sarafino's

always fantastic.

great food but too long wait. we did a 'call ahead' too and waited almost 2 hours to be seated. we too watched how some large tables were finished but just sat and drank. some people in our party of about 8 wanted to leave but there was nowhere else to go close by so we stuck it out. yes, the food was excellent but by the time we were seated we drank too much waiting and the owner sent out pizza, etc to please the crowd waiting. when our dinners finally came we didnt enjoy them becuase it was too late and we were full and drunk! so, all and all not an enjoyable experience.
we will not go back, nor will many people we know, unless they start taking real reservations on weekends which i think they should do. there are too many other great places to go to without waiting 2 hours to be seated!

crissy gassymarrow is funny. dear, no one cares if you've been to italy. go enjoy olive garden and leave the excellent places like sarafino's to those who deserve it.

best gnocchi in the galaxy. get it with the roasted red pepper sauce and a side of meatballs. the dipping sauce for the complimentary bread is mind shattering. i've never had a bad meal here. yes, the greens n beans are amazing, as is the pizza, as is the lasagna, as are the salads. sarafino's continues to shine as the hidden jewel it has been for years.

sarafinos has always been a favorite in the past. since appearing on the travel channel though, it has slipped a bit. when joey (owner and great cook) is in the kitchen, it’s awesome. but, went last week and was quite disappointed. he wasn’t in that week. we just wanted beans n greens and a pizza. everything lacked flavor. barely any sausage and no garlic in the bean dish, which is a signature dish (got them on the travel channel); the pizza with half anchovies only had two anchovies, along with sone “powdered” sausage. love this place, and it’s local. will definitely be back, but they need to get back to what made them wonderful in the first place.

we called to see if we could reserve space 3 or 4 weeks in advance. they told us they don't take reservations, but that we shouldn't have a problem. they took our name and also told us to call the day of. sounds suspiciously like a... i don't know... reservation?? so we did that. we show up for our "reservation" and guess what? restaurant is full, and the rude employees are claiming they have no idea what we're talking about and have no record of our name. ok, how long will we have to wait for tables to open up? they have no idea, could be hours. did i mention this was my wedding rehearsal dinner? i was pisssssssssssssssed. maybe don't tell people that their wedding rehearsal party of 17 will have no problems getting into your restaurant? this was several years ago and out of the kindness of my heart then, i didn't post a scathing review. fast forward to this new year's eve and we find ourselves at sarafino's with a group of friends. we get seated and in my absent-mindedness of their byob policy, order a titos and soda. a large, sloppy, obviously drunk man proceeds to make fun of me the entire night because of it. "how's your titos??!!" he yelled to me several times. did i mention the sloppy man was the owner of sarafino's? my friend called the restaurant ahead of time on nye to see how late they're open etc. they tell her we can't arrive until 5 or 6 pm because there's a private party scheduled for 4 pm that day. you mean a private party that was reserved for 4 pm that day? i thought to myself, "that sure as hellllllll had better be a sarafino's employee party." i suspect sarafino's caters to their "regulars" in the italian crafton mob. although our waitress was polite and efficient, and the food is good, the service is reprehensible. if you're not the owner's friend, you don't matter. why be professional and kind to customers or keep your filthy restaurant clean when you can get by on the business of your friends?

one of my favorite places --so i wanted to share with six other friends the other day.  so i called thru the week. they do not take reservations but they do take your name and time you would like.  so on saturday i get a reminder text saying that they have a table ready for 6 p.m.  so we get there, go in and the gentleman said a couple of minutes and the round table will be leaving.  so we go outside and wait, the round table leaves and they are cleaning up the table, we go in and some lady goes and sits there.  the gentleman then tells us that that party before us has been here waiting since 5:30. so were we!!!  very disappointed as they led us on. we all believe that the people were "friends" of someone that worked there and jumped them in front of us.  that party was not there when we came. they came out of the blue!!  needless to say we left.  very, very disappointed.  don't think i'll be going back anytime soon.

the food was delicious and the service was friendly. the bread also tastes freshly baked and was delivered warm with dipping oil/sauce. amazingly delicious. we got the white clam sauce, red clam sauce, and veal parmesan - all three were delicious and we all had leftovers. i highly recommend the restaurant and will go back.

also, they have a small lot on the side of the restaurant, but we saw it as we were passing it, so we just parked on the street. plenty of street parking, too. the restaurant is very small, so getting there early is probably a good idea. i'm not sure if they take reservations.

(my dad went to the rest room and that is upstairs and apparently pretty far away, so not good for someone who can't walk too well.)

it is byob with a $5 corkage fee (even for a twist cap that requires no opener), which is a bit much especially since they don't sell alcohol, so it's not like you're trying to cheat them out of business, but their soda is insanely cheap, so if anyone isn't drinking alcohol it's a bargain. they didn't give us a bag for our leftovers, which was a problem when it was placed on the back seat and we got oil all over everything, since they just have the styrofoam containers that don't seal, so you might want to ask for a bag and/or hold your leftovers very carefully on the way home. there will be leftovers. tons of food.

a bit of italy in crafton. those who've lived and dined in italy will appreciate the atmosphere and food at sarafino's. a favorite of pittsburgh's own rick sebak and many others, this place will make you happy. great food. kind staff. i have never had a bad experience. in fact, i have taken groups of people for lunch and dinner and we have always enjoyed the food and the wait staff. a nice place in crafton.

first negative experience needs to be known!. i have enjoyed the food and atmosphere at this charming little place for years. we plan meals with out of town visitors, and friends catching up, and quiet week night dinners to sooth our need to be nurtured. saturday night we combined several of these reasons to visit the restaurant, and five of us went to dinner early ( 4:30 ) so those with tickets to the ncaa playoff games could arrive on time. we took our own wine and one of us arrived early to secure a table for five. our waitress was accommodating and made a suggestion for the artichoke appetizer ( wonderful) ! it did not take long to decide on three appetizers and four entrees! we were served all in good time and the food was wonderful. we never felt rushed or pressed and it was looking like another epic evening at sarafino's until it was time for the checks. i don't know if it was the impending crush of business ( the place did fill up quickly ) or just a bad night...but, our waitress had a melt down. she had never ask up front if we had a check split request, and when we told her we wanted to pay for on three different checks she became very agitated. she actually 'went off' on a member of our group and said 'you shut up' several times. we were only trying to help her sort out the charges and she was down right 'ugly' in her behavior. we were all kind and paid our bills... and tipped 15%...because the meal service was good...but...it has left a memory that is not pleasant. we all murmured about her meltdown and talked about it afterward...our conclusion is she had a really bad night. we hope you feel better 'j', and we wish you well. hope you got it out of your system before anyone else ask for a check! we will return after the renovation...and look forward to more good experiences...don't know if i will sit at a table in 'j's" section again! you need to know...and so does she! she will remember the event! looking forward to our return! thanks for your attention.

it is what it is!. the call ahead seating is a joke. i called two days before and 45 min. before our visit. why bother calling at all? got there at 7:30 pm, didn't get served our dinners until 9:30 pm. told the owner he should take reservations. he said" we never have" and that was the end of our conversation. yes the place is dirty, crowded, there is no place to stand while you wait, so you're automatically in the way of the wait staff. and they were frazzled. they were just too busy for their own good and they're shooting themselves in the foot. you just get the feeling that they just don't care to get any better. yet people will still probably keep going because the food is very good and it's byob. some of the early dinner patrons just stayed too long and drank their wine. they actually had to ask one table to leave. then the chef starts yelling from the kitchen, "we need tables!" in other words, "get the hell out!". the wine glasses are little jam glasses. the men's room was clean. it will be a long while before we consider returning.

dirty. just dirty.

celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary...first visit to pittsburgh and happened upon this quaint family owned italian gem. amazing food, service and the best italian wedding soup i have eaten. just wish i had had room for the tiramisu. thanks for a memorable evening--a great start to the weekend!

good italian food. tiny, crowded place, parking on street not great, but great italian food, large portions. recommended.

poor service and tacky glasses. i have been to this restaurant many times and always enjoyed it. it is a byob restaurant and they always provided nice wine glasses. on a recent visit they are still charging a corking fee but now give you small jelly glasses for your wine (like you used to get free in the grocery store free). it kind of takes the good taste out of wine. also, the waitress we had needed to be chased down twice for items. she served the food and disappeared. she also disappeared after our first up of coffee and we had to hunted down for a second cup. i was very disappointed as this used to be one of my favorite restaurants. :(

great food. the food was incredible. its like going to your italian grand mothers for dinner.
go hungry. and enjoy/. the staff is great. food was hot and came very quickly.
and oh my god was it good. this is a true hidden gem in western pa.