Italian Restaurant on International Drive

The Best Italian Restaurant on International Drive

International Drive has over 100 restaurants and most of them are chains. Ciao Italia is the family-owned Italian restaurant just off I-Drive that locals actually eat at.

We are at 6149 Westwood Blvd — just off International Drive with free parking. Everything is made from scratch. Pasta, sauces, bread, desserts. Since 1991. Over 4,000 reviews.

Walk-ins welcome every night. Kids menu with gelato. Private dining room for groups. This is the restaurant you have been driving past for years without knowing it.

• Just off International Drive
• Homemade pasta and sauces daily
• Over 4,000 reviews
• Kids menu $13 with gelato
• Free parking lot
• Walk-ins welcome nightly
• Private dining for up to 60
• Family-owned since 1991

Why Locals Skip the Chains on I-Drive

The chains on International Drive serve the same food you get at home. Ciao Italia is the opposite — a real kitchen, a real family, real Italian cooking.

Whether you are staying at a hotel on I-Drive or visiting the attractions, this is the dinner that makes the trip. Not another chain. A real restaurant.

Once you eat here, you will understand why 4,000 people left reviews. And why locals keep coming back.

About Dining Near I-Drive

If you have spent any time on International Drive, you know how it works. Bright signs, loud music, and restaurants that look better from the outside than they taste on the inside. The tourist corridor is designed to keep you spending, not to give you a memorable meal.

That is why the best dining near I-Drive is not actually on I-Drive. Ciao Italia Ristorante is tucked on Westwood Boulevard, 2 minutes from the main strip, in a quiet plaza where the Navarra family has been serving authentic Italian cuisine since 1991.

Everything at Ciao Italia is made fresh daily. The pasta is rolled by hand. The sauces simmer for hours. The tiramisu is made in-house. With over 4,000 reviews and 9 awards, it is one of the most consistently praised restaurants in the Orlando area.

Visitors staying at I-Drive hotels, attending conventions at the OCCC, or spending the day at nearby theme parks all converge here for the same reason: it is the real thing. Free parking, open nightly, and no tourist-trap pricing.

How to Get to Ciao Italia from I-Drive

From International Drive, take Westwood Boulevard south. Ciao Italia is at 6149 Westwood Blvd, on the right side, with a free parking lot directly in front. It is 2 minutes from I-Drive and on the same road as SeaWorld's main entrance.

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