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Provided by Citysearch
An afternoon spoiled
Posted by Jimbo623 on 09/02/2009
Just stay away! The menu was unimpressive, the specials posted on the outside sandwich board were not really "specials" but normal menu items. The Bookmaker Salad was comprised of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, a couple of bland olives, cut up salami, tasteless cubes of some nondescript cheese, and pieces of shrimp that had any and all of its flavor somehow removed. The House Dressing, although full bodied, was also devoid of flavor, but had a nice flavorless gritty texture. The Bread was adequate, but if you go to the trouble of serving it wrapped in a napkin in a breadbasket, please heat it a little!
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Provided by Citysearch
worst of the worst
Posted by tamsmith on 07/28/2009
Had a waitress that looked like a big red neck, had to track her down everytime we needed anything.
The two tiny mannicotti was frozen inside, and there was just tons and tons of sauce, literally enough sauce for a family, and it tasted exactly like Chef boy ardee meat ravioli sauce.
We had to pay "Extra" for the house dressing? AND, to top it off, the veal parm was so salty we couldn't eat it.
I told the waitress we didn't like our meals, and she DID take them off the $50 bill.
But, she never asked why or said one word to us, we just saw the meals taken off the bill.
The floors were dirty too. What a disappointment.
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Provided by Citysearch
Don't dis the bookmaker, it makes books shudder
Posted by ReginaldBuxley on 07/22/2009
Look,
The bookmaker salad is hands down the best value in Little It. When you go anywhere else you're looking at $15-16 for a salad 1/3rd the size. Salami, Shrimp, Lettuce, Eggs and dressing -- all you need.
For all those crazy cooks out there in culinary complaint land they've never had a high quality ingredient based dressing that is of the utmost respect to the littlest of italy. That "grit" you taste is authentic Parmesan coming right from the motherland. I apologize that you're tongue can't handle such delicate intricacies so if you need your food refined and processed down to Gerber quality, go hit-up Olive Garden and have them nuke you some dinner in the micro-oven.
Boolean true;
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Provided by YELLOWPAGES.COM
An Italian Restaurant that Italian from other states love!
Posted by kfc616 on 08/02/2008
Like most Italians I do not frequent Italian restaurants because they never make food as good as mom and grandma. My friends would describe the process of getting to come to Sabatinos as similar to having teeth pulled. But I finally relented and visited Sabatinos with them. I still remember how fantastic the food was. I am no push over and am very judgmental about Italian food. My experience was so good that I have invited other Italian friends from New York and Philly who like me would never eat out at Italians restaurants. They also have fallen in love with this Beautiful place. I truly believe that there is not better judge. So if you want to try the Best Italian Restaurant in Maryland go to Little Italy in Baltimore and enjoy. If you are ever in Annapolis try Mangia at the Harbor.
Thank you.
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Provided by Citysearch
Awful. The worst meal of my adult life.
Posted by joeby on 07/25/2008
The Bookmaker salad is gross. The dressing is gritty. Plenty of other reviews have stated the same thing. There is sand in this dressing........period. The entree's are typical low class Jersey garbage. This is not Italian food at all. You are better off picking a fronzen dinner at Safeway than this pablum. Had the food be flavorless I would have given it two stars. Since it tasted like sweaty feet I gave it one. Although, I am frustrated with paying $40 to eat freshmen year dining hall food, the most amazing part of the night was walking through the restaurant to get to the bathroom and seeing every single table packed. For the love of God, do not eat here. Go to Cafe Troia in Towson for the real deal.
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Provided by Citysearch
Find another place to eat
Posted by danloc78 on 07/21/2008
Only reason it gets a star is for the friendly service. And even then, our server disappeared for about 20 minutes while we waited to exchange our salad, which was drenched in a house dressing that had an overly sandy texture to it. Friend selected balsamic vinaigrette as a replacement dressing...what we received was neither balsamic, nor vinaigrette. Next we were served eight dollar 'fried mozzarella', which were clearly frozen mozzarella sticks. My friend had the veal scallopini, which looked and tasted more like a hungry man dinner than an italian specialty. I actually did enjoy my entree, which was the tortellini with tortellini sauce. But overall, less than authentic, and just poor food, especially for the price.
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Provided by Citysearch
Health Hazard! DIRTIEST PLACE EVER!!!
Posted by abigale3 on 07/19/2008
I'm not sure many people know about the inner working of this place. Being a former employee, well, I can tell you some stories. MInd you, I am not disgruntled and therefore am not writing this in anger but I just think the public should know what it's putting into it's mouth!! In my 3 years employed there, I witnessed cooks smoking cigarettes WHILE cooking your food (some of the ashes not exactly making it int the ashtray if you know what I mean...), big sweaty cooks digging into the pots of pasta with their big sweaty hands and a cigarette in their mouths. It was the most dirtiest disgusting place I've ever worked at. The thing that really surprised me though? The night that the new bussboy threw away the bowl of cheese dressing that a customer had requested to dip their bread into. Vince Sabatino himself rushed into the kitchen and basically reamed him out in front of the entire kitchen for dumping it out, saying that it could have been reused!!! So against health code violations!!! Germanos is pretty filthy too but no where NEAR as bad as Sabs. Watch yourself folks and remember, big portions = good, cigarette ashes in your pasta primavera= hideous
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Provided by Citysearch
Worst Food Ever... Friendly Service, Though
Posted by SilverSpringFoodie on 06/20/2008
From the grease ladened calamari to the bland ravioli, this meal was forgettable. The dressing, which they rave over, was gritty and almost made me gag. I would not recommend this place. In fairness, I must say, the wait service was friendly.
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Provided by Citysearch
A Star Has Fallen
Posted by westernfb on 05/05/2007
I went to Sab's a couple of nights ago. It had been about 23 years since I had eaten there. I remembered how wonderful the Bookmaker salad was and how I had to scrape up just enough money to afford that and a couple of drinks. I always vowed that I would go back when I could afford a full-blown dining experience. Finally, I did so, two days ago on a vist to Little Italy. The Bookmaker salad was disappointing. To be specific, it was the dressing, perhaps the centerpiece of the salad, that was disappointing. The ingredients were so gritty that it felt as though the cheese had been replace with sand. It was nasty. As for the main course, a meat ravioli "Al Gus," there were six small ravioli in a sauce that tasted like a bland chicken stock with a few slices of pepper and olive thrown in. The meat filling was also bland. I was stunned, given my memory and reviews I have read. I've had better Italian dining experiences at chain restaurants. Perhaps it was just a bad day for Sab's, but I don't plan on going back. Amicci's, nearby, is a much better bet for the money, as is Italian Gardens, up in Towson. Such a pity it was to have to experience the decline of one of the stars in my memory.
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Provided by Citysearch
Great Experience overall. Really nice people, Delicious food!
Posted by tonibac on 01/26/2007
My husband and I were out downtown with another couple and we had an GREAT experience at Sabatino's last night. It was a busy Friday night, but we were seated within minutes, even without a reservation. We were greeted warmly at the door when we arrived by a smiling host who seemed genuinely friendly. We were seated on the 2nd floor in a cozy little room with lace curtained windows. Our server was quick to get us started with drinks and a rundown of specials. She was friendly and knowledgable about the menu and quick to suggest her personal favorites. We started with a Bookmaker Salad - just 1 for the 4 of us to share - which was HUGE and AMAZING and enough for us all to share. We skipped appetizers - just not hungry enough to eat that many courses. We all ordered different entrees so we could pass them around the table. We tried the Veal Francese a la Sabatino, Baked Rigatoni, Chicken Lynn and Shrimp Renato. All 4 entrees were delicious! My personal favorite was the Shrimp Renato. It smelled so amazing when our server brought it to the table that my mouth was watering!!! It tasted even better! We ordered 2 desserts (cannoli and tiramisu) and 4 forks, and they were delicious, as well. The service was great and our check at the end was surprisingly reasonable, especially given the amount of food we were served. The same friendly guy was still at the front door when we left and he chatted with us while we waited for the valet to bring our car around. Again, he was personable and really quite witty. You could really tell that he was happy to be there, that he loved what he was doing, and that he truly cared about our comments. I can't believe I've lived so close to Sabatino's all my life and have never been there before. I will definitely go back soon!
