Saggio Restaurant

I was visiting my family in Redwood city when we went to have dinner at this restaurant. I really enjoyed the food, i had the NY Steak was very tender and delecious, the service was great and the owner made us laugh a alot which was also good. I recommend this restaurant to those who havent tried it yet!

Small, cozy Italian
Compact menu and wine list
Large, tasty salads
Delicious pasta entrees, but seem a bit overpriced
Food service was friendly, but needs a little more coordination
Young male food server needs a lot more training on how to be a good waiter
This restaurant needs to turn it up a notch if it wants to compete on restaurant row

I rate Saggio Restaurant 4 of 5 stars. Saggio is an attractive local restaurant looking out upon the historic Broadway Street in Redwood City. We dropped-​in for dinner without reservation and were promptly seated and attentive service followed. Bread and spread were delivered while we pondered the menu. The menu seemed just long enough to have great choices without going crazy with too many choices. I choose a soup followed by entrée and found both to be wonderful! The only downside is parking is a nightmare in that area with the near-​by (one block behind) parking lot full, so be prepared to hunt and walk. All in all it was a great experience and I’m sure that I’ll return again when the choice is Italian food.

Firstly, I’m not sure why a few people have said the service here is terrible. I’ve been numerous times with my wife and the service has always been very good. The owner (well I presume he is) is always very talkative and always asks how good the food was. And I find the review saying they were turned away very hard to believe, as we’ve never had to make a reservation, and the place never seems to get busy.
Anyway, my wife and I love this place. We have probably been more than 10 times since we moved to RWC 9 months ago. We are both vegetarian, and to be honest, there isn’t much of a choice for us, but the food that we can eat is splendid.
We generally go for the Bruschetta as the appetizer and then the Pesto Gnocchi as our main. The flavors the bruschetta have are amazing. Just the right amount of everything. And the gnocchi is equally as good, though it is very filling (I don’t think I have ever finished it).
The best part though is the dip they serve with the bread. It is SO good! We generally have to ask for more!
I would definitely try this place out if you haven’t already!

I normally would think that writing a review without trying out the business is unfair, but I think Saggio deserves it. I’d give it zero star if I could.
I really wanted to try out this place, but I can’t. Here’s what happened:
*walks in at 8pm, 2 hours before their closing time*
boyfriend: hi, table for two please?
waitress: do you have a reservation?
boyfriend: no.
waitress: sorry I can’t seat you, the tables are all reserved.
me: *looks around and counted at least half a dozen unoccupied tables inside plus two outside*
boyfriend: okay…
We walked out and an old lady that was standing in front of the restaurant asked us with a puzzled look «she wouldn’t seat you guys?», we told her yes, and then she tells us that she had just finished their meal there. We were furious upon hearing that.
Really Saggio? Someone reserved a table there immediately after the lady and her companion finished their meal? Hmm I don’t think so.
When I came home, I checked Groupon’s website and Saggio’s website, neither of them mention that a reservation is REQUIRED. So what’s up with that Saggio? Is it because we aren’t your usual/​preferred clientele? Shame on you, Saggio.

I have been to Saggio twice (both times on a coupon deal).
First visit we (GF and I) had the Bologna Spaghetti and the Scallop Skewers. GF absolutely loved the Spaghetti! It has a very tasty sauce. The Scallop skewer was excellent. The skewer comes with a Pinto bean salsa that I wasn’t to huge a fan of (White beans, my bad for not asking). We also had the Eggplant appetizer which was good.
Second visit the GF had the Spaghetti again (!) while I had the Salmon Bow Tie Pasta. The pasta & sauce was very tasty. The meal comes with bread and sauce (The sauce is really good). No appetizers this time but we had a Caesar salad and a mixed green salad. Both were tasty (i.e. just right amount of dressing and the greens were quality). We also had the Persian Baklava for dessert which was quite good.
I found the service to be very friendly.
Overall I think Saggio is very good and we will definitely be back — My only suggestions would be that sometimes it takes a few minutes to get the bill, and as noted elsewhere the portions can be on the smallish side for the price.

Truly mediocre.
There were a number of points that really let us down
1. We were nearly the only people there but still had to wait for someone to seat us.
2. Instead of being shown to a table, the hostess merely gestured at all the open tables indicating we could go anywhere.
3. We knew what we wanted quickly but had to wait several minutes for the hostess to find us a waiter
4. The bread we were served was stale and obviously re-​heated.
5. A major point, the food was of middling quality at best, her gnocchi was blank and grainy, my ravioli tasted as if it had freezer burn.
I would recommend against eating here.

BIG fan! Tonight, we were in the mood for Italian! At first, we stopped by Donato’s but walked away after being told there would be a 20 minute wait for a decent table. When we first called, we asked if we should make reservations and the hostess told us there would be a very short wait so reservations weren’t necessary. BOY was she wrong…
Anyway, we walked around Downtown RWC and stumbled onto this place. It’s cute, mellow and quiet… Just what I needed. We were greeted by a woman with a big smile. We sat down, got our menus and browsed through the selection of items. We ordered our food and BAM comes out the warm french bread and awesome dipping sauce. If i’m not mistaken, the sauce was made of garlic, sun dried tomato, garlic… and something else. I have no idea really… but it was DAMN good! Our dishes were quite tasty as well. I had the spaghetti Porticello. YUMMY! Succulent scallops, plump shrimp over a bed of al dente spaghetti tossed with fresh spinach and tomato. mmmmmmm DELISH! Refreshing and flavorful!
My friend got the Chicken Marsala. By the way he scarfed it down, I’d say that was pretty tasty too. Oh! Forgot to mention the eggplant appetizer. That thing was mighty tasty as well.
My experience here was great. The owner was lovely, service was good, food was delish and the prices were average. I’d say this little gem was a GREAT discovery.
Oh. if you’re in a hurry, this is probably not your place. If you’re looking for a nice slow, mellow experience, I’d definitely recommend it!

1) Awesome dipping sauce with bread.
2) great chicken marsala.
3) service Nice owner.

I’m always in a search of great local restaurants but Saggio Restaurant was not the one…
It was Friday night and a lot of customers were there after the music concerts near there. The restaurant was only half-​filled but things were not working well… When they have some kind of event going on around there, it’ll be nice to have extra stuff members. For the size of the restaurant, they need more than one chef…
I think the restaurant has a potential. If they can put more emphasis on training stuff members for better service, they can get more customers for sure.
*PROS*
— Nice high ceiling. The décor is nice and simple.
— Clean.
— Our waiter (a young Caucasian guy) was a very good waiter, working very hard, being nice and friendly but it seemed like he was the only one, doing a professional job on the floor.
— Great bread! It’s served warm and fresh with nice sun-​dried tomato/​creamy kind of dipping sauce.
— The steak was pretty good. It came out just the way that I asked for.
— I heard that there is a live singing/​music once a month.
*CONS*
— Slow service!!! (We didn’t get our dishes for almost 1.5h from the arrival time! When I was looking for waiter/​water person, nobody was even making eye-​contact with me!!!)
— The noise level is high, due to the high ceiling.
— They run out of bread before we get our dishes. (Because every customer was so hungry, waiting for their food.)
— They gave us wrong total price. Unless I checked, I would have charged more.
— The chicken Marsala’s chicken was kind of small and sauce was little bit salty. For the size, it was a bit over-​priced.
— Their menu is printed on a regular paper and folded into three, just like some Chinese restaurants’ take out menu. It would give an instant upgrade impression if they have a nicer menu.
*ADVICE*
— It’s better to go there on weekdays when it’s slower for better service.

Unbelievably bad. Ordered the seafood pasta and veal marsala.
After waiting for about 20 minutes, the waiter came back to ask us what our order was because the chef apparently lost our ticket.
When we finally got our food, it was completely tasteless. Worst pasta i ever had and same for the veal. Glad we had a groupon so didnt have to pay the full price, but wouldnt go eat there again even if it was free.

Service is great and friendly.
Atmosphere is quaint and cozy, but a little plain.
Food is just okay. The main issue we had was with the food’s lack of flavor. Everything was bland, bland, bland.
The fried calamari starter had no seasoning whatsoever. All you tasted was a thin layer of flavorless batter with very thick, chewy pieces of calamari… I think it’s safe to say that it’s very likely that the calamari was previously frozen.
We both ordered pasta dishes. I ordered the Farfalle Al Salmon (bow-​tie pasta w/​salmon in a vodka tomato cream sauce) and my boyfriend ordered the Gnocchi Al Pesto (potato dumplings w/​pesto cream sauce). The two things I remember about my dish was the need to salt and pepper nearly every bite and the fact that, despite being covered in plenty of sauce, the salmon still managed to somehow taste dry… definitely overcooked. My boyfriend said his dish lacked flavor and that the gnocchi was far too chewy to have been made fresh.
While the service was friendly and the atmosphere was decent, I don’t think we’ll be back.

The moment we walked in we felt welcome. The atmosphere is very charming. The food and menu is great. My friend and I shared dishes so we could try more of the foods. We shared a seafood pasta and a lamb dish. Everything was delish and fresh! For dessert, we had the Tiramisu at the recommendation of the Owner/​Manager. He was right, it was REALLY outstanding! The night we dined there, they had a singer performing. Pasquale. He is absolutely AMAZING to say the very least.
What more could one ask for… great food and dessert, charming atmosphere, a warm welcome with great service, and amazing entertainment!
5 stars! :-)

I walked by this place going the the movies a few times.
So finally a opentable deal to go, so I was on it!
I called at about 5pm on saturday night and they said without a reservation to come after 7pm since they were so busy. So I got there at bout 7:30pm and got seated right away.
Of course to the only table that was wobbly, so got a new table, which they got for us as soon as we said something about it!
There seemed to be only one server, bus-​er, and host that seemed to help. It was small but nice and romantic.
It came with bread of course, but it also came with a garlic dipping sauce that was very original. Never seen or had anything like that at a Italian resturaunt. So that went fast!
For the started we had fried calamari, after all we had $ 50 to spend!
Now it was good and had tentacles, which always pleases my gf, but if i was paying full price the size would have been an issue.
I had the spaghetti bolognese which was very good, great sauce, portion, and herbs.
My gf got the salmon salad, which was a lil bland and slightly undercooked. Not bad though! She did enjoy the glass of rose though!
If we are ever in the area again and want to just got for entrees, I think I will be coming back.

Have to say I gave the place a chance. The old siciliano’s was okay, but something must have gone wrong when the new saggio’s opened.
First, our order didn’t come for a long time. We noticed that nobody else around is was getting their order too. We wondered if something had gone wrong in the kitchen. When our food did finally come out, our forth dish didn’t come out with it. We saw it go to a table that came way later than us, and notified our waiter. The waiter apologized, and quickly brought out a burnt dish that didn’t look half as good as the other table’s…:/
The food we got wasn’t spectacular either. The pasta special was bland, yet overly spicy. And our bruschetta that was brought out late was… well. burnt. And bland too.
The final blow came as our bill arrived, 8 dollars over/​miscalculated.
Clearly, the place has a little work to do. I just don’t think it’s worth coming back to after three strikes. Plus one star b/​c our waiter was nice to us through this difficult experience.

I SO wish I could give this place a 3.5. Since i can’t, and I’m feeling generous I’ll give them a hesitant 4.
A friend of ours wanted to try this place, and we were intrigued by their claim to serving Italian food from a specific region, (Tuscany.)
I have to admit, the menu looked like any other Italian restaurant menu.
Although, there was more fish, and less meat than at most.
When we got there, we were one of two tables. but it took them awhile to come to our table. No explanation, but i felt we were sitting there (sans even water) for a bit too long.
Prices are VERY reasonable, I mean REALLY reasonable. I have a hunch they’ll be more expensive at at some point. Especially if they get the new chef we were told would be making pasta in-​house in a few weeks.
We shared smoked salmon, which was fine, nothing special though.
My husband had a bowl of minestrone which was pretty good.
We waited quite awhile for our entrees. We weren’t in any hurry, but i found it surprising that it could take so long when the place was so empty. It also made me question how they would handle it if it got busy.
I had the bow-​tie pasta with salmon. It was good, but once again, nothing incredible. I liked the portion size, I seem to be one of very few people that appreciate not getting a ginormous portion. I also felt the pasta/​salmon ratio was very good.
I must admit i liked the bread quite a bit, and had to keep myself from eating too much of it.
As of last week, they had no actual wine list. It was «all in the head» of our waiter. Not a big deal, but i think people that are more selective in their wine choices would be unhappy with this.
It’s clear they have some things to work on, and seem to be learning as they go.
If they really do get a chef that makes the pasta in-​house, I would be interested in returning.

I can’t say Im going to miss Siciliano though Im sure some people will beg to differ. I thinkk Saggio has some good potential, especially if they get the chef that will make fresh pasta as the owner says. Had the smoked salmon appetizer and linguine con vongole. Salmon was really good and the pasta was pretty solid except for the fact that the mussels weren’t as fresh as they could have been. I think if they address that and get some fresh pasta this place could be killer.

RESPECT
The owner goes out of his way to A) Be on the premises and B) To do what he can to accommodate the needs of the customers.
TUSCANY STYLE
Focus is on Tuscany style Italian, meaning it’s HEALTHY! Vegetables, seafood, NO red meat, and some chicken. Now I love me some red meat, but I do recognize I should eat better, and this place does the job!
YUM YUM
This is some good eat’n. Excellent preparation and quality ingredients!
BREAD AND OIL
They are working on getting better bread (it’s a challenging matter of economics and logistics… for real!) yet they have the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar you can get anywhere! Get your dip on!
LOCAL GOODNESS
It’s hard to find good food in Redwood City… THANK YOU Saggio for caring to do the hood proud AND for staying true to your style!

I was so sad to see that Siciliano was not here anymore. I loved that place. But, I wanted to give the new place a shot. The menu is basically appetizers, a few salads and lots of seafood/​pasta. I noticed there was no meat on the menu so I asked the server about it. He then told me they had two different kinds of chicken specials. I wonder why they wouldn’t put at least one of them on the menu? We ordered a glass of wine and the calamari appetizer. The calamari was very good. Light and crispy, not chewy. And an interesting chipotle/​tomato sauce mix. It was pretty yummy. I ordered an angel hair pesto which was not on the menu. They made it work for me. My friend ordered the farfalle al salmone (salmon bow tie pasta). They were both very good and decent sized portions. I had to take some of mine home. At the end of the meal the server gave us a 20% off coupon for our next meal. That was nice.
All in all I dont know how much business Sicilianos did but it looks about the same. if not less. I think if they added a steak to the menu I’d definitely love to come back. :)

Sunday movie night at Redwood City, and we randomly picked this place a block away from the theater. The name suggested Italian, the menu showed some interesting seafood dishes and a definite Mediterranean feel.
Clearly new — the wine selection is still in development and the server was a little hesitant with the menu selections. But he was also honest — warning me off one dish as potentially a little salty (I appreciate a server that is prepared to be critical). We followed his recommendation of the Farfalle Salmon for me, a vegetarian linguine dish with added shrimp for my wife.
It took a little while for the food to arrive (around thirty minutes?) — but then the owner stopped by our table and was very engaging so the time was not wasted.
The dishes were outstanding — easily the best Italian meal I have had this year. Nicely portioned, spiced and tasted great.
For dessert we had the tiramisu — I say we but I only got a fork-​ful taste as it was too good for my wife to share! Unusually light and fresh — the presentation showed an eye for detail that I’ve previously seen at higher-​end (i.e. pricier) locations.
The décor is typical for the area — and I can see it as a good place for business lunches, as well as family meals.
In summary — a great dining experience at a reasonable price (dishes were around $ 15-​$ 20 mark). We will be returning, and sooner rather than later before it get too popular!