Sami's — Restaurant in Marco Island

Our 5th dinner in Marco Island was at Sami’s. We asked to be seated outside which was fairly nice. They had a pianist/singer who tried her best, but she had a staccato voice that kept highlighting words in three parts. Our server introduced herself as Maribel and took our drink order, Red Zinfandel and a Bloody Mary. The Zinfandel was excellent but the Bloody Mary lacked flavor and substance for $13.00. It was slightly watery and very bland. I also ordered an unsweetened iced tea which was watery and lacked any tea flavor whatsoever. Our entrees were the Chicken Marsala with Penne Pasta and the Pasta Ala Puttanesca with chicken. They included side salads with balsamic dressing. The salads were very generic and the balsamic dressing probably out of a bottle. Average at best. The Chicken Marsala with mushrooms and pasta was glorious with a full-body flavor. The sauce was fabulous. My Pasta Puttanesca was cooked perfect with a bold flavor that was very welcoming. The entrees were the highlight of the meal. Our server took our order but our food was delivered by a back kitchen server. No Parmesan cheese was offered as the tables around us had been by their server. We saw our server once when she asked if we needed anything, never asking if I wanted another drink or how things were. The owner, we think, came to the table and asked how the meal was and we said the entrees were very good. When our server came back, she asked if we needed anything else, not interested in asking if we were interested in dessert. By this time we had been here for over an hour and we just said no. She brought the check and said very little after dropping the payment slip off. This could have been a 4 1/2 star other than the drinks, salad, and server. Hopefully constructive criticism will help remediate these flaws and bring this establishment up to a...

Upon arrival, I was immediately pleased with the decision to come eat here. The entryway is inviting along with a live musician, sitting outside the front door to welcome you in. We were seated immediately, and drinks were served pretty quickly after that. There was no weight on the bar or anything.

Appetizers came out within 10 minutes of us ordering and they were hot and fresh delicious. Our server was excellent through every step preparing us to the main meal. Once the food came out, everyone and our party began discussing their meals and how delicious they were. Again, solidifying our decision to come here for dinner.

At the end of the meal, I would say the check delivery was very misleading and somewhat shrouded in cloak and dagger. They bring you an electronic device that only displays the total of what your meal is. Your only move is to insert a credit card and add a tip. We insisted that we see the itemized receipt before hand, and they were not so pleased at that. Once the itemized receipt came, we did see that there was already a 20% gratuity added onto the meal. Which was perfectly fine. Our server and the rest of the team deserved every scent of that tip, however… Everyone in our party was going to add an additional percentage had we not have asked to see an itemized receipt. They were about ready to get a 40% tip. They actually stand right behind you kind of hurrying you along, which was a signal to us to slow down.

So in short, you're going to enjoy every single second while you're here… But make sure to see the itemized receipt before you insert the...

We ordered lunch and did not receive food for 39 minutes. They said they got hit with a large online explosive?! Order and they apologized. Why does online ordering get priority over people in the restaurant? We were all waiting forever and they could’ve told the online people to come in to pick up later. Ridiculous. Food was ok. The pita with chicken had no tahini sauce. Very dry. Fish tacos had crushed fish?! Not a whole piece of fish. It looked like tuna from a can. Or old fish they saved for this purpose. The restaurant did give us free drinks as an apology for the huge delay; however it was too little too late. We were basically ignored for 40 minutes. Atmosphere was t great and food was just ok. Not able to recommend.

Responding to Samis reply below: do you honestly think we didn’t try to rectify the issue on site, in person ? We did. The response was sorry and the complimentary drinks came well after we finally received our food bc we HAD COMPLAINED. They said the kitchen was backed up with on-line orders. Orders that could have and should have been delayed for your priority, on site customers. Additionally, it took me to get up and find our waitress to even get to the bottom of it. We never were visited with an explanation , nothing until we were tired of waiting and addressed it after having to seek our waitress out. That’s poor service in anyone’s book. And shame on you for t insinuating it was our fault for not bringing it to your attention while...