Ciao Bella restaurant open on Riverside

March 20th, 2009 at 04:27pm Melissa Westphal

Diners can feast on stuffed artichokes, grilled calamari and entrées like rigatoni con broccolini at the new Ciao Bella Ristorante, 6500 E. Riverside Blvd.

Owner Sam Torchia said Ciao Bella’s menu will change every few weeks to showcase authentic dishes from northern, central and southern Italy and Sicily. Desserts include homemade gelato, sorbets and his 80-year-old mother’s homemade Italian cookies.

Torchia is a Rockford native and has been in the food industry for about 33 years. His business partner may be familiar to Rockfordians: he is working with Talia Castrogiovanni, whose family was involved with Giovanni’s restaurant and the Hilander grocery stores.

“Our motto is keep it simple, keep it good and keep it coming,” Torchia said. “You can literally smell garlic from I-90. The ambience here is very warm and inviting. It wants you to stay.”

Torchia said the chefs will make customers a special order if their favorite dish isn’t included on the menu when it changes every few weeks.

Ciao Bella opened on Monday, and Torchia said the restaurant will serve dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursday and 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It is closed on Sundays.

On March 30, the restaurant will be open for lunch starting at 11:30 a.m. It will stay open through the dinner hour.

The space where Ciao Bella is open once housed Basil Cafe and then Dos Reales restaurant.

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