Cibo Espresso

4 stars to CIBO across Adelaide (Not St. Peters). I don’t mind CIBO when there’s nothing else around, or rather when my choice is a deli style shopping centre café or Gloria Jeans. You can pretty much rely on the quality of their coffee and also their now regular food products. They aren’t cheap though and to be honest I’d rather spend that money on good local businesses but I often go there because I’m in the area, not because I sought them out.
I’ve been to CIBO outlets in the city, Glenelg, Prospect and North Adelaide and the reason I did this review was because St. Peters got my order wrong — the only time this has happened at CIBO. My flat white came out with sugar, and I’m always very careful to say I DON’T want sugar, and my Piadina was the ham variety even though I clearly ordered the capocollo version.
Unfortunately I took my first sip as I drove out of the carpark!!! So 3 stars to St. Peters but 4 to the others.

Today is a day like no other. Today is the grand opening of the new Cibo in the Avenues Shopping Center in St Peters on Payneham Rd. Set back from the corner of the road, next to the Avenues Tavern, it’s a remodeled two story affair with a modern Cibo-​designed flair. Loads of free parking-​this may be a place to stop for morning coffee on your commute into the city instead of trying to grab a coffee before your day starts at a CBD café. And, if you get stuck in traffic, it’ll be so much more pleasant if you already have your coffee.
The grand opening featured free coffee beverages from 7 – 10 am, so I ordered my usual Alto skinny latte, 4 shots, extra hot, 3 sweeteners.
Had to do the sweeteners on my own, but hey-​the coffee was free and they were maxi-​busy.
Cibo in Prospect, on Prospect Rd remains my favorite Cibo (see my Unilocal review), but this new one does a good job. With a couple of exceptions (Cibo Norwood and Cibo Hyde Park), Cibo always seems to deliver the goods-​service and coffee-​wise. A good choice if you find yourself in an unfamiliar neighborhood and don’t feel like experimenting with the unknown. Of course you can always use Unilocal if you find yourself in a situation like that!
One of the great things about this particular Cibo is the seating. They have a nice, large patio seating area on the main floor. But upstairs, they have a huge deck with an automatic louvered pergola, 360-​degree natural window lighting and several styles of seating. It is the place to sit. Sadly, like most Adelaide cafes, I didn’t notice any power points, so you should come with a good charge on your computer/​phone/​tablet.
All in all, I am pleased with the effort Cibo makes to treat Adelaide like a city and not like a village. They are helping Adelaide grow (up) by expanding their business here. As always, eat drink and be merry, but not too much! JD