Cini

This is a really neat place for a quick sit-​down or to-​go deliciousness. I have been here several times already and each time I leave happy and full.
First, this is a mix-​and-​match concept where you pick out your pasta, your choice of meat, and your choice of sauce. Then you add whatever veggies/​toppings you want. It’s sort of an Italian fusion of Chipotle plus Subway but super delicious.
Their speciality: the Cini bites are good and comes with its dipping sauce. They cook it fresh when you arrive so it’s always steaming hot when I bite into it. DELICIOUS.
Their main course: The portions are gigantic also so I always have more food leftover for the next day. It is a choice of angel hair pasta or penne pasta or whatever you want cooked fresh. Then you add whatever meat you feel like eating: beef, chicken, salmon, calamari, sausage, etc. You can even mix and match the meat. Last, you pick a delicious sauce and the best part is that they are really good at soaking the sauce in so the full flavor comes to effect. Sprinkle a bit of your vegetable of choice and you are ready!
Dessert: you get a couple of options for dessert that are served Cini-​style kinda like their appetizer. The one I liked was the oreo cookie flavor.
Ambience: Cool, chill, relaxing. Lots of tables.
Downside: The only downside I have is that it takes about 10 minutes to get your order ready because they cook several of the items as you are ordering.

I really like Cini. I’ve been here a dozen times, and have never been disappointed. I think the portion sizes are great. I usually get a meal and a half out of one pasta dish.

Basically the only reasons I go to Cini is because it is conveniently located next to SLU and sometimes I get suck of chipotle. The food is only okay but they do give you large portions that I guarantee will fill you up. If only they cooked the pasta with the sauce and toppings instead of just piling everything on top of each other. If you aren’t picky about your pasta I would recommend this place.

This is now my second visit. When Cini first opened I was excited to have a new dining option in the neighborhood. A friend of mine came and then told me it wasn’t that good so I held off trying it for months.
Eventually I gave it a try. I loved the fresh and modern environment immediately. It has a great feel to it.
The staff was horrible! Since it was my first time it took a while to figure out what to order. The staff was impatient and rude, contradictory in the information shared and generally had EXTREMELY bad attitudes… and my family and I were the only customers in the place.
I ordered the pick two and had a salad with a calamari piadina. The salad was over dressed but the flavors were really good so I chalked it up to poorly trained staff. The piadina was nothing more than a cold flour tortilla with some fresh produce and calamari on it… very deceiving and the same thing as a snack wrap at McDonalds.
I decided to try Cini a second time to see if my experience was just a fluke. The food is very fresh and the flavors were good. I had the grilled salmon salad. For a fast casual restaurant it is pretty good. The service and bad attitudes were a little better but they have a long way to go… there were only a handful of customers in the place even though it was lunch rush hour. Chipotle… across the driveway has a line out the door. Go figure.
I will be surprised if this place makes it long term. Great concept and flavors but the staff could sink the ship.

Came here for the first time. Pro: beer and wine on tap. Con: none of your additions are cooked with the pasta. I got the penne pasta, pomodoro sauce, and calamari. The calamari is one of the few «meats» made to order. The sauce was good, but it needs to be thicker. There’s a whole list of items to add to your order, but they’re just added on top. It would be so much better if they were mixed and heated together.
I’ll probably be back to try some other combinations. Plus, did I mention beer on tap?

This 2-​star rating is somewhat misleading. The first couple times I’ve been here, I’ve had great experiences and those deserve 4/​5-​star ratings. The food was delicious and the staff was quick and very polite and accommodating.
However, it seems that there is some inconsistencies in staff training and service. My last visit to Cini (⁵⁄₁₃), one of the staff was very, VERY rude. One of my worst, if not the worst, customer service I’ve ever experienced.
First, he asked my friend what grill item he would like on his pasta. My friend couldn’t decide and just when he was about to order, he walked away without saying ANYTHING. No «excuse me» or «let me know when you are ready». NOTHING. He wasn’t even waiting that long for his response — less than 30 seconds surely!
Second, I wanted to use my $ 10 groupon voucher and the staff said I needed to reach the $ 10 minimum to use it. This was fine and I said I would like coffee. He then complained about «having to make the coffee» and how it would take a while since the coffee maker worked only half the time. I’m understanding of the coffee maker not working but his response wasn’t appropriate at all.
I hate writing bad reviews, but I could not believe the service my friends and I had today! I’m more appalled that my friends had to experience such horrible service at a place that I had previously so highly recommended.

Like other reviewers, I was lured into trying this place thanks to a Groupon. As usual, you get what you pay for.
My first visit, I stood there for 5 minutes waiting for someone to take my order despite there being 3 people working. One was busy with another guest, but the other 2 weren’t doing much of anything. I ordered the four cheese cini and pasta with grilled chicken and tomato sauce. The pasta had clearly been sitting a while, as had the meats. The sauce was tasty. although a bit soupy. The four cheese cinis were super tasty. The fast casual restaurant required almost 12 min to get my order and get me my food… not impressive.
Tonight, however, for Groupon two, was ridiculous. I stood at the counter waiting for about a minute and just as someone was coming to take my order, some other woman came up to the counter apologizing for her daughter who apparently had just dumped her entire bowl of pasta on the floor. The employee, instead of taking my order first, offers to get her another bowl of pasta, then proceeds to make it. As I stood there with an absolutely amazed look on my face, she simply says «I have a 5 year old». So??? What do you want? A cookie? It was bad enough she jumped in front of me in line, but the proper response from the employee would have been to say «Let me take care of this guest first, then I will make you a new bowl of pasta». I don’t care if you have a 5 year old… if she was clumsy enough to drop her pasta and you weren’t watching her, she can wait her turn to get a new one.
Anyway, after mommy’s little princess got her new pasta, he takes my order. I again ordered the four cheese cini. After about 30 seconds, the employee comes back and proceeds to tell me they are out of the four cheese. I’m sorry, what??? You have only 3 varieties of your feature menu item and namesake, it’s only 6:20pm and you’re out of 1 of them??? WTF?
I noticed this place never seems to be busy (as compared to the Chipotle across the parking lot which always has people in it). Now I know why.

I decided to give Cini a try since I found a really great Groupon deal. I invited a friend of mine to join me as we wanted to stay close to campus for lunch. When we arrived we were greeted which was nice.
The line forms on the right as noted in other reviews and then you just tell them what you would like. It is a good concept, but the service was just too slow for me. There were 3 people working the line and only 1 guy in the back «preparing» the pasta, cini, and other items. With the glass that is in between you and the servers I noticed that they could not actually hear me even though I was speaking loudly. I think I had to yell at one point to make sure the lady heard me correctly. Not sure I like that.
As for the food; I didn’t like that they had pre-​cooked pasta that they just threw into a pot of boiling water to heat up. The alfredo sauce was not good at all and the chicken was too tough to chew. I was not impressed with this restaurant. I would also like to not that they advertised a «thin crust wrap» for the piadina which sounded great, but it turns out that it was really more like a tortilla that I could have purchased at the store myself. My friend and I tried the cini, both the appetizer and the dessert ones and I have to say they were both soggy and drenched in oil. I took 1 bite of each and didn’t finish the rest.
The one thing I can say that is positive is that they do have a ton of toppings that you can add to your wrap, pasta, or salad. I like being able to have lots of veggies and they do have a good amount of these to choose from.
Overall, I was not too impressed and I don’t think I’ll be going back.

I’ve been very happy with Cini’s both times that I’ve tried it. It’s a great concept I think, a pasta/​salad bar type deal that is a great deal for the amount of food you get. You are able to pick a salad type with a good number of toppings as well as pasta with various meats– meatball, chicken, steak etc.
Food: I’ve tried both the Red Pepper Pesto and the Diavolo with angel hair pasta and meatballs and they’re equally delicious. As far as salads, I’m a sucker for a good balsamic vinagrette which they luckily have a great one! I would say tho to get the dressing on the side as it usually makes the salad soggy otherwise. They give huge portions of the pasta so I usually get a lunch the next day out of it. They make the food infront of you which I like and all the meats, veggies and sauces taste fresh.
I haven’t tried the Cini’s yet so I can’t speak for those but I think the pasta and salads are wonderful!
Service: The servers were great and answered whatever questions I had. They definitely take their time but it’s okay because they’re very attentive to what you order.
Space: It’s open and has plenty of seating. Minimalist theme.
Price: It’s under 10 dollars and you pretty much get two meals out of it so it’s a great deal in my eyes.
Cini’s is a nice, budget friendly dinner that I would recommend for anyone looking for a quick bite to eat. Give Chipotle a rest and head to Cini’s.

Very similar to a chain in Ohio called Piada. Generous portions, quality ingredients, reasonably priced– essentially the italian version of Chipotle. The Cini were good, but nothing I would go out of my way to get. The staff was friendly and helpful, even close to closing time.

I noticed that they did not have very good ratings, so I decided to actually give them a good one!
I actually bought a groupon so I tried many of the items on their menu. I will admit that some of the items are not very good including their appetizer and dessert cinis. As for their entrees, I actually really like them. I always get the pick two because you get an enormous amount of food for ~$ 10. I usually get a salad and a pasta. I love that you can add whatever you want and try a new creation each time you go, including different protein/​meats, sauces, vegetables. Additionally, they have a list of things that the chef created that you can try. I’ve tried the steak pasta with alfredo sauce which was awesome and a piadini with calamari which was very flavorful.
The place is big so they can accommodate large parties and is always impeccably clean. The staff is helpful and friendly. I will be back!

The overall 3 star rating was pretty much on par with our experience at the restaurant. We bought a Groupon for this place to try it out. My husband and I shared an order of Four Cheese Cini, Penne with Chicken and Diavolo Sauce, and 2 Oreo Dessert Cini and 1 Vanilla Dessert Cini. Before the Groupon, this meal would have cost $ 12.86 and it fed both of us well.
I’ve never had arancini before going to Cini, so I can’t compare their Cini to anything — but overall I thought the Cini balls were just okay. I’m not a big fan of fried food. The oreo dessert Cini were definitely better than the Vanilla.
The pasta was good, but nothing memorable. The penne looked and tasted like Barilla or something similar to what I can get at the store. The diavolo sauce was good and chunky. The chicken was cooked and seasoned well. The most disappointing part about this restaurant is the lack of cooked vegetables to add to the pasta. When I think of this place trying to compete with Noodles & Co., it will loose every time because there are no cooked veggies to add to the pasta. Sure, there are raw vegetables at the restuarnat but they are for the salads and wouldn’t go well with the pasta. So basically, their pasta is something I could easily make at home by boiling some noodles and slapping a jar of sauce on it.
I think some other reviews stated the flow of the restaurant was confusing, I think the restaurant has fixed those issues because there are very clear signs telling you where to go.
I would recommend that this restaurant work on making their product more unique and memorable. The restaurant is good/​fine, just nothing special.

One of the worst places I can think of. Ordered the 3 Cini (1 of each flavor). They tasted like they were fried in old oil and all 3 flavors tasted the same. It was impossible to recognize rice in the filling. It was the consistency of baby food. I also ordered the penne pasta with diavolo sauce and the «calamari with hot peppers» as my protein. Diavolo sauce would imply there should be a certain amount of spice or heat and there was not. It tasted like your basic tomato sauce out of a jar. The calamari with hot peppers seemed to be the protein to choose as they cook it fresh while the others have been sitting for who knows how long on a steam table. The calamari was obviously fried in the same old oil as the cini and had that taste going on. It was your basic pre-​breaded thing and when you bit into it the calamari was chewy and immediately separated from the breading. Hot peppers would imply that there are peppers that are either spicy or heated. The peppers turned out to be some sliced pepperoncini. They are neither warm nor spicy. The cini and the calamari were hot because they had just been fried but the pasta and the sauce were both cold. This place was a total miss for me. I do not recommend.

I think this is a good spot for college kids looking for simple pasta and salad, but there are definitely things this place could work on.
We tried the:
3 flavors of cini. I’d pick the four cheese, original, then the primavera in that order.
Penne pasta with chicken and pomodoro sauce– it’s either penne or angel hair, but for some reason the pasta was pre-​cooked then flash boiled and yet still came out cold. 8 protein options. 3 hot sauces, and 3 cold sauces. They didn’t give us a choice to add toppings onto the pasta, and instead the toppings were added onto our salad? a little confusing.
I wish they would actually mix the pasta with the sauce/​toppings/​protein first before putting it in the bowl instead of sloppily trying to pile stuff on top of too much plain pasta and overflowing/​making a mess.
Salad– essentially create your own salad with 4 dressing options
I wouldn’t recommend anything specific here because I didn’t try enough to get a good sense of the other sauces/​protein options. The portions for pasta are HUGE, but it’s mainly just pasta (not sauce/​protein) that you’re getting a lot of.
I was hoping this would be something like a
or a Mirko, but it was indeed just trying to embrace the chipotle/​subway/​fast food model in an inefficient way.
You can stop reading here because the rest of this is just stuff to work on…
Here were some problem areas:
1. Speed– there’s no way in heck that this process moves quickly. It took the person behind the counter 2 – 3 minutes just to explain how the flippin menu worked. I stopped listening. There was no sense of urgency to make the very simple order either, so I fear for their «lunch rush.»
2. Flow– the posted menu above the counter reads right to left, which seems very simple, but the flow of the restaurant directs you to move left to right (and people naturally read left to right). there’s no signage that tells you where to start ordering. This isn’t a problem if there are people in line already, but nobody was there.
3. Pasta quality– the cheap, store bought kind.
4. Servers– they just seemed confused and unsure of what was going on.
I really liked the chairs and simple, modern décor, and the location is very convenient. I hope the restaurant tries to work on some flaws…

This is a relatively new place near the SLU undergrad campus in an area that is currently being re-​vamped. It has been advertised as a Chipotle-​like concept but with pasta instead of burritos.
For appetizer you can choose from different kinds of savory cini balls that consist of either meat, cheese, or vegetables. There is nothing particularly special about them. The concept seems cool but I wasn’t overly impressed. For the main entrees the choices are pasta, salad, soup, or a wrap. There are several kinds of meats and vegetables you can pick to put into your choice of entrée. They are very generous with their portion sizes. Most people who ordered pasta in our group ended up taking home leftovers, which tasted great the next day.
We went with a large group. and it took a while for all of us to make it through the line. It’s definitely not as fast as Chipotle because it takes time for them to cook up the pasta or the meat.
The eating area is large and spaceous. The few times that we have been there, there aren’t usually many other eating and it tends to not be crowded. There is minimal décor.
For dessert there are dessert cinis in a few different flavors. My favorite is the oreo one, but I may be biased because we are large oreo consumers and tend to favor any dish that has the word oreo in it.
Overall, it’s a decent place where you can get a large portion of food for a good price.

Good food, think Noodles & Company with a Subway twist and then take it up a notch. First off you start off with your meal type, a wrap, pasta bowl, or salad. Once you have decided on the base of your meal you get to pick the meat, sauce and then your toppings. I opted for a wrap with noodles, I picked angel hair pasta with breaded chicken and alfrado sauce in a whole wheat tortilla wrap. Overall it was a good wrap, good italian food on the go but I really enjoyed the Cini, which are small rice balls which are crispy on the outside and full of flavor on the inside, I just wish they were bigger. I really liked the four cheese cini, it was amazing. Overall this is a good place, I am surprised with all the poor reviews, however it isnt anywhere near the quality of the places on the Hill. This is good italian food fast. I will probably be back to try the pasta bowl.

I don’t know where to start, the concept is confusing the name focus’ on a specific item that doesn’t seem to be what it’s all about. The arancini’s they offer are very good but way too small. If they offered 2 sizes this could really benefit both the guests and the owners. Arancini’s are a specialty and finding good ones is not that easy. When they are good and you want to make them a meal and not an appetizer or snack and at this place the arancini’s can get pricy.
As for the rest of the menu the salads need work, the presentation lacks desire. What confused me most was the wraps, combining tortilla skins with Italian food is just wrong. I had a meatball wrap and it was NOT good. The meatballs are the size of a quarter and they roll out of the tortilla after the first bite. When I ordered it I was confused because they asked if I wanted pasta with it or If I wanted lettuce and tomatoes? As I said once before the bumps are something that need to be worked out but work them out before you present this concept to your guests. The only thing you have to worry about is how are your guests reacting to there first experience. The tortillas are a Mexican item and we are all familiar with that taste and it can be a hard transitional sell. I am a meatball connoisseur and I get them at every Italian place I go unless they are bad and let’s put it this way… I won’t be ordering them again! Crush them or cut them do something to keep them from rolling away from the dinner table.
The sauces that came with the «mini cini’s» where all very good but I would have never gotten them if the cashier hadn’t asked me what sauce I liked best.
As far as the look, its bright and clean looking, but you have no parking in front and the entrance is confusing, many of the people I saw tried coming in through the courtyard which probably would have been the best main entrance.

It’s really surprising that after more than a month in business, more reviews haven’t cropped up about this place. Love it or hate it, Cini’s location seems prime for a fast-​casual concept to launch (just off of Grand, within walking distance of a Starbucks and surrounded by SLU). There’s got to be plenty of foot traffic here, right?
A few takeaways from a recent visit:
1) This is not an arancini restaurant. This is not an arancini concept. Period.
The cini are served here as something to whet your appetite or cap off a meal, but if you’re expecting a «proper» meal ball of rice and fillings, you’re going to be disappointed. Arancini are normally the size of an orange or baseball, at the least right? Cini are about the size of a golf ball and this isn’t an accident.
Would they do well to add full-​size arancini to the menu some days? Maybe! The flavors in the tiny variety were fine, and the balance between a crisp exterior and creamy interior was achieved, but it might be hard to do consistently during the lunch rush (something that spots like this, with an unblinking eye on expansion, have to keep in mind when planning the menu). Quality and consistency first.
2) Décor here is simple, cool and mod. The chairs are a little funky and the concrete floors and glass walls around three sides lend a futuristic edge to the place. The main seating area can accommodate various group sizes and there are even some (slightly) more intimate seating arrangements along the eastern wall.
Good for a date? It depends on what kind of date.
3) The bowl of tomato bisque was one of the best that I’d had in a long while. Very heavy and layered with flavor, it was tart, and smooth, and herbal. A perfect complement to a cold evening and more than worth the trip on its own.
4) Expect to pay about $ 7.50, without a drink, for a meal. The combinations are a good size and prepared quickly, but you don’t come away thinking that you got something for nothing. The ingredient quality seems very good and some of the prep/​finishing work is done in the semi-​open kitchen right behind the assembly line. All-​in-​all, I’d consider it a fair value.

I have been to this restaurant twice and enjoyed the food both times. The portions are very large and delicious. Although the initial presentation of choices is a little overwhelming, it didn’t seem to matter, as everything I’ve tried has been good.
You simply go up to the counter and can choose pasta or salad or «piadina» (which is really just a tortilla wrap) with your choice of a large array of toppings. Delicious! The staff is very friendly and willing to help out. Other than the affectation of using the term“piadina” for tortilla, I enjoyed this restaurant.

I was super excited about an arancini place opening. We went had lunch there today and the cini balls were meh. The sauces are delicious however. I ordered the vege, think I got two cheese and one veggie, cheese ones were way too cheesy, I should have taken tthem back. Hubbie got the sausage one, that was the better choice. We got a pasta bowl with calamari. calamari was fried fresh, it was just ok. While I think the concept is a great one, they need to polish up the presentation. The salad and the other meat choices are sitting out there like a sub way and did not look appetizing. The service was great with eager hosts.
I think the location is awesome for their business, and it has good potential. It wasn’t our cup of tea.