Sapori Ristorante

Probably the best or one of the best pizza places, if you really want it made in Italian way. I love how thin the crust is, so you don't feel like you've eaten a brick, which is often the case with pizza. The service is also excellent, polite and unobtrusive. I highly recommend it!

Some of the best Italian food I have ever had! The meatballs are to die for! this is a true Italian family owned restaurant that’s been here for decades. The ambience was perfect for our date night. We sat outside under the lights and had incredible service.

Pasto meraviglioso, assolutamente delizioso What an amazing meal Everything was prepared just the way we wanted. Paulo our waiter was fantastic. Salvador his assistant was super too. Can't wait to return. This is a special place.

We decided to treat ourselves to a fancy dinner for the holidays. We ended up at Sapori. Our server was attentive and kind. The overall aesthetic of the place is cozy and romantic. The dessert was to die for. The bistecca was also cooked to perfection. There is ample parking in a no-frills shopping center close to Balboa Island. It's a nice neighborhood. We would return again to sample more items from the menu. Check out these photos!!

Beautiful Italian restaurant. Great for date. If you want to wear something special, this restaurant is that for. Food is delicious. The Prisoner wine 2021 Cabernet Savignon is my favorite!

Cosy Italian food restaurant in Newport Beach ticked away in upscale strip mall near Balboa Island. Pricey but good, and satisfying. Can bring your own wine for corkage fee, but call first. Otherwise, pretty decent wine selection. Can split salad and or appetizer and save room for yummy selection of dessert! Nice place. Reservations recommended, especially on weekends. Plenty of free parking.

Great vibe. Came in fresh off a plane from Australia and we were close to closing but we were accommodated. And the food, even close to closing, was absolutely delicious. Top notch pizza and calamari

Great, solid and authentic Italian food. Must try. When they have their chicken soup, get it. I wish they’d make it a mainstay!

Best pizza ive had in a long time..... Their pasta special is amazing as well and if you like candied walnuts you MUST order the salad with chunks of roqueford cheese. Amazing duo. You will love this place.

The best NY pizza in OC! Thin crust with a rustic dough my favorite! Love the bar area - great service with a cool SoCal Italian vibe. Never loud so you can have a good conversation. The proper dining room is also one of my favorites to celebrate a special occasion.

Being told that I can't dine because of not having a reservation for two people is absurd, Will not be returning.

Score for being able to walk in and order a pizza for take away. We had planned to get a nibble from Java before the boat parade but didn't realize they closed quite early, so we only snagged a hot chocolate from there. My husband saw the word "pizza" outside Sapori, and that drew us in. We didn't want a proper sit down meal, but to the left of the main Sapori doors, there is a more casual eatery associated with them. You can also dine in, but we were able to place an order for a pizza that we could enjoy outside. It was ready in about 15 minutes, so that was much appreciated. Pizza was decent - hit the spot before a stroll around Balboa Island. As for the restaurant itself, it looks like there is ample indoor and outdoor seating. Would be a nice date night. 2024: 98/100

Beautiful place, but kind of pricey for decent food. I will say the highlights were the complimentary bread basket and the Tiramisu Cake. Both were extremely delicious! But then you get to the main course and it's just okay, especially for pasta which isn't difficult to make into a flavorful meal. This spot would definitely be great for a dessert date! Because they surprisingly have so many options, but there is no actual menu to look at. They brought out a giant platter with each dessert option and you just point at what you like. Interesting and fun way to show a menu. Service is also decent, nothing special, nothing negative. Typical wait times and pleasant, informative employees.

Such a wonderful Italian restaurant, great romantic lit patio close to the island. Best Chianti wine and lobster ravioli we've had. Delicious complimentary focaccia. Nelly was such a delight with her expertise. Cute place that we will be going back to

The pizza was very soggy, pasta was over cooked and saturated with sauce. Very disappointed. Staff were kind and diligent.

My husband and I have been enjoying wonderful Italian dining at Sapori for years! I always get my Chicken Parmesan and the best glass of Italian Pino Grigio on the wine list!! For years I also put together a big dinner group during the Christmas Boat Parade for family and friends and then we all walked over to watch the parade on Balboa Island!! Always excellent food and service!! Memories made at Sapori!!

Well, it was Christmas eve, it was crowded. 7:30pm dinner reservation for two. First time here & had higher hopes. Starter calamari was very hot but pale crust & a bit undercooked. Marinara sauce was tasty. Chilean sea bass melted in my mouth but was lukewarm at best. Side of red potatoes were overdone & took a bit of effort to cut through the crusty skin. Brussel sprouts were boring & not crispy. Chicken piccata was good to fair. Cannoli dessert was fair to good as well & mostly a plate of whipped cream. Server never offered me a second glass of wine. Had to ask bus boy for refill on soda for my husband & water for me (he was working his buns off). Didn't bring any of this up while I was there. Staff wanted to go & so did I. Complimentary valet parking & they were great.

My favorite thing about this restaurant was the service! Sweet, sweet girl who showed us such good attention and demonstrated a lot of patience. We sat in the more casual dining side because we wanted pizza. But we were also able to order from the regular dinner menu still. The place was nice, clean and comfortable. The food was yummy and had nice fresh ingredients. For an affordable place to eat near the beach, I would definitely recommend this place.

Real Italian food, fantastic ambiance, servers very friendly and efficient, pizza is great, well run, owner is always there watching mixing with dinners and welcoming them , highly recommended by all

ordered pizza via door dash, terrible pizza. Undercooked, soggy Ham on top not cooked just bad pizza

Service was good. Food was blah. Sauce on chicken parmigiana tasted watery. Linguini & clams the pasta was dry. Desserts were tasty.

Had the pasta with seafood and red sauce. The sauce was enjoyable but not incredible. The pasta was fine. The clams were tasty but two of them were closed (not supposed to eat). The shrimpbin the pasta dish was outstanding. Great place.

Italian food. Served by at least one Italian. Surprisingly convivial space. Sit on the pizza side, the patio or in the dining room. Can't go wrong. Order Italian food. Can't comment on the pizza, quality of which is much discussed here on Yelp. I can recommend the the branzino. Served w a nice amount of sautéed spinach that was very nice and some good potatoes that rounded the meal out nicely. Also the bread is good. Like beware or you may eat too much good. I thought my pasta (side of angel hair) was fine. Thicker noodles may be a little too cooked.

I never thought I'd ever be the person to write a review after working in the restaurant industry for almost a decade, but truthfully, the only thing that saves this place was the ambiance, and I had to create an account to voice it. I took my girlfriend to celebrate our anniversary, with a note in our reservation to mention. Not once did we receive any acknowledgment of the event, and no setting was created to make this night feel special. Despite that, we trucked on, and continued to enjoy ourselves, looking forward to our dinner. The food was very bland and one-dimensional, from the antipasta, to our entrees, and our dry tiramisu, lacking what you would typically find within an upscale Italian restaurant. Its saving grace was the consistency of prosciutto, but that's based on my sheer love for it. The service was also pretty lack luster, between getting simple silverware, checking up on how we like the food, and receiving refills on water. The only part of service that was quick were the glasses of wine and our check, as if they were trying to flip our table for the next set of guests. Ultimately, I will steer clear of this place for the remaining future, as well as warn everyone we know about the disappointment this place brings. It's sad to see such a beautiful place in a rad location falter so hard. Never again.

Great food, amazing ambiance, friendly staff! One of my favorite, off the beaten path places, in Newport! I recommend the Chianti, Piccata and/or Vodka sauce

I thought I was in italy eating dinner. The service and ambiance were amazing. Pizza was made in wood burning oven with italian flour and the pasta dishes incredible.

So delicious. Everything was great. Service was perfect. This was my birthday meal request, Oso Buco with risotto. My BF heard this place had it while everyone else around here did not. It was perfect! All our dishes were delicious from the melon prosciutto to our entrees and desserts and drinks. Staff made us feel special.

I have been here upwards of four times now and have always absolutely loved the food. I always get the fettuccine Alfredo, which is different than any I've had before. Spectacular. My mom always gets the vodka penne with chicken which has always been amazing as well. We love to sit outside, it is super cute and has a nice feel to it.

First time coming here and will be my last time. Horrible service. We were served bruschetta on old cold and soggy bread. They did give us a replacement and it was missing the olive tapenade. No sorry for the inconvenience nothing, no type of apology. I gave them 1 star because the soup and basket of bread was good. Next was the pizza. They served us burnt pizza, we asked for a new one, again no apology. The pizza dough wasn't proofed properly, looked like bread. (No flavor) Don't recommend this place. Stay away.

We frequent Sapori very often. It's has a beautifully lit and heated outdoor patio, friendly staff, and great menu. Their chicken piccata, branzino and penne otero are family favorites. We also love the shrimp, calamari or beef carpaccio starters! We always leave happy and full! Definitely recommend.

Dined here tonight with my family and had a great experience! The restaurant is in a really cute location that's walking distance of Balboa. The fresh bread they serve in the beginning is delicious. All appetizer options were good. The arugula salad was really fresh, the calamari was perfect and not super oily, the caprese salad was a favorite! The chicken parm tasted fresh and delicious. You get to select either pasta or a vegetable to come with the meal. The chicken piccata has a tasty, creamy sauce with it. The seafood pasta was good. My favorite dessert option was the chocolate cake. The crème brûlée and tiramisu were also very delicious dessert options. Our waitress Victoria was super helpful and constantly checked on our larger party. She was super quick and friendly. We enjoyed having her as our server and she provided excellent service!! 10/10 - highly recommend and will be returning!

Sat on the cafe side . Wood fired pizza was very good . The service was good . Had meatballs and bread and spaghetti. We enjoyed it

We like to order pizza to be delivered but we will probably look elsewhere in the future. The crust is SO SOGGY that it falls apart. Flavor is ok but you literally can't pick it up and eat it.

The food and service were excellent. However, the ambiance was a little dated. Think of an early 2000 Italian restaurant. There was no loud music, and the current clientele is 45+. Great place to bring your parents or grandparents. Probably not ideal for a first date if you are under 45.

We were greeted by an annoyed hostess because we arrived 25 minutes early. She sat us (begrudgingly) although there were plenty of tables available. Our waiter couldn't be more nonchalant and service was purely transactional. The food was good but not special. Our waiter did give us a smile when he handed us the check. In summary, many other choices with better dining experience. Won't be back.

Delicious pizza. The crust is amazingly done. Thin and fresh ingredients. Will order again!!!

We so often get caught up with keeping up with the Joneses or hanging with the new kid in town that we overlook the tried and true classics. This place has a lot going for it. From the off the beaten path location feet from a romantic walk across the bridge to Balboa Island to the Al fresco dining courtyard. Strong wine program. Friendly and responsive servers and staff. And, oh yeah, real, tasty Italian cuisine without any frills or unnecessaries like extra arugula or frisée on your plate. Did I say date night? Highly recommend!!!

The food here was incredible, the prices reasonable and the staff exceptional. This was really NY "Little Italy" style food, portions were plentiful and between my Chicken Piccata and Tiramisu, I was very happy. Ann part of the husband an wife team who own the restaurant went out of her way to accommodate my party of 12 outside with a fireplace burning and heaters on. I did not hear one complaint, and the lasagna I tasted was also exceptional. I really can't wait to go back here, it was a terrific find, and a definite impress a client or date restaurant!!!

Always a visit here when I'm back in Newport. Great atmosphere to dine in or on the patio. Love the Margarita Pizza and they gladly add proccuto de Parma. With an ice cold beer, dinner, or lunch, is done right!

I liked the atmosphere at this restaurant and will give it a second try, but they're special Branzino fish was a miss. They said it was a topped with an Italian herb pesto but it tasted more like olive oil with a lot of dried oregano on top for $54. My husbands sausage dish with extra vegetables was much better for a reasonably priced $34

it's an incredible place right in the "hood", kidding Balboa, and the service, food and atmosphere was fantastic! in the rotation, for sure!

Service is great. The food is yummy and you can get half orders of everything. That's really great for people who don't eat a lot. I recommend this place.

The Ambiance, the food, everything was practically perfect. The bread was sooo tasty and comes so hot. It was like that ratatouille scene with they hear the crunch of the bread. To top it all of me and my favorite person ordered the salmon pasta and lemon chicken with capers and mushroom. The chicken absolutely melts in your mouth and the flavor is perfect. The salmon pasta was my absolute favorite pasta. The Salmon was so tender and soft and the the sauce and bowtie pasta really made it come together. My bestie had this pasta in Paris and he said it was way better at this restaurant!!! It was so delicious and light and all their food is cooked very well and you don't feel bloated after. U can tell that everything is made in house and is so fresh. Best compliments to the chef for making this night special for me and my best friend. OH and let's forget about the cute music they play while u eat! Great great great place 1000000/10 recommend

The pizza here wasn't the worst but it's a close second. I ordered a Margherita DOP pizza for take out. The crust tasted more like wonder bread and the cheese was a special imported mozzarella that had an odd taste. The sauce was on the astringent side. Overall I give this pizza a 2.6 out of 10. I'd pick caesars pizza and Costco over this. The restaurant located inside a strip mall was clean and looked upscale. Went to the bar to pick up the pizza and was ignored for about 5 minutes. When a lady finally came with the pizza she said gave me the amount due so I paid with cash. She never offered me change and just said ok thanks.

Our server was very kind. We had a nice time. We had the Caesar salad that had a nice creamy dressing.we had the red sauce with meat which was flavorful and meaty. We also had the pasta with a cream sauce . I had never been here but the outside vibe was calming.

Food was good although they were out of several entrees I was interested in. Service was Ok not great. Waiter forgot my desert!

Food was horribly bland ! Service was good. Nice ambiance. But getting back to the food, you can do better at Olive Garden. Marinara tasted like it came out of a can. I really can't say anything good about the food. I will never be back.

Our second time at Sapori in the past 30 days. Our friends like it so we thought we give it a try. Our first time there, the service was HORRIBLE!!! We thought we had a bad sever so we thought we give another chance. It was worse than the last time!! Food came out slow and luke warm!!! This place is not cheap so needless to say, we will never go back!!

Food : don't get the chicken caper picata- too sour Or paparadelle - too much sauce and bland Service: don't even know the waiters name, not a smile on his face, never came back to check , bread was cold, dessert tray was old and tired and the waiter again never said a word dropped the check on the table and left.. bad experience so we will never be going back! Ambience: I give it a 2/5 horribilus tired looking and dirty! When we arrived for some strange reason the waitress wanted to direct us to the pizzeria.. what's with that? Do we not look like we can afford this place.? Well for the high prices I believe there needs to be retraining and refresh! And we don't really care if anyone working there is a real italien or not we just went because we were looking for good italien. There is no need to become complacent with what goes on daily..

We went for an anniversary dinner. Made the reservation through Open Table, it showed it was a special occasion and it was an anniversary. Never acknowledged at the restaurant. The service was inattentive at best. The waiter didn't seem to care about our table at all. Not friendly or welcoming. The food? My husband said his was okay. Mine? Sausage and polenta: the sausage is supposed to be made in house. It was nothing special. And served dry with grilled polenta, also dry. A very disappointed after our meal.

The food here is fantastic, and the atmosphere set up is very intimate and cute: we sat outside and they still made it feel so peaceful, it took me to another place. I think the key is to make a reservation so you can try to make sure you get a spot in the actual patio area, because they do have this more casual area that sits along the parking lot that is not as cute and would probably take away from the whole experience. I went with the off-menu special, a shrimp and linguine which was just divine: simple with a wine based garlic sauce, and my friend and his gf ordered the veal to split, which was a good idea because the portion was huge. Overall it was a great place, I would suggest asking for recommendations of the daily special because both the recommendations turned out amazing (though I'm sure the regular menu options are just as good) The only downside is that they have a 2-hour limit during this time. They did warn us about it as we got seated, but wish we could have taken more time to enjoy conversation, because it was such a nice place, it would have felt nice to not feel like we had to rush out of there the second we finished our meal, but I understand they have limited seating so this is something they needed to enforce.

This establishment has decent enough food, but comparative to the price per quality, it's deficient. The staff is very cafeteria like... food comes out fast and they're quick to pick up your plate. Too quick. You can hear them cleaning dishes from where are you sit. It feels like you're sitting in their kitchen. Very noisy, zero ambience. Zero personality from staff. Skip this place if you are a foodie. Too many other great places. Just being honest. You will be disappointed.

We stopped by for an early dinner and sat outside on the cute patio....it was perfect. Our server Paige was so kind, friendly and helpful. She enhanced our overall experience. We had a delicious and fresh Cesar salad to start and then enjoyed a wonderful order of spaghetti and meatballs. It was simple and absolutely delicious. Let me not forget the bread basket which was so good. One choice was crusty and delicious while the other was like a soft cloud. We had gelato which was also excellent sea salt Carmel and chocolate. Absolutely delicious meal! Thank you Paige for your wonderful hospitality!

Left before we were even seated. Place was completely empty but the greeter kept pushing us towards the pizzeria for some reason. My impression was she didn't want to seat us in the restaurant section so we left.

Food was good but the staff was incredibly rude. My family was having a birthday celebration, we had entrees, dinner plates, and desserts. We spent over $500 and in the middle of us talking and enjoying our time the hostess came over and said "hi we need this table for the next party" and walked away. We haven't even been there for 2 hours. My mom talked to the owner and in the end he said "sorry you don't understand". The other party who was "waiting for our table" wasn't even at the restaurant yet. We would of understood if the party was outside and we were holding them up.

I really like Sapori for its excellent food and relaxed ambience. It has a modern and classy feel inside. I enjoy sitting outside in their patio when the weather is nice. It has a feeling of being in a small Italian restaurant without being stuffy and pretentious. It is very popular with a local following. It's located on Bayside Drive across from Balboa Island in the shopping center. They are well known for their excellent pastas and their pizzas are cooked in an imported Italian wood burning oven. They have an impressive wine list featuring Italian and California vintages. The prices are reasonable for a high end restaurant. I appreciate the friendliness of the staff. I would consider this a neighborhood gem and highly recommend this restaurant.

Unbelievable food!!! I drive almost 3 hours every month to dine here and it's always worth it. Everybody I recommend this place to falls in love with the place and it's even a good choice for a first date. All these haters stay hatin. Just think of this... Olive Garden has 3 stars and this joint has 3.5... these yelpers are on crack. Bon appetite mi amore!!