Chianalea

TLDR: pasta is hit or miss, pizza was solid, everything else was mediocre, service was decent but strange. Chianalea was a mixed experience. Some of the dishes impressed, others didn’t. Linguine with clams and mussels was simple and classically delicious. The noodles were cooked al dente. The mollusks were small, but packed with salty, ocean-y flavor that infused the olive oil based sauce nicely. The fungi pizza was also nice; not too much cheese, sweet sauce, and chewy crust. Unfortunately, the second pasta dish (eggplant, red sauce, pecorino) was quite disappointing. The noodles were seriously undercooked for my taste with the ends of the noodles being completely hard. It’s kind of puzzling how staggeringly different the qualities of the two pastas we ordered were. The complimentary bread was unusually hard and dense. Everything else (mixed salad, marinated swordfish, bruschetta) was just satisfactory. The server was friendly and timely for European service standards. However, he forgot to offer us the pizza menu entirely. Only once we noticed tables around us eating pizza did we even know to inquire about a pizza menu. (Though, we probably could have noticed sooner given that pizzeria is in the name 😅). Chianela is a perfectly okay restaurant to go to if you’re in Zurich. Outdoor seating offered a beautiful view of the sun setting, service is a 3/5 by NYC standards, but a 5/5 for European standards, and the food is edible. I might recommend going for the pizzas over the pastas because my suspicion is that those will be a less risky order. Just make sure to ask for the pizza menu!

I reserved this place for 2 people @6:30pm on a Wed. Received confirmation the same day! The restaurant itself is so quaint with south Italian chic. Gives off a very cozy feel! Lorenzo, the part owner was also present and really fun to have a chat with. He explains the menu in full detail as well before any ordering takes place 👍 The FOOD IS DELICIOUS. The starter ravioli was YUM! My husband’s pasta was really nice 👌 The pizza is the reason I was here and so very glad I got my share because it was DIVINE. I’m a sucker for some good pizza but the crust was cooked to PERFECTION! 🍕 The dessert was delicious as well. I decided to go with the Tartuffo Al Pistachio and my husband chose the Profiteroles 🍩

This is kind of a hidden gem. Not in the best part of town but incredible good Calabrian food. The food is changing every week with fresh ingredients from the market.

Very nice place with a small menu and great food. The service is amazingly friendly. Just loved it.

Great food very good service Reasonably priced.

Very typical food from southern Italy! Friendly waitresses. They don’t speak much English but gestures help! They offer small selections of dishes but all very well made and from home. You need to book your table!

Went like 6 years ago, had very good memories. Went again and was not disappointed. Still great southern Italian cuisine for fair prices, very authentic. I hope next time is sooner than in 6 years!

Amazing southern Italian cuisine, wonderful pizza and pasta dishes

Service was wonderful! Food was amazing!!! Can't recommend this place enough! We are American tourists who don't speak German and our lovely server took the time to explain each menu item to us ever so kindly. Aperol spritz was lovely, pizza was amazing, pasta was okay, appetizers were super fresh, and cannolis for desert were decedent yet light. Try this place out if you can!!

We came to Chianalea one weekday evening for dinner. When we walked in the door the place was completely packed; I was really glad I had made a reservation! The owner greeted us as we arrived, and remained close-by; he was very helpful and amazingly friendly. He took the time to introduce all our selections, as well as recommending dessert :-) The food here is every bit as good as the owner's helpful and welcoming and demeanor! The focus of this small Italian venue is food from the region of Calabria; Chef Enrico's creations are all fresh and wonderfully authentic; the menu is small, but you can't go wrong with any of the dishes on the menu :-) Tip: I highly recommend the Fileja with Nduja (spicy sausage). Bottom line: Chianalea is a great place to enjoy a casual evening with family or friends; I can easily see myself becoming a regular here :-)

I recently read a great view about this place on ZüriTipp and decided to go check it out. The restaurant is named after a small town in Italy, where the owners are from and the article mentioned Fileja and Nduja as two specialties - the first being a special pasta shape, the latter is a type of pork similar to Chorizo. When I went there for lunch (about four lunch menus are offered, as well as all of their pizzas), I decided to go with the Pizza that had the Nduja on it. The starter salad was great and came with homemade bread that was still warm from the oven. The pizza itself came on wooden plates that fit right in with the atmosphere of the whole restaurant. It was good, but perhaps not great - the dough was a bit too thick for my taste, although it still tasted good after all and I left the restaurant satisfied. Prices are reasonable too for Zurich.

Such a cute little Italian restaurant! So glad we found this place right around the corner from our Airbnb. Our waitress was super sweet and her English was great. She explained the whole menu. We had the mixed bruschetta which was delicious. 4 different toppings, from spicy olive, to sweet onion. We each ordered a pizza! They were incredible! My husband got the funghi & porchutto and I got the Parma. Huge portions and great to share. We can't wait to eat our leftovers tomorrow for breakfast. We hope we get to go again to this restaurant before our vacation ends in a week. Lovely place - highly recommended!

Nice, small cozy Italian! Great for specialities from calabria...the service is friendly and charming! The pizza is recommendable and the wine list is acceptable. The place is noisy and hence not ideal for work dinners. In summary it's a good place for some simple good food at a fair price!

The food was very tasty. Had a pizza and mussels, which were both good. The wait staff was very friendly and the food was served quickly. As an English speaking tourist, speaking English here was a bit of a struggle, but we made it work. Mostly Italian was spoken here.