Sapori Ristorante Italiano

Craving some Italian, so met up with a friend and stopped by Sapori for dinner. Free parking available both in the front and back. Happy hour specials — $ 3 off appetizers and $ 1 off beers, nice start. Complimentary bread and olive oil staved off the hunger pangs until the appetizer came.
Started with some mussels in a white wine sauce, and ordered the pennette alla vodka (penne pasta with vodka cream sauce) with sausage for an entrée. Both were very impressive and delicious! Too full for dessert, but never too full for a shot of limoncello! A nice little buzz and a cleansed palate!
Total bill with tip came out around $ 92, not a bargain but worthwhile for a special occasion (passed the Hydraulics exam and my brain was fried!). Definitely try to make it back before I leave the Richmond area, lots of other items to try on the menu! Highly recommend!

Stopped for dinner after a long road trip. Glad we did!
Atmosphere very welcoming. The food was delicious, starting with the rolls and herbed oil for dipping.
Do plan to return when we pass thru VA again.
And, basically that’s the highest compliment one can give — a revisit.

This is an excellent Italian restaurant! The food is delicious! My husband ordered the eggplant parmigiana. He loved it! I don’t usually like eggplant parmigiana but this was quite good. I had the lasagna and it was the best lasagna I have ever tasted. I highly recommend this place. We will definitely come again.

Great family owned Italian restaurant. Zucchini fritter appetizer was delicious. Homemade bread with herbed oil was also very good.

Delicious penne with vodka sauce. The chicken parm was good but not the best we’ve ever had. Service warm and friendly. Can’t beat the prices. We will definitely be back.

I ordered a seafood Scampi Entrée with Scampi sauce. What i got a a Frutti Del mar with Red sauce. Waitress tried to tell me it was scampi sauce. Scampi is not red. I asked for Linguini and got angel Hair. Drinks small and weak here. DoubtI will return.

I have been here before for lunch and dinner. I consider it one of the best fancy restaurants in the area. It is not exactly a place to take small children, so that is unfair. Also, if one wants salt and pepper, ask. I plan to go again soon as I understand on Saturday night’s, they have music. Also, the linen tablecloths and napkins are a nice touch. As is the ambience. The man who sings Frank Sinatra will be there again on October 31, 2015.

What a great hole in the wall! Awesome Italian food! Great prices! A must for a family dinner or first date!

Went to this restaurant with some friends this weekend. Although the atmosphere was nice, it was NOT child friendly, at all! The menu had very few choices for children and of the choices they did have, there were no options for sides or drinks. So it was either a very small item off the kids menu or they were forced to order an adult sized meal. They were not willing to adjust the children’s portion size either. Also, there were only glasses on the table, which are never a good idea for little hands to hold. The food was just mediocre. Overall, I would not go back, as they did not seem to be accommodating at all.

Great food. You can tell there was time put in while preparing it. Will definitely be back! Chicken Marsala was awesome!

My wife and I went here for date night on Thursday night. The appetizers and drinks came out very quickly and our waitress was very nice for the time we saw her. When it came time to order food, we didn’t see her for 20 minutes, and eventually had to ask another waitress for our bill. What we ordered was comped, which was nice, but it kind of sucked to just sit there twiddling our thumbs for 20 minutes when it wasn’t that busy.

Wow totally awesome! I don’t usually opt for Italian Resturant when on vacation. But friends recommended it and what a treat it was — if I could haven given more stars I would have. Wonderful warm friendly staff as well

I have been there 3 times and I’m still not impressed. Food is ordinary and overpriced. Service was slow every time. I won’t be going back.

I took my mother here on ‘Mother’s Day’. I had been there before and it was ok and quiet. She wanted to have a quiet dinner. Not a problem here. No one was there at 6:30 on a Sunday night. Kind of sad. They have a good location and a nice look to the place.
Its a bit presumptuous to delete salt and pepper off the table especially if you season like you work at a senior center. The food was bland. What messed me up was realizing what I was paying for. Its pre cooked meats. The Chicken in my dish was from the pre-​grilled bag at from a store pack. I recognized the taste as I use it at home. The spaghetti side was ok but again bland. Was like eating weak soup.
Mom thought it was great but there are so many great Italian places in the area its just a let down. Roma’s on 460 is really good as are some of the Boulevard places.
The Waitress was nice but warm soup (not hot it had been sitting somewhere) just set the scene for mediocre. Some salt and pepper could have made it better.

From one industry person to another wow. I wish I could think of a better word, but I’m at a loss.
My sister and I are on a road trip and wherever we decide to stay the night we base it off of where we want to eat. We checked out Unilocal and found Sapori. It looked killer, great food and beer selection.
We walked in on Saturday night at 9PM and walked out by 9:10PM. The place was completely empty except for employees, we weren’t acknowledged so took a seat at the bar. A girl cleared plates from the bar and said the bartender would be with you. We believe we saw the bartender, the guy behind the bar, look at us and then walk away. The girl never came back, we saw two more servers do their cash outs as still no one came over to us.
We obviously left, it was clear that Sapori did not want us there. And to top it off as we walked out the door someone walked up and locked the door. Come on man!
If your your hours are till 9PM in real life but are till 12AM on your website, that’s confusing. So my suggestion is that you guys pow wow on the actually hours to lessen the confusion.
Sincerely,
The two traveling foodies

In the area for class so the first day we went here for lunch. Food was decent but not great. Service was good. Prices are reasonable.

Not a bad restaurant, and the food was okay. Had the lasagna and a Caesar salad. Salad was very plain. The lasagna was so-​so. Never had peas and carrots in my lasagna before. The bread was awesome and very warm. Good beer and wine selection, and the service was good. Unfortunately for Sapori, there are better Italian restaurants in the area.

Honestly, this used to be one of my favorite Italian restaurants, not sure anymore. The service has pretty much been stellar throughout our visits but recently we’ve noticed a decline in the food. My husband ordered the beef and sausage cannelloni. Unfortunately, the cannelloni had two pieces of sausage in it. Once my husband summoned the waitress, she was shocked at the lack of sausage as well. The waitress immediately went to the kitchen to ask for a small bowl of sausage for the cannelloni. Five minutes later my husband got a little bowl of sausage.
Our second visit had stellar service as well. The food was a 50 – 50 opinion. My husband enjoys his Bolognese and I got sapori garlic in oil. Luca is their main cook, but I believe he hasn’t cooked for us the last two times. My garlic in oil — was not like it used to be.
My last little blip is salt and pepper. I think this restaurant works off the premise of, our food is seasoned perfectly therefore no need for salt or pepper. Sapori does not provide either at the tables and you must ask if you need them. I needed to salt on several occasions. Lacking in visual finesse and needing a touch less cooking of the noodles, my garlic and oil could’ve been perfect.

My husband and I decided to visit Sapori for Valentine’s Day and it was mildly busy, nothing too crazy. Our reservation had slightly changed, and when I informed the owner, she grimaced, tightened her lips and reprimanded me for my poor decision. How dare I modify my reservation without notifying her hours earlier. Uh, lady, I just found out about it… Meanwhile, the dining room was open and available, yet she was visibly angry. Immediately, her attitude totally turned me off on what was to be a relaxed, fun experience.
While we were waiting, friends of ours who we saw also told us, without our prompting, that the ‘lady at the front’ was really rude to the guests. Apparently, she had overheard her huffing and speaking rudely to a woman, who asked her how long the wait was. My friend is the most easy-​going, laid back person, and she, too, was surprised at the level of rudeness the owner exhibited. .
The angry owner, a woman with short hair and around 55 years old, passive aggressively sat us at a table clear in the middle of the dining room. We were surrounded by open booths, and yet she sat us at a table in the center of the dining room– uh, no thanks. Without hesitation, I asked her for a booth, she again huffed and grimaced and said she would see what she could do…
Finally, after a length of time, she returned to our table, and begrudgingly sat us at one of the many open booths. Why, thank you, your majesty! I have to admit, I was soured and irritated and prepared for a continued miserable experience. If it wasn’t Valentine’s Day, I would have went elsewhere, but let’s face it, this is Chester, the choices are limited.
Alright, so our server arrives– burst of energy, burst of happiness, super chill, laid back guy! Boom. The experience 180s. What started out horribly, ended pleasantly thanks to our server, whose name escapes me. I ordered the rib eye– fabulous. My husband ordered the stuffed pork chop– it was good, but not fabulous. Overall, it was a great FOOD experience and the waiter was excellent.
HOWEVER, the owner is a poor representation of her restaurant, and because of her lack of social skills and irritability with the very individuals that bring her business, I would be *very* hesitant to return.

It was a nice place and the service was OK. I ordered the salmon special. The waiter asked how I wanted it cooked and I asked for it well done since I wasn’t in the mood for sushi. What came out was very white and tough. When I asked if this was really salmon, he mentioned it was actually chicken, but would take it back and bring the salmon that I’d ordered. After 10 minutes and my colleagues almost done eating, I had my salmon brought to the table. The outside was done properly, but the inside was somewhat like sushi. Not very happy about that. I’ll only return if someone insists on going back.