Moving from Houston to Lakeway in 1996 on a work transfer, Dan Ciola soon found a major problem in his relocation decision.

“There was nowhere to eat,” Ciola says...

“Nowhere to eat the Italian food that I grew up with.” Ciola found nothing in Austin to compare to the Italian-American enclaves he had visited in New York or the cooking he ate as a child when visiting his relatives in Italy. He enjoyed the fine Italian cuisine of Vespaio, Bellagio and Sienna… but they were long drives from his Lake Travis community.

So Dan Ciola took a Mr. Gatti’s Pizza located in Lakeway Plaza and reinvented the site in 2002 as Ciola’s, a dedication to his Uncle Dominick’s original Ciola’s restaurant in Virginia Beach. For the dining patrons of Lakeway, it was like trading in a station wagon for a Ferrari.
Every facet of the building has been transformed into an authentic New York Italian eatery, from the Italian Hollywood and baseball stars on the walls down to the padded red booths and bold Manhattan-styled walls and tile floors. (The men’s bathroom is even a replication of the one where Michael Corleone stashed the gun in The Godfather.)

My visit found Ciola’s brimming with pleasant surprises. Instead of loud and hectic like typical Italian eateries, the mood is cool and hip, with lots of camaraderie happening and many bottles of quality red wine being enjoyed. The lighting is soft, the music jazzy. The effect is intoxicating… and I was only drinking water.
But the real buzz brgan when the meal was served. My lasagna was outrageously tall, twice as high as your normal stack and featuring three cheeses, five different meats and a thick red sauce with a personality just like Dan Ciola, friendly but forceful; it’s a sauce that walks up and shakes your hand firmly. Ciola’s son claims that Tim Duncan is the only patron not to be intimidated by an entire lasagna portion, but I have to brag that I could not fight the compulsion to devour the rest of mine as soon as I hit the door back home.

“We only use the highest quality products, we don’t take any short cuts,” explains Ciola. “We use whole tomatoes and grind them fresh, we don’t use tomato sauce or tomato paste. Just what an Italian grandmother would have to use.”

Chef Jason Rodis, who trained with Dominick Ciola at the original restaurant, has recently returned to the Ciola’s fold, and many of the daily specials and appetizers are new innovations from Rodis. I sampled Ciola’s latest feature appetizer of jumbo butterfly shrimp filled with crab patina cheese and cherry pepper stuffing wrapped with fresh brochette de Parma and dipped in a garlic lemon verblanc. The layered taste of the different seafoods melded by the rich cheeses and then taken over the top with the tangy sauce was the tastiest shrimp dish I can name.

Ciola’s desserts are all made from scratch, including Ciola’s renowned Spumoni, a family recipe heirloom made with a chocolate flooring, strawberry, vanilla and pistachio ice cream representing Italy’s green white and red national colors, then laced with assorted liqueurs and topped with glacéed fruits and chopped pistachios.
If there is one occasion where even Ciola’s premiere dishes are trumped, it’s during Ciola’s “Big Night” celebrations, inspired by the mid-90’s movie of the same name in which a chef attempts to outdo himself and his guests with each consecutive entrée until everyone has been satiated beyond belief. Ciola recreates the entire menu from the movie, from the signature bottles of wine and consommé to the Timpano and the Roast Pig at the conclusion. The evening has left food critics blurry and bewildered.

“[Ciola’s] is just an extension of my kitchen at home,” Ciola says. “If I had a house where I could feed two hundred people every night, I would do that.”
Catering is available if you’d like Dan and company to cook for your private party or reception. Ciola’s can bring the party to you, or you can take it there, where a stylish back room is available for large banquets or gatherings.

Dan’s reverence for Italian tradition has also made Ciola’s a popular meeting place for Austin Italian-Americans. Native Italian John Grassi eats at Ciola’s three to five times a week, and if he’s not eating, he’s dropping in to socialize with his fellow buddies.

“I always tell people [Ciola’s] is my home,” explains Grassi. “Once you taste the food, it brings back Little Italy in Baltimore for me, these very old Italian restaurants that just have the same feel.”

It is this unyielding respect for the Italian tradition (Italian language lessons are even taught at the restaurant by a native Italian) that has made Dan Ciola a very popular individual amongst Austin Italians, food critics and the community at large.

“There’s a saying that ninety-five percent of kids in America are never going to taste real pizza. I didn’t want people to grow up not tasting real Italian food. Real pizza doesn’t show up at your door in half an hour,” Ciola notes… and with food like this, it’s impossible to argue.