The Saucy Italian Bistro

Beautiful restaurant. Incredible ambiance. Our waiter presented the special so well that we both ordered it and loved it. We will definitely be coming back.

We’re in the process of moving to the neighborhood and on one of our many trips back to the old house for another load, this place just popped out at us. Seriously, there we were minding our own business and… Pow! It leaped in front of us and called our name. Naturally, being the impulsive food folk that we are, we succumbed to the calling and in we went.
Seriously nice set up! Nice vibe! Very «Adult» orientated I thought with that darker lighting appeal to trick… err, entice your date into thinking you’re all that. In fact, we kind of felt a little out of place with our 7-​year-​old in tow, but they were down & even offered crayons, I declined though, lol. In addition, they have a nice patio dinning area for warmer weather.
They offer two for one’s on Sundays & Tuesdays, talk about good timing huh? We took them up on the offer & I feel it was a damn good meal for the price. I had the Lasagna Rollatine Al Forno, it was a different twist on your typical lasagna, but I liked it quite a bit. My wife had the chicken Milanese on fettuccini & a typical marinara sauce, and it was ok. My daughter wasn’t exactly wild about her spaghetti, but hey, after you’ve had spaghetti shaped like dinosaurs, it’s hard to compete, ya know?
All in all, it was nice. I believe on Wednesdays they serve Greek food, so that’s now on our list, and it should be on yours as well.
Bön Appetit!

The best Veal Picata, like my grandmothers. Been there a couple of times never a bad meal.

I’ve eaten here quite a bit, and the food is always good and reasonably priced. I think the «grandmother» is greek, however. Just had their lamb shank with polenta. Quite good.

I really like this place but I had a bit of a snafu the last time I was there. They took my discount deal but then when I got my statement, they charged me the whole amount. So this has sort of put me off.
However, I can tell you the food is pretty good. We went on Greek Night (Wednesday) and I was really prepared to be «wowed» since this place is owned by the same woman who used to own Mykonos. I was a bit disappointed, I’m sorry to say. I come from a Greek family so I’m very used to having amazing food. The pastichio was my biggest disappointment because it is one of my favorite Greek dishes. Marinara sauce should NEVER be put on top of pastichio. That’s not how it’s made. I think the chef took a bit of creative license or maybe was just too busy to make a traditional pastichio — but I have to say it was gross.
The Spanikopita was average — like most restaurants that serve it, very little filling and a ton of filo dough. The green beans were average, a bit overcooked but nicely spiced.
My partner had the lamb shank and raved about it. He said it’s some of the best lamb he’s ever had — so that was a bright spot.
I will still likely go back because I have a few more deals to use, but believe me I will be checking to make sure they aren’t overcharging me again! In fact, I went back to Groupon because I had two deals to use at this place and I asked for my money back. They gave it to me but I’m sorry to say that I have two more deals through another company for Brunch. Maybe that will be a bit better than Greek night.
And by the way, their Italian food was decent when I ate there so this review is strictly about the Greek stuff.
They also need to drop their prices a bit. I think they are charging a few bucks too much for each entrée so what should be a $ 50 buck dinner turns out being almost $ 80.
The service is also pretty good.
So I won’t recommend that you go but if you hit it on a good night and you just robbed a bank, it might just be the place for you.

I’m Italian and I’m picky about my Italian food. This is the closest to my Grandma’s cooking that I’ve had in Albuquerque! Great atmosphere, reminds me some of the restaurants in Italy. They have live music, too =) The servers and hosts are really fun and nice! LOVE IT!

My hubby and I were surprised at the calibre of this restaurant. The Italian grandmother met us at the door. Our server has been with the family for 16 years, she doted on us. Lots of gluten free, homemade Caesar dressing – sigh. Dare I say one of my favorites in town? Perhaps a smidge strong on salt. Dessert a tiny too sweet. But hey, I’m sensitive to that stuff anyway.

This just might be fast becoming my favorite Italian restaurant in Albuquerque and it’s in my neighborhood. This is a nice date or couples restaurant with the intimate seating and classic artwork. Great fresh salad choices. Try the vodka ravioli with pancetta.
Criticism are the wine selection, no polenta on the menu although there is a lamb shank I believe, and a hamburger section. You don’t need that on a good Italian food menu… you can go to Sonic.

Service was great, atmosphere was good, food tasted good but my husband ended up getting FOOD POISONING from the chicken parmesian. We went there (last night) to celebrate his recent promotion, and he had to call in sick and cancel his flight the next day (today)! We thought the giant, thick chicken breast was kind of different, because chicken parm is usually pounded flat. Anyway, the chicken was obviously undercooked, but it’s difficult to tell when there is red sauce all over it.
Anyway, I called to speak with the manager named Maria, and all she said was thank you for informing us and I will investigate. She didn’t offer any type of compensation, and definitely didn’t seem the least bit concerned with my complaint. I wonder how many other people got sick from dinner last night…
We won’t be going there again. This location has been at least 5 different restaurants in the last 10 years, so we’ll see how long this one lasts.

This was wonderful. Everything from the service to the dinner itself was awesome. Definitely on the top of our list for Italian dining.

First visit to this restaurant. Pleasantly surprised with interior; much more inviting than exterior. Upon entering, we were approached by woman with big blonde hair. No hello, no welcome, not very cordial or talkative. Server was pleasant, however as hostess, no chit chat, have you ever been here, etc. Fortunately dinner was 2 for 1 from a select menu. Food was mediocre at best, mostly flavorless. Definitely cannot recommend and/​or return.

Love the food! Had the veal piccata and lobster bisque! Great service. It is also a great atmosphere. Our waiter was very nice and attentive but not overwhelming. Calamari was delicious as well, not too big of an appetizer either. We wanted to order the lasagna but it was all gone by the time we ordered and the next best thing was the chicken Parmesan!

I was super excited to try this place out after hearing a lot of great things by word of mouth. Also, I was curious that I was hearing great things, yet it only had 3 stars on Unilocal.
The setup of the restaurant is pretty authentic northern Italian. They have a live piano player and the mood all around is great. They were very much accommodating to our 8 person table.
I noticed a few things though. They didn’t have anyone bussing tables or filling waters, which I found odd and at one point annoying. Our server had at least 7 or 8 tables, and also had to bus and fill drinks constantly. She was very kind and helpful, but obviously overwhelmed. I hate when I have to wait over and over for my water glass to be refilled, and this happened more than once.
The next thing was the food. It was good, but definitely not the best Italian in town or even in the neighborhood. The vegetables did not seem as fresh as I would have liked. Which might explain why another Unilocal-​er thought it was similar to frozen, microwaveable Italian. The meat was over-​seasoned. I had a shrimp dish that had more basil than anything else. Everything was decent, but j wasn’t really blown away by anything.
I really think this place has potential with some fine tuning. It was awesome that they had so many gluten-​free options (both the pizza and pasta could be made GF). They need to cut their spice and salt use in half, letting the natural aroma of the food do more work. Also, in the meatballs, take out the spicy pepper! Lastly, hire someone to bus the tables!

This place is awful. Totally overpriced. It’s like frozen Italian food you can get at any grocery store, and they charge a premium to heat it for you. The waiter put our bread down and said «can in recommend some black pepper for your olive oil» so we said sure, and he pointed to the pepper shaker on the table and walked away. We had to laugh. This place is so terrible. Don’t waste your money.

I finally stopped for a late lunch, after a year or so of driving past almost daily, as I live nearby. I felt like a nice sit-​down lunch. I knew it was kind of pricy, so that was not unexpected. But I am sad to say I really hated my lunch. I ordered a special, combo of chicken and eggplant parm (small breaded pieces) on fetticini with a spicy marinara. (Did not hear the «spicy part, but not the biggest problem). The pasta was too thick and gloppy (and very spicy) the chicken and eggplant were so much the same, I could not distinguish any difference and very hard and chewy bits, and it just had an unpleasant taste to me. Maybe it was just me. Other dishes smelled delicious, but I would be afraid to try a red sauce there now. My bread was very, very stale, so could not eat it. Coffee was good, lol. No salad or garnish came with meal. I ended up taking two bites and asking for the rest to go, as I did not wish to hurt the feelings of the server, who was lovely. I don’t know why… anyway I tossed it in nearest trash can. I really hoped to find a new Italian place closer to home but we will have to stick to Trombino’s, a standby. I think a plate of spaghetti and meatballs was $ 14. My plate and coffee plus tip was almost $ 19 I think. A really high-​price for lunch for me, but was going for a nice meal.
Maybe it was just a bad special. I hate to cross this place off my list, as it is so nice inside and the server was a lovely woman.

Here for the wiggles and wine. $ 12 for two small chicken skewers and 2 salmon cucumber rolls. Not worth it at all. The waitress seems bothered to serve us. She is curt, can’t say she is rude but this added to this unpleasant visit. I have been here a few times before and was served by the bartender each of those times and always felt the service was part of what brought me back. This time the food, the service, and the price all made for a low rating. It would have been 3 stars but my server made it 1. My past experience puts it at 2.

Over priced, and entrée and appetizers were so over salted. Waiter was snooty. Sommelier was not great. Everything could be forgiven if they cooked well — they didn’t! Basically inedible. Pizza, pasta, steak, salad — all so over salted it cannot be eaten. We basically ate the bread dipped in olive oil, which was good, and that’s it. Generally we like pungent and fragrant food — the food here lacks that complexity, and compensated with five times the salt. Did they mixed up kosher salt and sea salt labels? Who knows. We’ll never come back to find out.

This was another hole in the wall we’ve never heard of this place lets give it a shot deals. I was okay with going since we stopped going to the Macaroni Grill while back due to several consecutive visits with sub-​par food and/​or service. Since then Olive Garden has been the go-​to but we like trying new places and this was our most recent gamble.
Fortunately the gamble payed off, the exterior of this place leaves a bit to be desired but once you step in it’s very nice. The food was fantastic and relatively inexpensive as both of us ate for around $ 40 including the top, drinks and a dessert.
I’m fairly plain when it comes to Italian food and usually get fettuccine alfredo, chicken alfredo, or chicken parmigiana. My tester meal is usually the alfredo, but I couldn’t find it on the menu, I asked and they do serve it even if it’s difficult to find on the menu.
The sauce was a bit more runny than any other I’ve had but it had a great flavor and the pasta was cooked to my taste. I wasn’t a huge fan of the bread they served but they did do the oil/​balsamic mix, unfortunately they did not offer ground pepper which would have been nice.
We did get some Crème brûlée and the custard was very good, the caramelized sugar was a bit on the burnt side but overall still enjoyable.
Overall I’m pretty pleased with this place and we’ll probably come back.

I dropped by yesterday. What a find! Terrific service. I ordered the pesto pasta. Everything was very fresh. The best basil pesto I’ve had in a restaurant.
Unilocal has this listed as closed but it’s definitely open. And with this food at this price, the secret will soon be out!

I love this place. They pay attention to detail and are very courteous and friendly. The manager always remembers your name. They often have live piano music. It’s very cozy and good food!