Sazanis Steak Pasta House

Based on all the good reviews i was surprised at how bad this place was. Maybe it was an off day or something. When we got there the bar tender ended up seating us but ignored us standing there for about 5 minutes. She was serving someone their 3^rd glass of wine, we could tell cause the old glasses weren’t picked up. This was at 2:00 in the afternoon too. The salad was ok, nothing special. I got the seafood pasta. My portion was what my plates look like when I’m done eating, very small but turned out a good thing cause it was bad. Very very salty with leather shrimp and imitation crab meat, like the snack tube kind of crab meat. The menu said clams and there weren’t any and the plate was ice cold when i got it. The bread never came until we asked for it and it was as hard as a rock so it was not fresh. And in the olive oil thing was olive branches but they were disintegrating so we couldn’t even use it. This place was so gross i cant believe the good reviews on here

This place always out does itself. We have befriended Sonny and Frank, and they always make sure we get great service.
If you want pasta, you must get the Lobster Ravioli in Pink Vodka sauce. It is so good.
Also, they always fill your wine glass up to the very brim.

For a place that doesn’t seem to advertise in the major local media this is definitely a hidden gem. The shrimp scampi was very good and the walleye was outstanding! Others in our party had the eggplant parm which looked absolutely delicious. Service was swift and attentive without hovering. The host was very professional and helpful. Our waitress was first rate! Be sure and ask for Gina!

Our server Frank was outstanding! Perfectly timed our food, he was there when we needed service and wasn’t obtrusive. Calamari was cold and tasted like rubber-​bands from being over cooked. I ordered a seafood pasta, the seafood was pretty much non-​existent, the farfalle pasta was cooked to perfection and sauce was excellent. The other meal was Veal Marsala that got a thumbs up on portion and flavor. Bread sticks were hot and delicious. I saw several people eating the filet mignon, which looked tasty. I’ll order the filet on our next visit. Just a side note, they need to add lighting to the parking lot.

Coming into Sazani’s over the my lunch break I was immediately struck by how few people were here. Huge dining space and only a handful of tables were occupied.
We were greeted promptly and seated. Guests have the option of ordering from the menu or choosing the buffet.
I chose the menu and my co-​worker chose the buffet. Buffet included fried chicken, pastas, mashed with gravy, salad, veggies, and desserts. I ordered the Minestrone Soup and a Greek Chicken salad.
While the food was good, it was not great. The soup was tasty, but a little salty. The salad was good with fresh ingredients and generous chunks of feta cheese, but the chicken was overly salty. They also used canned black olives in the salad vs. real Greek kalamata olives, which for me is instant disqualification as a Greek salad.
The décor and atmosphere feel retired like a nursing home cafeteria. There is beautiful hand painted Italian accents on the walls, but the whole place has a retired bland feel to it.
Service was friendly and quick. My meal was only $ 11.90 with tip included… quite the bargain. Overall Sazani’s is not for me. It seems they are well geared for the no-​frills quantity over quality crowd.

We were visiting our daughter, who is student teaching in Peoria. We decided to try only local restaurants not chaînés. We were not disappointed. The service as friendly and quick, the food was tasty not bland with large portions.

our first experience here was not as good as I had hoped. Being our first time I would love to have been seated in the dining room but the greeter didn’t seem to find an open table so he seated us in the side room, and yet, several people arrived after us and they were taken to the dining room. There was a family party going on in the side room and I felt like we were intruding however, after a while, more people were seated in there. The server greeted us quickly and our food arrived quickly. My husband ordered veal parmesan and I ordered eggplant parmesan and we planned to share. As my husband went to put a piece of his dinner on my plate it fell onto the table so there was tomato sauce at my husbands elbow. When we asked for more breadsticks, guess where the server set the basket? and again, the bill? My husband’s veal was so tough he couldn’t cut it with his steak knife. Neither of us liked the sauce that was on the food and there was no salt or pepper on the table to try to mask the taste. We did mention the tough veal to the owner and he did offer to cook my husband another meal but we declined. The waiter apologized (not his fault) and took 10% off the bill. I picked at my meal a bit more, at least the egg plant wasn’t tough, but my poor husband had to fill up on breadsticks. What we had hoped to be «date night» at a new restaurant that we had been wanting to try turned out to be a disappointing dinner. We always give a restaurant a second chance before we «write it off» but when we go back we’re not going to have pasta. We’ll try the steak!

Outstanding restaurant. Great service, very friendly staff. I had the chicken marsala and it was great. Steak and ribs are great also. It is reassuring to learn that great local restaurants still exist. Sazanis will always get my money over the chains.

Sazani’s is in the former Jill’s location, and retains the upscale dining room feel. The colors are light, think whites and tans, and slightly modern.
I had heard stories of their large, inexpensive glasses of wine, so of course I ordered a glass of their Cabernet. It was OK, but for the price, a great deal.
Prior to dinner we were served a basket of breadsticks similar in shape to the Olive Garden’s, along with olive oil and parmesan.
For dinner I ordered the Bruschetta fettuccine Gorgonzola. The pasta arrived to the table piping hot, which was impressive to me, and was rich and creamy. The meat lasagna that Mr. R ordered was huge. It looked like it could serve four. The sauce was rich, dark, sweet and savory, and I had just one bite and thought it was delicious, but he thought it was too sweet after a while. I would order this myself next time and see if I felt the same way.
For $ 10.99, my large portion of pasta included choice of soup or salad, which is a pretty good value.
Our server was nice and very patient with a couple of minor annoyances with our table.
The one negative I have with my visit here was with the ladies’ room. I walked in and approached the first stall and the toilet seat was all wonky and askew on the toilet, so I went to the second stall, and it was the same way. OK, fine, I can deal with that. But after closing the door of the stall I also noticed that the back of bathroom stall door had several smudgy dark fingerprints on it. A little more attention to the bathroom details would have made this visit even better.

Food review only!
Ordered up some Sunday comfort food from my new favorite
. We had never had their food so we were flying pretty blind but ended up with some good dishes! I tried the Bruschetta Fettuccine and added italian sausage to it, my dining partner had the Pasta Arrabiata. Mine was a light creamy sauce with a a touch of garlic, nothing overpowering and lots of minced fresh tomatoes and onions. There was a pile of gorgonzola on top that was a little overwhelming but I got most of it removed. The italian sausage was sliced and I was expecting ground but it had a good flavor and went with the dish well. Definitely a large portion that I didn’t finish and it came with a breadstick and I chose soup as my side. It was a chicken and rice that was as tad salty but was missing other spices.
The Arrabiata was rigatoni noodles in a very chunky tomato sauce with finely chopped ham pieces mixed in. I would saw it was mildly spicy, much less than most of the jarred Arrabiata sauces in the stores. This dinner came with a salad and they had very good ranch dressing.
Overall, would definitely order again from Sazanis through this site, the food arrived very hot and ready to eat. The quality was MUCH better than Avantis although it was also about $ 10 more for comparable food items. And this service charges $ 6 for delivery while Avanti’s delivers for free.

I will put this as simply as possible. I ate there to check it out for a party. The food was not good. With so many other choices in Peoria… Don’t just Don’t!

My step-​mother and I planned my father’s 80^th birthday with the owner at Sazani’s for two months – menu, room, pricing for 50 people from all over the United States. Showed up a half hour early, only to be told that they had not booked the room. The owner tried to put us in a smaller room that would not accommodate my father’s motorized wheelchair, and when we balked because the room was too small and they were still seating diners in that room as we were talking, he began to raise his voice to my step-​mother. At that point, we left.
We’ll try the place again when the next owner takes over and creates a new restaurant there. In the meantime, don’t waste your time.

This past Saturday, my friends and I gathered at this restaurant for our annual girls’ luncheon. When we arrived, there was no reservation despite the fact that I called twice, once to reserve and once to confirm. I have had problems with this place in the past. We were put in the room that I requested. No heat, no menus, not at all prepped, because they had lost my reservation. Long story short, the waiter dumped a glass of red wine on my friend’s shirt, purse and coat. Her blouse was white. We cleaned it up. He brought in some club soda. He offered to buy her a new shirt– absurd. Then when lunch was over, he gave her a bill for her meal which had onions on the salad that she told him to take off. She asked to see the manager, and refused to pay the bill. He actually balked at that. He said the manager was gone– he was there, and I pointed him out. When my friend approached «the manager,» he said that he was not the manager, and that things just happen. What is really unfortunate is that I had really talked up this restaurant with my friends. None of us will eat there again, and we all have big mouths and lots of friends and relatives in the area. Shame on you, Sazani’s– you have good food but deplorable service.

This is about the new Pekin location. If you want to try it out you better hurry, there is no way it makes it til Christmas. The food is diner food at best. 3 of the 4 of us couldn’t finish our meal it was so bad. Service was slow, slow, slow and they were out of a lot of things on the menu.

Such a nice restraunt for Peoria — there are things decoration wise that could be improved but the food is great, service was awesome, and the environment is nice!!! will definitely go back

Best Italian food since grandma made it. Took the whole family and loved all our selections…
Can’t wait to go. Back.
.

Great meal with the family, great prices, I highly recommend, we will definitely go back, ask for Sonny.

Went there with my wife and my daughter and son-​in-​law. Our server was enthusiastic and very knowledgeable and very funny! We found out he was from Albania.
My wife had the fish with dill sauce. The dill sauce was not overpowering, but was a perfect complement to a hot, moist fish. My daughter had linguine with large shrimp (I didn’t sample that because it was so similar to my dish). My son-​in-​law had a very succulent prime rib served simply solo on the plate. I had the «Sazani» pasta with shrimp, chicken and sausage. Nice flavorful sausage, the chicken a bit overdone, but the shrimp was perfect in a garlicky olive oil sauce.
We had salad and breadsticks ahead of time (delicious breadsticks) and large slices of cake for dessert. All in all a tremendous experience. It was affordable (priced cheaper than an Olive Garden) yet had an air of elegance which I enjoyed.

The staff was friendly. The room we were in had a strong echo which made conversation difficult, but at least there wasn’t a TV in the room.
I had the lasagna which came with «Italian bread» and a salad. I got the blue cheese dressing which was like flavored water — it was horrible. The bread was like a slice of Wonder bread, toasted, and then made soggy because they laid it on top of the sauce — the bread was horrible and it’s an insult to call it Italian bread. The lasagna was the worst I’ve ever had. Frozen lasagna from Kroger would be preferable.
The orange juice was not bad.

I ended up at Sazani’s with my grandpa, who’d had high praise for the place. And I think my grandpa is in the demographic who Sazani’s will suit the most with their American (county-​fried steak, breaded tenderloins, etc.) and Italian-​American cuisine (a thousand different combinations of pasta, tomato sauce, cheese, cream, and meat) as well as the fried appetizers that’re ubiquitous in our corner of the Midwest.
My lunch experience was perfectly mediocre. The server seemed a little nervous or shy, but was polite and capable. The décor was on the kitschy side and there was a TV in one of the rooms, which was distracting and out of place.
I ordered a portobello sandwich that consisted of sliced, marinated mushrooms with onions in a «special sauce». It came with soup (I ordered vegetable minestrone) and fries, for which I subbed a side salad for an extra 50 cents. The modest serving of soup was tasty enough and had a good ratio of vegetables to pasta while the side salad, some kind of mess of iceberg with gloppy balsamic wasn’t worth finishing. The sandwich was ok, but the white Italian bread it came on was almost cardboardy.
I will say that I do appreciate that there’re a few vegetarian options — a lot of places in the area really don’t cater to ‘finicky’ mostly-​vegetarian customers like me. And the prices aren’t too bad. Their Italian entrées are comparable in price to Olive Garden and their sandwiches aren’t much more than you’d pay at a Jimmy John’s and less than what you’d pay for sandwiches at full-​service restaurants elsewhere in Peoria.
So all-​in-​all, it’s pretty standard. It’s not my thing, but if you’re a fan of some place like the Olive Garden, give it a try — support a local business over a chain.