Reviews Civerinos Hunter Sq Restaurant

The best Pizza in Edinburgh. Friendly service and excellent location. The Pizza was just like in Rome. I recommend this place for every Pizza lovers, who are in the city.

Great food, really tasty, good service, and very fun atmosphere. The only thing I would fault is price: it wasn't michelin star pricing, but it was certainly a little high considering its relaxed, casual, communal atmosphere. 

Other than that, great meal!

Pizza time! Decision time on where to go. I wanted to try somewhere I haven’t been before so we whittled it down to Civerinos.

It was a Friday night and we haven’t booked but as it was 8pm that we were aiming to dine, we thought we’d give it a go and have a fair to good chance of getting a table. They were busy but were able to accommodate us – thank you!

Civerinos has a good rep on social media and lots of great pics of their food on Instagram etc so this was out choice.

Situated smack bang in the middle of Edinburgh, this pizza place is sited in Hunters Square. Lovely outdoor eating area and its communal eating inside with long large tables and pews.

The interior is young, hip and funky and I have to say the staff are brilliant. Attentive, friendly, great banter and nothing is a hassle.

If you are looking for man sized pizzas and delicious sides, then come on down. Came here for late night eats with friends who were visiting Edinburgh. Nobody left disappointed. Calamari and it's accompanying dip were delicious and garlicky. Aranchini was beaut, and the sugo-YUM. Opted for the pork and apple pizza, and YIP ate the whole thing without coming up for air. The aperol spritz slushies helped of course. BRAVO.

We went to Civerinos last week to tuck into a slice of Italy and to have a chat with Michele the owner on why this Italian has been getting rave reviews all over the internet and is hit with the locals.

Civerino’s is located just off the Royal Mile near the Tron Kirk in Hunter Square and serves a fanatastic selection of family recipes handed down through Michele’s family, Italian street food and of course Pizza by the slice or whole. In contrast to the overpriced restaurants offering, as a general rule, fairly low quality food, Civerinos is the real deal and very competitively priced.

The beautiful glass door way opens into a minimalist style canteen with long tables and an open kitchen where the smell of food drifts tantalizingly from. The staff are super welcoming giving a real easy going family feel to the place. The owner Michele is often sat at the bar and came to talk to us about his plans for the restaurant and the upcoming Festival season.

It is easy to see why the food at Civerino’s is so good when you meet Michele. His enthusiasm and passion for Italian food and the business is inspiring and infectious! He is so excited by the fresh produce, especially after a recent trip with the kitchen team to source new products and try out new ideas resulting in some fabulous new gorgonzola croquettes, Italian salamis and porcini mushroom sauce to mention a few of the tasty new treats. He certainly loves his food and takes pride in his family’s heritage. Civerino’s is an expression of this passion - great food from the heart; timeless, classic recipes using exceptional fresh ingredients that would last forever.

A long term Edinburgh resident and foodie Michele loves eating at many of the local establishments and is very complementary about many of his neighbours including fellow street food success Ting Thai Caravan where he loves to go for his dinner and Ninja buns, who are now providing the food at Paradise Palms.

With the restaurant’s first festival season approaching fast they are keen to ensure they still manage to save some space for their regular followers and will be saving a table at the back just for those who have booked before, they will also be open late so you can head over after your shift too. Seating outside should help them to catch the eye of the passing traffic as will their new Gelato bike set to appear very soon!

 

On to the food – having tried the fabulous pizzas on a different occasion we decided to embark on trying out the rest of the menu. Mix and match home made pasta varieties and sauces featuring pig cheek carbonara and slow cooked beef ragu are sure to be a crowd pleaser and there are some really exciting antipasti dishes if you can draw your gaze away from the pizza menu that is.

We decided on the parsley and chilli calamari, beef meatballs in mushroom sugo, Steak tagliata with wild rocket salad and Zuccini fritti. The food is served on sharing style boards with individual paper plates, so you can get stuck in and help your self in unpretentious communal dining style. We were very impressed with all our dishes, light crispy battered zucchini was really tasty, well-cooked steak with roast tomatoes and rocket was the stuff of dreams believe me, and of course crispy calamari with aioli was just about perfect, but the rich tasty porcini sauce with the meatballs was a stand out winner at our table. We were dipping everything in it!

The wine and beers are all really well priced and they have a frozen cocktail too! Featuring popular Italian favorites including Negroni and Aperol Spritz. Desserts are also pretty awesome - we were recommended to try the Tiramisu but didn’t have space after our feast so it will have to be saved for our next visit.

I am so pleased to have discovered this exciting gem of a restaurant right in the centre of all the festival action and cant wait to go back for more. Especially for their late night pizza and great music on until the early hours throughout the summer of Edinburgh’s festivals, and the terrace set in Hunter Square where you can sit and watch the crazy world of the Royal Mile go by!

So what makes Italian food, Italian street food? Civerino’s situated on Hunter Square in Edinburgh is an Italian street food and pizza slice bar. When looking at the menu I was not sure what made it street food. A selection of pastas, pizzas and starters/sharing dishes which you would be able to find in the majority of Italian restaurants. Looking around however it was a very chilled atmosphere and setting. Bare brick walls and wooden benches, an open kitchen and music playing. There was a good vibe for a weekend night out with friends. However, I did feel they could have done with cranking the heating up as it was pretty cold in the restaurant.

First visit to Civerinos did not disappoint at all. This cute and informal italian restaurante is as fuss free as delicious. My friend had one of their lovely pasta dishes and I opted for one of their incredible piadinas, which are so filling I wished my stomach was way bigger than it is. Great value for money, awesome quality of products and a perfect location make this one of the best italians in Edinburgh.

Visited Civerinos with family and was totally amazed at the Pizzas, they were just like the Pizzas that I have tasted in Italy, they were thin base with plenty topping, have to say they were very child friendly and the service was amazing. Nice to know there are still places out there that are so relaxed and serve fresh, hot amazing food ...

I've visited Civerino's at lunchtime, when I sampled a very tasty meatball piadina, and in the evening, when I tried their pizza and frozen negronis. I was impressed on both visits. Once word gets out, I think it will prove to be a very popular spot.

We concluded by saying: "Civerino’s delivers high quality informal Italian fare in smart surroundings. The pizza is likely to impress and the place has a really good feel to it. I look forward to visiting again and would recommend you give it a try."

I have been to Civerinos on Hunter Square twice now with my friends. If you are sitting outside there are always some entertainment right next to you for a good laugh while enjoying your food. The ambiance inside is also very nice. The staff is absolutely lovely, so friendly and nice. Pizza was tasty, I would say it is a quite good italian pizza. Their pasta dishes however, both times I have been there, have been very unsalted. Now, I am really not someone so big on salt. In fact, I rarely add extra salt to dishes at restaurants but the pasta were just bland unfortunately. I have to say though, the options are nice and sauces are very tasty with the addition of salt. There are a lot of vegetarian options too. All things considered, I would recommend a visit.

Lovely spot for italian food right off the royal mile. We went for lunch and had no wait. The civerinos pizza was delicious! The waitress was lovely and helpful. And this was definitely worth the money, as it was decently priced compared to other dining spots in the old town

We had a pizza and a salad (Caesar salad). Overall good but not amazing pizza, salad actually was better! Good place for a quick bite on the way to sightseeing as it’s just on the Royal Mile. Staff was super friendly.

Located at a touristy area, surprisingly it was a great pizza in a cozy environment. Caesar salad was great and fresh and their pizza was good asl well.

Staff were lovely, good vibe. Fries were huge and sprinkled with rosemary which was really nice. Unfortunately the pizza wasn't brilliant and a bit undercooked. Hard to forgive that in a pizza restaurant