10/12/09

Great food and they treat you like family

by Rhoam

My husband and I are from Houston and we often dine at Sagra when we come into Austin. It's our favorite place. We love the food, the service and the atmosphere. Last week we were heading to San Antonio, when the mood for Sagra struck. We called ahead and made a detour. As usual we were seated immediately by a lovely, attentive waiter. From our table the street was very visible and our daughter suddenly remarked that she thought she saw a "famous" person come into the restaurant. She did indeed. A very well-known woman and an equally well-known man were also dining at Sagra that afternoon and they were seated right next to us. What made the afternoon special for us was that in spite of the high profile table next to us, our waiter (and indeed the entire staff) treated our family like we were their best customers.

A delicious, memorable meal served by lovely people.

• Pros: great service
• Cons: not in Houston

06/10/09

Really Wanted to Like Sagra

by htwhite

My husband and I dined at Sagra on Monday night. I have to say that I really had high hopes for this place. First, the location is perfect for us and the atmosphere of the restaurant is very nice. It got a little loud toward the end of our meal but that's to be expected in a small place and it didn't bother us a bit. Our waiter (sorry I didn't get his name) was excellent. He recommended a good white wine for me and red for my husband. I really liked that he offered us a taste prior to our making a decision on the wine. I also liked that the other waiter working at the time and our waiter basically worked together. If the other waiter saw that a plate needed clearing at our table, he cleared it. Nice teamwork.

We ordered the appetizer of the day, Crab Brouschetta. It was a pretty bland crab spread on bread that was too hard. I noticed another customer trying to cut her Brouschetta with a knife and was unable to do so. There was no choice but to pick it up and eat it (which is what I did anyway).

We decided to try their pizzas since they came with a lot of positive reviews. I ordered the Prosciutto Arugula and my husband ordered the Tartufo. My pizza would have been okay but the center of the crust was soggy. There was no way to actually pick up a piece and eat it because the toppings would fall off the soggy part. I usually love prosciutto and arugula together but it somehow doesn't work with pizza sauce. My husband's pizza was interesting in that it had a top crust but he said the flavors again just didn't work together. I tasted it and really thought that the truffle oil didn't belong in that pizza.

Anyway, we didn't complain to our waiter cause we just didn't feel like ending our dinner on that note. Also, we had absolutely no complaints about the waiter or the restaurant itself. Unfortunately, we just didn't enjoy the food.

• Pros: Great waiter; nice location and atmosphere
• Cons: Unfortunately, the food

05/29/09

Great Food

by Hasslocher

My fiance and I ate there for the first time the other night and we had to go back the very next night. The staff was friendly and very polite. The Arugala Salad is to die for, I think its the truffle vinagrette that sends my taste buds to heavan. I strongly reccomend this restaurant and their Pizza's are awesome, we had the Quatro Formagio.

• Pros: Arugala Salad

05/17/09

Always Great

by fredxsmith

What a great restaurant! We were recommended to this restaurant recently and were not disappointed! The food is absolutely amazing. My husband had an excellent boar dish in ragu sauce and I had the most delicious snapper. Try the tiramisu, it is the best I have ever had. The decor is cozy and great for any occaison. The service is excellent and very attentive. If you like wine, they have an unbeatable list. The food was so good we still talk about it and plan to go back very soon!

• Pros: Great food and Service
• Cons: parking

04/30/09

Best Brunch Ever

by BILLM

I realize “best brunch ever” is quite a bold statement to make, but months after I have visited Austins, Sagra I am still salivating just to think of the experience. I can’t wait for an excuse to go back and visit again. The fact that it’s so affordable only adds to it’s charm. Sagra serves a brunch with plates running from $9-$12. I honestly don’t know how they make money, because the mimosas are only a $1.

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• Pros: Best Brunch in town
• Cons: I havent tried them for dinner

04/09/09

Makes me happy

by Jilly2

We have had two very enjoyable evening meals at Italian themed Sagra. The one thing that comes to mind first is great service. This is unusual for our area. We talked to our server the on the second visit and she told us that in addition to extensive training, the employees must pass a large test before they are allowed out on the floor. Even on a Friday night, with the place full to capacity , the service never missed a beat. This is rare even in big cities.

• Pros: Great Service
• Cons: no lunch

03/26/09

Dependably excellent quality eat-in or take-home.

by Dori

My husband was a Chef so I can appreciate the difficulty that goes into keeping a place clean and maintaining a quality product.

When first going to Sagra i was impressed with the quality and cleanliness Very good quality. The dining room is simple. You can order beer, wine or a cocktail with your meal if you eat in. It is a very homey atmosphere designed to allow the food to be the diamond in the rough..and there are 8 outside tables with umbrellas.

I have eaten there many times (>10) and all the food I have eaten has been very good. Quickly prepared, served hot. Crispy is crispy, juicy is juicy, fresh is fresh. I appreciate the simple nature of the restaurant. It is not elegant, not very casual, excellent quality food. Very CLEAN On a busy night a few tables can sit 10 minutes). The bathrooms are wonderful with clean, new 'no-touch' bathroom amenities.

I was impressed for the simple reasons i go there...excellently prepared quality food...or order fresh food to take home...The food is absolutely comparable with 4 star. If you're going for 4star atmosphere then skip it; but I prefer quality food over atmosphere anytime. And at Sagra...relaxed in shorts, jeans or dress. It all fits there.

• Pros: Excellent quality food eat-in, take-out, or take home
• Cons: Its really far, but worth the drive

03/26/09

never disapoints

by Heath

How often have you been to this restaurant? A few times

How long have you wait for a table? 5-15 min.

Noise level: Normal conversation

Quality of food: Excellent

Quality of service: Good

Comments: Contemporary, intimate dining room with a nice bar. Food is interesting -- even the lasagna has a fresh take on what you'd normally expect. Everything I've tried so far has been worth the extra price. In the 6 months I've lived in the area, I've already been here three times. I haven't yet found an Italian restaurant in the Austin area that surpasses this one.

• Pros: Really good
• Cons: parking

03/15/09

My friends and I love this place

by megan7

The ambience is wonderful, the service is great and the food is excellent. We will go back in a heartbeat. It is so nice to have this quality of restaurant in Austin!

The portions are very big. We thoroughly enjoyed everything, although the minestrone is a bit thicker than is classic and had no legumes. The salad dressing and all the sauces were excellent and rich; The boar shanks were so tender they melted in your mouth and the pork chop was thick and juicy with a fabulous marsala sauce.

With a bottle of wine and tip (no dessert or coffee) we spent $75, but could have ordered much less and left full.

• Pros: Great happy hour
• Cons: no parking

03/14/09

Really really good

by hognson

After 12 years and 3 kids my wife and I are trying to add more "us time" to our marriage. We We had a 6pm seating but got there and 5:45 and were sat right away. We had a very romantic table on the patio next to the. We are not big wine drinkers but both had a glass, nothing expensive, to help set the mood. We both had tortelini soup, and split 2 appetizers. It was very tasty. I had chicken over arugala with thinly sliced proscuitto. It was mouth watering. We both had the chocolate souffle with vanilla ice cream and it was incredible. The portions were big enough to fill you without being too big you have to take a doggy bag. Well worth the trip if you need a nice romantic night out without the kids it is perfect and not too expensive unless you want big time wine which is there if want it. If you do go and take the kids the pizza at the next table looked very good as well.

• Pros: great authentic pizza
• Cons: not olive garden