sa za

stay with pizza. good place to eat? when sa za opened to such fanfare i thought we really had something different in montgomery. and the first couple of times were really good; although i admit that once was pizza only and another time was with a vip who had the complete attention of the owner and chef. i should have known better. it only took a few months for mediocrity to assume its usual place in a montgomery restaurant. my last two trips have been characterized by bad food, bad service, and bad seating with only the last being bad luck. four of us waited an hour and each ordered a pasta dish that made us yearn for childhood canned pasta. this really is just a bar with pizza. keep this in mind and you can have a good time,\; just do not confuse sa za with an italian restaurant.

not for me. i finally tried this place after an out of town friend invited me to dinner. other friends in town had warned me about the less that speedy service, but as i was going for a leisurely dinner with a friend i didn't worry about the speed. what i should have worried about was the food. i tried the polenta appetizer - i don't know about most people, but most polenta i've had is not soup. it is usually a firm cornmeal cake-like form that has bits of yummy things inside it or over it. my polenta was soupy and served in a large bowl covered with cheese and then a broth with some wild mushrooms in it. i sent it back - it was unappetizing and the description of the dish did not warn the diner of what they were getting.

then i ordered the pizza - cheese and i asked them to add roasted red peppers. it seems the waitstaff could suggest that a pizza may be too big for one person (my friend had ordered pasta) - i did not see a description of size so it was way too much food. if it had been good pizza - leftovers would have been nice. it was, however, as hard as cardboard by the time it reach the table and made me worry about breaking a tooth on the crust. the sauce was indeterminable due to a serious lack in sauce and the roasted red peppers did not have their skins removed before being placed on the pizza.

someone asked me as i left with the pizza box (the wait staff insisted i take with me as i left) if the pizza was good. i told them no. i will not be back.

ok food, good service. made reservations for a monday night girls night out - not really needed because we got there before the place started filling up (5:15). hostess said i didn't have a reservation, but did eventually find it in the book. despite the misplaced reservation, she was very pleasant and cordial. our server was very friendly and very efficient. two glasses of wine, a salad and pizza ended up costing over $40 - a little much for the quality. the salad was nothing special and the pizza was very average. i did have a bunch of pizza to take home, though. we sat outside and it was very pleasant. i'll go back b/c i like the atmosphere, i'll just try something different next time, skip the salad and order both glasses of wine during happy hour!

wonderful experience. i was a bit hesitant to go to sa za's last night after reading the reviews on this website. however, i was very pleasantly surprised! the staff was great, the atmosphere wonderful, and the food was very, very good. i am always wary of red sauces because some can be too tart and others too sweet. but the sauce on the veal parmagiana was really good! the veal was tender and the pasta al dente. finally, the martinis were great!

a word to the wise: in forums such as this where one cannot determine the validity of a review, it is always best to determine the experience for yourself. as for me, i will definitely be back!

i gave sa za another chance. nothing changed, sam's club crust,ok toppings and salad, however, the female patrons apparently slide in in from alley bar., bottle blond,low cut tops black pants, tramp-stamps and all trying to look under 45.is this what downtown is turning into?


-----04 sep, 2010-----

toppings are good. i here the crust is flown in from new york every day, not much different than the pie crust from sam's club

$$$ italian in the gump. very upscale italian/pizza place in the new alley secton of downtown montgomery. i ate here for lunch one day last week and was suprised by the prices. the clientele was mostly business dressed folks. i had the wild mushroom polenta--which had been highly recommended to me and it was stellar. creamy, smoky and cheesy polenta and the wild mushrooms were exceptional. i had the puttanesca--alittle too salty, too spicy. i was tempted to send it back, but they were so busy i would never have gotten it back in a reasonble amount of time. although very authentic in its' preparation, i think they added salt, when the anchovies and olives would have been salty enough. i won't ding them on it too much--it was edible and i'll know how to order it next time. the pizzas looked great and smelled wonderful. i was pleased, but my wallet wasn't--i'll plan better next time.

good food option for downtown. we've been to sa za twice now. both times consistently good. the best pizza option in montgomery that we have found so far. the polenta appetizer is great, but very filling. we have left both times with a nice doggie bag portion. the chef can be abrupt if he's in the house, but i also think that's his schtick as "angry chef." sa za's is a good option for downtown, especially as more is happening here but the food offerings haven't really caught up. cloverdale is close to downtown and is often our only other option for food if we are downtown for an event. all in all, good pizza.

good atmosphere and food.. alley station is really cool for downtown montgomery. the only "downer" for saza's is the loud open kitchen but i think that is just part of the experience. pastas are good and the smashed meatball pizza is amazing. tell the server you want the smashed meatball pizza "fat boy special."

horrid!!!!!!!!!!!!!. we went to sa za's for an italian dining experience & discovered we were in a sports bar. the food was terrible, cold, too much garlic, even the salad was tasteless. the mixed drinks had a minuscule amount of alcohol. the television was extremely loud and patrons who obviously never attended university of alabama were disruptive, infringing on other diners who were attempting to converse.

the only saving grace in this unpleasant overpriced experience was our waitress, a young ballerina. she requested the blaring television's volume be lowered, it didn't happen. her service was impeccable.

i won't return and i will inform my family, friends, and any person i hear asking about sa zas not to waste their money, time, or abuse their palates by dining there.

its doable. went to saza's with a group of friends this week. our food was okay...
i ordered the spaghetti and meatball (lunch portion). at first glance the lunch portion seemed very small but after i finished the meal i realized that it was just enough--didn't feel stuffed and no leftovers. don't recommend that size for someone with a healthy appetite. price was okay for the portion. it started getting crowded after we arrived and the waitress was all over the place. a friend of ours came late and everything she ordered came out piece-mealed. she ordered a coffee and the milk came before the coffee...when the coffee came out she had to ask for a spoon...finally her dessert, then her drink.
all and all the service and food was okay. will i go back...probably.
hopefully it will be okay (not worse) next time.

great pizzas!. very good pizzas, nice beer selection and bar area. i have not tried their pasta dishes, but they look wonderful. very long waits on weekends and not kid friendly on weekend nights--and very loud. they often have a band/group playing right outside the bar, which is open to the inside, and with all of the cement and metal, it just reverberates! bottom line--food is great, prices are not bad, but be forewarned for weekend nights!

very inconsistent. i have eaten here about four or five times at different times since they opened. first visit, had pizza and thought it was pretty good. mussels appetizer was good and garlicky. we had cannoli for dessert and it was ok. second time, pizza again, but this time not so good. undercooked and the ingredients weren't the best. next time i tried the caesar salad which tasted decent but was chopped up so fine it was mush. tasted dining partner's pasta fagioli and it was pretty good. the pizzas were bad this time.

latest (maybe last) visit, pizza was even worse. tasted like that chef boyardee kit your mom used to get. sauce was off and it was just yuck. had some interesting appetizers; one was tuna-something (cold and vinegary) on bread and the other was eggplant rounds with something, i really don't remember.

the restaurant is always very busy and noisy. service can be really good or really bad. everything about saza is inconsistent. i will probably not be going back for a meal because you just don't know if it will be good or crap this time, and i'm one of those people who doesn't like to send food back if it's not to my liking. and the prices are pretty high, which would be ok if the food was outstanding, but it's not.

i do not work at another restaurant and i'm not a "hater." just a person who has eaten at a lot of restaurants in many cities, including quite a few in italy. i would never expect a montgomery restaurant to be on the same level as a place in italy, but for the hype and the price and joe d.'s arrogance, it ought to be a lot better.

frozen food at gourmet prices. my wife and i went there for our anniversary last night. service was good, food was not. after a 60.00 bill, we both said we could have gone to another italian cuisine restaurant (not going to mention a name), for half the price. i called the manager today, she appologized but didnt care. 2 friends have asked me about it, now there are three couples that wont eat there. they have done an excellent job on advertising, but cant seem to follow up on quality.

ignore the negative reviews! it's great!. i have never had a bad meal in sa za and i've eaten there close to ten times. the pizzas are so unique - the greek is my favorite, followed by the smashed meatball. theere was one pizza i didn't like....i traded pieces with a woman at the next table over, who wanted to try my greek one....she had ordered a curry one which i found a little overwhelming to the tastebuds, and i even like curry.
the caesar salad is the best one i've ever had; i love how tiny it's chopped up. and i've had a couple of desserts there, some type of chocolate explosion, that was delish.
they are so nice and i really like sitting at the chef's table and watching them cook. a couple of times they've even given us free appetizers, for no reason. and they're great about making good solid suggestions on what to order if you're ever feeling indecisive.
ignore the negative comments on here and at least go give it a shot!
only word of caution......weeknights are better, less crowded obviously, and nights with biscuits games are the nights to avoid.

i have even gone a couple of times to pick pizzas up, because even though i live 2 blocks from tomatinos the pizzas at sa za are worth calling in and picking up -- taste better, and cheaper.

our new favorite restaurant!!!. i read the reviews that other people had posted and discussed not going to sa za because i didn't want to waste my money. my husband called and spoke with the manager to ask about the reviews and the manager said to come and try sa za's he guaranteed a great meal. some of us went and i have to say that i am so glad we did!!!! the atmosphere is fun and contemporary, the staff was very friendly, and the food was to die for! our waitress was able to describe the food and drinks to help us make our decision on what we wanted to order. i also found her to be very efficient in keeping our drinks poured, our food came out in time, and didn't bother us while we were eating. sa za's has an open kitchen that allows you to see the food as they prepare it. all of the workers in the kitchen were smiling and sending out fabulous food. now for the food, we had the rigatone bolognase, a flattened chicken ceasar salad, and a lobster and shrimp pasta with the garlic bread stix. there is more than enough food for one person with each dish and the taste was out of this world good. we were having fun tasting the fresh ingredients and trying to figure out what they used so that we could try and recreate it at home. my advice is to go and try it, look at their menu on thier website and physically taste it yourself!! we will be back and will be bringing friends and family.