Archestratus, the first food critic, praised Italian cuisine's "top-quality and seasonal" ingredients and "fair-to-middling" ability to tranquilize out-of-control mayors. Today's Groupon similarly stuns, and rightfully so: for $5, you get $10 worth of pastas, drinks, and more for dine-in or carryout at Cibo Homemade Pasta & Grille, located in Bainbridge.

Each morning, Cibo's Italian-style pasta-and-sauce artists rise to craft their savory wares from fresh ingredients and old-fashioned scratch. Start building your pasta palace with a foundation of homemade rolled cavatelli or whole-wheat corkscrew rotini with sauce ($4.95 and up). Tongue-titillating homemade sauces include fresh marinara, creamy alfredo, an arrabbiata sauce with crushed red peppers, and an aglio and olio sauce which melds extra virgin olive oil with roasted garlic. Add-in options include a choice of meat and meat sauce as well as lightly steamed broccoli or peas ($2 each). Cibo also offers fresh salads ($4.95-$6.95) and 9" subs with your choice of homemade meatballs, marinated grilled chicken, or Italian seasoned pork as well as cheeses and sauce ($6.45).

Intimate and cozy, Cibo's interior hugs patrons with an embrace as warm as noodles wrapping a fork's tender tines. The al fresco seating at the entrance is peppered with colorful umbrellas that provide shade and indispensable dating advice. Although the pasta house is open for lunch and dinner, it's closed on Sundays.

Reviews

Cibo Homemade Pasta & Grille was featured in the Sun News:

• He makes just “short” pasta but eventually plans to introduce long, twirling pasta to the menu. He uses only semolina flour, including the healthful whole-wheat semolina used in the cavatelli. – Barbara Collier, Sun News