My husband and I took both sets of our parents to Olio, prior to a Pitt Basketball game. Our reservation was at 5:30 and we barely made it out for the 7:30 tip off! The service was THAT slow. Our server was very sweet, but she was clearly overwhelmed and didn't have the support to handle her tables effectively.
As for the food...we started with a few pizzas. They were good, but I can't help but compare to local Neapolitan-style titan il pizzaiolo. And honestly, there is no comparison. Olio's crust was slightly undercooked leaving it very doughy. The toppings were average quality and the sauce had a 'tomatoes-from-a-can' flavor.
Most of our party enjoyed the entrees. I thought my husband's chicken Marsala had odd proportions of the (tiny) chicken entree to the side of pasta. All of us agreed that the pastas were overcooked. Al dente pasta is the simplest aspect of Italian cooking and should be a given, whether dining at a national chain or on the Amalfi coast. Again, the canned flavor wasn't cooked out of the tomato sauces, and my meatballs were hard as rocks and completely lacking seasoning. The best thing I had all evening was the Casa salad. That's a start, I guess.
We had to leave for the game, so no time for dessert. Something tells me we didn't miss much.
At least Olio's predecessor (Joe Mama's) didn't pretend to be something it wasn't!