Zio Cecio

Just seen this place on tv show Mystery Diner… mang an chef stealing from Zio

Terrific wine, food, and service. Started with the mozzarella and tomato salad – they were out of the wine I wanted ($ 85); the server recommended another red I’d not heard of and agreed to give me same price for it which was about $ 40 more. It was a great, big, bold red. Carbonara for the main, delicious.
Glad to have found this place and definitely would return.

Went for my first wedding anniversary dinner. The dining room was elegant, rustic and romantic. It’s not a very quiet restaurant though. The service was very nice… menus placed directly in your hand in the proper position, napkins placed into your lap, etc. The food was timely and delicious! I had the mezzaluna seafood ravioli and ny hubby had the bolognese. I only took off one star for a mildly over cooked crust on the cheesecake. Other than this at it was a great time and great food!

Love the service as well as the offerings. IMO one of the better Italian eateries in the Dallas area.

Had dinner there this evening. The owner, Francesco (from Sardinia), took great care of us and talked to us for a long time, very attentive personal service! I’m picky when it comes to Italian meal… lived there for a while. I have to say, their Focaccia is the best in town, authentic with sea salt and rosemary, simple and excellent! Dishes are freshly made… I had caciucco, need to try carpaccio, ravioli and pizza next time. Francesco offered us his own freshly made gelato of the day. Great hospitality! Around 7pm it did get very busy. Parking is complimentary valet. Overall, a great evening, a satisfying meal :) This is definitely my favorite Italian place in town now :)

We thoroughly enjoyed a special evening at Zio Cecio with friends. It’s a beautiful little restaurant and the staff was warm, kind and helpful. The food was delicious! We started with calamari and focaccia bread — both were delicious. One member of our party ordered the special Burrata salad — get it! She was nice enough to share — melt in your mouth Burrata cheese with oh so perfect tomatoes and a nice drizzle of Balsamic. Two of us ordered a pasta special — fettucine with crab and a light creamy tomato sauce, the other two ordered the fettucine with bolognese. Both were great — the pasta cooked perfectly and sauced to perfection. Next visit I just may start with their cheesecake though. Perfectly creamy and not too sweet. The only reason I didn’t give Zio Cecio 5 stars is due to the noise level — it was hard to hold a conversation across the table — everything and everyone echoed. We will definitely visit again though.

Our Wait Staff at Zio was very attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. Food was flavorful and fit for a foodie. We had the branzino whole fish with vegetables. Delicious. Fresh! Other main dish was lobster ravioli with lobster reduction sauce. It included many pieces of succulent meat. The portions were more than adequate. Definitely plan on returning.

I love this place. My new favorite. I especially like the chicken with mushrooms. Great food, great service, good wine selection. A real neighborhood gem.

This is a really good and very authentic Italian restaurant. The service here is wonderful, the interior is gorgeous, and the food is so delectable.
I had a the Carbonara and it was the perfect amount and not overly sauced like most places. It was simply impeccable. My group also received complimentary desserts from the Chef and everything was wonderful. The Cheesecake was gone within seconds! It was so fluffy and rich. The tiramisu is moist and soaked with the coffee and liquer and the chocolate mousse had the perfect texture with rich chocolate.
We really enjoyed ourselves here and you really couldn’t go wrong with selecting anything from the menu!

We came here this week for the 2^nd visit for our anniversary. The food is fabulous. The wait staff is just the right amount of attentive.
We split a salad, which was plenty to share. My husband had mussels, which he loved. He had lamb, again just perfect. I had lasagne, which was good, but I think I’d order something else next time. Dessert we split a chocolate mousse, which was great.
Several reviews have mentioned the noise level. That would be a deal-​breaker for us, so we go early and sit in the patio. The décor in the patio is not as spectacular as the food and the indoor décor. Because of the dilemma of the noise vs. the ambiance, I gave a 4*, otherwise it’s a 5* experience.

Very happy with the quality of the food and service. I had the Pizza there and it was great.

Francesco really knows what he’s doing. Atmosphere is great and the service was excellent. We had a party of 5 and everyone tried something different, from pizza, pasta, to veal and salads. Being a Dallasite lifer, I’ve always been unimpressed with our lack of real, authentic Italian cuisine. I have to say that Francesco has finally brought us some and everything was outstanding. The veal and seafood ravioli are on another level. We finished off with the tiramisu and cheesecake which were out of this world. The waiter recommended a nice, local Sardinian wine that was a great value and excellent with our meal. Bottom line, we’ll be going back soon.
Enjoy.

We went here a while ago, so I don’t remember details, but I remember thinking that it was overpriced for what it was. The price tags do not match the ambiance, which is more of a casual weekday restaurant feel. It’s incredibly noisy in the restaurant, too… not very romantic or great for a special occasion, which this was given the price tag. Again, the food was tasty enough, but for the money I’d go somewhere else first.

Great service, affordable prices, and a good atmosphere. The food leaves a lot to be desired. I ordered the Filetto Di Salmone. It is described on the menu to be «marinated fresh salmon, lightly pan roasted.» I was sorely disappointed to have it placed in front of me smothered in sauteed onions! GAG! I can only recall sending a dish back twice before IN MY LIFE, and this had to go back. Who puts tons of chopped onions on salmon? Like, so many I could not even pick them off! I was certain I overlooked this minor detail in the description, but I had not.
The chef made a plain piece of salmon for me and it was good.
We returned last night for the pizza. It was average, at best. They’ve got the whole brick oven setup, which is why I wanted to try the pizza, but the dough tasted frozen and wasn’t blistered on the edges like brick oven cooked pizza often is.
Also, on both visits, the parking lot has been wet from watering nearby potted plants and flowers. So right where you pull up to valet park, there are little puddles. They should water before 3:00 so that this area is dry before the dinner crowd arrives.

Most of the negative reviews of this place talk about bad service, but our experience was terrific. Our waiter was attentive, offered suggestions on particular appetizers, entrees, etc., and was overall very friendly. The owner was in there also, and checked on our table a couple of times.
We had heard about Zio Cecio and were dying to give it a try. So, for Valentine’s, I decided to take my lovely girlfriend there.
We made a reservation for 8pm, and were seated very promptly when we arrived. They seated us towards the back, by the open-​air kitchen, which was awesome. We could see everything coming out, and the owner was standing back there making sure all of the food was ready to serve.
For appetizers, we ordered the Bison Carpaccio and the Caprese Salad. Both were phenomenal. I’d never had Bison carpaccio before, but this was an excellent take on the dish! The caprese salad was really good, but very similar to other capreses… Not much else you can do with that dish. Next, I ordered a salad that came with artichokes, tomatoes, and mixed greens. It had a light vinaigrette on it, which was very good.
For our entrees, I had the swordfish with wasabi mashed potatoes, and it was amazing. Swordfish was cooked perfectly, flavored very well, and the mashed pots were awesome — especially since I love wasabi. The GF had the crab-​filled ravioli, and it was also really really good. I almost wished I’d ordered it. The sauce was very flavorful, and the crab inside of the ravioli was fresh! We had a couple of small shell pieces in the crab, which isn’t great, but at least you know its the good stuff.
Overall, I really enjoyed ZC’s, and we will definitely be back. I like that it’s not a super-​hip spot that is impossible to get into, but has a good enough atmosphere to feel good about going here on a Friday night for dinner and heading out to the bars afterwards.

Authentic, traditional Italian food in a casual but romantic setting. Most of the menu items were simplistic but well executed. Although I found the gnocchi a bit disappointing, the seafood ravioli was fantastic. The prices are fair but portions are not as large as Americanized «Italian» restaurants and guys may need to get a salad or appetizer.
The wait-​staff was attentive and pleasant and the restaurant was quiet and cozy, especially out on the heated patio.
Although valet parking is offered, there were some self-​park spots available in the lot next door.

We saw Zio Cecio on mystery diners and were curious to try it out. I was pleasantly surprised. Here is a recap:
Appetizer: We ordered the foccacia bread. This was delicious! Make sure to dip it in the oil and balsamic vinegar.
Entrée: All four of us ordered the lasagna. It was delicious and had a wonderful tasting and flavorful red sauce. For $ 20, I was expecting a larger portion, but it was so good I couldn’t complain. Plus, it was so rich I could not finish my portion.
Dessert: I ordered the chocolate mousse and my husband ordered the crème brûlée. Both were delicious and we practically licked the plate.
Service: Our server was friendly and attentive. He explained the special menu items and what he recommended. When our server was with another table, the manger came over to clear our plates and refill our glasses. I was blown away by the quality of service.
Ambiance: A+. The décor was fresh and vibrant. This would be a perfect place for a date night.
Although we loved our experience, this is quite pricey. We would love to return, but, due to limited budget we will have to make this a place for when the in-​laws visit or for a special evening.

Utterly disappointed. I was actually really excited about this place. Based on the reviews, it seemed like it was THE place to go for authentic Italian/​Sardinian food. Unfortunately, I wasn’t too impressed. While everyone on Unilocal gave bad reviews on the service — the service we experienced wasn’t too bad (hence the extra star). The hostess seated us right away with a huge smile on her face. Our waiter was attentive… but a little standoff-​ish. He looked at me crazy when I ordered St Germain in my drink… he’d never heard of it before. I guess maybe he knows the wine list better. Anyway… the restaurant itself is very nice — small, so do make a reservation. They have a small covered patio also. However, it was SO LOUD in the restaurant itself. I couldn’t hear my husband talk and he was just across the table from me.
Now to the food… sigh. I don’t think this is the place to order seafood. We ordered the calamari and grilled octopus as appetizers. The only thing I liked about the calamari is that it also included other seafood in it (scallops, fish, shrimp) so that was a nice touch… but you can taste that the seafood was not fresh. Very fishy. The grilled octopus… they must have chopped it up in tiny tiny tiny pieces and just poured tomato paste over it. It wasn’t anything special or worth the $ 12.50. Speaking of fishy-​ness, while waiting for our entrees, there was a giant waft of nasty fish smell that either came from the kitchen or from someone else’s entrée that was passed by us. It wasn’t the smell of fresh fish being brought in, it was the smell of seafood that has passed its expiration date. Not good.
For entrees, I ordered the Neri Alle Vongole (squid ink pasta with clams) and my husband ordered the Mezzeluna Alla Fonduta Di Pistacchio (Ravioli filled with seafood and Ricotta in a pistachio cream sauce). My husband’s dish was very good, tasty, but small. Mine, on the other hand, was a disaster. Again, the clams were fishy. The pasta was tasteless. I rarely add salt to my dish but I needed to for this one. What a let down.
After paying our $ 100+ bill we vowed to never come here again. Just wasn’t worth it, sorry.

Food, ambiance, and service — this place has got it all. The high-​quality ingredients in every dish really come through, because they are not overly sauced or cheesed-​up like the Americanized, mass-​produced version of Italian food.
We started with the baby octopus with squid ink and orzo pasta. The squid ink sauce and the texture of orzo were perfect complements to the octopus. I got the apples, walnuts and porcini mushrooms risotto because it kept calling to me on the menu. It’s a creative, delicious spin on risotto, and worth the $ 22 price tag. My friend’s squid ink infused spaghetti with fresh clams was also a hit. It comes with abundant clams and wonderfully chewy spaghetti.
The lemon sponge cake wasn’t spongy, but was fluffy and light as cake should be. Since my friend’s last takeout order here ended in much confusion and mis-​communication, they put our dessert on the house. I would definitely recommend Zio if you’re looking for creative, authentic Italian food. The indoor ambiance is intimate and romantic, and the outdoor covered patio can accomodate large parties.

It’s always a nice surprise to find good Italian food abroad. Even more so when you find it in Texas! Chef Francesco — a born & raised Sardinian — knows his food well. His sleek and welcoming restaurant & staff know how to deliver a great meal.
Everything the party tried was delicious — from the octopus to the scallop carpaccio, from the seafood risotto to the quadratini alla mentuccia — and made in the purest Italian style, with no fusion or additions. Just like my family would make it back home!
The wine list is very good and cocktails are as well (if you never tried it, have a Negroni, the quintessential «aperitivo Italiano».
Visit this place and you will find a slice of real Italy in Dallas.