Ciao's offers pizza and a success story

Everyone loves stories of success in the face of disaster, perseverance over adversity, which would explain the popularity of "Rocky 1-100." But sometimes rising from the ashes -- literally, in the case of Amherst Ciao's Pizza -- tastes as good as it feels.

More than a year ago, Amherst House of Pizza was destroyed in a fire that wiped out most of the plaza on Route 101A in which the restaurant was situated. But Naji Hobeika, who owned that business for 21 years, decided to start over, and a year later, opened Amherst Ciao's Pizza in the former Amato's, behind Frederick's Pastries, just down the road from his former establishment.

Amherst Ciao's is in partnership with Ciao's in Nashua.

Like the former Amherst House of Pizza, Amherst Ciao's is sparkling clean, and its new digs have led to a more updated, modern look with comfortable chair and table setups and a corner for darts players to indulge in their passion.

The menu, for the most part, has stayed the same, and the quality of the food is still high. As always, there's a feeling of family. Hobeika always interacts with customers, whether they be regulars or new visitors. He cracks jokes, will speak a foreign language if prompted and personally bring your meal over if he has the time.

On our visit, we "appetized" on a uber-yummy small order of Mac and Cheese Bites ($4.50). You have to try these. Kids absolutely love them. We also sampled juicy, tender Chicken Wings ($6 for nine pieces), and washed them down with icy cold draft Budweisers ($3). Amherst Ciao's also serves Newcastle Ale and Shock Top Belgian White on tap. Good times.

For our main meal, we indulged in a small Cheese Pizza ($7), Steak Tips and grilled Chicken Dinner ($10.50) and a kid's Chicken Finger and Fries ($4.50) for Junior T for T.

Just a word here: We like the variety in the kids' meals offered at Amherst Ciao's, including Ravioli or Spaghetti and Garlic Bread ($4.50) and a choice of Ham, Turkey or Tuna Sandwich with Fries ($4.50) -- hearty fare for less than fast- food prices.

Because she is such a fan of Mediterranean food, Mrs. T for T wanted to sample some food that reflected Hobeika's Lebanese heritage. She spotted two items on the Specialty Wraps portion of the menu -- Shawarma, a kind of meat and vegetable sandwich served in Syrian bread ($7.50), and Falafel ($6.50), which Mrs. T for T can't resist.

Her sandwich was huge and stuffed with the crispy, savory fried chickpea balls with pickles, lettuce, onion and tomato with tahini sauce. She loved it, and her one complaint was that the sandwich could have used a tad more tahini.

Mr. T for T loved his steak and chicken dinner -- really an open-faced Syrian bread sandwich with scads of marinated beef and grilled chicken, with a small Greek salad (the homemade dressing was spot on) and fries on the side. This was a lot of food for $10.50, and it must be said, the french fries were not just a throwaway item, but really excellent.

The pizza seemed a bit small for $7, but it was well cooked and satisfying.

We saved room for dessert as soon as we saw the homemade Baklava ($1.75) on the counter. Baklava is always at its base made with phyllo dough, nuts and honey or syrup. Most people are familiar with the Greek form of this confection, which is heavy on the honey and made with chopped walnuts. This is heaven, of course, but Middle Eastern cultures put a different spin on their version of baklava. At Amherst Ciao's, the baklava was made with a very light phyllo dough, chopped and whole pistachios and with just a touch of sweetness. It was amazing in its own right.

After the fire, Hobeika told The Telegraph, "I can't dwell on a disaster. You have to pick up and keep going."

In these hard financial times, that's food for the soul, and, sometimes, that's just as important as fuel for hungry stomachs.

***½ Amherst Ciao's Pizza

109 Route 101A.

886-5543.

Food: ***½

Service: ****

Value: ***½

CUISINE: Italian/Middle/Eastern.

Prices: $5.50-$15.99.

Hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday..

Handicapped Accessible: Yes.

Vegetarian Friendly: Yes.

Alcohol: Beer.

DRESS: Casual.

WOULD WE GO BACK? Yes.

***** = Perfect

**** = Excellent

*** = Good

** = Fair

* = Poor

<i>Overall rating is not necessarily an average of Food, Service and Value ratings.</i>