Sambino's European Bistro — Restaurant in Sumter

Looked online for their menu, and saw an ordering option - easy enough, took just a couple of minute to order the entree, salad, and pay via credit card. Even gave a 15% tip for a pick-up order - generous, I thought. So, went to pick it up after 20 minutes or so, and a pleasant young man retrieved it from the kitchen and handed it to me. I saw two containers, so I naively assumed the one on top was my salad. Got home ~20 minutes later & saw that it was not my salad, but rolls. Really aggravating because I was looking forward to a Greek salad. Started eating, but got more aggravated, so I called, and the pleasant young man answered. He was apologetic, and offered to have one made for me to pick up. I told him that I was not really inclined to drive 10 miles for a salad, and he began talking options, including speaking to the manager. I said, and I quote, "O.K. Whatever." Then - click, call ended. I thought, surely he didn't hang up, must have been some problem. Called back, and a young lady answered. After asking a few questions, she affirmed that the pleasant young man had hung up on me. That set me off, and I would up speaking with the assistant manager, another pleasant young lady. After expressing my extreme displeasure with being hung up on, and some discussion of options, I told her that in any case, I wanted the 15% tip removed from the charge. She assented, and after more discussion of crediting me for a salad, even though the entrees come with a salad, we ended our call. A short time later, she called back, and said that there was no way they could remove the charge and I would have to call the company that handles their payments. Non-starter. I will seriously consider bypassing Sambino's, certainly for carry-out in the future after this folderol. My rating is for the service; food quality is always good, if you...

Never left a review before, but this experience was so bad I just had to do it. We used to enjoy Sambinos so this was our first experience at the European version. Stage was set with the bread balls that used to be SO good - these were heavy, gummy and flavorless. I was then given a Greek salad made with Iceberg lettuce! Things went downhill from there. Two members of my party ordered goulash - one was piping hot, the other was barely warm and was sent back to be heated up. Three ordered Alfredo-one chicken, one shrimp and one seafood - all were soupy with less flavor than a mediocre frozen meal with the seafood inedible. "Frozen dinner" was also how the lasagna was described by my husband who used to really enjoy the lasagna at the old Sambinos. My granddaughter' shrimp scampi was a pile of spaghetti SWIMMING in what appeared to be a pot of clarified butter, again, zero flavor and nasty coating in mouth - inedible. I ordered the Rouladen which according to the menu (and any other description of such) was "two beef rolls" stuffed with bacon, cheese and pickle. I received flat, mushy meat. Even the waitress figured it was a mistake, but when taken back to the kitchen was told it was all mixed in. The only thing we could identify was a piece of soggy pickle. The dish was also SO salty it was again inedible. Our concerns were all made known to the waitress, but other than "sorry" were not acknowledged. $200 later and half of our party had not eaten. The cheese sticks...

So I’ve been here several times. Most of those occasions were before new management and it was decent. I was excited to try the menu as it looked mostly authentic German cuisine and gotten decent reviews. I was REALLY excited to try the Hungarian goulash as my mother, who was 100% polish, would make this often when I was a child. She passed a couple of years ago, so I was hoping by to relive my childhood experience a little. I also wanted to try the potato pancakes served with applesauce, as my mom would make this as well. Now: I understand that this would not be 100% like my mom’s cooking. Also, I was picking up and not dining in so I’m realistic in that it is better to dine in but heating up a little in the oven or air fryer should help a little. It did not. The potato pancakes were undercooked, I put them in the air fryer when I got home and that helped a little. The goulash had no sauce and had no flavor. Portions were not enough to account for the price I paid. The rolls that came with the meal were drowning in butter and tasted frozen. I also got a large cheese pizza. This was mainly for my husband as I got the goulash and potato pancakes for me. That was also undercooked and tasted really weird. I don’t know how to explain it. My husband agreed and only ate two slices. He ended up having cereal for dinner. We will not be eating here again. The service and atmosphere was really great but the food, at least what I had, was pretty...