fantastic Italian food but these folks do pretty good. The pollo con formaggio was very good, the garlic bread was great. Be prepared to wait as they are always busy. read more

I can't get enough of their garlic bread, it's so filling that we had to box most of our meals - pizza, lasagna, and shrimp pasta. And even when cold, the pizza is still delicious. read more

Ciao Mambo - Pizza Margherita - Italian Near Me - Missoula, Montana

The BEST food!!! Friendly staff and wonderful food...can't wait to go back soon!! Highly recommend

The best Italian we've had in a very long time, coming from an Italian. We ordered the Bolognese (GF), and large chicken Ceaser. The star of the show for me, and maybe even the entire trip was the FRESH hot, fluffy, herby, Parmesan crusted, butter smothered table bread. It was honestly the best bread I've had in my entire life and I'm nicknamed Loafy, I love a great bread. This was heaven. Second the bolognese with cheese topped and ricotta topped was so great, again topped with herbs. Full of flavors and vegetables. The Ceaser salad was humungous, so many vegetables, it could've fed 3-4 person family. Really stuffed and really pleased pregnant woman. We were in heaven with this meal. read more

This restaurant is located a few blocks away from the downtown area. We decided to come here because we wanted Italian food and this was the only option I'm the immediate area. It tooK about 45 minutes to be seated because everyone seemed to have a hankering for pasta when we did. I ordered the mini Caesar salad and eggplant Parmesan. I've ordered many Caesar salads and this was the first one that included mushrooms and olives. The salad was overdressed and the lettuce was so unevenly cut it would make Ann Bochelli have nightmares. We were also given the house bread that had a garlic butter and Parmesan on top. The eggplant Parmesan was watery and soft. The pasta was a little overcooked but the portions were big. I might return to try another dish but would definitely skip on the salad. read more

Ciao Mambo - Eggplant Parmesan - Italian Near Me - Missoula, Montana

By far the best Italian restaurant in Montana. I have eaten at all three locations in the state and the food is consistently fresh and delicious. Portion sizes are huge so sharing and left overs are a guarantee. read more

I was expecting it to be better!! The reviews looked great and the menu was a bit misleading. I got the arrabiata spicy and it was okay there was not much sauce and the sausage was okay. The calamari was greasy. The fried mozzarella was the best thing we had but I was not amazed either. read more

Ciao always delivers. I deviated from my usual Lasagne with Alfredo and went with this! Great dish, but as always more shrimp would be a PLUS! Service was great and lovely ambiance! Go easy on the garlic bread and appy's as the portions are large! read more

Ciao Mambo - Gamberi Fra Diavolo (Spicy) - Italian Near Me - Missoula, Montana

The service was acceptable. The food was unacceptable. I ordered the Diablo shrimp were not jumbo pasta was so oily the sauce would not stick to the pasta. My dinner partner ordered Sun dried tomato penne. Looked and tasted like they burned the chicken while searing it then boiled everything together and served it. Terrible. They have no chef's just college kids cooking in the kitchen. what a waste of money I spent on food. read more

The food was so, so yummy! It came out in a timely manner. We enjoyed great service and a great atmosphere! Thank you! Bishop Family, Kalispell read more

This is not only not real Italian cuisine, it's not even real Italian American cuisine. It's a mainstream, gloppy stereotype of Italian food, one step up from Olive Garden. I wanted to like the place-- I really did. But their shtick doesn't really work, and their food, while tasty, is not what it pretends to be. A perfect example: the time I ordered Pasta Carbonara, and was served a platter/soup bowl of pasta drowning in Alfredo sauce, with some nearly burnt bits of bacon sprinkled on top. That is not carbonara, and any trained chef (not 19 yr old line cook trained by another 19 yr old line cook, trained by the manager) would know that. There IS NO CREAM in carbonara-- there is egg yolk, and there is grated pecorino Romano, with sautéed bits of guanciale on top. I'll spot anybody substituting Parma ham for guanciale, even carefully cooked bacon.... But the rest of it was SO OFF POINT that it was painfully obvious these people don't actually know anything about Italian cuisine. They're just marketing what they think locals will accept and slopping it in front of them. read more

This place is loud! The tables are covered in paper that you can color w crayons. Good hangman times. The eggplant salad (no longer on the menu, but still available by request) is delicious. The penne vodka alla vodka had moist chicken and a tasty sauce too good not to dip in w the bread. We subbed for gluten free noodles, which tasted just like the real thing. The fettuccini a la rustica was also excellent. Overall a great meal for the three of us. Very filling, too. Friendly, attentive and prompt server. read more

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The bread is good but the pasta is the cherry on top!! I love having leftovers, but the place is very loud which I don't love so if you aren't a fan of loud restaurants I wouldn't suggest this place for you. The service is ok I just think they get too busy, they are not very personable. read more

Ciao Mambo - Italian Near Me - Missoula, Montana

Best Italian we have found! The calamari was tender and crispy and a great recommendation from our fabulous waiter Jamie. The ribbon pasta bolognese with the broiled ricotta omg amazing! And the lasagna was one of the best we've had. Oh and don't forget the garlic bread doused with parmesan. It was a great find ! read more

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Staff was super friendly. Food was good but not very authentic Italian. Unfortunately not air conditioned; between the 100-degree weather & the pizza oven it was pretty hit. read more

What a joke. In for a quick meal. So many tables free and wouldn't take us. No one at the bar and would still not take us. Not good business. read more

Food was great overall, service was nice, although I would say that the servings are out of control in regards to size. Three people could have easily finished the carbonara pasta but instead it's a one person dish. Thank you very much. read more

Food s pretty good. SERVICE SUCKS!!!! Literally ruined our dinner. All but 1 female bus girl seemed miserable. Our server was rude, not friendly and overall seemed like she hated her job. My wife instantly wanted to leave. I talked her into staying, but should of chose otherwise. A server van definitely ruin or improve your dining experience. We are locals and will not return!!! read more

Ciao Mambo - Italian Near Me - Missoula, Montana