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Wed-Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
We have eaten here six times in the past year, and have had an excellent meal each time. Tonight we brought my Italian-born parents and they raved about the food - a very rare compliment for restaurant food. We have gone with our very young kids, and the staff has been very accommodating each time. If this place were down on the peninsula instead of in Arnold, we'd go once a week.
Great food, extremely friendly and pleasant service, and very reasonable prices. Needless to say, we go there as much as possible.
Hands down the best restaurants in Arnold (5 stars for the food relative to the location)...and the busiest! Be sure to call ahead (a couple days even) for a reservation, you'll be glad you did. We sailed in and we seated promptly (feeling slightly bad for those waiting).
The rooms will bring back memories for those who remember the Weather Station- they still have the homey wood-planked walls which gives a really nice intimate feel to the place. Our waitress was friendly and had some great suggestions, but in the end the food sells itself. We ordered the calamari appetizer ($8) on rave reviews from family and friends and weren't disappointed- the squid was well cooked (not overly done) and perfectly crispy.
I ordered the lasagna special after seeing the woman next to me eating it...and wasn't disappointed. The sauce was a little bland but, the idea was simple- bolognese sauce and cheese bring back memories of grandma's fantastic home cooking. The side veggies (perfectly sauted with herbs) were a fresh, delicious addition. We brought our own wine (for a $10 corkage fee, its a deal), but could have easily selected something from their impressively large, primarily local wine menu- the prices were all quite reasonable.
All in all- don't go expecting culinary genius or edgy, trendy ingredients- you won't find them here, but you will find fantastic home-style cooking that leaves you craving more.
We went to Sarafina's before a concert at Ironstone Vineyards. A bit of a drive past Murphys but it was so very worth it.
Sarafina's is definitely a gem of a restaurant, if we lived closer we'd be back quite often.
My husband and I shared the calamari to start and it was fantastic, perfectly cooked. The only complaint was that it was served with tartar sauce. We requested a small dish of marinara and our waitress happily fixed the issue!
I had the involtini, a delicious chicken dish served with potatoes and a delicate vegetable medley. All perfectly done and seasoned well.
My husband, who is a bit picky about certain cheeses and cream sauces had the Sarah's with marinara and a side of the meatballs to share. He thought the pasta was bland and didn't have enough mushrooms and will try the chicken or veal marsala next time.
For dessert the tiramisu was a perfect ending.
From start to finish the service was excellent and we will definitely be back!
Sarafina's is easily one of the best Italian restaurants in the Bay Area. The decor is what you'd expect from a small place in Arnold, the food is what you'd expect from an established restaurant in San Francisco. That said, I would have only given them 4 stars if they were located in S.F.
This weekend was my second time there. We showed up at 7:30 on Saturday to a packed restaurant, with no reservation. The hostess, Jessica, was great. She poured us some wine and shortly accommodated us at a comfortable bar table. Everyone on their staff is very friendly and offers excellent service. We had the calamari, artichoke soup, seafood risotto, chicken parm, and tortellini. Everything was delicious. I have also tried Sara's favorite, which so far is my favorite as well.
They have a great selection of local wines, with barely any mark-up on the price. Tough to drink just one at these prices. On average, I have spent every third weekend in Big Trees for the last 3 or 4 years. Up until now, there has never been reason to leave the cabin for dinner. Sarafina's is now one of my favorite Italian restaurants.
This is hands down one of the best Italian restaurants in the Bay Area. Worth the drive from San Francisco. It's true!
Sara is the owner and chef, and a very very talented one. I ordered the butternut squash ravioli cooked w/basil, raisins and walnuts which was absolutely FANTASTIC. The leftovers which I ate for lunch the next day were even better as the sauce was creamier. My husband had Sara's special which is a heaping plate of pasta with sausage, tomato, and cheese. Oh boy! Prepare to lick your fingers clean.
Everything is just tasty, the pasta has the right consistency, the sauces are made just right (not to thick not too runny). The service is friendly and professional.
To end the meal Sara herself came out and poured us the greatest dessert wine we ever had (Hatcher Winery's Quinn the Eskimo Ice Wine). The best we can come up with to describe is 'ambrosia.' This probably what angels drink. ;-)
Great company, great place, great food!
Really, truly as good as it gets! A little hole in the wall with every cranny filled with tables, an outdoor patio and a bar with room for 3 stools that shares space with the huge inventory of wine and the cash register..People never stopped coming in and we left after 9 p.m. We thought we'd just try to drop in after a day at Lake Alpine since every time we've called the same day, they were booked solid. Well, there was a guy at the bar waiting for his wife to come back from the ladies room and he offered us his seat as well as hers once the creme brulee had been properly consumed! As soon as I came back from said room, I find my husband sitting happily at a small table for 2 by the windows that connect to the patio area (a room with a view)! This also seemed to be the place where everyone came and stood waiting for their reserved table and a constant traffic zone from the kitchen to the outdoor patio....still a 5!
Our waitress, very pleasant, sweet, informative and professional-(her picture is even on this website)! in a room where the calmest person could have been unnerved! She recited the specials and one caught my ear. Upon asking for more information I found out there was sausage in the dish and I'm off pork and beef....then a most amazing thing happened, she asked if I'd like the dish with chicken....well, yes of course. It was a Penne with Pesto and sun dried tomatoes-licked the plate clean! It was very busy remember, well, we were a bit hungry and were sipping our wine while waiting for our entrees when I suggested to Bob we get an appetizer. Our dear waitress came by and when I asked about bread - she apologized and said she'd get some to us just as soon as she had a minute...then, another waitress came to our table, apologized again and told us the bread was, "in the oven", oh my, yum. The bread was to die for as was the pasta. Bob just loved his spaghetti and meat balls. When we pointed out that we had not been charged for 2 glasses of chard, only one, the waitress was so thankful that she did not want to charge us for the biscotti to go! Every time I'm in the Big Trees area from this day forward, it's Sarafina's or nothing at all!
I would give this a 5 but the noise and close quarters inside takes away from a truly remarkable experience. The food here is second to none and the smell when you walk in is savory and enticing! We have had great meals here each time we have visited and would rank it up there with any Bay Area Italian Restaurant.
After visiting Big Trees, we asked the ranger where a good Italian place to eat was and she directed us to Sarafina's. We passed by it earlier but there were no cars - maybe because they open for dinner after 4? Anyways, I ordered the spaghetti w/meatballs - the sauce was good but a little bland, but the meatballs were big & tasty. Our friend ordered fettucine alfredo w/shrimp - the sauce was great but the one I love is the one my husband ordered. It was their special - butternut squash ravioli cooked w/basil, raisins and walnuts. The sauce was creamy and had a hint of sweetness from the raisins. That was the bomb!
I also had an italian sparkling wine that was smooth - it's called prosecco brut made by JEIO. If you are a love sparkling wine or champagne, try it. I normally drink Chandon and this is right up there with it.
The service was great, we sat outside, they played Italian music and everything was made fresh. We noticed a lot of locals came here to dine. I wish they had a Sarafina's in Sacramento.
Sarafina's is owned by Sarah from Lorenzo's in Murphys. It is located in the old Weather's Station building on Highway 4 in Arnold. The food is really good. I always order Sarah's favorite. It is a pasta dish with sausage and cheese in a yummy tomato sauce. Delectable! The waitresses are always really sweet and provide good service. Sarah always makes a point of saying hello to me and my family. Of course it helps that we've known her and her parents forever (locals). She is not only the owner but she is the chef too. The food is made to order so this isn't the place to go if you are in a rush. Just sit back and enjoy being in the mountains.
My wife & I have had some of our best meals at Sarafinas. We learned early on that on the weekend nights you better call a week ahead to get a table. This place is always very busy and we have always had excellent service. The inside is just like a old log cabin. I finally had Sara's favorite and our waitress had recommended the Locke Zin that was an excellent pairing. I would recommend Sarafinas to anyone who is traveling the highway 4 area.
The BEST restaurant in Arnold. The pasta and ingredients are fresh and always just wonderful. We enjoyed the fettucini with a white sauce - very buttery and wonderful flavors. Good local wine list and great service. Make reservations for the weekends as they are usually packed. They moved up to Arnold from Muphys (formerly Lorenzo's) and kept the same menu. Highly recommended.
This is the only place in Arnold where you need to have a reservation to get dinner....it's that popular. It's crowded every weekend since it opened.
A surprisingly great find along that winding, woodsy stretch of HWY 4 on the way to Bear Valley and all the other high country diversions. Sara trained in Italy and her food is solid, comforting, and homemade. The exterior is tough and sloped for the hard winters, the interior is Sierras rustic. Breathe in the clean air on the patio in the summer, or sit in the intimate cabin-like interior when it's cool.
She knows proper pasta textures and saucing, gets surprisingly fresh seafood for a restaurant four hours from the ocean, and I had an osso buco on traditional polenta that was generous in size and flavor, as well as braised to trembling perfection. The wine list is strongly built around the burgeoning local Calaveras wineries, with dozens of local selections. Could this place stay in business in San Francisco? Yes. Especially with its highly attentive all-female waitstaff. (in fact, I think there isn't a man on the payroll aside from the dishwasher!)
It's worth the drive from Angels Camp, it's worth the drive from Sonora, and it's worth the drive from Dodge Ridge, as you won't find Italian food this good in either Tuolumne or Calaveras counties.
This place rocks, from the beginning, to the end. It'a ssoooo good, if we are ever in the area, we live in central Ca., we will go back!!!! The food is the BEST I have had in a long time, and I am Italian, so she knows her stuff!!!!
Arnold, CA
Category: Grocery
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