Me likey!! Let's be honest...I think the real reason I liked this place is because it felt like I was walking into my grandma's kitchen. She is old school italian and has some of the same creepy black and white photos of random Italian families hanging on her walls...And her house has the aroma of garlic 24-7. :)\n\nNo, seriously...I was impressed with Zio. I don't eat Italian out very often because I prefer homemade sauce and pasta. I am an Italian food snob because I come from an italian family...sorry, just being honest. But, Zio was pretty decent. \n\nI liked the atmosphere...as I described earlier..I expected grandma to walk out of the kitchen at any moment. It is a low key, casual environment...which is great.\n\nI went with the basic angel hair and meat sauce with meatballs dish. It was very good. The sauce was a little tangy and maybe slightly too salty for my taste but it was good and homemade so I can't complain. The meatball was very good as well. It was also homemade and had a lot of flavor. My dining partners tried the Penne Vodka and the Salmon Piccata and they were very impressed. The vodka sauce was a little runny but it still had great flavor and a ton of fresh cut garlic so that was awesome. \n\nThe bread they serve with your meal was very good but I will say the herb infused olive oil was a bit bland. We had to add salt and pepper so it didn't just taste like vegetable oil. I am questioning if they ran out of olive oil and just served us something else. Not sure...\n\nI hear the pizza is the way to go with Zio and I will definitely be back so that will be the next thing I try. But, overall, I think it is a good, down-home, authenticish Italian restaurant here in Charlotte.
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