SaZa Serious Italian

I have been going to Atlanta a lot more recently. It has not been for any particular reason other than wanting to get ou of town for a little while. On this particular trip, my friends decided to head home a little earlier than usual on Sunday. We wanted to stop in Montgomery for dinner. It was something out of the ordinary. Many of the places we wanted to try was closed on Sunday. What kind of sense does that make? I mean it. Isn't Sunday when people typically go out to fancy, smancy dinners?

Anyways, SaZa Serious Italian was on Trip Advisor's top ten places to try in Montgomery so we decided to check it out. My brother and I were still pretty full from lunch so we decided to share an appetizer and an entree.

Prince Edward Mussels ($11)

Mussels are among my favorite things to get at an Italian restaurant. I love dipping bread in the broth. It's usually comprise of white wine, butter and some other goodness. I liked Sa Za's version of the sauce. It was very garlicy and lemony. However, the size of the mussels were pretty sad. It's not something they can help but it was still disappointing.

My brother was dead set on getting the Boneless Short Ribs for $22. I mention the price for a reason. If you notice the name of the dish, there's a "S" on the ribs. We got a single rib. Are you for real? If it was delicious, I wouldn't even be complaining but unfortunately it was not. The rib itself was very soft, almost mushy. It's not the fall off the none goodness either. The veal demi glaze was delicious though. That pink thing you see in the middle of the plate is a Cabernet poached egg. I know the question on your mind: Does it look as unappetizing in person as it does in the picture? The answer is yes, yes it does. I didn't want to judge because looks can be deceiving. I wonder what the chef wanted me to do with it. I took a little bite of the egg white and was like nope, that must not be it.  Then I was like maybe I should bust the yolk and eat it with the rib. It didn't add anything to the rib at all. In fact, I thought it actually detracted from the flavor of the demi glaze. The roasted house potatoes was bland and raw. Come on man! I was so disappointed. I don't understand how Sa Za made it to the top ten places to try.

Chicken Piccata ($19)

I actually wanted to try the Chicken Piccata but I think that would have been only a slightly better option. It has a lot of good flavors but I thought it was too buttery. There's definitely a slip to this pasta. If you don't like that, it's best to stay away. There was a good amount of capers and artichokes, which I liked. If you order this, bring an appetite. This was one big plate of food.

Rigatoni Bolognese ($16)

One of my friends got the Rigatoni Bolognese. The menu describes it as a three meat blend with carrot, onion, celery, sunday sauce, cognac and a touch of cream. Out of all the dishes we had, I think this one was the best. The sauce is stellar. I can taste all of the components and it melded very well together. The rigatoni was cooked perfectly.

Garlic Styx with Parmesan Cream

If you're a carb person, be sure to order the Garlic Styx. It's really good. The bread somewhat reminds me of a pizza crust. There is a ton of garlic on here so daters beware. We got it with the parmesan cream sauce. This stuff rivals my favorite beer cheese, it was so good.

Now, let's talk service. The waiter did not know his menu. He actually had to call someone else over to answer questions. It took longer for us to get our drinks than our food. He did not bring silverware. He did not check on us. When it came time to pay, he actually berated us for being too complicated for wanting separate checks. Are you kidding me? Horrid, I tell you. He is the reason I will never be back to SaZa. There's got to be better places to eat in the Gump.

If you would like to check out the menu, click here.

Side note: In an effort to blog more, I will try the voice-to-text feature on my phone. That means it will be more conversational. Would you guys be OK with that?