sa za

what i think. thefoodat this restaurant is really good. actually it is very good, but the service there is some of the worst i have ever seen. thefoodi have no complaints, truly amazing. my problem really lies with the servers that are there to serve the patrons of this establishment. no refills given until you ask. they take their time getting you the check once you are ready to depart. even when i was getting something to go, it was if i was just to lounge there all day, as if i had nothing else to do with my day, when i only have an hour for break. there service really needs an upgrade quickly.fooda+, service f-.

maybe too much to handle... i ve eaten at the za, as we gumpians call it, or just my friends do.. lol many times. thefoodis still good, just very inconsistent. service be painfully slow and ive noticed the servers are not well educated on the menu and offerings. while sa za has nothin to fear from central, which thefoodthere is below average, they need to step it back up to the way things used to be. would be nice to have some new menu offerings. i ll be back, maybe not as often if this continues. miss my guy smoke behind the bar..

best pizza i ever had!!. the service was very good. thefoodwas out of this world. i could not believe a pizza could taste so good. we ordered the pizza pallaird. our server told us the dough is flown in everyday from new york. my husband says the veal parm was the best he ever had. we have been back and recommend it to everyone.

delicious, yet cramped.. thefoodis absolutely delicious and veggie-friendly. that being said, both times i visited i felt cramped and in the way (while sitting at my table!).. i know the space is small and they want to get as many people in as they can but if you don't get a corner table then be prepared to rub elbows with the waitstaff and barflys.

very good. old school italian. main dishes are $20-$25.foodand service was good. very nice atmosphere. the pizza is only one size so be careful because it is an extra large.

went here with a group of 11. they let me make a short notice reservation and got us in without any wait.foodwas absolutely outstanding. meatballs were the best. almond cake was ridiculous. everyone in the group was very pleased and impressed by the food. great atmosphere.

sa za's is a fantastic italian restaurant and the perfect place for a nice date or a quick pizza grab for lunch. it's pricy around dinner time, but the service is fantastic and thefoodis even better. i suggest you try grandma's sunday sauce. best dish there! i eat here regularly!

not for me. i have visited this restaurant twice. my first visit was with one of my young daughters. it was daddy and daughter day and we went out to eat. our experience was not the best but it wasn't anything that would have made me not want to come back. i had to flag down the staff to get refills on my water and tea and it seemed like thefoodtook a little longer than you would think but what can you do.

my second experience was a little less than what i expected. my wife was working late so i took my twin daughters and son there to eat. it was a thursday night and a little busy. the hostess said there was not any seating available for my party of four. as i saw some empty tables i was a little taken back and asked about them but she said they were all reserved. to her credit she did offer me an alternative to sitting at a table, she wanted me and my three children, two five year olds and a nine year old, to sit at the counter area in seats that were not even in a row together. needless to say my kids and i found other dining arrangements for the evening. i realize this restaurant is not for me and they really don't need my few measly dollars to be a successful business. good luck to them.

really. how do i start. it was my anniversary weekend so my wife, step daughter and i decided to check out sa za. my wife had heard a lot about it and thought it would be worth the stop. let me start off by saying that i moved back to alabama over 5 years ago from new jersey. i go back to jersey at least tree times a year to visit family and to get my fix offoodand music. my first stop is a pizzeria called villa victoria. the best pizza ever. so when i hear about italianfoodin alabama, i'm all over it. after we were seated (about 1:00) pm the waitress took our drink orders. we ask for lemonade, no lemonade. ask for fruit punch for our daughter, no fruit punch. ask for apple juice for her, no apple juice. this has never happened to me before but what can you do. we ended up giving the 3 year old sierra mist which we don't like to do. after a few sips, she drops the drink on the floor. i pick up the cup and explained to the waitress what happened. she filled up the same, now dirty, cup and lid and put it back in front of my daughter. my wife saw the whole thing and requested to have a clean cup. i still remained cool. when the pizza was about to come to the table, i requested more soda. she takes the cup and about 30 seconds she returns and asked me if the other cup (which was half full of water) belonged to me. this was odd considering she gave it to me. i replied yes and she took it away to be refilled i assumed. as i talked to my wife at the table, my wife chose to watch the waitress. my wife whispers to me, "she just screwed you. she put soda on top of your water." before i could respond, she tells me that the waitress has taken my soda cup and filled it with water. totally in shock and disbelief, when i got the drink back, i put my straw to the bottom and it was mostly water i tasted. very upset at this point, i asked another worker for the manager. when i approached the young lady and explained the situation, she gave me a constant plastic smile and said i'm sure my employee didn't do that and that this was her livelihood and she would never do such a thing. i tried to let her know that i'm really displeased and she said i could just leave. i replied "leave" and she said yes leave. at this point i'm at 10. i requested names and asked to speak to her boss. the waitress and the so called manager go back to talk to some other manager. i then spoke to another employee who informed me that the other manager in the kitchen will fix everything. when the other manager shows up, the female manager tries to chime in. i tell her to back the hell up and that i was done talking to her. all of a sudden the manager says (without hearing my side of the story) you can leave sir. once again i am totally floored. i will be soon 50 years of age and have never, and i mean never, received such poor service in all my life. i'm a veteran and i currently work for the government and have worked as a concierge for a major airline for over 6 years and the one thing they would reinforce was that good news travels fast but not as fast as bad news. i'm not sure what kind of training is given to employees and managers at za sa's but they had better do a lot more. i must say from talking to people since this incident, i really hope and i pray the fact that we are african american has absolutely nothing to do with how we were treated. i plan to follow up with the owner to check the response. to be cont.....

meh. went to try saza'a after their renovation. this was my 3rd visit and 3rd diappointment. had the eggplant parmesan (15$) - it was more like an eggplant casserole over undercooked penne. at first, i thought they had forgotten to bread the eggplant because it was just mushy. it tasted fine but lacked texture of any kind. other firends got pizza (3$ a slice) - if i go back i'll stick with that.


-----26 feb, 2010-----

great venue - ok food.. i have eaten at saza's 4 times now. the venue is very nice, the service is great, thefoodis - mediocre. i have seen all the reviews talking about how fabulous - blah blah blah - thefoodis and i am starting to think someone was paid to write them. everything i have had (with 1 exceptionn - the chopped salad) suffered from bland seasoning and in regards to the proteins - horribly overcooked. i was also told that the pizza dough is frozen .

we got double charged 3 weeks ago.manager said it wad a glitch in the system. we have been waiting for a while for a refund, but nothing yet.every time we call they say that we have to wait for a few more days, and it's all our bank's fault.not ones manager have apologized or offered to do anything to make the situation better.thefoodis good but i will not take that chance again.unless you have double amount of hour bill in banking account type to spare.

get drinks at the outside bar, leave thefoodalone. every time i have been here, i have been utterly disappointed in the food. the pasta puttanesca was so salty that i couldn't eat it, their pizza is ok, but if you eat to slow the crust turns into cardboard. i have had several of the salads and the chopped salad is the best value but still way overpriced for what it is. you are better off skipping thefoodhere altogether. get some drinks from the lovely redheaded bartender in the outside bar, watch the people walk by and enjoy a half off drink special. there are several other places where you will get a better pizza, a better salad and better table service. don't waste your time here.

third time there, still trying to like it, but can't. first of all, the tables are way too close and the chairs are completely worn, no cushion at all, sitting on boards. staff kept bumping into my chair, not even apologizing. ordered "grandma's" pizza and added pepperoni. pizza pan took up entire table and made it uncomfortable to eat. pizza was overcooked and dry, burnt on crust in several areas. taste was ok, but not worth $18. waitress was only friendly when she brought the check. restaurant looks amazing, butfoodis not worth the money. strike three, you're out!!

trending place...poor food. i should have followed my initial instinct to avoid this place based on the trendy menu and design. i was concerned that thefoodwould be decent and i'd be paying for the location and decorations. unfortunately, i was correct. i was in montgomery for business and a group wanted to try this place out so i went. i ordered one of the signature dishes based on the web site:
"one of sa za's most-asked-for pasta dishes is our rigatoni bolognese, which has a rich sauce made from carrots, celery, onion, veal, beef, pork, and cognac, then is roasted for five hours before it's hit with cream. carmelina's san marzano tomatoes are tossed with fresh herbs and rigatoni pasta to round out this unforgettably classic dish."

it was defiantly unforgettable. the first clue i was in trouble was the pungent smell of preservatives that hit my nose like a freight train when the waiter set the dish in front of me. this "rich sauce" smelled, looked and tasted like canned ravioli sauce from a school lunch room. the taste was not much better and forget about finding any tomatoes tossed in with fresh herbs...non-existent ...it was topped with imitation parmesan cheese. the veal, beef and pork was finely ground and reminded me of the meat sauce you get from prego jared meat sauce. only prego tastes better. on the upside the rigatoni was cooked to perfection, not that it mattered. that hit of cream they describe on the web site...not in my dish. the sauce was a deep red, not a nice pink cream adds to the sauce.

my recommendation is to avoid this place if you actually want good italian food. however, if you want a trendy place with bread "styx" then this is your place. you'll over pay for everything on the menu but you'll have a pretty place to look at with bold colors and poorly executed "serious italian" food.

i went back for a second try and since i know not to order their olive garden quality pasta dishes, i got eggs in purgatory for an app. it was really yummy, it's suck comfortfoodthat it's hard to screw it up. i'll say that the breadsticks it was served with were very salty and overly garlic as there is enough garlic already in the dish. anyway, for an entree i ordered the 5 murshroom pizza with goat cheese. i don't really like mushrooms but this pizza was wonderful!! i took some home and ate it the next day. i crave this pizza and have started making eggs in purgatory for my family. much better experience this time!