Sal's Italian Kitchen

It was a warm day and we took it upon the recommendation of the running store next door to eat there. As far as Italian restaurants it was okay. It wasn't bad. It wasn't write home to mom great.

They were able to accommodate my request for grilled chicken instead of beef on my pasta and this earns points.
The portions were small and I left hungry so that's a minus.

We had to ask for more bread but they kept our waters full and we were checked on a lot.
The bread basket was good, but when you're carbo loading it wasn't enough.
They split the check upon us asking, another plus.
In the end I would've liked to sit inside rather than out. It was harder to get what we wanted than being inside.
Plus the tables outside don't have the amenities on them as inside.
So yea go there. Sit inside. Expect to be fed the proper American portion rather than the obese American portion.

I love Sal's. The menu won't blow your mind, as it's pretty straightforward, but the food is delicious and will make you feel very, very, fulfilled. The decor is pretty good, not super original, but it's dark, clean, and will suit you well for a date.
The best part though, is how little all this great food will hurt your wallet, so go nuts!

When I made our plans for Portland, I researched all of the places that we wanted to visit, including restaurants. Unfortunately, the restaurant where we planned to have Saturday night dinner did not have a reservation available until 10 PM, which was a bit late for us. I searched on Yelp for an alternate and settled on Sal's and made a reservation.

We were seated right away, the hostess seemed friendly enough as did our waiter. The other reviews are accurate regarding the seating being too close, the tables are pretty tiny.

I ordered the roasted beet salad and was confused when it arrived, it was a salad with a couple of squared slices of beet. I love beets, so I was disappointed! I ordered the chicken fettuccine Alfredo and the dish was pretty tiny compared to every other Italian restaurant I have been too. Since the food was mediocre, I didn't mind the small portion and had plenty leftover that I didn't bother to take home.

This is a strip mall restaurant, nothing fancy, except maybe the wine menu and the lack of paper tablecloths.

Loved it!!
The bread is fantastic and the Balsamic is amazing.
the Portions are not huge but the Quality is worth it.

The good chef must have had the day off. I ordered the shrimp pasta dish. Shrimp, grilled tomatoes, and sauce was good. The angel hair pasta - FAIL. I have never had such overcooked pasta. It was mushy and came as two clumps buried under the shrimp. Did the cook think I wouldn't notice? If an Italian cook cannot cook pasta, then this place has no chance in surviving.

Also the restaurant is riddled with fruit flies which is quite disturbing.

I had their linguini made vegetarian with vegetables, garlic and olive oil, and was disappointed at how bland it was. Could have accepted it if it was at a chain like Olive Garden but this was supposed to be an authentic Italian restaurant.

The tiramisu could have been better, my husbands's eggplant Parmesan came way late and was undercooked
Overall disappointed

My lunch at Sal's, described in a'la stream of consciousness.

Do I seat myself or will someone seat me? Oh, it sounds like that waitress is hollering at me to have a seat. Wow, these tables are so close together i hope no one chooses the one right next to, oh shit too late. If I could hear myself think over the sound of this woman yammering on about her adorable grandchildren I would consider ordering the butternut squash ravioli, house salad and hot chocolate. Ahh, my hot chocolate has arrived, and it is the perfect temperature, however, my ravioli is so sweet I feel like I'm eating dessert. munch munch munch. The pairing of cheese and walnuts, brilliant. I think I'll steal the walnuts off my friends plate as well. I'm ready to leave, where is my that guy who appears to be the only waiter in the place? Oh, he is the only waiter here. Kudos to him for being on his game and charming to boot.

To summarize. When i heard the name "Sal's Famous Italian Kitchen" I thought, "checkered tableclothes and giant plates of spagetti. And a fat chef named Sal!" What I got? A gussied up strip mall restaurant.

My wife and I went there with another couple and were kind of disappointed. My wife's vegetarian pasta was almost tasteless and my eggplant Parmesan was undercooked, perhaps they had sliced the eggplant too thick.
The beet salad was decent and flavorful
The tiramisu could have been more fluffy and less cake like.
I had gone with great expectations and was disappointed :(

Girlfriend and I went to Sal's last night and it wasn't bad. As we sat down we made an interesting observation, keep reading you'll know what it is!

This is how the crowd looked and seated that night.

Couple1 Couple2 Couple3

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Couple4 Couple5 Couple6

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Couple1 : Early 30s (Us) Couple2: Gay couple in their late 30s (Not that anything wrong with that)
Couple3: In their 40s Couple4: Businessmen in their 50s
Couple5: In their late 50s Couple6: In their early sixties

You probably know where I am going with this, it seemed as if we were seated based on age!!:)
Enough with the silly observation, lets talk about the food.

We tried their Penne with sausage and Chicken caccitore (special).

Penne:
Cooked al-dente, good sausage and sauce had a nice kick. Overall a good pasta dish but nothing to rave about.

Caccitore:
Chicken thighs braised in a tomatoe, mushroom sauce and served over couscous. Chicken was good but the couscous good have used more seasoning.

My rating for taste: 3.5 Value for $: 4.0

Very clean place. Uptown and upscale. Perfectly attentive and friendly staff. We ordered the sal's burger medium rare. The thing was absolutely delicious and cooked perfectly! Fresh and juicy, it came out hot and aromatic. The fries are very thin shoe string, crispy and perfectly cooked. We also ordered the Cesar salad. That was nicely done but it could have used a hint more lemon, or perhaps a fresh lemon garnish. We also ordered the butternut squash ravioli plate. It was very small, but was easy to share. The flavor inside the pasta was bursting and each bite melted in my mouth. Gorgonzola, and a candied walnut made it seem like a savory piece of pie. Our server was helpful and attentive. We will be back next time we are in uptown downtown NW Ptown.