Sapore Italiano Ristorante — Restaurant in Burlingame

One of my friends brought me here for lunch on a weekday, and being that I'm just an okay fan of Italian food, I was really skeptical about eating here.

I drove to the restaurant and found metered parking on the street (1 quarter for 20 minutes with a max limit of 1 hour). As I walked in, the front desk guy greeted us warmly and took us to our table.

As I sat down, i took notice of 2 things (like I always do): the decor/ambiance of the place and also the patrons/crowd.

The decor was clean and simple and not overly extravagant...check.

The restaurant was semi-full and consisted primarily of middle aged Caucasian people....check

All signs pointed to good Italian food, so I proceeded to look through the menu and pick a dish.....

And oh man, am I glad I picked the Rigatoni Rustica dish!! The ingredients were super fresh, and hands down, it was the best Italian dish that I have had in quite awhile!! The dish consisted of Rigatoni pasta served with ground sausage, bell pepper, green peas, and mushrooms in a tomato cream sauce. The ground sausage and the creamy sauce really set the dish off and I savored every bite of it!!

(in Italian accent) It's ah me, Marioooooo!! and I give this place 4 stars!!

Yes, lame, but that's the only Italian accent I could come up with after finishing my fantastic meal.

I will definitely be visiting this place...

While the setting for this Italian restaurant is ideal, the mood inside is anything but... Upon entering I had to hug the wall to pass by the super loud bar and all the super loud patrons waving drinks. It is not at all inviting. Our party of 18 had a reservation, duh..The owner turned his nose up at our group and barely acknowledged our presence except to scold us for asking if we could possibly be seated together instead of on opposite sides of the restaurant. The owner was flustered, rude, and seemingly apoplectic at the thought of a busy Saturday night. The service was terrible. Our very rushed waiter was clearly 'in the weeds' at 5:30 pm. I had to ask if my soup was on the way after he dropped off salads to my dinner companions. I told him if he forgot to put in the order to just don't bother. As he was clearing salad plates he brought, with attitude, my lukewarm lentil soup which needed salt, pepper, and to be heated; it's soup!. Suffice to say the rest of the meal was sub par: barely warm overcooked salmon on a bed of quinoa was as disappointing as the soup. I will say, the bread, obviously not house made was great as was the pepper jelly served with it. My request for butter fell on deaf ears. I will not be returning. Save yourself some $$$ and frustration and...

Wonderful authentic Italian-owned restaurant in cute Burlingame Ave. Warm, friendly old school attentive service. The Italian wait staff here attends to your every need. Ask your waiter to make menu and wine suggestions, their knowledge and tastes are impeccable. Sapore's Italian Wine selection is amazing. Haven't had a bad one yet.

Sapore is very popular with the older San Mateo-Burlingame-South City crowd who bring their families. We come here for birthday celebrations. Their specialities include their Rigatoni Rustica (which our waiter changed it up the first time we dined here and replaced with the house made gnocchi. We have been ordering this way ever since), Margherita (thin crust pizza baked in a stone oven) Gamberoni al Limone (sauteed tiger prawns in a basil and garlic sauce), thick, juicy moist pan fried pork chop (Tony Soprano would be proud!), and, of course, tiramisu, which they will light a birthday candle if you tell them.

Sapore has a dining room upstairs (the stairs to get up are steep!) that can fit up to 50 for a private party. Quality of food and service doesn't change upstairs if you go that route from my personal experience. Prices are reasonable for food quality and service. Metered...