Sabbia D'oro italiano — Restaurant in Wildwood

I recently celebrated my birthday at Sabbia D'oro Italiano, and it was an absolutely perfect evening! From the moment I walked in, I knew I was in for a special treat. The hostess was so accommodating, happily seating me at the exact table I had requested. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, setting the stage for a memorable celebration. What truly stood out was the freshness of the food. It was evident that everything was made to order with the finest ingredients, and not frozen. Each dish was bursting with flavor, and you could taste the care and attention that went into its preparation. The service was also top-notch. Our server was incredibly friendly and attentive, making sure we had everything we needed without being intrusive. I also appreciated how the manager took the time to check on us, ensuring that our experience was nothing short of exceptional. Even though it was a busy Saturday night, the servers and bussers worked seamlessly to keep everything running smoothly and efficiently. To top it all off, they surprised me with a "Happy Birthday" message written on my dessert plate and sang to me! I was so overjoyed that I completely forgot to take a picture, but the memory is etched in my mind forever. Sabbia D'oro Italiano truly made my birthday unforgettable, and I can't wait to return for another...

I was confused reading all of the positive reviews on Sabbia. Definitely not our experience. There on a Saturday night, the restaurant was not filled and the wait time for our entrees was over an hour- only for half of our meals to come out. Likewise, the table next to us received half of their entrees about fifteen minutes before the rest of their companions. Maybe they are still working out the kinks, but I’d still not recommend. The manager tried to explain to me that the reason for the wait is that they make everything from scratch. Their pasta is not freshly made, I’m not sure what else she was referring to. After all of the waiting, they completely forgot about a kid’s pasta with butter lol. Once we asked for it, it came to our table barely cooked- like the spaghetti was so hard you couldn’t even twirl with a fork if you wanted to. A complete joke. I’d have been more reluctant to leave this negative review had the staff apologized even once or took accountability. Instead we got an excuse as to why it was taking so long, as if this was our first time dining in a restaurant. Don’t waste your time or money....

The restaurant is packed full of tables, reminiscent of a sardine can. The staff is inattentive and aimlessly walking around, while tables are waiting upwards of 45 mins for food/drinks. Our waiter made and served our drinks, with something floating in them, as it was pointed, the waiter questioned it, as it floated on the top. Water was warm and had hair floating in it. While the thermostat read 77 degrees and had no protection from the sun’s heat/shine (windows had no tint or curtains). The clams and calamari were dirty and covered in sand, shrimp was too rubbery to chew, while the pasta dishes were under seasoned and tasteless. The prosciutto smelled off and seemed green in color, though they tried hiding the color with balsamic and tomato. Nothing in this restaurant tells me to come back and if I could give them a 0 star, I would. Other Italian restaurants that are worth it, won’t give you an...