Sophia's

Located in Morgan Square, right around the corner from the famous Spartanburg mural, is this quaint Italian eatery that serves up excellent dishes and impeccable service. Sophia’s is a gem. The food is fresh, the beverage options are plentiful, and it is priced appropriately for the offering they provide. It’s a wonderful place to celebrate, enjoy a date night, or dine outside and take in the downtown views when the weather allows. We always enjoy our time here…and you will, too! (Be sure to get dessert!!)

My hubby & I stopped in prior to seeing a show at the Memorial Auditorium on 12/17/24 and it was a nice experience. We were greeted promptly at our reservation time of 5PM & seated near the entrance. I do not recall our waiter's name but he was fine and took our order promptly. What stuck out is he didn't tell us his name nor did he go over the evening's specials but did so with the tables near us that were seated after us (and funny enough, what I orderes was a special that night and he never said anything...)Seemed odd and made his service to us seem impersonal. The fresh bread & oil was good for me but hubby found the oil to be a bit too bitter & green for his tastes. I had the lobster ravioli and hubby had alfredo pasta with sausage and mushrooms, both dishes we really enjoyed. For dessert, we shared an order of chocolate coated cream puffs which were just the thing to top off dinner. Hope to stop in again soon!

Wow! The food was so good and the service is impeccable. The best service of anywhere I have ate in Spartanburg. If you haven’t been here, give it a try. You will not be disappointed.

Had a birthday dinner here last night, our first time trying this place. Food, atmosphere, and service were great! Definitely will be back!

family visited recently & for our wedding anniversary, they wanted to take us out to eat somewhere nice. We almost went somewhere else, but I had always heard Sophia’s was really good, so we decided to go there. We all loved it so much & were happy with that choice. From my past experiences, no one could ever get Eggplant Parm right & it was perfect! Our server was the best too. The atmosphere was cozy & romantic, just what I wanted for an anniversary dinner.

We ate dinner here and the food was fantastic! I appreciated a gluten free noodle options. Staff was excellent, we will be back. Loved the atmosphere but the music was a little loud, other than that perfect.

Way better service than your average restaurant. Perfect for a special date. They were understandably slow as there was what seemed to be a prom happening the same night. But the food was well worth the wait. It was fresh with high-quality tasting ingredients. Not a high roller here, but the overall experience left me very impressed, despite the bill.

Second time coming here. The first time I came for prom dinner with a group, and it was excellent. The second time, I came here with a date, and it was just as I remembered. The servers are polite and very quick. They even have a fancy guy pour the water in a cool way. The only downside to the resrsunt is the small space it is in and how crowded it feels, but that is easily overlooked. 10/10, would recommend.

The bruschetta and Lasagna was amazing, atmosphere and service was fantastic. Our new favorite date night spot!

Went here with my family to dine in, what I thought was, an upscale Italian restaurant in Spartanburg. Our reservation was for 6 of us (2 children) at 5:15pm. We were seated promptly and brought water. We then ordered some wine (just for the adults). When the wine came we ordered salads, apps and dinners all at once. The salads & apps came out and I asked if bread was included. I was told yes and then the wait staff brought some. After we indulged in the apps, salads and bread; we began waiting for our dinners. After about 40 minutes we started asking when the food would be out. I watched two other tables close to ours, with parties who came in after ours, get their food and finish their food. At that point, I began to get upset. Why was it taking so long to get our dinners that were ordered right from the menu? Nothing special, no special requests! Then our dinners arrived, after waiting almost an hour after finishing our first course. And even worse, they weren't great. Vodka sauce on one dinner that was barely noticeable. There was one dinner that was supposed to include Sausage, no links, just little bits of ground meat. Lasagna that was over baked and tasteless. And so much melted cheese on all the dinners. The cheese overwhelmed whatever taste the pasta might have had. it was very disappointing with the prices they charge. I've had better Italian dinners at regular Mom & Pop pizzeria's. I recommend you find another restaurant for authentic Italian cuisine.

Stopped by Sophia's while in South Carolina and had the Spaghetti Meatballs, the food was great and the atmosphere was amazing, if you love spaghetti like I do you should definitely stop by.

Pleasantly surprised with this restaurant. Not only was the food delicious but service was above and beyond fantastic! Can't wait to return and try more dishes!!!

My husband and I have been looking forward to trying out Sophia's, and it did not disappoint! Friendly service. Great and filling food. I usually shy away from getting ravioli at Italian restaurants because I feel like you don't get enough food for the price, but these mushroom ravioli were well-filled and flavorful. I really enjoyed them! We also got a bottle of red wine and the chocolate soufflé dessert yum! Sophia's is a great date night spot. It is a smaller restaurant, but I didn't feel too uncomfortable by how close we were to our neighboring tables. I would sometimes find myself getting distracted, but overall, it wasn't bad.

I don't even know where to begin. Incredible service, INCREDIBLE food, and such a cute atmosphere. My girlfriend brought my parents and I for my birthday. While we had heard Sophia's is good, we were not prepared for how phenomenal it was. The Greek salad is divine, Sophia's salad is top notch. Prosciutto Parma pasta a 10, mushroom and sausage pasta a 10, ravioli a 10, veal a 10. Astonishingly good. Please set up shop in Simpsonville!

Great food and atmosphere. I had the lasagna. I also heard that the spaghetti with meatballs are great. The service was excellent.

We love this Italian restaurant! The food is awesome.... especially the scampi, lasagna, and alfredo. The lemon mascarpone dessert is out of this world! The waiters are excellent, wine list is excellent.

Don't be fooled by all these high star reviews. This was the worst "Italian" food I have ever had in my entire life. I got two salads and two entrees for the overly inflated price of $87. The Greek salad had no lettuce the Cesar salad was chopped roughly (huge pieces of lettuce). The biggest issue overall was the the two Chicken Parm Alfredos were very very oily, the chicken was tough, and the Alfredo sauce was severely lacking in flavor, dry and chunky. I would've been way more satisfied with a Stouffer's microwaveable dinner. I am very very displeased and would've sent it all back (which I never do) had I not taken it to-go. Don't waste your money and save yourself from stomach problems later (I only ate maybe a third of my entree and half my salad). I'll never return, and I advise you to do the same.

The food is good and the location downtown is great. The one big ding is the atmosphere. It can get really loud really quickly. To their credit, they have done some work to lower the sound level. It's the unit. There's only so much they can do. As someone who can get disoriented in loud environments I try to go when there will be less people.

The service was excellent. The food was delicious and the wine by the glass selection was top notch. Highly recommend this restaurant!

Amazing Italian food for sure. Everything was cooked fresh and had proper seasoning. Service was different. Tables are close together, low lighting and good layout for the size location. Once seated and drinks arrived the our waiter stood on the opposite side of the bar staring at us. Very different and made us feel uncomfortable. This is the same waiter (American male) who made inappropriate comments around my wife when she went with her close friend sitting outside. My wife not her friend wants to go back due to the waiter. Even though the food was amazing. A different approach from staff would have given this place 5 stars. We are normally never bothered by staff and only focus on food. Yet, this was a strange experience.

Review: I recently had the opportunity to try a lasagna and chicken parm with vodka sauce from Sophias. While I was excited to indulge in these classic Italian dishes, unfortunately, my experience left much to be desired. Let's start with the lasagna. The dish was disappointingly one note both in terms of flavor and texture. The sauce lacked complexity and failed to bring an exciting combination of flavors to the dish. Additionally, the lasagna's texture felt monotonous, with little variation throughout. The layers lacked the desired balance of a tender, melt-in-your-mouth consistency and a satisfying bite. Despite its promising appearance, the lasagna failed to live up to expectations. Similarly, the chicken parm with vodka sauce fell short in terms of taste. The vodka sauce, which should have offered a punch of rich flavors, unfortunately, came across as lackluster and uninspiring. It lacked the necessary brightness and zing that would have elevated the dish to something exceptional. The chicken parm itself was good but i prefer a different local restaurant. Another issue with both dishes was the excessive use of cheese. While cheese can be a delightful addition to Italian dishes, in this case, it overwhelmed the flavors instead of complementing them. The excessive cheese coating left little room for the other ingredients to shine, further contributing to the overall lack of balance and complexity in both dishes. I hope the restaurant takes these considerations to heart and strives to improve their recipes, bringing out the full potential of these beloved dishes. The dessert was a much more positive note. The tiramisu gets high ratings in my books for its balance of creaminess, bitterness, and sweetness. The cannolis were also good, but nothing I haven't had from other nice Italian restaurants before.

Larry was a great introduction to this lovely place. We had their special and it was delicious. We tried their meatballs as an appetizer and it was good. The lemon marscapone was amazing. The wine selection was up to par. I would definitely recommend coming here as it's quaint and the staff are stellar!

I picked up Chicken Piccata with spaghetti! It was delicious! Had tiramisu for dessert! Definitely would recommend! I will be back!

Best birthday dinner since I moved to SC. We were going to another restaurant for dinner, but on the way found out they were closed, too bad for them. So I quickly turned to Yelp (my go to for new experiences) and as usual they did not fail me. I found this jewel in downtown Spartanburg. We found a parking space right in front (the first good sign, never happens here) the atmosphere was immediately relaxing. Service outstanding and the wine selection unbelievable. The portions huge but tasty as hell. Try the meatball appetizer. Yummmmmm. Everything was top shelf. And to top it off dessert and espresso. Doesn't get better than that. If you haven't tried this place do so. It's worth the price. Tip: come empty, because you will definitely leave full

Outstanding we're from Jersey As good as anything up there Spoke with owner great guy cares about his customers very involved

Lovely welcoming staff and atmosphere here! The dishes were so yummy...flavorful...unbelievable sauce!

A fancy Italian spot with delicious food and great owners, who make sure customers are well taken care of and will return.

The pasta is amazing The wine is good Very low key spot Definitely a date night vibe Authentic

if you love traditional italian food this is the place! lasagna is amazing; bruschetta is the best i've ever tried; will be our appetizer every time we go. make reservations as venue is small

We have since then made sophia's our to go pasta place as it's local and always ends up tasting delicious. I usually stick to one item for most restaurants but i can guarantee that all items on sophia's menu are to die for. We tried the prosciutto app with cheese and it was amazing. I personally love the rigatoni al forno and sometimes even order it to go to stay in. I have also tried the desserts and they are all tasty. A MUST TRY place !!! Also the staff is very on top of everything and constantly ensuring you're taken care of. Well done with everything !

I had been excited to try this restaurant for a few weeks and was thrilled when my husband made reservations for my birthday. We showed up a few minutes early and were seated right away. The waiter immediately served us water and took our drink order. A few minutes later he came back to take our food order. We ordered the garlic bread as an appetizer and he informed us that we had to place our entire order at the same time or the kitchen would get confused. I thought that was strange, but we went ahead and placed our full order: an appetizer, two kids meals, the veal pasta, and one of the specials of the day (penne pasta with burrata). 20 minutes later, the waiter brought our appetizer and both kids' plates. He then realized he had never gotten our drinks for us. I was thinking that the adults plates would be out shortly, but no. THIRTY MINUTES LATER he brings my and my husband's orders out. By this time, the kids were done eating and were ready to go. They were hanging from my arms, bouncing off the walls, totally done eating and bored. My husband and I were shoveling food into our mouths trying to finish as quick as possible so we could get our kids out of there. We were sure that they would comp part of our meal, either the drinks or the appetizer, but no. We were handed the full bill. No one even acknowledged the fact that the service was terrible. An apology or some kind of acknowledgement would have gone a LONG way. On top of that, the penne was about 2 minutes away from being Al Dente and was crunchy. I ate the toppings off the dish and left the pasta. 100% would not recommend to anyone.

1st time visit. Nice atmosphere and very helpful and friendly staff. Had fettuccine and lobster ravioli. Both were incredible. Recommend highly.

Just moved to Spartanburg at the beginning of August and have been looking for our "go-to" spots. My kids always loved our Italian spot while we lived in Asheville and going out for our Italian date nights was always a treat for them; so, we took our shot at Sophia's this evening and boy, did it impress! Meatballs, garlic bread, lasagna, chicken parm, chocolate soufflé and chocolate mousse cake, a couple glasses of Chianti. We spare nothing on these nights. If you can make an 11 and 8 year old happy with ZERO complaints, you're doing it right...and Sophia's is doing it right. Thank you for an excellent evening I could share with my 2 children that we will all remember as part of the beginning of our Spartanburg story.

Ate here for the first time. Much more positive than negative. Food was awesome. This includes appetizers, salad, bread, main course, wine, and dessert. Service was pretty good too. The appetizers were a little slow, which is only a partial negative. The only somewhat minor things that were not to my satisfaction were: 1) We asked for more bread and the waiter forgot and didn't bring it. 2) The wine was a little pricey. The food on the other hand was priced right for the quality and quantity. 3) The lighting where we sat was very bad. We couldn't read the menu. We were probably in the darkest spot in the entire restaurant. 4) Worst thing of all, they had seating for at least 75 or more people (including a dozen or so outside tables) and only had one uni-sex restroom. Many were standing in line to use the restroom, including me.

Went last night for mine and my boyfriends birthday. Server was so sweet and management was so involved. You can really tell they care about everyone's experience. Could not recommend this place enough. My favorite restaurant in downtown.

Super delicious food, nice atmosphere, and really good service!!! I just have to note one thing, it's very expensive! For just two to eat with one glass of wine and one beer it was $73! Our pastas were $26 each, glass of wine was $10 (which was not the best for the price), and beer for $5. I know with today's economy the prices are going up but geez! Overall super good restaurant but it's very expensive!

Excellent meatballs and spaghetti for 30$ a plate. Now, mind you, it was good, but you can make the same from scratch for under 10$. So the only thing thats not good is their prices, but the place was full of diners so be prepared.

So sorry I forgot to make photos. We had dinner with friends here--a first for all of us. My husband ordered his ushe--spaghetti--which he said was very good... as was his sweet tea, which is of critical importance here in the South! One of our friends ordered a sausage linguini dish which looked delicious--and he confirmed that it was. My other friend ordered a penne pasta and bacon dinner. She also says it was very good, but it seemed a little dry just looking at it. I enjoyed a shrimp piccata which is not a regular menu item, but was one of 4 specials for the evening. It was delicious and I kept eating way beyond being full. It was just so good! Portions were plentiful but we all ordered dessert anyway. We had tiramisu, a lemon cake, and a molten lava chocolate. All were devoured and the coffee was excellent, as well. Our service was outstanding, drinks never empty, and our orders came up pronto. The food was all fabulous. I couldn't help but notice that the menu had one page of food and three pages of beer and (mostly) wine! Check! The restaurant is small, which can be really nice. It was full to capacity, and was very loud. There were times that I couldn't hear things being said at our table. There were quite a few tables outside, but the temp was mid-nineties so not many sidewalk diners today. Definitely a credit to Main Street Spartanburg.

On par with the big boys! What a wonderful restaurant! I travel a bunch and would say that the food at Sophia's can easily compare with the top Italian restaurants in NY and Chicago! Wonderful service, a down home atmosphere make this a dining can't miss. The wine was off the chart good and the wait staff couldn't have been any better. I had the veal Picota and it was incredible. If you are in Spartanburg during dinner you owe it to yourself to dine at this special place.

Upscale Italian food prepared well. Have only ordered takeout so can't comment on ambience except to say that they get very busy on weekend evenings making it difficult to get someone's attention to pick up your food. They need a better system for takeout.

In my opinion this is the best restaurant in Spartanburg. It's not just the best Italian restaurant. It's the best restaurant. I love the ambience inside. The food is perfection. My only issue is that it's not always possible to get into this fantastic restaurant. I would give it more than five stars if possible.

Not that many good Italian food places here in the upstate, this is one of them. Food came out hot and fresh. We will be going back. We are ex New Yorkers and we know good Italian food, the owner was also from our neighborhood in Staten Island.

This was recommended by a co-worker. It did not disappoint! The service was stellar. The menu is large with many wine options. I had the spinach ravioli and i would highly recommend jt. My colleagues both got the steak and said it was fantastic. We went right at 5 when they opened. It was quickly packed with about 20 people waiting outside!

The service was great people very friendly. I would say the food is average to good, but not exceptional.

This surprised us sitting on the corner of the square. The portions are massive. They made room for us when there really wasn't any room to be had. The food was fantastic from the garlic bread to all three of our entrées.

Nice, cozy place. Very amicable owner and workers. Good quality food. Extensive Wine list. Would be nice if they had a Vegetarian Entree as well or have a ready recommendation when asked.

Our party came in feeling some casual Italian food, wanted to try this new restaurant in downtown Spartanburg, then quickly noticed how upscale and legit this place was. Place should have an hour wait it was so good. Best meal top to bottom I've had since I moved here in the Burg 15 months ago. Started with the meatball appetizer, they were melt in mouth delicious, with a fantastic marinara to dip in. Restaurant had free bread to go along with it . Then we tried some different pasta dishes, we all ended up trying each other's and couldn't decide which was the best one. The chef that came up with these sauces, major props. Better than any place I've tried back in my hometown. Personally I had the white wine shrimp shallot pasta, still so happy. I loved the portion size of the pasta dishes too. Not too big or overly filling. It's nice not feeling like a beached whale after Italian night. Cheesecake was a home run, you can taste how homemade it was. Great recommendations by the staff. Overall A+ service by the staff as well: Was a 5 star meal, can't beat the prices. Hurry quick and get there before they realize how much more they should be charging! Haha

Awesome food, ambiance, and service!!!! We had an incredible time here and also met the owner who was very grateful we were happy. Highly recommended.

Spartanburg was really missing a good Italian spot and it's so nice to have a wonderful choice in Sophia's. The food is delicious and they really turned it into a cute spot.

Best restaurant in Spartanburg. Worth every penny. Make sure to use open table and have reservations or definitely wait if there's a line. Great atmosphere and phenomenal food.

My daughter was in town and wanted to try something new for dinner. She found Sophia's and thought we should give them a try. I am so glad she did! This casual Italian restaurant is something Spartanburg definitely needed. Katherine and her staff were very attentive! We enjoyed the speciality salad, garlic cheese bread, and lasagna. The lasagna was a perfectly delicious blend of homemade pasta, meat, and cheese. This dining experience motivated me to write my first review! I will definitely be visiting Sophia's again real soon. You should visit them too!

I love Sophia's. The atmosphere is really nice. I had the lobster ravioli on special, and it was lovely

Best pasta in Spartanburg, can't wait for their pizza place to open up, I bet it will come one of my wife's favorite places like this one already is.

When I tell you that you won't find a better Italian spot, I mean it. This quaint little spot had the most exceptional service and food. Both of our meals were brought out promptly and with care. From the moment we stepped in the door, we felt like we were in great hands. When it comes to Italian food in the upstate, this will be the restaurant on the top of my list.

The food and service were excellent. Ella our waitress was very friendly and attentive. The food quality and quantity were good and it was served hot (which my Dad loves). The only reason for 4 stars is the limited beer/ wine offering didn't please my husband who prefers a cocktail. If you like Italian food give Sophias a try!

Amazing place. From the owner to the busser, everyone is laser focused on the guest experience. The place was packed on a Friday night yet we were taken care of perfectly. The food is amazing and the wine list extensive. The only complaint I have is the nosie level....but when every seat is taken, the food and drink are flowing, and the entire staff is hustling to serve everyone, you are not gonna hear the music. Seriously, this is a new go-to spot for us. I highly recommend this wonderful restaurant.

Fabulous addition to downtown. Tonight I had the gnocchi (it was a special) with a beef Bolognese mixed with a bit of Alfredo. It was delicious! Wait staff was kind and very attentive. Will definitely return