Zio’s Italian Kitchen

Pleasantly surprised! Tonight was our first time to eat at Zio’s. I expected an experience similar to Olive Garden– but it was MUCH, MUCH better! From the hostess to the waiter, the service was friendly and desire to make our experience the best.
I had ordered the Spicy Chicken Alfredo which I’m sure is someone’s favorite item on the menu, but it wasn’t mine. When the waiter came to check on our entrée, he could tell I wasn’t thrilled and asked if I would like to replace it with something else on the menu. I exchanged it for the chicken fettuccine alfredo. It came out from the kitchen in seven minutes or less!
Can’t wait to eat there again!

I brought my 3 kids here after a long days work. It was great. Our waitress was on top of everything and the kids are every they had. I am so happy we decided to come here. However I need to try more of the menu next time.

Haven’t been here in years. I remembered liking the Chicken Marsala, and that the portions were huge, that is what I ordered. What a HUGE disappointment! My plate came out with 4 pieces of chicken that were about a half inch wide and three inches long. Another disappointing chain restaurant that cuts portions rather than raise the prices a bit. I will not be back…

I will say the food in consistently good here. I feel like I’m jinxing it, but we have not had a bad experience here (unless you count my then 3 year old basically losing her mind during one visit, but can blame Zio’s for that!). Always nice servers. This trip service was a tad slow, but the food was great yet again. Turning into my go to place for Italian!

Food OK, Music is WAY too loud. Won’t go back because of that. Horrible music too!

Had left our car to have its tires rotated and had only Cottonwood Mall chain restaurants to choose from. We picked Zio’s and were pleasantly surprised. We liked it much better than Olive Garden. Nothing tasted bland. The tomato soup was delish. I even liked the Caesar salad dressing (creamy). We also liked the Caprese Salad and the Baked Formaggio but it was very rich. Going back to try the Toasted Ravioli (a St. Louis specialty in ABQ!). A better than average chain.

This place is amazing. Good service and fast food. The best part was the quality unique food they serve. Its just enough food for you to want to get a take home box and it’s a great prices restaurant.

Best Italian food in Rio Rancho and Albuquerque. I go here at least one a month and it never disappoints. Reasonable prices and they have great service.

I gave this place a chance. I knew from previous reviews it wouldn’t be «great» but to be completely an utterly honest DONT WASTE your money or time. I was greeted with a pleasant hostess. Thought ok this might work. I told her we would like to sit at bar. When arrived at the bar it was FILTHY! With glasses an plates from previous patrons. I thought no biggie, Been in restaurant business before maybe a large rush. But those glasses an dirty bar remained throughout my visit. I ordered a salad an rigatoni. Salad was decent. Pasta dish was sooooo cheesy an mushy hardly edible. Service was substandard, bartender was more worried about rolling silverware then attending to us. Again I have bad nights while serving an bar tending that I understand but this was sad. Terrible all around! Won’t be back an won’t ever recommend. I don’t write bad reviews this maybe first but this was worth the time to make sure this won’t happen again. Ick!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place for their gluten free menu options! My daughter has celiac disease so I’m always pleased to see restaurants catering to gf options. The pizza was amazing! Only missing a fifth star because my husband got the lasagna & was extremely unimpressed… but he helped our son with his fettuccine Alfredo which was very good! Love the atmosphere too, which is quite kid friendly!

Pasta with too much butter. Heart attack waiting to happen. Kinda like a cheap macroni grill.

Upon walking in the door we were greeted with the wonderful aroma of spices and bread. The server was awesome. Very attentive and friendly. However this would be all that was good. I got the meal with lasagna and chicken Parmesan. The chicken was rubbery and very salty. The lasagna reminded me of my childhood bowls of chef boyardee canned pasta. I tried one of my daughter’s meatballs from her meal and it was rubbery and just gross. My wife and daughter both had fettuccine Alfredo which they said was bland and the pasta was over cooked. The food was very disappointing. I don’t think we’ll be coming back.

Best service ever! Chastity was amazing! The servers were all very attentive and awesome. Our food was great and they completely out did themselves to accommodate us! I love this place and I think we will be making a regular visit here! Thank you Zios for making an ordinary Friday night extra ordinary!

My friend and I enjoy meeting here for lunch to visit and have a tasty lunch. It is usually pretty quiet and the service and food is good. I have tried several things on the menu and never have been dissatisfied. Each time I go there is a manager walking around to make sure everyone is pleased with their service and meal. I can’t wait to try something else the next time my friend and I get together. :0)

So I came here for happy hour one day after coming from the stumbling steer who had absolutely no food on special for happy hour. Zio’s fit the bill, they had $ 3 wine, beer specials, and $ 3 apps. We ordered 5 apps between 4 of us and that was plenty. The apps were a really good portion size and quite tasty. It had been years since I was here last for dinner but I’d definitely come back for happy hour/​dinner. The service was spot on too.

We have eaten inside many times before. We decided to try carryout this time. When we opened our food at home, all the dishes were poorly prepared. All 4 dishes were to be tossed in Alfredo sauce. They basically poured the pasta in, and covered the tops with sauce. The dish was chicken and cheese tortellini.

Arrived at 5:30 PM on a Sunday, the restaurant was not busy and the staff were all standing around chatting with each other, including the manager.
It took 10 minuets to even get acknowledged. Weightier acted like it was a chore to weight on us.
If it wasn’t for the very good food I would have rated this a –1.

My review is mixed on this place. I have been going there for years and actually really enjoy it. Something has changed…
In years past, the lunch special was a spectacular deal. It used to cost somewhere in the $ 6 range for a hearty meal.
I was disappointed earlier this week when I went for lunch. The prices jumped up by almost $ 3, bringing the lunch menu closer to the $ 9 mark for a simple bowl of pasta. I firmly believe that you get what you pay for, so I was originally OK with the updated prices of the lunch menu.
The real issue was when the food arrived at the table. There was eight of us, and all eight meals we giant let-​downs. The portions were consistant with what you would expect in a kids meal. The bowls were mini size and thick, and the bottom of the bowl appeared after just a few bites of food. The lunch portion of chicken parm was more like a chicken nugget being hid by sauce. The lasagna lunch portion was also minimal and left my friend wanting more.
Dont get me wrong, the food you get is great, but severely overpriced for the small portions you are served under the title «lunch size».
They did run out of bread and we went without any during our meal.
At a price, including drinks, of about $ 12 per person, one should not be leaving hungry. There are many places in Albuquerque that offer good food, great portions, at a fair price. I probably will not make Zios a regular lunch destination.

The restaurant itself was very clean and the environment was causal. It started out promising with some tasty bread and a coke that had some zip to it, however it was all downhill from there. I had the lasagna which was very rubbery and bland. My husband had a chicken parm sandwich was not only bland but also burnt. The service started out good but by mid meal was rather slow.
In my opinion this restaurant doesn’t hold a candle to the Olive Garden and in my book that is not a good thing! My husband said, «I could come back here if I was with someone who really wanted to come her or for a work dinner or something, but I wouldn’t come back on my own.»
Well said.

Amazing experience. The marinara has a spicy kick that is hard to describe, (or maybe un-​describable) I LOVE THIS PLACE — It was the best chicken parmesan I have ever had… and I eat chicken parmesan at as many Italian joints as I can … so I know!
Wish I could give it more then 5 stars. I can’t believe nobody has reviewed this place yet.
If you are thinking about Italian for dinner — GO HERE, do not think twice … I PROMISE you will leave this place happy and its very affordable.
The only thing I am sad about is that I do not live here so I can’t go back to it often! I will be hitting it up again when I go back though … that is for sure!