text: First of all I will lay out the disclaimer that my review may be slightly biased because two of my good friends that I used to work with in restaurants are the current GM and AGM there Therefore we have never had a bad experience there because we always receive wonderful service and treatment hey it is awesome to know people LoLnWith that being said Jordan and I still come here not just to see our friends but to indulge in great wine and great food for a great price This place is for ANYONE Truly You can walk in there with a Penguins jersey on and watch a game in the LoungeBar or Cigar lounge or you can walk in there for a nice romantic dinner for and eat in the dining room nPlus the menu has a little bit for everyone as well We have been there and done the whole shbang Drinks Apps Entrees Dessert and we have also gone for Wine Apps Whatever you go for your server or bartender caters to your needs nThe most recent time we went was because we could not get a table at Kaya I was unaware that Kaya took reservations as it was not mentioned in many Yelp reviews nor are they members of Open Table which is where I specifically make reservations for restaurant Disappointed at the time we then decided to go to Cioppinos because we knew we would not be disappointed therenWe went for Wine and Apps and sat in the BarLounge They had a very enjoyable live jazz band playing that evening which also set the mood on a late Friday night We started with Caesar salads that come with a piece of bruschetta Then we ended up ordering the Margherita pizza until my friend the AGM came over and also recommended the Risotto Fritters and Calamari Well we were very glad that he did because we had quite a spread in front of us The margherita pizza was AMAZING Not too much cheese bursting with basil flavor and no overload on the tomato sauce The Risotto fritters were fun to eat as well It was like eating a much more dignified Hush Puppy that actually tasted like something rather than just fried texture And the Calamari YUM I love Calamari especially when there are lots of testacles or tentacles for those who do not get my humor on the plate Plus the Calamari came with this lemon mayo that was a unique and different complement than what I am normally used to a tomatobased or redpepper based dipping sauce nAll in all we love Cioppinos It has really great ItalianPittsburgh food If you like the Olive Garden then go there because your palette is probably not dignified enough to enjoy a place like Cioppinos But if you like really fresh homemade tasting comfort Italian food that appears on your plate to be prettier than anything you can come up with at home then Cioppinos is your place