Sabio on Main — Restaurant in Pleasanton

Huge Disappointment, and honestly one of my least favorite dining experiences in recent memory. If I wrote this review in detail, it would be excessive- and most people won't read a 10 page review. Therefore, I have chosen to highlight what I feel were the lowest of the low points.

They lost my reservation. Now, I can deal with a lost reservation- things happen. However, the lack of acknowledgement by management was shocking. Not one, but two different manager types (one male, one female) looked on as the poor hostess scrambled and squirmed while unsuccessfully checking the system for the reservation. Neither of the managers made eye contact with me or even offered a simple "I'm sorry about that." I have never been to a restaurant where management didn't offer an apology (at the very least) when an error was made on the restaurants behalf. They ended up seating us outside at a table facing the street....5 ladies in a single row with our backs to the restaurant with one heat lamp to share on a cold night.

Gabriel. Our server. Not only is Gabriel fully incompetent as a waiter- he forgot 2 plates which we ordered and sent out 2 plates of something which we only ordered one plate of, he also brought out a glass of Zin when the request was for a Cab, and didn't offer to exchange it when the mistake was brought to his attention. Unfortunately, simply being a poor server doesn't adequately sum up my entire experience with Gabriel. He was incredibly rude, made sarcastic comments under his breath in a condescending tone: "Oh well it actually takes about 72 hours for wine to ferment but WHATEVER" (yes Gabriel my friend, I heard that), and made each of us feel very uncomfortable. He acted as if we were a huge inconvenience for him, and he wasn't afraid to make that point crystal clear. Completely inappropriate in the service industry.

Even if the food was exceptional (which it's not; it's average, every dish lacked something- from seasoning, to acid, to balance. Overall, every plate with the exception of the deviled eggs was quite bland), I would never return due to the fact that this restaurant clearly does not regard service as an important factor. I really wanted to love this restaurant and was very excited to try it. I'm not a princess and I don't expect to be treated like one, however it is not acceptable to be made to feel uncomfortable, either.

Because we were so unhappy, as we were waiting for our food we decided to have only one drink each, finish our food and get out of that place as quickly as possible. The 5 of us left Sabio hungry and thirsty. We headed straight down the street to Haps and enjoyed more food, many more cocktails, dessert, and fantastic service. All things we were hoping to enjoy at Sabio, however, due to the atrocious service and underwhelming food, we moved on and spent our money elsewhere. To leave a restaurant hungry and ready to spend more money elsewhere? That speaks volumes.

I'm actually shocked by all the 5 star reviews. I realize that the restaurant game in the East Bay is lackluster at best, but if you feel this spot is worthy of 5 stars you should hop on BART and spend the same (or even much less!) money at one of numerous restaurants in the city which will blow your mind.

One last thing I would also like to mention. One of my dinner companions that evening is a business owner in downtown Pleasanton, also in the service industry. She sees approximately 10 clients a day, 6 days a week. As do her employees. I'm confident her word of mouth will travel faster than this...

We came here for a birthday dinner - 7 of us. We were all excited because it was a place most of us hadn't been to. My friend, the organizer: had called ahead - twice - and asked if she could bring a cake for my birthday. The person said yes - both times - and said they would waive the cutting fee if she bought one dessert. My friend bought a nice dessert from a nearby bakery and brought it in.

Our waiter Ezekiel was arrogant from the start. He shamed my friend for asking for a drink she prefers for her health issues - "they only serve craft cocktails." He told us most people order the 6 course tasting menu. We decided to order off of the main menu, and he balked every time we ordered appetizers or entrees saying we needed to order more. It was clear he was trying to up the bill, yet we had leftovers at every course. And our service was terrible. Our waters were empty until the very end. No steak knife for the steak. Glaring when my friend dropped her napkin. Really no check-ins except to try to get us to order more. And the crazy thing was, the restaurant was half empty - it wasn't like they were super busy. Just seemingly trying to milk the few customers they had.

Then it came for the celebration cake. He huddles with the stare and said the person my friend talked to was not a manager, who, by the way, we never met once, and that we now had to buy two desserts to waive the cutting fee. We asked if we could buy a couple of dessert martinis from the dessert menu instead, as we clearly weren't hungry with all of our leftovers. He huddles with the staff again - so awkward as we could see them all talking - and 10 minutes later says we have to buy two martinis plus a dessert for them to cut our cake. I told my friend we had wasted enough time, and she asked for the cake back. (Photo of cake plopped down on our table.) Happy to ruin a birthday celebration and risk bad reviews so they didn't have to cut our cake I guess. They added 20% gratuity to the bill and were fine knowing we were unhappy with the service.

Most of the food was delicious. Hence two instead of one star. The lamb pasta was a standout as was the burrata and arugula salad and ricotta toast. The risotto was under cooked and fishy, and the steak was tough - or maybe that's just because we had to cut it with a butter knife.

There was another waiter serving tables by us, with parties ordering tea instead of high cost drinks and single course meals, and he seemed to be attentive and friendly. My friend had him before, and she had a wonderful experience. I guess we just had a bad run with a rude waiter and a passive manager who liked side huddles to deliver bad news.

We had our cake on the Starbucks tables in front of Sabio. We ended the night with smiles because at the end of the day, it's all about the company...

We came here for a birthday dinner - 7 of us. We were all excited because it was a place most of us hadn't been to. My friend, the organizer: had called ahead - twice - and asked if she could bring a cake for my birthday. The person said yes - both times - and said they would waive the cutting fee if she bought one dessert. My friend bought a nice dessert from a nearby bakery and brought it in.

Our waiter Ezekiel was arrogant from the start. He shamed my friend for asking for a drink she prefers with her autoimmune disease - "they only serve craft cocktails." He told us most people order the 6 course tasting menu. We decided to order off of the main menu, and he balked every time we ordered appetizers or entrees saying we needed to order more. It was clear he was trying to up the bill, yet we had leftovers at every course. And our service was terrible. Our waters were empty until the very end. No steak knife for the steak. Glaring when my friend dropped her napkin. Really no check-ins except to try to get us to order more. And the crazy thing was, the restaurant was half empty - it wasn't like they were super busy. Just seemingly trying to milk the few customers they had.

Then it came for the celebration cake. He huddles with the stare and said the person my friend talked to was not a manager, who, by the way, we never met once, and that we now had to buy two desserts to waive the cutting fee. We asked if we could buy a couple of dessert martinis from the dessert menu instead, as we clearly weren't hungry with all of our leftovers. He huddles with the staff again - so awkward as we could see them all talking - and 10 minutes later says we have to buy two martinis plus a dessert for them to cut our cake. I told my friend we had wasted enough time, and she asked for the cake back. Happy to ruin a birthday celebration and risk bad reviews so they didn't have to cut our cake I guess. They added 20% gratuity to the bill and were fine knowing we were unhappy with the service.

Most of the food was delicious. Hence two instead of one star. The lamb pasta was a standout as was the burrata and arugula salad and ricotta toast. The risotto was under cooked and fishy, and the steak was tough - or maybe that's just because we had to cut it with a butter knife.

There was another waiter serving tables by us, with parties ordering tea instead of high cost drinks and single course meals, and he seemed to be attentive and friendly. My friend had him before, and she had a wonderful experience. I guess we just had a bad run with a rude waiter and passive manager.

We had our cake on the Starbucks tables in front of Sabio. We ended the night with smiles because at the end of the day, it's all about the company...