Growing up in San Francisco I love Italian food- and after moving to Phoenix I was disappointed to learn no one could recommend a good Italian restaurant. With my birthday approaching I inquired about Sassi-it was described as a beautiful restaurant with authentic Italian food -I thought great! I made my reservation on line providing a special note that this was a birthday. We also called to confirm the reservation and to request a front patio table. We arrived early and the hostess informed us that a table on the patio would not be available for at least 30 minutes- we responded no problem this would give us the opportunity to have a drink in the bar. Service in the bar was great and after 30 minutes the hostess arrived to seat us. She lead us to a table that was in the corner of the side patio, disappointed I voiced that I had requested the main patio.Holding up our dupe she tells us only a patio table was requested. Taken back I asked how long it would be for the main patio? Her response ""I can't predict how long people will take to leave"". Upset I asked to return to the bar to wait a little longer. She soon returned to offer a choice between 2 tables on the main patio one behind 4 intoxicated men or one that could seat 6-8 people. We opted for the large table- uncomfortable and embarrassed we thought the meal would certainly make up for it.Unfortunately the food and service ended up being horrible. Our appetizer consisted of overcooked shrimp on a bed of oily cabbage. Second course arrived we had no silverware and the octopus was dry and bland. My main course- pasta was crunchy. We saw our server three times. The manager never touched the table and on our way out I stopped to tell him about our experience. His response ""thank you for the feedback we will take your comments into consideration"". I left thinking these people could care less and now I agree with many Phoenix residents that a decent high-end Italian restaurant does not exist here.
Pros: restaurant is beautiful
Cons: poor service, bad food, and terribly managed
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