Best restaurant downtown -- Great food, great drinks, and a nice ambience.
(5)
Ben H.
A wonderful restaurant. I eat there on Saturday 9/8/12 with four other friends. We each ordered different main courses and everyone was pleased with their meal. The service was good and the atmosphere was quite nice. The live piano player was a nice touch. I would definitely eat at Sambuca again and I would highly recommend it to anyone that wants a very nice dinner meal.
(4)
Michal W.
I have eaten at Sambuca MANY times since they opened. The food has consistently been outstanding each and every time. The specials are always amazing. The appetizers perfection. At each visit I try a new entree and am always delectably amazed. Am kind of a Martini snob and they do make the very best martini's I have ever had. We have gone just as a couple or with others and always been very pleased. The service is either excellent or very good. You can tell a lot of care goes into making your dining experience pleasurable.
(4)
Keith H.
My partner and I went here last night for our Anniversary. Very nice atmosphere and we were waited on promptly. I had the Tortellini in Gorgonzola sauce with walnuts. Delicious. We will be coming here again.
(4)
Gigi H.
We were a party of three and all of our meals( chicken and eggplant, chicken Marsala and veal osso bucco were delicious. Very comfortable atmosphere. And the piano player was a nice touch! We have never been disappointed there!
(5)
Brian L.
overpriced, boring menu, creepo staff, tried it 3 times, never again.
(1)
Vinny L.
My girlfriend attends the University and I am always looking for places to take her and Sambuca is by far our favorite restaurant in Scranton. The setting is very romantic and they even have a live piano player who takes requests. The menu is diverse and the food is always fantastic and affordable even on a college budget. Definitely recommended!
(5)
Tim W.
Last night we enjoyed a delicious meal, tasty drinks and excellent service at Sambuca. I ordered Shrimp Marsala with a side of Penne Vodka. The entree didn't stand a chance.. The Marsala sauce had a great consistency and was perfectly seasoned. I liked it so much I ate all my veggies (cooked carrots and green beens) because I was smearing them in the sauce. The shrimp became a bit over cooked by the time I ate the last two because the sauce was hot. The Penne Vodka was served with peas and prosciutto. A very delightful mix if you like that type of stuff. Again, the sauce was excellent. For dessert the table ordered a berry tart and chocolate mouse pie. Both good. I drank Bombay and tonic. By the way, it was a good 25-35 age crowd last night.. That was something which I was pleasantly surprised with. However, the guy playing the piano brought the average age up a bit. Try it out... I'll return.
(4)
Bill F.
Service was good as well as the desert. Recommend the cannoli. Pasta was a bit undercooked and the tomato mozzarella salad could have been better
(3)
Julie C.
Food was delicious. Service was incredibly friendly. We even stayed longer for the cannoli.
(5)
Sal C.
Interesting basic Italian fair. Not a bad choice, good for the area. Salad was fresh. Shrimp dish was OK, shrimp a bit wimpy.
(3)
Jessica W.
This place is pretty nice for Scranton. It has a very nice romantic atmosphere and the live piano player was a nice addition. The food was pretty good. However, I would like to share my weird experience. First of all I agree with another reviewer saying that the staff is "creepy." The staff spoke Italian in front of the customers and it made me feel uncomfortable. In addition, when the host (and possible owner) was telling my friend and I the specials, he made a comment about us not being able to drink the wine, but we could have white wine sauce. I immediately knew that he thought we were under 21, but I will be 26 in March, so I was a bit frustrated. Later on when we asked for a wine menu, he became all flustered. He came with the wine menu and asked if we wanted bottles or glasses. We responded just a glass and he asked for our IDs. I don't think he believed that we were over 21 even after giving him our licenses. He then did not give us the wine menu, but went on to list the wines he had in glasses. He then opened the wine menu, closed it, and said, "These are the premium wines, they are too expensive" and walked away with the menu. If I'm going to pay the prices at this restaurant, I would like to be treated like an adult next time. Not some teenager that doesn't have money.
(3)
Georgia P.
When entering, you feel a sense of family immediately - as you should as this is a family owned restaurant. With a blend of old world flavor and traditional Italian recipes, Sambuca is sure to please. The warm decor and bread and the entertainment that flows off their baby grand piano is sure to help you relax and enjoy the food.
(3)
Kara M.
Decor was odd and they are limited on space. Waitstaff is very stuffy and formal although if you're a regular they seemed nice to them. Food was very good though. I had the special that day which was a sausage rigatoni and it was awesome. Great mix of flavors to balance the sausage and not be overpowering. They seem to have several specials each day which all sounded very good. I'd go again for the food but I really didn't care for the atmosphere.
(4)
Michael B.
Second best Italian restaurant in Scranton. Nice because it's settled downtown and the ability to walk to a local bar is easy when on a date or out with a group of friends. This restaurant is small so expect to make reservations. Which to mean doesn't affect the star rating. I've eaten here about a half dozen times and the food is fantastic. It's the best vodka sauce going in the area. It doesn't break the wallet either! Can't say enough about it. Great spot for a date night and the food/service is fabulous.
(5)
Charron F.
While my husband and I, as well as a lot of our friends, adore sambuca, I can understand what people mean about the vibe. The owners/staff have a stiff, European formality that you rarely see today. Not the kind of people you joke around with. But they are serious about their food. And it shows. Most pastas are homemade and wonderful, especially raviolis. Sauces are rich and complex, though often not abundant enough. Soups are very good as are salads. Meats are done well, especially in the more elaborate preparations. A weak spot can be fish. Unless it has an assertive, Mediterranean preparation, it is likely to be bland and tasteless. Specials are usually superior to basic menu items. One issue is that sambuca is the kind of restaurant that really embraces its "regulars". Newcomers and occasional diners, while not ignored, do not get the same level of attention. An added attraction, by the way, is a truly delightful piano player on weekends. Talk about someone who loves his work!!!
(4)
Jason S.
Simple, delicious Italian food w/ a great atmosphere. The night my wife and I dined here there was a fantastic piano player. We were a little disappointed with the service. The servers were hospitable, but difficult to find at times. We were also disappointed with our dessert. I don't believe it was homemade and lacked flavor. The complaints are minor and we will be back.
(3)
Jonathan K.
The restaurants website states their hours were 4:30pm to close. I understand the close part to be quite vague but figured if we got there at 4:30pm we'd be ok and also beat the crowd heading to the show. We traveled far and found the restaurant in time, only to be told they're close, come back after 5pm, no big deal. We went back later on and were promptly seated and asked just as quickly what we wanted to drink. I really wanted some wine, but without having much time to process the rush stated just water was fine right now and just as soon as I said that someone was there pouring water. Literally! From fanny in seat to being asked for drink and water hitting glass was all simultaneous. This was the trend for the service, they were prompt, attentive and courteous, but like stated several times here it was somewhat weird/awkward. You had no one server, no go to person to ask when you needed something, every single person in the restaurant come by the table for or with something at some point of the night, all 7 people and for all I know 1 may also have been the chef. Attention wasn't a problem, but again the weirdness of no one person to deal with when we needed something. And all staff paced the dining room from side to side, making it feel even weirder yet as if we were in their house. You enter the restaurant through the bar and then into a small long rectangular shaped dining room. So anyway, back to the dinner, one person strolled by and rattled off the specials and no prices, vagueness seems to be the theme here. We each found an entree to order and some soup, once again no price listed. For a pricey entree in an Italian restaurant I was eagerly anticipating our side salads, but they never came! I'm not sure I've ever eaten in an Italian restaurant where we didn't get bread and salad as part of the meal. We did get bread which was decent, but no salad. Ready for some drinks but never got the offer again and no drink menu nor a dedicated waiter for our table so we didn't know who to flag down. People at a nearby table ordered some wine and were asked which type (red, white etc..) and brought glasses. No drink menu? No choices among the various styles? No prices again? The pasta fagioli was almost all broth with a few beans and no pasta. The entrees came and were heavily salted, way too much to make them enjoyable. I hate using a lot of salt but my wife likes too much salt but even she couldn't tolerate her meal. I had sausage in my entree and the color didn't look right at all, I've eaten tons of different types of sausage and none ever had such a dark drab look to them like these did. We needed to flag somebody down to order both coffee and desserts and again no menu and no prices...what is it with allowing customers an opportunity to know what they have to pick from and what it cost? The coffee was ok and dessert was fantastic. I'm not even sure what the heck we ordered for dessert as there was no menu, no idea what it was called, what it was made up of or again what it cost. We ordered it because we saw it go by on a plate and glad we did order it as it was outstanding, just wish we knew what it was. So then we need to flag somebody down again to get the bill, which we were interested in seeing as outside of the entree we had no idea what the soup, drinks or dessert costs were going to be. I would recommend to the restaurant to offer up menus with prices and descriptions for everything, not just the entrees. Assign designated servers to designated tables, that way the customer know who is actually taking care of them. Slow down on the heavy seasonings, especially the salt...phew! Offer a side salad with the entrees, a measly small garden salad costs very little, but it's what customers expect with a pricey meal and it cleanses the palate. All in all I would offer up 3 1/2 stars if 1/2 stars were permissible, this place certainly isn't a 4 in my book nor a 3 but that's were it sits. Again, the staff really gels together and everybody does everything, but having one go to person as your server was never so important to me as it was while eating here. While it wasn't overly terrible, there is no shortage of Italian restaurants in the area and when we do go back would definitely spin the wheel and try a different one.
(3)
Vita R.
Love, Love, Love Sambuca! Their Chicken Sambuca dish is one of my all-time favorites! The food and staff are amazing.
(5)
John B.
I'm thinking about buying some Sinatra tunes. Great atmosphere - very relaxing. Veal parmesan was great. Simple but very flavorful tomato sauce. Wife had a great shrimp and spinach dish. Servers were interested in us and helping. Will certainly return - the best compliment. Didn't stop but a nice bar on the way in.
(5)
Michael B.
Great food and service. The serving size are pretty big I was really full.
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Specialities
Takes Reservations : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Street Bike Parking : No Good for Kids : No Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Eugene L.
Best restaurant downtown -- Great food, great drinks, and a nice ambience.
(5)Ben H.
A wonderful restaurant. I eat there on Saturday 9/8/12 with four other friends. We each ordered different main courses and everyone was pleased with their meal. The service was good and the atmosphere was quite nice. The live piano player was a nice touch. I would definitely eat at Sambuca again and I would highly recommend it to anyone that wants a very nice dinner meal.
(4)Michal W.
I have eaten at Sambuca MANY times since they opened. The food has consistently been outstanding each and every time. The specials are always amazing. The appetizers perfection. At each visit I try a new entree and am always delectably amazed. Am kind of a Martini snob and they do make the very best martini's I have ever had. We have gone just as a couple or with others and always been very pleased. The service is either excellent or very good. You can tell a lot of care goes into making your dining experience pleasurable.
(4)Keith H.
My partner and I went here last night for our Anniversary. Very nice atmosphere and we were waited on promptly. I had the Tortellini in Gorgonzola sauce with walnuts. Delicious. We will be coming here again.
(4)Gigi H.
We were a party of three and all of our meals( chicken and eggplant, chicken Marsala and veal osso bucco were delicious. Very comfortable atmosphere. And the piano player was a nice touch! We have never been disappointed there!
(5)Brian L.
overpriced, boring menu, creepo staff, tried it 3 times, never again.
(1)Vinny L.
My girlfriend attends the University and I am always looking for places to take her and Sambuca is by far our favorite restaurant in Scranton. The setting is very romantic and they even have a live piano player who takes requests. The menu is diverse and the food is always fantastic and affordable even on a college budget. Definitely recommended!
(5)Tim W.
Last night we enjoyed a delicious meal, tasty drinks and excellent service at Sambuca. I ordered Shrimp Marsala with a side of Penne Vodka. The entree didn't stand a chance.. The Marsala sauce had a great consistency and was perfectly seasoned. I liked it so much I ate all my veggies (cooked carrots and green beens) because I was smearing them in the sauce. The shrimp became a bit over cooked by the time I ate the last two because the sauce was hot. The Penne Vodka was served with peas and prosciutto. A very delightful mix if you like that type of stuff. Again, the sauce was excellent. For dessert the table ordered a berry tart and chocolate mouse pie. Both good. I drank Bombay and tonic. By the way, it was a good 25-35 age crowd last night.. That was something which I was pleasantly surprised with. However, the guy playing the piano brought the average age up a bit. Try it out... I'll return.
(4)Bill F.
Service was good as well as the desert. Recommend the cannoli. Pasta was a bit undercooked and the tomato mozzarella salad could have been better
(3)Julie C.
Food was delicious. Service was incredibly friendly. We even stayed longer for the cannoli.
(5)Sal C.
Interesting basic Italian fair. Not a bad choice, good for the area. Salad was fresh. Shrimp dish was OK, shrimp a bit wimpy.
(3)Jessica W.
This place is pretty nice for Scranton. It has a very nice romantic atmosphere and the live piano player was a nice addition. The food was pretty good. However, I would like to share my weird experience. First of all I agree with another reviewer saying that the staff is "creepy." The staff spoke Italian in front of the customers and it made me feel uncomfortable. In addition, when the host (and possible owner) was telling my friend and I the specials, he made a comment about us not being able to drink the wine, but we could have white wine sauce. I immediately knew that he thought we were under 21, but I will be 26 in March, so I was a bit frustrated. Later on when we asked for a wine menu, he became all flustered. He came with the wine menu and asked if we wanted bottles or glasses. We responded just a glass and he asked for our IDs. I don't think he believed that we were over 21 even after giving him our licenses. He then did not give us the wine menu, but went on to list the wines he had in glasses. He then opened the wine menu, closed it, and said, "These are the premium wines, they are too expensive" and walked away with the menu. If I'm going to pay the prices at this restaurant, I would like to be treated like an adult next time. Not some teenager that doesn't have money.
(3)Georgia P.
When entering, you feel a sense of family immediately - as you should as this is a family owned restaurant. With a blend of old world flavor and traditional Italian recipes, Sambuca is sure to please. The warm decor and bread and the entertainment that flows off their baby grand piano is sure to help you relax and enjoy the food.
(3)Kara M.
Decor was odd and they are limited on space. Waitstaff is very stuffy and formal although if you're a regular they seemed nice to them. Food was very good though. I had the special that day which was a sausage rigatoni and it was awesome. Great mix of flavors to balance the sausage and not be overpowering. They seem to have several specials each day which all sounded very good. I'd go again for the food but I really didn't care for the atmosphere.
(4)Michael B.
Second best Italian restaurant in Scranton. Nice because it's settled downtown and the ability to walk to a local bar is easy when on a date or out with a group of friends. This restaurant is small so expect to make reservations. Which to mean doesn't affect the star rating. I've eaten here about a half dozen times and the food is fantastic. It's the best vodka sauce going in the area. It doesn't break the wallet either! Can't say enough about it. Great spot for a date night and the food/service is fabulous.
(5)Charron F.
While my husband and I, as well as a lot of our friends, adore sambuca, I can understand what people mean about the vibe. The owners/staff have a stiff, European formality that you rarely see today. Not the kind of people you joke around with. But they are serious about their food. And it shows. Most pastas are homemade and wonderful, especially raviolis. Sauces are rich and complex, though often not abundant enough. Soups are very good as are salads. Meats are done well, especially in the more elaborate preparations. A weak spot can be fish. Unless it has an assertive, Mediterranean preparation, it is likely to be bland and tasteless. Specials are usually superior to basic menu items. One issue is that sambuca is the kind of restaurant that really embraces its "regulars". Newcomers and occasional diners, while not ignored, do not get the same level of attention. An added attraction, by the way, is a truly delightful piano player on weekends. Talk about someone who loves his work!!!
(4)Jason S.
Simple, delicious Italian food w/ a great atmosphere. The night my wife and I dined here there was a fantastic piano player. We were a little disappointed with the service. The servers were hospitable, but difficult to find at times. We were also disappointed with our dessert. I don't believe it was homemade and lacked flavor. The complaints are minor and we will be back.
(3)Jonathan K.
The restaurants website states their hours were 4:30pm to close. I understand the close part to be quite vague but figured if we got there at 4:30pm we'd be ok and also beat the crowd heading to the show. We traveled far and found the restaurant in time, only to be told they're close, come back after 5pm, no big deal. We went back later on and were promptly seated and asked just as quickly what we wanted to drink. I really wanted some wine, but without having much time to process the rush stated just water was fine right now and just as soon as I said that someone was there pouring water. Literally! From fanny in seat to being asked for drink and water hitting glass was all simultaneous. This was the trend for the service, they were prompt, attentive and courteous, but like stated several times here it was somewhat weird/awkward. You had no one server, no go to person to ask when you needed something, every single person in the restaurant come by the table for or with something at some point of the night, all 7 people and for all I know 1 may also have been the chef. Attention wasn't a problem, but again the weirdness of no one person to deal with when we needed something. And all staff paced the dining room from side to side, making it feel even weirder yet as if we were in their house. You enter the restaurant through the bar and then into a small long rectangular shaped dining room. So anyway, back to the dinner, one person strolled by and rattled off the specials and no prices, vagueness seems to be the theme here. We each found an entree to order and some soup, once again no price listed. For a pricey entree in an Italian restaurant I was eagerly anticipating our side salads, but they never came! I'm not sure I've ever eaten in an Italian restaurant where we didn't get bread and salad as part of the meal. We did get bread which was decent, but no salad. Ready for some drinks but never got the offer again and no drink menu nor a dedicated waiter for our table so we didn't know who to flag down. People at a nearby table ordered some wine and were asked which type (red, white etc..) and brought glasses. No drink menu? No choices among the various styles? No prices again? The pasta fagioli was almost all broth with a few beans and no pasta. The entrees came and were heavily salted, way too much to make them enjoyable. I hate using a lot of salt but my wife likes too much salt but even she couldn't tolerate her meal. I had sausage in my entree and the color didn't look right at all, I've eaten tons of different types of sausage and none ever had such a dark drab look to them like these did. We needed to flag somebody down to order both coffee and desserts and again no menu and no prices...what is it with allowing customers an opportunity to know what they have to pick from and what it cost? The coffee was ok and dessert was fantastic. I'm not even sure what the heck we ordered for dessert as there was no menu, no idea what it was called, what it was made up of or again what it cost. We ordered it because we saw it go by on a plate and glad we did order it as it was outstanding, just wish we knew what it was. So then we need to flag somebody down again to get the bill, which we were interested in seeing as outside of the entree we had no idea what the soup, drinks or dessert costs were going to be. I would recommend to the restaurant to offer up menus with prices and descriptions for everything, not just the entrees. Assign designated servers to designated tables, that way the customer know who is actually taking care of them. Slow down on the heavy seasonings, especially the salt...phew! Offer a side salad with the entrees, a measly small garden salad costs very little, but it's what customers expect with a pricey meal and it cleanses the palate. All in all I would offer up 3 1/2 stars if 1/2 stars were permissible, this place certainly isn't a 4 in my book nor a 3 but that's were it sits. Again, the staff really gels together and everybody does everything, but having one go to person as your server was never so important to me as it was while eating here. While it wasn't overly terrible, there is no shortage of Italian restaurants in the area and when we do go back would definitely spin the wheel and try a different one.
(3)Vita R.
Love, Love, Love Sambuca! Their Chicken Sambuca dish is one of my all-time favorites! The food and staff are amazing.
(5)John B.
I'm thinking about buying some Sinatra tunes. Great atmosphere - very relaxing. Veal parmesan was great. Simple but very flavorful tomato sauce. Wife had a great shrimp and spinach dish. Servers were interested in us and helping. Will certainly return - the best compliment. Didn't stop but a nice bar on the way in.
(5)Michael B.
Great food and service. The serving size are pretty big I was really full.
(4)