Sabor Restaurant — Restaurant in Edmonton

DO NOT BOOK A BIRTHDAY DINNER HERE IF YOU WANT TO DO YOUR BIRTHDAY CAKE AFTER DINNER. We brought two cakes actually for our friend who was celebrating a milestone birthday. No one said a word when we brought the cakes in about not being able to consume the cakes there. In fact, for completely unknown and inexplicable reasons, the hostess made us wait while she sat the gentleman that came BEHIND us, because she supposedly couldn't find our reservation. In actuality half of our group had already arrived and been seated. So basically the hostess had no idea what she was doing, told us nothing about the cake that we had brought in, and took 10 minutes to seat us when our group was already there at the reserved table. After dinner, the server plopped the cakes we brought down and walked away. We had to ask for plates and a knife before they explained they won't let us consume the cakes in the restaurant. They claimed that they had had bad experiences before with customers bringing outside food and therefore they do not allow the consumption of any outside food at the restaurant. I have had birthday celebrations at many high end places, like Lux, Chop, etc that all allow people to bring a cake. They said we could take pictures with the cake, but nothing else. What even is the point of a birthday cake if you don't light up candle and sing Happy birthday???? We told the server we just want to pay so we could go to a friend's house to have the cake. That process took another 30 minutes. Overall service was very slow. Sure, a few of us were slow eaters, but it took a total of 3 hours for us to get through appetizers and dinner! A good chunk of this time had to do with slow service. The server literally walked away from my friend in the middle of her order or question three times. As she tried to order appetizers, he launched into telling us what the specials were that night. My interupted was the birthday girl, and she was clearly the birthday girl because she had balloons tied to her chair. We had to ask for things like more water. He did not stop to check how we were doing despite walking by our table several times. He did not seem to care less about the fact that it was someone's birthday and only said a brief happy birthday after we paid the bill. When they finally came to tell us that we could not consume the cake they were quite abrasive about that and did not do anything like even bring a tiny sliver of some kind of dessert they serve with a candle in it for her. I have eaten at many restaurants where they will at least bring a tiny bit of cake or something when someone is celebrating something. The last time I ate at Cafe Amore for a goodbye party while changing jobs, the server brought a little slice of cake and wrote good luck on the plate with icing. In contrast, service tonight felt abrasive and pretentious. It was almost as though because the tip was mandatorily built in due to the party size, they did not care to offer good service. The food was fine as always, except the paella rice was very very hard and hurt my teeth to chew. I have eaten at Sabor many times in the past and previously I would have strongly recommended it. Unfortunately this time they have lost me as a customer permanently because something about the whole night just did not feel right. Many years ago Edmonton had a limited number of fine dining options and Sabor was among the top. Judging by the fact that the restaurant was nowhere near full tonight compared to times I have been here in the past, other people in this city have realized that there are better options at this price point. At $53 for a steak with no sides, you have to add value to the food somehow with the service or atmosphere, which this restaurant had neither of. Overall I'm sorry to say I previously wrote a positive review but now must post this...

I booked Sabor’s private dining room for our engagement and it turned out to be one of the best dining decisions I’ve made in years. I initially booked a consultation with the Manager Cory L. and I was blown away by his professionalism and helpfulness throughout the process. The moment I met him, I knew this would be the restaurant for our occasion.

From the moment my fiancé and I stepped into the restaurant on our special day, Cory greeted us and quickly welcomed us into the private dining room.

The main floor set the tone through the restaurant’s lively main floor to the private room—exposed-brick walls, soft Edison bulbs, and a single long harvest table. The space felt elegant, rustic yet completely secluded, exactly what Sabor promises for us.

Service was seamless all night. Our dedicated server, Joshua B, balanced warmth with precision: drinks appeared before glasses ran dry, plates arrived in perfect cadence, and I have never had such an amazing server in my life.

He opened the evening pouring our champagne and provided us with our set planned menu.

More impressive, though, was how he read the room—from our private acoustic performances, pacing our meal, and drinks then brightening them again just enough for Instagram-worthy photos of every course. Joshua’s warm hearted, kind, quick-witted and thoughtful personality made our dining experience incredible!

We began with pillowy house bread and a tray of tomato-basil bruschetta that crackled with garlicky crunch. The calamari followed—lightly dusted, flash-fried with aioli, impressing my fiancé who initially did not like calamari. A fragrant bowl of saffron mussels arrived; the broth was very flavourful, and creamy. I would order this again!

The mains arrived and came the show-stopping wagyu striploin—rare perfection with just enough char easily the best steak I’ve ever had, with velvety mashed and baked potatoes. Beside it, a roasted chicken quarter proved anything but ordinary, the meat was succulent and delicious. We ordered A silken mushroom risotto—tied the meats together, each bite earthy and comforting.

For lovers of Spanish comfort food, the chicken-chorizo paella was the dish we kept revisiting. The rice was crispy but tender, while smoky coins of chorizo lent depth to every forkful.

Beverage-wise, the meal felt like its own tasting flight. We toasted with a crisp rosé champagne whose strawberry notes paired beautifully with the calamari. Midway through, Joshua surprised our table with a mini port-wine tasting—four pours ascending in age and complexity. Joshua provided us with descriptions with each port-wine, and was very knowledgeable about all the drinks

Later, as conversation mellowed, an espresso martini that bridged us gently into dessert. The espresso martini was to die for! It was made with an Italian espresso and had chocolate undertones.

Speaking of sweets, Joshua brought the evening home with desserts! We had a sample platter of two types of cheesecakes, Portugese cream custard, tiramisu and a coffee cake bar! The portugese cream custard—burnt top, custardy center, whisper of citrus zest. The star of desserts, though, was the coffee-cake bar: a buttery crumb topping over espresso-soaked sponge that vanished in seconds. For the purists, a feather-light tiramisu layered with house cream. The passionfruit and cherry cheesecake was fantastic!

By the time we lingered over the last sips of port, it was clear Sabor had nailed the trifecta of private dining: impeccable service, bold yet balanced flavors, and an atmosphere that feels simultaneously celebratory and intimate.

I am incredibly impressed with Sabor. Everything from the staff, food and atmosphere were impeccable! I’m glad that I chose Sabor for our engagement and will forever fondly remember this special moment thanks...

It was an interesting experience to say the least. We were told by the manager when making a reservation that we can only sit for 1hr and 45min because he has to flip the table for the next group of people. Nothing wrong with that, but to tell a guest that they have to “flip a table” was odd in my opinion. Being in the industry i know what that means, but another guest might not. The food was average. The server kept telling us that we’d be blown away. For example my calamari was apparently going to be the best calamari i ever had in my life, but im pretty sure ive had something similar at earls. My risotto was hard. The rest of the food was just okay. 4 people for $600 just didnt feel worth it to me for what we got. Our service was also strange. We were ready to put in our order but was told by our server to wait, because he has to say hi to his other table, even though we did see him talking to them earlier. He didnt talk to us much, even though it wasnt busy until later in the night. I saw him interacting more with his other tables. We felt brushed off almost like we were judged and given a certain kind of service because of it. Were were mindful of the time limit but ultimately ended up staying for over 2 hours because of how slow service was. When i asked for a takeout container and the bill, he proceeded to provide a cushion to the table beside us before waiting a while to return back. It was my friends 30th birthday which was a big deal to us, as well she doesnt get to indulge in Portugese food as much where she lives. Its unfortunate because she was excited to indulge in Portuguese dishes similar to things she ate growing up, but instead we are left with this disappointing memory of this place. When we talked to other staff it was nothing but a pleasant experience. A different server went above and beyond by bringing the baby a strawberries and cream plate while we waited for our food. It was just the people we were directly receiving service from where things fell off. Chairs were oddly shorter than the table. I felt like a kid at the dinner table with how short the chairs were. Atmosphere was...