Sammio's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Hope Mills

I give this review with hesitation. We really don't eat out much anymore mainly due to the ongoing wait times so when we decide to go somewhere it's definitely been thought over extensively. After this establishment did a full makeover from the ground up we feel it lost a lot of its spirit and energy of what it once was. The staff often leave you unnoticed from the moment you walk in the door often your left un-greeted leaving a lot to be desired by the hostess staff.

When you are seated often you feel that the staff is tired and lacking motivation to even come serve you. Our last encounter may very well be our last as it seems it's only become amplified in the unwelcome atmosphere. We placed our order for drinks and appetizer and our drinks came with 95% ice which we quickly consumed what little drink we received and the appetizer ( zuchini fritters ) was soggy and the breading quickly fell off while trying to pick any of it up.

Our main course wasn't much better from my Chicken Parmesan being over cooked somewhere between shoe leather and jerky lacking any flavor in the breading with a sad excuse of cheese and sauce on top. The spaghetti that accompanied it on my plate was topped with a meat sauce that resembled a mixture of canned hormel Chilli mixed with a watery jar of big box store tomato sauce. My daughters chicken Alfredo costing and extra 3 dollars for enough chicken to feed a small hamster was also lacking in flavor and almost taste like warmed over milk with a hint of cheese. The noodles could have almost passed for fresh out the box having more bite to them than any one person could find appealing trying to pass as al dente.

Over all very disappointed with the meal/food and the overall service and will most likely not return as even being a supporter of local business they show little regard for quality and leave you wanting to remove the experience from your...

The veggies were dry and bland. Our waitress showed up a total of 3 times, and I know that may seem ample, but let me tell ya. The servers brought our appetizer, we had no utensils for 3/4 of the eating. Finally that 2nd time (cause she had already taken our order, obviously)i had to ask her for them while she was at another table...but she wouldn't check in on us even though we were next to each other. All our food came out, except my sons pizza, so the servers, hosts, managers, everyone else is doing a waiters/waitresses job but ours.. we say our pizza? They say it will be right out.. lastly here comes our waitresses tells us our pizza is on the way, how sorry she is, that they have her booked for a party upstairs, i said well that is not fun, she says no, and I'm thinking ummm not for you, for us. I mean we came in for a nie night out a d to be WAITED on, but got totally the opposite effect. Then new people came in and they to had the utensil issue. So we were finished with dinner, and had been, just sitting thinking we would see her, get our bill, nope nothing, waited.. finally i go up to the counter, ask for my bill. They say we will tell your waitress, i said NO, i have hardly seen my waitress that is the problem, so they said she is the only one who can ring you out we cant do it. So i said then go tell her she has customers down here who want to go home, she is upstairs entertaining a party.. they were surprised to that. So i go sit down, and a host or irrelevant person co.es gives me the check, i am like awesome, and i pay with cash to expedite the situation, she takes it, leaves then she starts cleaning tables, and i look at her like umm hello where is my change... 8 times, 8 times we exchange looks eye to eye contact. Finally he comes my waitress with my change to say have a good night... so i appolize, it was 4 timez we seen her......

Beautiful place, very friendly staff. Attentiveness was exactly what you should get not too much not wondering where waitstaff is. We were seated promptly and greeted several times. We felt welcomed. The salads were good, cold, and fresh ingredients. I did get brought the garden at first and turned it away as I had ordered the Caesar. The waiter apologized and fixed the issue within a moment. Due to the snafu with the salad the timing of our entree was off and we received the entree while still enjoying our salads. No big deal, I’d rather the fresh food than let it sit to die in a window. The calzone was very VERY good! Would 100% get again. I grew up in an Italian family and primarily cook Italian cuisine so I tend to be very hard on Italian restaurants. With that being said, let’s talk about the entree of eggplant parmigiana on the bed of spaghetti with meat sauce. First, generally speaking I have seen and expected a marinara over a meat sauce. It was a decent sauce likely “dr’d up from a can/jar. Which is fine. It was decent. Boxed pasta, cooked well and was decent. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Hunts meat sauce with some barilla pasta. The eggplant parmigiana, my preferences are to be cut into thicker slices and lengthwise over how it was done...I also prefer a better breading. I think this was possibly dipped in egg, then mildly seasoned flour; where I would have used breadcrumbs. The cheese was good and browned just right. Overall-I probably would not get it again, but I say all that to say, it was decent. Overall, I’m not disappointed with anything, I just have my preferences. The Long Island iced tea was tasty, and my wife got a glass of house red which was good. Not too dry but a little on the sweet side. Very good. Reason for 4 stars rather than 5 is simply due to my preferences with the parmigiana, and the...