Sapore Ristorante & Pizza Bar — Restaurant in Old Lyme

This place is SOLIDLY GOOD -particularly their pizza! I have been wanting to stop in & try their food for some time bc I have clients that always order pizza from here. The NEW INTERIOR RENOVATION & MENU IS FABULOUS! I love the layout & decor. It has a relaxing a cool, updated classic decor & vibe to it. Great lighting, music & atmosphere! I was greeted instantly as I entered. The staff were all very warm, friendly, polite & professional. I decided to dine in & was seated immediately. They brought a menu & water immediately to my table & took my drink order. I decided on a yummy medium body California Cab Sauv which was lovely. They have a FULL BAR with a nice selection of specialty cocktails, Beer, Wine & NA offerings. For dining, they offer BRICK OVEN PIZZA, SALADS, PASTAS, MEAT, POULTRY, SEAFOOD ENTREES, & DESSERTS. I was interested in trying their pizzas although everything looked appetizing coming out of the kitchen. THEIR PIZZAS ARE DEFINITELY THE STANDOUT HERE! They feature 16" pizzas only bc of the steady demand. I settled on their Sophia Loren white pizza with arugula & was topped with a drizzle of creamy green chili aioli which sounded divine. The pizza arrived about 12-15 mins hot from the kitchen! It was delicious! The arugula has a nice fresh garden peppery bite that intertwined nicely with the mozz cheese, fresh tomatoes, and garlic basil.The green chili aioli was creamy & added another little subtle dimension & kick to it! I LOVED it! The staff was fantastic. They came over periodically to check on me to see if I needed anything. Any of my requests were met with seamless efficiency. I am thoroughly impressed with the whole operation here. Excited to try more dishes! They have a SPECTACULAR NEW HAPPY HOUR 2:30-6 pm M-FRI IN THE BAR AREA WITH REDUCED PRICED SMALL PLATES, WINE, BEER & WELL DRINKS & HALF OFF PIZZAS. They do a BRISK BUSINESS with TAKEOUT...

Ordered a plain cheese pizza for pickup at 6:23 Friday night. Was told it would take 40 minutes which is a bit long for 1 single cheese pizza but on a Friday night is somewhat understandable. Got to the restaurant at 7:03, paid and tipped. Was told it would take a few more minutes. Then a few more minutes. Then a few more minutes. If I hadn't paid already I would have left and ordered something on the way home. Finally at 7:33 I got the pizza. Drove 15 minutes home and it was just ok. Half of the pizza crust was so black my daughter wouldn't eat it. The other half was edible for her. The pizza was just ok. It was a decent size but not spectacular and definitely not worth an hour and 10 minute wait. There is no reason it should take this long for a plain cheese pizza. They must have either given our pizza to someone else or were only focused on the people in the bar. We passed at least 8 pizza places I'd rather go to with at most a 25 minute wait and a lower price tag. They're lucky they're the only show in town. Unfortunately I will not be back again even though I was very interested in more items on the menu. Go to East Lyme for good service and good pizza at a reasonable price point if you want...

3rd time trying Sapore and might be our last. The people there are nice so it pains me a bit to write this review, but I also really dislike paying a lot of money for inedible food. Unfortunately, our pizza was so burnt that all you could taste was that, well, bitter burnt taste. Don’t get me wrong, I like my pizza with good color, some “leoparding” on the bottom, sure. This was just plain burnt. Surprised they let this walk out the door- if I were the owner I would have said make it again and send it out right. Thursday night isn’t so busy that food shouldn’t be coming out right. You can have great dough, tasty sauce, fresh toppings, but execution is everything.

6/20/2025 This is an update to the review above. The owner kindly reached out and offered to remake a pizza on them given the pizza we had received. He assured that was not their standard quality and after our second pizza there, I believe him. It was delicious and they did not know it was pizza going to a once unsatisfied customer- we ordered it under regular circumstances without letting them know until it came time to pay (or in this case not pay). Excellent customer service and very kind people. We...