Savino's Hideaway — Restaurant in Town of Brookhaven

I had my baby shower here on 11/17/19. My husband & I booked back in August & initially had a positive experience. Though the back room required a larger minimum of 45 people & I only had approx 40 people, we happily booked. I left a deposit & ordered a few entrees to go. Late on Monday 11/11, Melissa the catering mgr, who I'd never spoke to, called to let me know there had been an error made by the hostess I'd sat with & the back room had been double booked. She stated that the Back room had been "booked all along." My husband & I agreed to come take a look at the bar area as this was being painted as my only option going forward. The next day, we were shown the bar area & our party would've had to be split into 3 different areas: the alcove, the high-top tables & the walkway in front of the bar. I asked Melissa to see both my contract & the other party’s contract (to verify the information that the other party had been booked first.) She returned without the other contract, stating it was in the owner’s possession. I was told that the other party had also been offered the bar area & I'd have an answer that night. I reached out on Tues & Wed, but it wasn’t until Thurs that Lilianna was able to let me know that the other party agreed to the bar area. The outcome was the one we’d hoped for but I was still uneasy having had to call to find out this info. The shower itself was nice & the food good. I was asked if I had a punch bowl that needed to be made. I stated, “If Melissa didn’t add it to my contract, I don’t want one.” I appreciated that the waiters being able to accommodate us & got the food out expeditiously as I had some family that needed to leave early to catch a ferry. I had asked the waiters to cut the cake I brought in at 1:45pm, before I opened gifts, so that guests could enjoy dessert while sitting/watching. When I finished opening gifts at 2:45pm, the cake was still sitting on display & people started to leave at about 3 pm. As I said goodbye to some guests, I saw checks that were being signed. I was so frazzled by this; we had been told by the hostess that I’d have a tab setup for all alcoholic drinks & that soda, coffee & tea were included. I had no idea that I would need to question this. The catering mgr said that the waiter was told that I wanted nothing that wasn’t included in my contract (water & coffee were the only things included). I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, as the only thing that was discussed was the punch bowl. I was mortified to know that people had to pay for their own sodas & that guests had been told that water was the only thing I had okayed. Though Melissa didn’t charge me for the remaining checks that hadn’t been given out, several checks had already been paid. I called & scheduled an appointment between 5:30-6 pm to come in on Wed 11/20 speak with the owner Maria. I found that the owner Maria had left for night when I arrived at 5:50pm. Seeing my disappointment, the woman at the front end stated she was part owner & identified herself as Rita, Maria’s mother. The entire conversation, was laden with heavy sighs & eye rolls. I’ve never had an experience like I had at Savino’s. Rita told me that it didn’t matter which party had booked first. She explained that it was my fault that staff billed guests & that I should have told them I wanted all drinks on my tab. I tried to explain that I wouldn’t have known to request this as I didn’t think to question that soda wasn’t included in the package & I believed the alcohol would be on my tab. It didn’t matter to her that I wasn’t given an opportunity to clarify this. She was exceptionally cold, made excuses for each occurrence I attempted to explain & motioned for me to leave since she was “very busy.” Being cut off a dozen times, I was truly disheartened by the fact that my experience didn’t matter enough to even be heard . I wanted to hold off on writing this review to temper how I felt but I thought it necessary to share this experience. I hope to prevent some heartache for the next person looking to book an event...

We dined at Savinos on a late summer evening midweek around 615pm. Slight delay at the door to be seated but we were reassured by the hostess that she would be right with us after a few minutes of waiting in the doorway. We were seated at an undesirable table near the fire place next to an open doorway with a waitstaff "service station adjacent at close range. Tight quarters considering the restaurant was at half capacity and we were literally on top of the next table. There was a busboy cleaning a table nearby and we asked if we could move which we were allowed to do. He swiftly set up the table and moved us while another party was seated at our former table. This party also asked to move. Time for a new set up in that area as the third group seated there was overheard commenting on the tight fit.

Anyway on to the meal and service. Our waiter was attentive and professional and recited the specials promptly. We started with the Caprese salad, which consisted of fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil with balsamic glaze, Fried calamari and baked clams. The fresh mozzarella was beautiful yet unremarkable and the tomatoes were barely ripe and thinly sliced. A chiffonade of fresh basil and an appropriate drizzle of balsamic glaze completed the dish. It's August on Long Island and beautiful tomatoes are abundant so why use "hothouse" tomatoes? I like them on the thick side and these were 1/8 of an inch as was the mozzarella slices. The basil was nice and fresh and aromatic. Overall i'd give the salad a 6/10.

Fried calamari was real tender and the sauce was complimentary. Only rings were served so for those tentacle lovers you'll have to look elsewhere. .

Baked clams were fresh littlenecks with well seasoned crumbs and were just perfect.

For entrees I tried the Fresh Striped Bass Piccata style which was advertised with roasted peppers. Asked for a substitution of fresh basil instead of the peppers and my request was granted without hesitation. The fish was super fresh ,probably caught that morning, and pan seared to perfection.crispy yet moist. Pure Long Island delight atop linguini with piccata style sauce and capers and artichokes ,mine, with a chiffonade of fresh basil by request. 10/10

We also had the surf and turf and that entree was very good also .A respectable sized seared filet mignon and brazilian or caribbean Lobster tail served with vegetables and soothing garlic mashed potatoes. perfectly executed.

Overall we'll be back and would recommend the...

I’d like to share my experience at Savinos recently. Yesterday was my engagement party. I chose Savinos because their food is great and the price per head was really affordable for us. From the first day I left a deposit with Rita, everyone seemed very annoyed that there was a big party coming up, like it was a huge inconvenience for them. The night before (after communicating with them several times) we came late to set up decorations. I was told that I couldn’t put command hooks on the walls because it ruins them, and I had to use the ones there, ok...no big deal. I just wish I knew that weeks prior before I purchased items to put up the decorations. We got there early and decided to get food while we wait. When we got the bill, the waiter walked away and said a snide comment “or just keep being obnoxious and fight over who’s paying the bill.” I don’t think he knew we could hear him, but I’ve never heard such rudeness. The day of the party was nice, until we had to order. About an hour and a half into it I had to go up to the front and ask how and when orders would be taken. She responded by saying, well you have to corral all your people up and don’t forget you need to be out of here by 4pm. One would have thought that the waiter could have approached me saying it was necessary to place orders soon..the last issue was my cake. We brought our own, and we were supposed to have cake included in our price per head. I asked if we could substitute something, like a punch bowl and she said absolutely not, they don’t do that. When they brought out my cake, we took pictures for 2 min and it took them over 15 min to cut it - at 3:45pm...many of my guests had left by then. Overall I think it went well but I would never book a party with them again, nor will I be recommending them to any of my friends. Very disappointed in...