Spataro Restaurant & Bar

Spataro has my favorite happy hour in Sacramento. I have never eaten there for dinner but I have been a million times for their awesomely priced happy hour.
They have awesome service, tasty food and a great patio. Not a lot of vegetarian options on the happy hour menu, but they are very accommodating.
Great atmosphere, great beverages!

Great spot for a holiday party! The restaurant/​bar is divided into two sections… and the bar area is huge! They blocked off half of the bar for our party and had a large room off to the side for hors d’oeuvres and check in. The bartenders very very attentive and the food was delicious! I cant wait to try this restaurant on my own for dinner or happy hour and would highly recommend it if you want to go somewhere fun and trendy. The valet even offered to come over to Cafeteria (we went over there for dinner) to let us know when he was leaving so we could pick up our car at the absolute latest time, amazing!
Perks:
Valet
Coat Check
Attentive Staff
Big bar with affordable cocktails
Atmosphere
Great for group parties (we had 70 people)
Centrally located next to other great restaurants, night spots and the theater!

Went here for happy hour, and if you are looking for a classy happy hour spot, then this is a good choice for you! I almost felt a little under-​dressed, but then again I was there on the Friday before Xmas and the Nutcracker was playing nearby too. so ya…
But their happy hour deals are okay – $ 3 bud and bud light in bottle, $ 4 perroni, $ 5 mixed well drinks, $ 10 for half carafe of certain wines… and they have these $ 6 pizzas I kept seeing coming out from the kitchen and I really wish I had ordered one of those, because they looked pretty tasty and were decent in size too for being $ 6. But I was a little shocked at no beers on tap, and $ 5 for a well drink is not the best deal in the world either, but I did say this was a classy happy hour, AKA not a happy hour with deals for the record books or deals that will make grad students on stipends extra pumped heh
It is a lovely environment though, and makes you feel upscale while you sip on your bottled beers, and they have valet for $ 7 you add to your bill too.

I’ve only been here for happy hour, and they have a great selection of both food and beverage to take your mind off a busy work day.
The service was really slow though. The bartender was also our waiter, which is fine, except there were only two other tables in the entire bar area. They also wouldn’t split our bill in half, which was necessary in this case because I needed a receipt for work. Even after explaining it to the manager, they still wouldn’t split the bill for us. Kind of unusual in the age of everyone using credit cards these days.
Would I come here again, yes. But only if I’m not in any hurry, and don’t need a receipt.

My friend found this place online and wanted to give it a try after a bad experience at Esquire Grill which we didn’t know that it’s their sister company. We made a reservation online which was very easy and I highly recommended if you’re going to attend an event.
We arrived a few minutes before our reservation time and got seated right away. The ambiance is great and modern. The service we got was excellent. I guess because it wasn’t that busy yet so we got all the attention. lol! The food was flavorful… my friend who’s kinda picky when it comes to food gave his food an A+ and I gave mine an A-​.
Overall, I’ll give this place an A–

Eight of us dined there after the Cosmo on Saturday. Spataro’s doesn’t open until 5 PM, so we stayed at the bar next to the Cosmo and had drinks there until Spataro’s opened. Hint: Restaurants make their money on alcohol and deserts! At least open the bar early so theater goers can have a drink. The eight of us would have more than payed a bartenders salary for that hour!
Service was very good. Appetizer of mussels and shrimp was excellent. Linquini and clams entrée was equally as good. Very pleasant dining experience.

After having a couple of drinks at the lovely Porch, we made our way to Spataro. We arrived around 5:30pm on a Saturday and sat at the bar. We really liked the feel of the place – good jazz playing softly and a mid-​sixties feel to the décor. Since we were the only people there other than the valet guy and the bartender, it felt a little funny… like we’d arrived an hour before the place opened (which we hadn’t). The bartender was very VERY busy prepping for what he told us was going to be a slow evening. So busy that he never came back to us to see if we wanted appetizers (we were going to order almonds but didn’t get the chance), or how our drinks were (I was not a fan of mine and would have ordered something else).
In the end, we finished our drinks, visited the bathrooms, and quickly moved on.
We agree we’d like to try the restaurant because we are fans of the décor.
**It’s worth mentioning we were dressed to the nines and it was obvious to everyone else we saw that night that we were out for a special event.

Came here on Saturday with a few friends for my birthday dinner and had a wonderful time. Our server, Keith, acknowledged that we wanted a slow-​paced dinner and timed all of our courses appropriately.
While the restaurant didn’t pick up until close to 7pm, it didn’t matter once we started our first course. The food here is phenomenal. I highly recommend the gnocchi appetizer, which are incredibly light and fluffy, as well as the caesar salad, pork shoulder, and salted caramel tart. The five of us did family style (2 apps, 2 salads, 3 entrees) and shared everything – it worked out great because we all got to try a bunch of different flavors. Will definitely be back!

I’ve been to Spataro a few dozen times over the years, and have had lunch here once a month for the past two years. It’s not my choice to go here; friends of mine find the location to be convenient.
The food is fine. It’s not memorable and it’s not awful. The portions are on the small side for the prices charged. The menu has hardly changed as long as I can remember.
The service is friendly but incredibly slow. Food comes out at different times and I’ve been told, on more than one occasion, that they were all out of the dish I had selected 20 minutes after my order was taken. It takes forever for drinks to be refilled and for the server to bring the check. Last week, the server profusely apologized because «We’re so swamped today! Everyone came in at once!» Yes, you’re swamped because it’s the lunch hour and people come to eat lunch. Perhaps the restaurant should have more than 2 or 3 servers working during lunch!

Very good traditional italian but nice modern décor restaurant. The bar has its own spacious room with tables for drinks and snacks. Restaurant area is booth and tables withvery friendly waiters. The restaurant is right behind the sheraton grand great walking distance along the park a very nice stroll.
The seafood linguine and other long skinny pastas are refreshingly good. The salmon is fresh and creepy in July. The sauces are a perfect balance of flavor and mildness, nothing too saltyy. The prosciutto with honey comb and cheese blew us awat. The flavor was amazing.
3 people 3 entries and 1I large appetizer with left overs for home plus one champagne st germain ginger cocktail just 80to bucks. Deal

Dinner pre-​bachelorette festivities. I gave in to my weakness of carbs and I ordered the Pappardelle con Bolognese ($ 16; Fresh Hand Cut pasta, beef, pork and porcini ragu, Parmesan) with a side of grilled asparagus for good measure. I finished my entire plate of pasta… despite my pre-​wedding, size 0 bridesmaid dress diet.
I wasn’t able to resist the bread, but did forego dessert. I sat there as one girl poured espresso over her ice cream. Later that night, I downed several glasses of champagne to make up for that regretful self-​depravation.

I took a group of 8 coworkers here last night when we arrived in town for business. The food was good and our server was very knowledgeable (although at times he disappeared for extended periods of time.)
The two stars are for SLOW SLOW SLOW service!
Although we weren’t running the stop watch, we ordered before the restaurant filled and got our food well over an hour after we ordered. It so happens with the restaurant set up, we could clearly see the kitchen for the hour we waited with great hunger and watched as the cooks cleaned, and drank, and joked. Finally, when the food finally arrived, one person’s order «was missed, ti will be out in just a couple minutes.» It did come out quickly after, however it makes you wonder why the order took so long to be caught up in just a couple of minutes. There were couples that came, drank, ate and left while we waited for our entrees. By the time we were served and done eating, there were only about 2 tables left in the restaurant.
My second beer took about 15 minutes from order to serving.

This is a review of the bar area only. Happy hour is pretty good here. You can get some tasty food and drinks at reasonable prices. It’s not just well drinks and Coors Light either.
I like the ambiance of this place on a cold night. It feels inviting and cozy, like a really modern living room. The bar staff was very friendly and prompt. During the week, the place is almost empty at happy hour, so if you are looking for a quiet place for a relaxing date, this might be a good choice.

Dine Out Downtown is an annual event that gives people an excuse to try out a restaurant that they haven’t been to before.
This year, coworkers and I decided to try out Spataro, a place that has ben around for several years, but none of us had ever dined there, yet.
The options for the event menu were:
3 choices for each course as follows:
1^st course — choice of either
argula/​fennel salad
bean soup
nocchi (potatoe dumplings)
2^nd course — choice of either
braised beef on polenta w/​mushrooms, veges
canneloni — stuffed with squash/​mushrooms
panceta wrapped cod w/​veggies
dessert — choice of either
almond cake
crepes
chocolate cake
I opted for the arugula salad, braised beef on polenta, and the chocolate cake.
One of my dining companions ordered the gnocchi, prosciutto wrapped cod, & chocolate cake.
The third member of our group had the soup, beef, and crêpe dessert.
The arugula salad came with slices of blood oranges and paper-​thin slices of fennel bulb. It was light, delicate, and a nice entry to the meal.
I chose a glass of the Negroamaro (Leone Castris, Maiana, Salice Salentino ’08) to accompany my entrée. The Negroamaro is a red Italian varietal from the Puglia region. It was a beautiful dark red color and slightly bitter, but in a very good way!
It paired quite well with the braised beef served on a bed of polenta with turnips and carrots arranged next to it. The beef was tender-​braised with plenty of moisture still in it. The texture was perfect and the meat itself was flavorful and good.
The chocolate cake was okay. We traded bites of dessert around. I was glad that I had the chocolate instead of the crepes. I tend to favor the savory deserts over the sweet-​sweet ones. The crepes came with Nutella stuffed in them.)
The service at Spataro’s was exemplary. I’d arrived a bit earlier than my dining companions, and the server was cool about waiting to take our orders until we were all present. He brought out a generous portion of bread for dipping into olive oil and balsalmic vinegar. He was also helpful when I was puzzling out which wine to select. and let me taste a small amount of the wine that I was curious about.
The pacing of the service was great and I wouldn’t change any of it.
At the end of the meal, there was a bit of friendly interaction at the desk while we waited for the valet to retrieve my friend’s car.
It’s not often that a restaurant strives (and achieves) to put their customers at ease from the moment you enter the door until the moment you exit.
Big kudos to the staff and management of Spataro’s!
They’ve got a very satisfied new customer.

My new favorite restaurant in town by a mile. Have a luxurious meal at a reasonable price next time you want a fancy dining experience.
I have no idea why this place isn’t busier on a Saturday night, but maybe because we are out of session or something. I came here with my parents who were visiting from out of town and we didn’t need the reservations I made.
The service was attentive but not rushed, but our server probably could have had one less table to deal with. We didn’t have to wait long for our main dishes, as expected with a slower night. The décor, as Alex notes below, is dim, deep, and I’d add sexy, in an art deco-​esque motif. Great for date night.
The food was fantastic, really great flavors and textures with complementing contrasts. I had the chicken which was well cooked and had an outstanding salsa with farro and tomatoes that I couldn’t put down. The side of potatoes was a sorely-​needed starch with a salty crunch. My mom had the salmon and really liked the salsa it came with. She is taking the recipe to alter a similar salsa she makes, it was so good. I loved the lentils that came with her meal, they were so rich it seemed meaty. My dad’s seafood linguini really hit the spot, and he is pretty critical of this dish usually. Lots of shellfish.
Overall, we really enjoyed our evening at Spataro and will definitely be back sometime soon. Go for a reasonably priced high-​end meal.

I picked this place to do happy hour since it’s from 3 – 6:30 (M-​F). The prices range from $ 3– $ 5. Once you see the portion sizes you know why it’s cheap. The portions are super small. I thought I ordered from the kid’s menu. You need to order at least 3 dishes to fill you up. It may make more sense to order a regular entrée.
Lemon Drop– It was the only cocktail available. I love the sugar on the rim!
Margherita Pizza– San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, virgin olive oil. It lacked flavor and had too much tomato sauce. 6 small slices.
Fritto Misto– Mixed Fry of Monterey Bay squid, jalapenos, chickpeas, lemon, garlic mayonnaise. The squid were small. I liked the crispy chickpeas.
Crostini– toasted bread, avocado, prosciutto. Love it! Simple but delicious! 4 pieces.
Meatball Sliders– provolone, tomato sauce. Two meatballs on each of the 2 sliders. I didn’t try it, so I’m not sure how they taste.
Antipasti– artisan salami (3 pieces), imported cheese (2 pieces), olives (4), crostini (4 peices). Yes, I can count. Itty bitty!
Off the regular menu I tried the Bruschetta– Grilled, garlic rubbed bread, smashed English peas, smoked prosciutto, mint. No tomatoes. It tasted healthy. 3 pieces.
I really like the inside of the place. Nice atmosphere. Spacious.

Ever wonder where Don Draper would kick it if he were hanging around downtown Sac? Spataro. Although modern in both menu and atmosphere, Spataro still maintains that loungy, ‘50s vibe. It’s dim, deep, and an easy place for a couple or single ad agency executive to disappear in.
Like all the Paragary restaurants (Paragary’s, Café Bernardo, Centro), the meals are high quality and flavorful — perhaps here more than anywhere else. An elegant bar and patio area sits just around the corner from the restaurant in case you want to order up an old fashioned, rusty nail, or whatever other drink puts you in the old school vibe.
This is also a great place for an upscale gathering. I threw a surprise birthday party for my girlfriend here and the events coordinator was more than accommodating.

Happy Hour Review —
We had a gift card, and so decided to hit up Spataro’s Happy hour. Walked in in our jeans and t-​shirts, and were a little awkward, as this is a pretty swanky place. Tell the hostess we just want happy hour, and she directs us into the bar/​lounge area. It’s nice, big windows, spacious. Good background music, low conversation.
The happy hour menu is actually pretty decent, with $ 3, $ 4, and $ 5 appetizer and drink options. We get the parmesan fries, antipasti, and frito misto (calamari mostly). Their happy hour drinks are mostly wine, and I think I saw one cocktail? We opted for the $ 3 chardonnay.
The portions were good — I didn’t have dinner after having the fries and sharing the antipasti. I will say though, the fries were basically just normal fries — nothing special, and not very parmesany. The antipasti was a few slices of salami, a few olives, 2 slices of cheese, and a couple slices of baguette.
When we paid with a gift card, our waiter seemed offended. He had politely served us for the most part, but on returning the check after payment, didn’t even acknowledge us and threw the folder onto the table. Snobby much?
All in all, it was a decent experience. I don’t know that I’d make a special trip for it, but if I was in the neighborhood, I’d stop by again.

Valentine’s Day Dinner Review!
So for the first time, I decided to pick the Valentine’s Day dinner location and treat my husband to a nice meal. Unfortunately, I didn’t plan early enough. I thought a week out was plenty of time, but everywhere I knew to call was booked. Lucky for me, Unilocal led me to Spataro.
I was a little nervous walking in — would it be romantic — would it be tasty — or would the crowd be all legislative suits? My qualms melted as I was led to our table — the dark, contemporary look to the place, the open kitchen, the diverse (age/​race) clientele, the friendly waiter, even the free coat check. Everything about the place enhanced my mood.
I didn’t look much at the regular menu since they had a V-​day prix fixe, but judging from their set menu, I’d say they definitely know what they’re doing in the kitchen. I had a blood orange salad that was sooo good. My husband was jealous of my salad (but he snagged plenty of bites). Main course was rockfish — pretty good with great sides (although I did find one overlooked fish bone). I chose the wrong dessert (fancified donuts are, in the end, just fried dough), but my husband’s hazelnut cake was decadent and yet not heavy. Pure perfection.
It was a special evening, so maybe they were at their best, but except for a few missteps (fish bones — no one was there to give us our coats at the end of the evening — my husband’s app was disappointing — extremely small and its flavor was one-​note) they were quality. I would definitely return to see about their regular menu. RECOMMEND.

The husband decided to take me here for our Valentine’s Dinner a few days ago. I had no idea what to expect and he just followed my terms of «no mainland Asian food» and «no American food» please. We had reservations around 6:30. We had no clue where to park since neither of us knew where we were going in downtown Sac. The husband is from the burbs of Sac so we followed the directions on my phone and got here just fine. Valet was waiting for us outside the restaurant.
So my first impression of this place is wonderful. The service is EXCELLENT. We always had bread and our water glasses were never empty. Since this place is sort of Italian-​y, they give us olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Loving the balsamic sourness, I ask for more and they gladly oblige.
The reason for only three stars? Other than it being wonderful service, I don’t really remember much of the food. I know I had the prix fixe menu of beets, lobster risottto, and a panna cotta. Nothing was outstanding or spectacular. I tried the bruschetta with the husband but I prefer the normal one with tomatoes and lots of garlic. Nothing aganist theirs but it was sort of bland.
Food looked great and the wait staff was on par for a five star restaurant but it just didn’t stand out enough in my mind to deserve more than three stars. Maybe I needed to get drunk to enjoy the food more since they supposedly sported an awesome wine bar but having a baby in the belly made me pass.