Sabatino's Italian Restaurant

I THINK SERVICE COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER REALLY DIDNT LIKE THE VEAL . I HAD BETTER OVERALL MY PAST EXPERIENCES LATE MIGH GOING TO SAAITINOS IS BETTER LATE NIGHT FOOD WAS PREPARED BETTER . \r
RECENTLY WENT LAST WEEKEND . JUST OKAY IMSURPRISED

Went out to Sabatino's to celebrate girlfriends birthday. We were rushed to our seats and greeted with a scary looking waitress whose opening line was "do you want anything other than water?" Before I could even process this further, she

This is my experience with Sabatinos, I went out with my wife last night to the harbor then we decided to get a bite. We walked down to little italy and we picked Sabatinos. It was a Saturday at 09:30pm!! We imagined the place would be

fgh

OK people...Let me just tell you, I have first hand knowedge of this craphole restaurant. If you were to walk into the kitchen and take a look around, you would NEVER come back in....EVER. The cooks smoke cigararettes WHILE THEY ARE COOKING YOUR FOOD, the do not wash their hands after (it's gets way too busy and frankly, they just don't care), they have sweat dripping all over them and they stick their dirty hands in the pasta and throw it into a bowl. Soo Nasty! I have personally witnessed Vince Culotta (one of the owners) yell at a new bus boy when he found out that he dumped a bowl of salad dressing out after clearing it off of a table. Vince grabbed the bowl of dressing from the dishwashers station and DUMPED IT BACK INTO THE SALAD DRESSING CROCK!!! EWWWW! Do you know how unhygenic and illegal that is?? On another occasion, we (the waitresses) were chatting near the soda fountain waiting for customers to come in when Vince walks around the corner and says," A table of two just came in and you ladies are standing around with your fingers up your cunts"...OK Really??? The one waitress next to me was about 67 years old. So not appropriate, no matter what the age. I met my husband there and that's the only good thing that came out of Sabs. This place is a rat hole.

Amazing food and service. I have been to many little Italy's in Boston, Providence and have never tasting such authetic food. I thought I was having lunch at my grandmothers house. I highly recommend this restaurant if your'e new to the

I had an awesome meal here with my family on Christmas Eve. We were greeted kindly at the front door, our server was really nice and our food was delicious. I had a veal dinner and my husband had pasta. We both really enjoyed our meals

Simply put... It was the worst Italian I have ever had. I am still trying to figure out if the good reviews were written by drunks or family members. This palce really stinks... Waitress's were dressed like something out of Mel's diner.

This place is disgusting.

I have absolutely no idea how or why it is still in business.

I was visiting Baltimore for a business meeting and several of my co-workers suggested Sabatino's from previous trips to the city. I was NOT disappointed. I was greeted by a friendly host at the front door, seated immediately and served by

I tried this restaurant based on the recomendations of several people who had told me that the food was wonderful. The food is not wonderful, and it is not authentic Italian. I tried the veal and it
tasted like frozen TV dinner. I also tried the so called bookmaker salad. It was awful, and again not at all Italian. Itlians do not eat Ice berg lettuce. This place is a rip off. If the owners are Italian, I am sure that they do not eat the food they serve in their restaurant

I suggest the Sabatino family call Gordon Ramsay to be saved on the next episode of Kitchen Nightmares. I also went back after fondly remembering the food. The bread and butter was good. I agree that the signature house dressing tastes strange and slighty sweet. I ordered linguine with white clam sauce and I've had better from a canned sauce. It was bland with a bunch of cold clam pieces thrown on the top. Too bad. I used to love this place.

we like food

C'mon haters; it's Sabs! What did you expect? There is always a table waiting for you, the service is fair and the bookmaker's salad is crazy! Have a couple of drinks and sit back and enjoy the company you came with. It is Sabs! What were you expecting!!??

On our first and only visit to Sabitino's we were surprising amazed that such a resturant could still be in business after the food we were served. Lets start with bread you would buy in the supermarket, italian soft and cold. served with butter in foil wrappers. You call this italian..where I come from italian bread is crunchy and served with olive oil and olives or something apptetizing. Next salad iceberg with very few vegtables to say the least.Dinner OH MAMMA chicken and veal somewhat rubberized and clams and linguine made right out of a can. Have you heard of bay leaf in clams. Sides of pasta served with a sauce that tasted like ketchup. If this is italian I have been glad to be at sabatino to really appreciate a good sauce. Don't waste your tastebuds or money on this so called Italian resturant.

I was visiting Baltimore for a business meeting and several of my co-workers suggested Sabatino's from previous trips to the city. I was NOT disappointed. I was greeted by a friendly host at the front door, seated immediately and served by a very attentive waiter. I had a Bookmaker Salad which was delicious. My Veal Cacciatore was perfectly tender in a wonderful and obviously freshly prepared marinara sauce with just the right texture. My side order of penne vodka was served al dente - as it should be - and it was really tasty, too. I travel frequently for business and dine out often. If my travels bring me anywhere near Sabatino's in the future, I will definitely be back!

sabs has been around a long time and the food has always been very good the service is also very good I've been in the service industry for a long time and I always go to sabs for a great meal

im a frequent customer of sabs and only because their service and food are so consistently good, i read some of these reviews and just encourage people to not let one bad experience keep you from going back. Sabs is family friendly when ever i have a family event i go their because it feels like they are apart of my family. Servers have been there for years. That should say something about the work environment. I ask one server and she said she was there for like thirty years wow. I dont normally write these reviews but i thought sabs was getting alot of bad slack and wanted to give them the review that they deserves. Go to sabs become apart of the family.

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!

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.

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;

This is possibly the worst Italian food I have ever had. I had the Eggplant Parmesan.. how could an Italian restaurant mess that up.I literally could not eat the food and left it. The service was equally horrible. The waiter was no where to be found. And the icing on the cake.a big hunk of food in my water and a fly in the butter.YUCK!!!

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.

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.

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

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.

I ate at this restaurant 3 years ago on a business trip and loved the veal Parmesan. I couldn't wait to go back again. I live in Vermont and we are short on places that make a good veal parm. Anyway, I decided to mix it up a bit and have the eggplant and veal parm. This time around the veal had changed a bit ...they called it "veal medallions". The marinara sauce and eggplant were just plain mediocre and the veal resembled something like McDonalds chicken nuggets...not very tasty. I ended up sending it back.

After a huge build up, my guest and I were unimpressed. I thought for the rude service, bad seating, poor cooking, and noisy dining room you'd have to have quite a few cocktails first. That seemed to be what everyone had done. Don't come here sober.

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.

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!

Didn't think I could go wrong with a 9 rating but this was possibly the worst meal I've had in a long time. I had the fruti de mare with white sauce. I live in central (land locked) Texas and we have better seafood at chain restaurants. I've been to Italy and, there, the meal is an entire evening's entertainment. We received our appetizer before we had even ordered wine. The salad plate was picked up at the same time the entry was delivered. If you are looking for authentic Italian, this is not the place. If the seafood can't be as good as as a chain restaurant, then take it off the menu. If you can't let diner's dine leisurely, then call it a fast food joint. They couldn't even successfully call us a cab.

Sabatino's has the best homemade pasta dishes in Baltimore. If you've never had fresh pasta, it's like homemade bread as compared to store bought (store bought bread being on par with dried pasta). Sabatino's does it very well.

I'm not so fond of their other dishes---a little too heavy on the cheese and butter. They're ok, just not really great. The atmosphere is comfortable and relaxed though not really casual. Try to go early so that you don't have to wait for a table.

"This might be the best Fettuccine Alfredo I've ever had," said one of the ten people in my party last night. We were seated promptly and every dish came out at the perfect time, quick and great! I signed up for this citysearch account just to write a review for Sabatino's. Before going, I read some of the other reviews about Sabatino's and didn't believe the negativity. They were wrong, plain and simple. I had the Veal Saltimbocca, which was great. My girlfriend and I shared the famous Bookmaker Salad, which was also terrific. The desserts were intense and delicious. In summary, I recommend Sabatino's for anyone, particularly for groups. Good stuff!

What a disappointment!!! I have gone to Sabs since childhood. I have never been so dissappointed. I read the comments on this site before going & didnt believe the bad press. Upon arriveing Louis sat us, just like the old days. After that NOTHING was like before...our bread was cold, our waiter was clumbsy & not attentive, my wine sauce tasted like dishwater,my dates sauce was like day old paste, our check was put on the table 5 mins after the food was & another waitress(who looked like she was on something)kept bumping into us & our table causing our drinks to spill. The only thing that was good was the bookmaker salad which has shrunk in the last 5 years. WHAT HAPPENED TO SABS???

never wil go anywhere else for italian food. Puts olive garden to shame, he he. Very friendly, great service and the best thing of all great food. Thanks

Sab's is one of my all time favorite places to eat. I'm comfortable here with my family, with friends, or just with a date. The Bookmaker Salad is something everyone should experience - it's Great!!! Suggestions?!?!? Try the Veal Saltimbocca (sp?!?! - not sure about the spelling on that one!!!), Shrimp Renato, Chicken Lynn, any kind of pasta with Veal Sauce. Don't forget the garlic bread and save room for dessert!!!! Oh, and the people are really nice here, too. Friendly servers and the guy at the front door always remembers me, even when I don't come in for a few months. I like the way I'm treated here.

I was highly disappointed. The wait staff is slow, even though the restaurant was empty. The chairs are dusty. The salad was okay, after being recommended highly by others. I could make it in my own kitchen. As for the main, the veal ravioli was actually disgusting, imagine boiled meat with maybe just a little salt. nasty. It tasted like it was from the freezer and had just been either boiled or microwaved. The lasagna was terrible, the ground meat in it was tasteless, no italian taste whatsoever. The veal ravioli was so bad it was not even "properly microwaved". I would never recommend the tiramisu to anyone. It was awful. I would rather go to any coffee shop for tiramisu, and for $5....it was a rip off. For $55 that I paid for this outing, it was a total rip-off. Terrible terrible terrible!

Baltimore best inexpensive Italian food! Miami's best tastebuds rates it EXCELLENT! Not only are they open late! but the food & ambience makes you feel right at home. If it weren't for Sabatino's, I'd be stuck eating fast food late at night!! (Yucko!) Thanks Sabatino's! For your great quality food, service & your friendly staff.

Sabatinos is truly a great restaurant that is what has put it on the map and won it some many awards the food is excellent and the service is very good as well I go out ot eat quite often and the service doesn't compare. Sabatinos is always consistent thank you Sabatinos

Sabatino's

The value here is in quantity not quality. the portions are large and the atmosphere is loud and casual.

If you just want to eat a lot of mediocre italian food, drink wine and converse loudly with friends, maybe this is the place.

If you are looking for a quiet classy setting with fine italian cuisine, or a place for a romantic date this is not the place.

Their canoli is atrocious, I suspect it was made with store bought frosting and chocolate chips, an absolute disappointment.

Sabatino's is the best place to eat in Little Italy. They have the best marinara sauce i've ever tasted. I suggest the gnocchi's with marinara sauce it is like heaven. When you go there see Peachy, she is the best waitress i've ever had.

I've reviewed this restaurant before. I had dinner here for the first time about a year ago. It is now one of my "favorite places".

I had dinner here last night with a large group (about 95) of Hopkins Graduates. It was incredible! The event was meticulously planned. We all ate, ate well, and ate hot, cooked to order food all at the same time! The service was outstanding, the "people" were great, the food was, as always, delicious.

This restaurant is HUGE (i think they said they have over 400 seats) but you'd never know it. It's a bunch of small to med. sized rooms. And last night IT WAS HOPPING!!! I don't know how they did it, but this was one of the best dinner parties I've ever attended!

Can't wait to have my next Bookmaker!!

Everyone raves about Sab's...but I can't figure out why? The place is dark and dusty, the tables are cramped in, the service is slow and the waitresses are not friendly. And as for the food...it's run of the mill Italian that rivals Chef Boyardee. Lots of fried food, heavy and oily red sauce, and dried out bread.

This is for tourists or the after-bar crowd who just wants to go anywhere but home. Too noisy and crowded. One time we were seated in a small room - everyone else in the room was celebrating someone's birthday. Not only was this uncomfortable but there was spaghetti sauce slopped all over the wall above our table and they never attempted to wipe it off. There are too many good restaurants in Little Italy to ever go back here.

Yes, they were busy. Really, really busy. But I expected that on Valentine's Day. We had an 8:00 reservation & though that hallway looked incredibly crowded, we were seated within 10 minutes. We had a lovely table in one of the upstairs dining rooms. Our server was friendly, helpful, and always right there when we needed her. Our dinners were delicious (Veal Francese and Shrimp Renato) and the portions were huge. Dessert was also outstanding (Tiramisu). Loved the Bookmaker Salad and Garlic Bread. Can't wait to go back!

This restaurant has good hours and a well-known name but the food is definitely not the best--by far.
If you are in Baltimore looking for good Italian food, I think you will be very disappointed. This is more of last minute, late night choice. There are definitely a few good things on the menu, but there are so many better options out there.

Great Food,Sevice, and the price is right. Love the location nice quiet Italian hood.

Sabatino's has some of the best Italian dishes that you'll ever tast...but under no circumstances try the shrimp scampi during lunch hours. My co-workers and I went for lunch over the Christmas holidays and 3 out of the 5 of us order shrimp scampi. It was not the usual shrimp scampi that I get during the dinner hours. If you could have seen the look on our faces when we were served what looked like a bowl spaghetti soup with shrimp. The sauce was the worse I ever had, so loose and tart, and the noodles were too thick.

My wife & I eat at "Sabby's" at least once a month and have been doing so for at least 5 years. The people are nice, the portions are huge and the food is excellent. My personal favorties are Shrimp Renato, Veal Florentine and Baked Rigatoni. They have great garlic bread and the salad dressing is delicious!

Their house salad dressing, garlic bread and the bookmaker salad, are the only items I would eat at this restaurant. The rest doesn't even compare to "good" italian food!