Sarafino's Homestyle Italian — Restaurant in Crafton

I try to not give out 5 stars, but dang.

I am not usually in the mood for pasta, but at the end of the day I do enjoy it. My wife was craving some Italian food earlier in the week and I thought it would be a nice treat to take her to lunch. I looked for places that might fit the bill near the area in which we work - this (alongside a few others) popped up and we motored on down to check it out.

We walk into the quiet, small restaurant with two people working. A couple of tables were open for seating and we were promptly welcomed.

The menu is a single page, consisting of antipasto, salads, panini, pasta à la carte, and pasta specials. We ordered the Bruschetta for an appetizer, it came out with four covered pieces of bread, and a small salad in the center. My wife and I ended up ordering the same dish, which was rotini and Barb's bolognese sauce with an order of meatballs. Originally my wife was going to just "eat one of my meatballs", but I insisted that she needs to get her own.

Soon after this order was placed a basked of warm bread was set at the table, alongside what I believe was sun-dried tomato (paste?) and olive oil - At this point everything is hitting the spot.

We have some time to chat. Everyone in the place seemed to be enjoying their company respectively, and the dishes that were brought out to them were very pleasing looking - paninis and pasta alike. People came and went with to go orders, including a pizza or two.The waitress was very friendly, and the chef was on point, helping her where he could.

After waiting for a short time, the chef handed us our mounded meals, and mentioned that the sauce was freshly made this morning, wishing us to enjoy the meal. The saliva glands started melting and we immediately dug in.

Despite being full, my wife and I set the silverware back down, and then sure enough we would find ourselves going back for another few bites - we still ended up with leftovers. Dessert was unfortunately not fitting.

I can say that this was some of the best pasta and meatball dishes I've had in a very long time, and I find it hard to believe that I wouldn't go back sooner rather than later.

Side Note: I believe that the dress code is casual, but someone else might be able to better answer that. They have paper down on top of the tablecloth, and this may just be for lunchtime,...

This was my first time at this restaurant and I’m not sure I will be back. My boyfriend and I arrived at around 6:30 p.m. on a Saturday. Let me preface this by saying we both attend The University of Pittsburgh and just finished up final’s week. My birthday happened to be during finals week, and I was unable to celebrate. My boyfriend has been raving about Sarafino’s for years and really wanted to take me there for my birthday. My parents also suggested Sarafino’s. When we arrived, we were told there would be a 30 to 40 minute wait. We were okay with that, however 7:30 came and went. We were still waiting to be seated at 8:00. At this point we were starving and didn’t want to go anywhere else because of the time. Not to mention I really wanted to try this place. By 9:00 we didn’t get a phone call, so we decided to go into the restaurant where we saw two open tables. We were seated. However, my concern is we probably would have been waiting even longer to be seated had we not gone into the restaurant ourselves. The waitress brought out our breadbasket and indicated that was the last loaf of bread. They were out of every noodle besides two, and they were out of desserts. I ordered take out for my parents, a steak salad and an Italian panini. I asked for the steak to be medium well, however they indicated the steak is pre-cooked and thrown onto the grill to be re-heated! Yuk. My parents were so disappointed. My mother said the steak was not a filet and more like a london broil cut! There were no vegetables in the salad like tomatoes and the dressing was to be balsamic but instead she got a mustard dressing. Needless to say, she gave the steak to our dog who also turned his nose up! My father also indicated the meat on the Italian Panini tasted old. I am so disappointed with this restaurant having to wait 2.5 hours to be seated and to only be told they were out of half the food on the menu. Had we known the wait was longer than an hour we would have taken our business somewhere else. My parents and boyfriend have been raving about this place for years. Such a...

My wife and I had a wonderful time at this family style Italian restaurant. We were seated right away and our drink orders were taken quickly by our server Ashley. We were presented with bread and a dipping oil we were not expecting. The bread had a lovely crust with a soft and fluffy crumb that captures the oil perfectly. The oil had nice flavor and aroma to it. We ordered the Greens & Beans and the Polenta as an appetizer. The Greens & Beans were beautifully sautéed. The sausage they used had a bit of heat to it without being overpowering. It had wonderful flavor and was well seasoned. The Polenta was topped with a red sauce and tasted great with some Parmesan sprinkled on. My wife ordered Della’s Spring Diavola. The rotini held the sauce perfectly. I tried a bite and it had a great depth of flavor and the saltiness from the pancetta complemented the rest of the dish perfectly. I had one of the specials Veal Parm, which was beautifully done. The veal with the noodles and sauce made for the perfect bites. It was very satisfying. The portions were generous and we had plenty to take home. The prices were fair and I feel I got my money’s worth. Ashley our server was friendly, attentive, and made sure our drinks were filled without even needing to ask. Overall I would highly recommend Sarafino’s and absolutely would consider visiting again to try their...