Primo Ciao Ciao

Super italienisches Restaurant. Kinderfreundlich, nicht überlaufen, chillige Atmosphäre, superfreundliches Personal. Auch wenn man kein Schwedisch spricht wird man hier gut bedient. Die Pizzad sind frisch im Steinofen gemacht– einfach traumhaft. Super auch das gratis Leitungswasser, wie ohnehin fast überall in Schweden üblich. Sehr zu empfehlen!

Caveat: My circadian rhythm was AFU when I ate here.
In my hotel at the lobby bar I asked if there were any good Italian restaurants nearby. Sort a shrug from the bartender at the Courtyard was the response. Then I mentioned Primo Ciao Ciao from the Unilocal reviews. «It’s a pizza and pasta place,» he said.
«Anything else Italian around that’s good?» I asked.
«Not really.»
This is the trouble when one is in a city one isn’t acquainted with: where to get good food. One only has so many days in the place. One is bound to find some good ones and bad ones. Then came Unilocal.Suddenly it was made easier? Really?
So I set off on foot for Primo Ciao Ciao, maybe five blocks away. I noticed that few Swedes go against the red at street corners, even though auto traffic was nearly non-​existant. They’d never get anywhere in NYC. I tried to follow their lead. I grew old waiting for the «walk» signal. I jaywalked.
Dining alone this evening, I was looking for a place with a bar where I could eat and drink, perhaps talk with strangers. This wasn’t it. The bar is more of an unused corner of the restaurant where customers can wait while their «take away» is being ginned up in the kitchen. It is not a bar where one goes to have a drink and a chat.
I got a table near the entrance inside. The outside sidewalk seating was completely filled at half past eight in the evening. Inside was half full.
«Is there a good house red?» I asked the prompt, efficient, friendly waiter.
«Well, yes there is.»
He brought me a glass of the house red, Montepulciano, I think. Good enough.
Having seen a favorable review from someone about the Isabel pizza, and being in the mood, I ordered. Before that arrived an unexpected «pizza salad» arrived, a bowl of a sort of cole slaw thing with vinegar and oil and perhaps a little salt and pepper. This must be a Swedish idea of cole slaw. I’m not sure it works.
The pizza maker was fast, a pie in front of me in less than 10 minutes; with a thin crust – this is good, in my mind. It looked tasty, but something was amiss. Do Swedes not bring the pie already cut? Mine wasn’t. But worse, the topping had nearly the consistency of stew. It was juicy. It made the crust soggy in no time. But maybe it is just the way things are done here. The tomato on the pizza was flavorless, like one might find in the grocery store that had been picked green and gassed to make it red.
«Have you got a different red I might try?»
He brought me three more to try. I settled on the third, though didn’t finish it. The waiter had been right in bringing me the first one as the best one on hand.
Persons very helpful here. Friendly. Probably won’t return, but it wasn’t the worse dining experience by any means. It would do in a pinch. Perhaps there are other things on the menu that they are known for here.

Had a very nice meal, frutti de mer (seafood). I was asked whether I would like an English menu which I didn’t need.

Our first meal in Sweden. Many restaurants were closed at 21:00 on a Sunday evening, but Ciao Ciao was opened until 22:00 so we stopped in for a pizza. We had the Isabel, a vegetarian offering with zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms and red peppers on a thin crust. Very good. Not ordered, but offered gratis as a starter was a dish of cole slaw that was crunchy, tangy and simply first rate. Although the menu is in Swedish only, the titles are Italian and we managed stubbornly to make our way through it, even though our server spoke perfect English and offered to walk us through the details. With two glasses of decent Italian wine, the bill came to 300 SEK, not what I’d call $$$.