Cibo Wine Bar

I had heard a lot of great things about this place and decided to check it out with friends after work. On Thursday nights they have half priced drinks and apps until 7pm! It was nice to find a spot of King W that gave a little back.
The atmosphere was great, boisterous yet classy. I will definitely be going back to this place.

Came here on a dinner date prior to some work drinks across the street @ Spice Route.
Cibo is an upscale Italian restaurant along this stretch of King street west. Upon entering the ambiance is chilled out, intimate and definitely classy. However during dinner time it the noise level can be quite high.
My date and I sat in the bar lounge area and decided to order a bottle of red (malbec). Our server was extremely polite and provided us some recommendations. In terms of food we decided to try their popular gourmet pizza. The Presentation was nice, the price was reasonable, and overall experience was great. Would this be a go to Italian restaurant? Perhaps if there isn’t anything in the area, and if you’re into upscale Italian food.

Gorgeous space! Wine enthusiasts this is the place to visit. Service was amazing from the moment we arrived. Server was very knowledgable with the menu and flexible with substitutions.
My friends and I ordered two bottles for the table and ordered our mains right away. Complimentary warm bread served with a side of olives. Opted for the freshly made in house pasta which you can sub any dish for an extra $ 1. Everyone ordered pasta– solid. I ordered the seafood option (tiger shrimp, clams, calamari) in a tomato sauce. Fresh, light, and balanced with not too much sauce and generous portions.
Half price bottles on Thursdays! Need I say more?
Perfect spot for a night out with friends, date night or simply bumping into interesting characters. The ladies of The Social were seated right across from us. Intrigue and drama is all I’ll say…

Nice ambience, good but not great service, food was pretty tasty. Overall, it’s worth a try.
Prosciutto and formaggio: meat was really delicious and salty, cheese was really fresh and complemented the meat. Olives were yummy. Presentation was spot on as well.
Fried zucchini and artichokes: these are deep fried and battered. But that’s how I like my veggies.
Lasagna: highly recommend it, has salumi and is really filling and delicious.
CIBO martini: with crystal head! No alcohol taste, was very sweet. Grapes a nice touch.
Sangria: perfect presentation, was very satisfying.

A coworker of mine recommended this place. It was close by my work (within 5 mins walk). She raved about it so I decided to give it a try.
Walking in made me felt like a casual dining place, for drinks with coworkers, dinner with friends. the usual.
We were greeted and seated in a timely manner, although it was busy during the holiday season. They didn’t compromise on the service.
Once we sat down, they asked if we wanted sparkling water or tap. We opt in for sparkling, not realizing it was $ 5 a bottle. The warm bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil was yummy… and olives… it did seem to taste different from other places but I don’t know how to describe it.
Anyways, on to the appys and entrees. We ordered the salad with blue cheese, linguine with fresh clams and white sauce, and one in tomato sauce. Unfortunately, mine didn’t really feel like white wine sauce… it felt like my pasta was dreaded in olive oil… towards the end, I couldn’t even finish it…
So I went back to work and my coworker was like. Noo! Why did you order pasta… you should have ordered the pizza cuz it was to die for… wasn’t aware of that beforehand so didnt have the same experience as she did.
I may go back and give the pizza a try… depends…

We went for a Sunday brunch for my girlfriends birthday and it was nice.
we had a private room, so we were able to keep our conversation between us.
the lighting was a little dim but it was a nice intimate setting.
the food was Buffet style with fresh stations everywhere. it would have been nice if they had signs with what everything was. Especially what the different types of meats were. it was upsetting not to get a straight answer from people because they didn’t know.
getting our bill paid what’s a little chaotic as they only do one bill, but other than that it was good!
the fresh waffles were delicious, and so was the pasta and mussels, I enjoyed my experience.

Came back for my second try of their Sunday brunch this past weekend (both visits were due to friends who bought Groupons).
Both times were meh… it was the company and the fun of going for brunch that made it worthwhile, but definitely not the food.
The food is decent, but nothing beyond that. I would still always choose from the many brunch restaurants that Toronto has to offer for my next outing over this place.
They offer pasta, polenta fries, salads, pizza, waffles, omlet (yuk yuk — stay away!), an array of desserts…
Place is nicely decorated and servers are nice.
The one off-​putting part was when they gave us the bill and forgot to enter the Groupon promo (which they eventually fixed) — their regular price (which I was totally unaware of) came to $ 80 (pre tip) for two people. $ 80 for mediocre brunch buffet for two people… insane… For that money you can have a stellar brunch with lotssss of booze at many other downtown places. Crazy.
Not to mention the tip option on the credit card machine starts at 18%…I get it’s King West but really? It’s a buffet. Here is 18% for not being my server since ITS A BUFFET. lol…
not going back!

3.5 stars. Came to Cibo twice for brunch and it is always busy. Remember to make reservations. You get a glass of prosseco or mimosa for brunch. You can get fresh made pizza, pasta and fresh to made eggs. The food was good but wasn’t blown away by anything there. On the down side on my 2^nd visit we got some moldy raspberries. Good thing I had a closer look. The 2^nd time I went they had the waffle station which was pretty good. Overall it is a nice atmosphere and good food.

I enjoyed my night out at Cibo with friends. This restaurant is surprisingly big, and always packed. The waitress are very hot and friendly, which got me thinking that they are probably graduates from Hooters. Thus, great place to have a nice diner and drinks with friends.

Yesterday was the second time we’ve been to Cibo and we were pleased. The food is honest and for the price, well pointed.
I believe it is a great choice for those who doesn’t want to spend a lot, but is looking for a trendy ambience at King West.
The fried polenta is delicious and my husband liked the mushroom risotto.

I accidentally walked in here. The vibe and ambiance was great. We waited by the bar for our table and had wine. Gewurzzz something white wine. Absolutely delicious. We had apps: mushroom and sausage and bread, simply amazing!!!

Ive been to this location twice and the eglinton location once for their Sunday Italian brunch.
The offerings are amazing!!! Fresh made to order eggs (omelets and benedicts with italian antipasto toppings), fresh wood oven pizzas made to order, polenta fries, risotto balls, fresh made to order salads and pastas… meat and cheese boards and more!
The brunch also comes with a nice glass of prosseco or mimosa.
The first 2 times were so good, i think the setup at the eglinton location is smaller but nicer. The king location is bigger but the seating is a bit uncomfortable.
Our bar table this time was very wobbly and the service was really off. They didn’t have our reservations when we arrived. They didn’t show us the stations even though for other groups ahead of us and after we can see them walking them through the different areas.
Every time we came back with more food, our old plates from a round or two ago were still not cleared even though the tables next to us were up kept. I had to flag down a server at one point because I had no more space to put anything down and no one had stopped by since the beginning of the meal.
I got the eggs benedict and the egg was more than hard boiled, but the omelet was good. Definitely try their polenta fries (I think this is what keeps me going back)!!!
We had to again flag a server down for water half way through the meal. A lot of this should be pretty basic at any restaurant let alone a wine bar. Finally waved our bill down and it was the wrong bill… I just walked up to a waitress instead because our parking was about to expire.
She fixed it up and apologized. I would go back to the Eglinton location again but probably not the King st one again.

I have super mixed feelings about this place. It’s a mix of pretentious with some sprinkles of nice.
My friends came here to celebrate a birthday. No where on the website or menu did it say that outside cakes were not allowed. We were told immediately by the server that we had to ask the event coordinator in advance to bring a cake in. He gave us this stare, which I interpreted as, «well you should have known. Duh?» — my first dose of pretentious. Yes, we are on king street and it’s posh, but it’s not «common knowledge» in my books. I celebrate birthdays a lot at restaurants and have brought cakes. I get that there is a health and safety thing with bringing outside food, but I’ve never had an issue except at one other place on King Street West, but they wrote it on their website that there would be a plating charge. Usually, it’s mentioned on the website. We spoke to the event coordinator and she said she will make an «exception» and serve the cake as long as we pay a plating fee of $ 3.50 per person. My suggestion — put it on the website and let the policy be known!!!
The server was still nice after I let my frustrations be known — some sprinkles of nice. However, after our dinner, I had to ask him several times to bring the cake out. Albeit, the place got super busy and he was working hard, but we waited a long time for the cake to the served, to the point where they acknowledged the wait and took the plating fee off the bill. I’m glad they did this, but it still made me super angry that they took forever and should have taken off the plating fee to begin with since the policy wasn’t written anywhere. I give the service and entire dining experience a C+.
I would give the food a B+. I wasn’t expecting it to be great, but it didn’t turn out so bad. We had the polenta fries, bruschetta, and ravioli stuffed with lobster.
On Thursdays before 7:00pm, they have happy hour and wine is half price (not sure if this is for other days and what time it starts at).
The place is very pretty and it’s huge! There are several rooms to have a private event or party in. It got super busy after 7:00pm on a Thursday evening.
My tip: Make a reservation and don’t bring in a cake. It’s really not worth it.

2.5 stars for Sunday Brunch
My parents are the traditional chinese parents that goes to dim sum every sunday and let me tell you, it was hard to convince my parents to try anything new! I found two good reasons to convince them: 1. my out of town sister came back to visit 2. I found a groupon deal that percieved an awesome value.
Service: Waited 10 mins for seating although there were plenty of vacant seats and I had made prior reservations, I guess they like having a crowded line out the door. I wasn’t too impressed by the service since it took our server to serve us water 10 mins after we’ve been seated and didn’t tell me that there were other drink options besides a glass of prosecco (I overheard another server telling another table). As I read other Unilocal reviews, we weren’t given a tour either or any other explanations on the AYCE brunch experience.
Food: I loved the layout of the buffet. It looked amazing but not all that amazing since the foods were all the same but just plated in different sections. I’m no cheese expert but it seemed like they had a table with a variety of cheese. Most of the food served were cold dishes ie. salads, bread, cheese, mussels, very small portions of smoked salmon (wish there were more seafood). Hot foods were made to order pasta (3 kinds), custom pizza, omlettes and the self serve bacon, sausage and poached eggs.
Décor: lots of wood furnishings which created an earthy atmosphere and the glass and open concept created a clean feeling. This location was spacious and the tables were not cluttered which was nice.
I think this created a good memorable experience for my parents but the food were not up to their expectation.
Overall: I don’t think I would try it out if it was regularly priced at $ 35+ tax, driving from sauga+ paid parking. I suggest to get the groupon deal for first timers :)

Sorry Cibo. Had a really bad summerlicious experience here. All 3 of us ordered most things across the menu and it was so disappointing! My main was so bland I salted it up which is something I’d never do!
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse we were brought out some horrible desserts! The gelato was icy… A terrible tart worse than day old from the grocery store… And some sort of layered parfait dessert that tasted line yogurt (not Italian at all) and wouldn’t hold a candle to McD’s fruit n yogurt parfait.
I’ve been here for regular menu and we loved it, but this time we had a rude awakening.
Don’t get summerlicious! I used to love this place. If I come back I hope to write a 5 star review next time.

Went here for dinner for Summerlicious 2015.
Their entrance set up is kind of strange. There were three hostesses seating people, but there still seemed to be a rather long line of four, five parties, and the restaurant was not busy at all. When it was our turn, we walked up the stairs only to stop midstep because that’s where the menus and cutlery are kept. We blocked the people trying to come down the steps to leave. It’s just not a very smart setup.
The process for ordering and the food coming out all happened very quickly, which was great. You also get fresh bread, which was very yummy.
APPETIZER: Crispy Eggplant Parmigianna
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Fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil. The eggplant, cheese, and tomato sauce combination was tasty. I’m not sure I would call it «crispy» though because it was a little mushy.
MAIN: Crispy Skin Arctic Char
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Lemon caper drizzle, baby summer squash, fava bean, arugula, spring onions, lemon olive oil. The fish was great, especially because I don’t normally like fish. The skin probably could have been a little crispier and there could have been a few more vegetables, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
DESSERT: Italian Trifle
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Strawberry mascarpone cream, white chocolate shavings. Yum.
Service was average-​ish. Once our meal was done and we tried to get the bill, our server suddenly became completely inaccessible. But in general, I enjoyed CIBO.

It’s a huge place, quite busy with a lot of 20 year olds. Cool décor inside — lots of personality.
Went for a private party, where we received okay service.
For food, we tried:
–Pepperoni pizza (good, spicey)
–fried polenta (crispy, sorta bland like polenta is)
–tomatoes on bread (okay, not that good)
–Caprese salad (3 slices tomato, giant chunk mozzarella)
–Baked calamari (bland)
–Ahi tuna on sauce (bland, no pepper, sauce flavorful, not warm)
The wine wasn’t great, but had alcohol, and that’s was really matters

I didn’t have the opportunity to eat her and probably was my good fortune.
It was a long weekend so the patios were pretty busy all over king street. My friend and I wanted to put our names on the wait list but the ladies at the door was so unfriendly, pretentious and least inviting.
I guess it has everything to do with how fake and superficial Toronto is becoming but when the girls themselves are very unattractive, I highly doubt they should be the gatekeepers of whom should be allowed in and whom denied entry.
If I wanted this horrible Las Vegas night club treatment I would have just gone to a club but alas I was hungry and in search for a meal, not judgement. Won’t ever be coming back to try.

I have to say, I was expecting much less considering the reviews are less than spectacular for this place.
3.5 stars for Cibo.
I came here for Sunday brunch. $ 35 per person, ayce, and it includes a glass of prosecco or a mimosa.
There isn’t a huge variety of food, but there certainly was enough. One of the hostesses walked us up, gave a brief tour, and led us to our seats.
Food stations:
Pasta-​Three types of pasta in three types of sauces. No sure if you can mix and match but we were told the pasta is made in-​house.
Cheese and bread-​Four types of cheeses to choose from, mild to strong.
Antipasto/​risotto/​sandwiches/​bruschetta/​fried stuff-​There were sundried tomatoes, marinated mushrooms, artichokes, etc. There was only one vegetarian risotto (zucchini and paddy pans). The sandwiches and bruschetta I didn’t look too closely at. A heat lamp section was warming the polenta fries (which oddly tasted like Cheetos) and arancini, rice balls. I almost forgot the poached eggs in tomato sauce in the same section.
Pizza-​Made to order pizzas! Cooked in a stone oven. This was our favourite. Toppings were pretty good, including bocconcini, marinated veggies, and various meats.
Seafood-​Smoked salmon, mussels, and marinated calamari (or was it octopus?).
Salad-​Three types were shown as samples, but I did overhear the server say they could make whatever variation upon request.
Eggs-​I guess the eggs were made to order? I didn’t get anything from here until I saw someone with a poached egg on spinach and smoked salmon. I definitely had to get that! There were a few covered dishes, like potatoes, bacon, and sausages, in the back area as well.
Dolci/​dessert-​There was actually a lot to choose from: cakes, pies, mini desserts, some in ramekins. Fruit was also offered, one plate of orange sections, another of fruit salad.
Organization? A bit odd. Spacious, that’s for sure. The service was kind of iffy. My side plate was removed too soon. Where was I supposed to put my cutlery if I wanted a second or third round of food?
It was good, not great, not terrible. 3.5 stars seems about right. I’m gonna round up to 4 stars!

Located on the trendy restaurant row of King St West in Toronto, Cibo Wine Bar is quite an interesting experience for either the dining and the restaurant. Walking in your surrounded by Crystal Head vodka bottles lining each of the wood walls of the entrance way and the impressive glass walled wine cellar. We were sat in the bar/​dining area of the restaurant. Warm wood tones, glass, comfortable seating added to the ambiance. As soon as our party arrived our server was friendly and informative about drink and wine selections. They have a pretty long wine list of wine served by the glass. I looked at the bar and I saw that they used a temperature controlled wine dispensing and storage unit. All the wine is exactly poured to the ounce and it is served at its optimal temperature for the best wine experinece, even by the glass.
Our table of 7 ordered 4 different appetizers. The Arracini (rice balls stuffed with mozzerlla), polenta fries with gorgonzola dip (corn meal deep fried), polpettine (mini meat balls in tomato sauce) and a house salad with balsamic dressing. Our server took our order and dropped off fresh foccaica bread to nibble on. The foccaia was so fresh that I could have eaten it all night, perfectly seasoned and very tasty. Our table ordered entrée’s consisting of various pizzas and pastas. Most of the pastas are made fresh in house. I can always appreciate a restaurant that does this because you can really taste the difference. Our server was excellent and kept regular table checks to make sure our drinks and foccaia was full.

After about 25 min our meals arrived all together and we were treated to great flavors of the thin crusted pizzas and fantastic pasta’s. As we finished our tables were pre-​bussed and our table ordered desserts ranging from lemon ricotta cheese cake to a chocolate baci bombe. Our experience was finally complete by the manager coming by to make sure we enjoyed our time at Cibo. I had an excellent experience and it seems that we are already making plans to come back for Mothers Day.