The Best Pasta in Orlando

Handmade Pasta Worth Driving For

Whether you are staying near SeaWorld, visiting the Convention Center, or coming from the other side of Orlando, Ciao Italia's pasta is worth the trip. The pappardelle al cinghiale, a wide ribbon pasta with slow-braised wild boar ragu, is one of those dishes that guests talk about for weeks afterward. The fettuccine Alfredo is made to order, creamy and rich without being heavy. The linguine with fresh clam sauce is simple and perfectly balanced.

What makes it different from the tourist-facing chains along International Drive? Every dish is made fresh. No shortcuts, no pre-made sauces from a bag. The kitchen runs the same way it did in 1991, and the consistency shows in the more than 3,000 guest reviews that back it up.

A Pasta Menu That Covers Every Craving

Ciao Italia offers a wide range of pasta dishes. If you want something hearty, the rigatoni Bolognese delivers. For seafood lovers, the linguine alle vongole or the pasta with shrimp and garlic are standout choices. Lighter appetites can go for spaghetti pomodoro, where the quality of the tomato sauce speaks for itself.

Portions are generous. That is something reviewers mention over and over. You will not leave hungry, and you will probably be taking something home. The prices are fair for the quality you get, especially compared to the resort-area restaurants just down the road.

The Setting Matches the Food

Ciao Italia feels like walking into an Italian family's dining room. The atmosphere is warm, the service is attentive but not rushed, and the whole place has a comfortable, lived-in quality that comes from more than three decades in the same location. There is free self-parking, no valet hassle, and the restaurant is open seven days a week from 5 PM to 10 PM.

If you are visiting Orlando and want a real Italian meal instead of a chain restaurant experience, or if you are a local who has somehow not tried it yet, Ciao Italia's pasta belongs on your list. Over 35 years of doing it right speaks louder than any advertisement.

The Pasta at Ciao Italia

In most Orlando restaurants, pasta comes from a box. The sauce comes from a jar or a bag. The kitchen is really just an assembly line — boil, pour, plate, serve. It is fast, cheap, and consistent in the way that vending machine coffee is consistent. It fills the space but does not leave an impression.

At Ciao Italia, the pasta program is fundamentally different. The kitchen makes pasta by hand, rolls it fresh, and pairs each shape with a sauce designed specifically for that noodle. The Pappardelle is wide and thick — built to hold the weight of a slow-cooked wild boar ragu with porcini mushrooms. The Linguine is thin and delicate — perfect for fresh clams in a white wine garlic sauce. The Sacchetti are hand-folded pouches filled with truffle and sage, served in a Parmigiano cream with sliced filet.

These are not interchangeable. You cannot put a clam sauce on pappardelle and get the same result. The shape, thickness, and texture of the pasta are matched to the sauce because that is how Italian cooking works when it is done properly. Most restaurants do not bother with this because it takes more time, more skill, and more labor. The Navarra family has been doing it this way since 1991 because the food is better.

Signature Pasta Dishes

The Risotto alla Pescatora ($36) is technically not pasta, but it is the most ordered dish on the menu. Arborio rice cooked slowly with fresh shrimp, mussels, clams, and sauteed calamari until the rice is creamy and the seafood flavors are layered through every bite. It takes time to prepare, which is why most restaurants do not attempt it.

The Pappardelle al Cinghiale ($26) is wide handmade pappardelle with a wild boar ragu that simmers for hours. Porcini mushrooms and pecorino add depth and earthiness. This is a dish that rewards patience — both the kitchen's and yours.

The Linguine alle Vongole ($25) is fresh clams tossed with linguine in a white wine and garlic sauce. The sauce is light, the clams are fresh, and the dish lets the seafood speak for itself without drowning it in cream.

The Tortellini con Brasato ($27) is filled tortellini with braised beef in a truffle cream sauce. The Sacchetti di Filetto ($26) is truffle sage sacchetti with Parmigiano cream and sliced filet. The Penne alla Vodka con Salmone ($25) is penne in vodka cream sauce with fresh salmon. Each dish is built around the pasta — the shape, the texture, the way it holds the sauce.

Fresh vs. Imported Pasta

Not every pasta on the menu is made in-house. Some dishes use high-quality imported Italian pasta because certain shapes — like rigatoni, spaghetti, and penne — are actually better when made from semolina flour and dried slowly at low temperatures. The key is knowing which dishes benefit from fresh pasta and which benefit from imported. At Ciao Italia, the kitchen makes that distinction because the Navarra family understands Italian cooking at a level that comes from growing up with it, not reading about it.

The sauces, however, are always made from scratch. Every day. The marinara simmers. The Alfredo is made with real cream and Parmigiano-Reggiano. The Bolognese is a proper meat ragu, not a jar of red sauce with ground beef added. The vodka sauce is built in the pan. Nothing comes from a bag, a jar, or a can.