This was literally the worst Italian food I have ever ate in my life. The service was slow to begin with. The decor looked like 1965 puked all over it. The food tasted like it had a ton of sugar. A majority of the people at this restaurant where elderly also like the decor. I do not recommend this place to anyone.
(1)
Jc M.
I love this place get the T-bone godfather style and get the fried cheese and spaghetti and sauce excellent. One of the Marks family's favorite restaurant
(5)
Sydney L.
This is seriously one of my favorite places. Everybody is so nice, and the food is SO good! I've always gone there with my family and just can't get enough of it. Savutes is open til 10:30 and is pretty close to where we live so it's perfect. Not only that but for the amount of food you get, it's relatively cheap. You can also call in a to-go order which is perfect if we just wanna go back home. I haven't had one thing on the menu that I didn't enjoy. Fettucinni Alfredo with chicken is by far my favorite. Creamy and delicious. Plenty enough food for leftover lunch the next day. Their ranch on their salads is my favorite but I also really like the Italian salad too. They bring you a bread basket filled with white and rye bread along with a generous amount of packaged crackers and breadsticks. Another favorite is their fried chicken which comes out more fresh than any other fried chicken I've ever seen. Crispy and delicious. Take that Colonel Sanders! We've also had the Italian sampler, steaks, and fried ravioli. All of which were just as good. For birthdays, they serve spumoni, Italian ice cream (neopolitan-ish) with a little sauce on top with a sugar cube that they light on fire which is pretty cool. Not a fan of fruity ice cream but everyone else seems to love it. A lot of the older crowd goes in there considering its not the most "hip" place in town, but we love the family ran little hole in the wall. Savutes is the type of restaurant that is around forever for a reason.
(5)
Kim H.
I am got the yelp app just so I could leave a review for this nasty place. I ordered the spaghetti and meatballs. First, the sauce was bad. No flavor, tasted like ketchup from an old tin can with sugar added, no spices, no garlic: blah, bland, and boring. But while disappointing, that's not what was truly awful and nasty about my meal. No, the nasty part was the meatballs. A day later and I still am struggling to get the vile, rotten, nasty, vomity taste out of my mouth. It is hands down the absolute worst thing I have tasted. I almost vomited from trying it. It took me ten minutes of sitting out in the parking before I felt I could drive workout fear of having to pull over so I could vomit. While they did remove the meal from our bill, I feel the need to warn ppl. It's awful. There had to be something wrong with the meatballs to cause that type of reaction to just two bites.
(1)
Bill S.
One word --TERRIBLE How is this place still open It's the worst "Italian" food I've ever eaten -- you can get a better meal in a microwave box from the freezer section
(1)
K S.
I think after many years of frequenting this establishment, they have lost our business for a very long time. My order was a short cut and it was extremely tough and overcooked, I ordered it medium rare, not well done to burnt. When my husband and I saw what we did on the east wall near the register, we both lost our appetite. It was roaches coming from behind the pictures on the wall walking down into an unsuspecting customers coat. The waitress really didn't check on us. We were trying to get someone to let them know what we saw and where we saw it, but they got busy elsewhere and my husband and I had to leave.
(1)
Sam A.
This place is great! It's part of the heritage of wichita and I have been coming here off and on since I was born. No, it's not the most modern restaurant in wichita, but that's what makes it interesting. I am a big proponent of supporting small business in wichita, and Sabines is an iconic exampl. Try the fried ravioli with the spaghetti, you won't be disappointed.
(5)
Stacey D.
Disappointed. I would have rated this 1 star for my meal but my husband enjoyed his meal so I split the rating down the middle. I have heard of Savutes forever and was excited to try it out. I had heard their steaks were excellent and my husband's steak was very good. He said it needed less pepper and more salt but it was cooked properly and was tender. He enjoyed his meal. I should have ordered the steak. I ordered an Italian trio plate and I wasn't impressed in the least. It was lasagna, spaghetti with meatball and chicken cacciatore. The chicken was cooked ok but hard to find under the mountain of cheese and the celery mixture. I know there should be other things on the chicken but it was mostly celery. The spaghetti was bland. The red sauce was lukewarm and the noodles were overcooked and watery. The meatball was pretty good and had a good seared crust on it and good seasoning. The lasagna was sad. It is two pieces of pasta with a little cheese and ground beef crumbled on top and tons of red sauce poured over it. Basically my plate was red sauce and celery. I was really looking forward to a homemade Italian dinner and it tasted like a frozen cheap dinner that I paid $14.00 for. We ordered two appetizers, the toasted ravioli and the spinach artichoke rangoons. The toasted ravioli tasted like it was the frozen kind and the rangoons were ok. Neither one had flavor. The side salad was basic but fresh and crisp. My main complaint was with my Italian entree. Even though the steak was good we won't go back because I felt my dinner was a waste of money.
(3)
Brad S.
"Welcome to the best restaurant in the world." - plaque near the entrance to Savute's Some cuisines have gone through transformations over the past several decades and the current preparation of these dishes are sometimes fairly radically different than where they started. At the same time, there's something nice and comforting about those old ways of doing things, too, perhaps giving hope that there exists a world where both could coexist and please people who are looking for the old or new methods of preparation. Italian is not one of those cuisines. The Italian restaurants of old were about one thing: RED SAUCE, and they poured that SAUCE on everything in sight, drowning whatever protein or pasta that came along with it. In the past fifteen years or so, someone finally took a trip to Italy and discovered that while SAUCE is an important part of many dishes, the true tenant of Italian cooking is in the marriage of simple ingredients, each expertly prepared to showcase the harmony that can be created. The meal began with a boring tossed salad served with a couple of slices of pepperoni and a pepperoncini. It was served with a basket of cold rye bread. I ordered Savute's Supreme Piatto, which turned out to be a trio of spaghetti and meatball, lasagna, and beef (or chicken, but I ordered beef) cacciatore . It should be noted that spaghetti and red sauce is an American invention - in Italy, the thin and longer noodles are typically reserved for lighter fare like oils, cheese, and herbs, where the heavy stew-based red sauces are paired with tubular noodles, which are much better at holding sauce. With that being said, I was served a portion of overcooked spaghetti that was topped with a large helping of SAUCE. At no point were the two introduced before hitting my plate, so trying to force the two to come together was an exercise in futility. I found the meatball to be decent, though a bit bland, consisting of nothing but ground beef and some diced onion. It tasted a bit like a Swedish meatball, actually. The lasagna was a rearrangement of the spaghetti and meatballs, layering the traditional ground beef, SAUCE, and ricotta. At no time did the dish work cohesively as a unit, instead choosing to slip and slide at the mere sight of my fork. The beef cacciatore was interesting if only because it wasn't covered in SAUCE, but instead a very lightly cooked collection of peppers, tomatoes, celery, and onions, all cut entirely too large, and all cooked in some sort of wine-like liquid that made them all too sweet. Everything still had a hearty crunch to it, which I found very unpleasant. When my plate was served to me it had a little Italian flag sticking out of the meatball on top of my spaghetti, serving as a reminder that the meal I was about to eat was intended to be Italian. At no time did I see any attempt to use herbs, not even Parmesan, though I guess if I wanted some spice I could have grabbed the container of garlic salt that are handily located on every table. There are plenty of restaurants that have been around for years, and maintain a very loyal following (families with children and the elderly) that doesn't like things challenged beyond their narrow viewpoint of what their definition of food entails, and in many cases, I can give a restaurant a pass if they still make good food (Cafe Bel Ami and Scotch and Sirloin come to mind). In the case of Savute's, however, their way of doing Italian is something that should have been left in the 1940s where it originated. Just all-around disappointing.
(2)
Matty V.
I'm a fan, based on ambiance alone. The food was average, verging on poor. But, the aeronautical theme is REALLY cool and is unmatched in any other restaurant that I've seen. It's like walking into '50's. It's dark and musty, aircraft seats and flight memorabilia is everywhere. I really hope that Savute's restaurant continues to stay in business because it's an institution. But when I go back, I'll skip the food, and spend my time chatting up the locals at the awesome bar. I'll order drinks that were typical in the '50s, like a sloe gin fizz and a Tom Collins, while I talk to the people that have patronized this place for decades.
(3)
Mike J.
This place is almost 70 years old!! My favorite place in Wichita!
(5)
Ron P.
Savute's. When I hear that I think of years of great meals. I am pushing 60 and my father started bringing us here when I was in grade school. I live in Derby so it is not a close location. I am surprised at some of the negative reviews. I believe in all the years I have been coming here I have had only one disappointing meal. I believe the main cook was out sick that night. I joined the USAf to see the world and I was sent to McConnell here in Wichita. Well that was a plus for some of my fellow airmen as I brought several of them to Savute's. tonight I will be there with my wonderful wife celebrating 35 years of marriage. And of course I will be bringing newbies to Savutes so they can discover what we have known for years. The food is GREAT. We have never had bad service. Now I must be honest I am not much on Italian but I am a steak man and I am already looking forward to my steak tonight. Ron from Derby
(5)
Kris S.
Savute's is one of those Wichita dining establishments that one absolutely must try before earning the distinction, "Wichitan." The decor is aviation themed and borders on tacky but the crowded parking lot is evidence that a lot of people can look past that to focus on the main event: the food. The simple menu features outstanding spaghetti and other Italian favorites, plus steak. Combine this with the fast, friendly service and reasonable prices and it becomes clear why Savute's has been in business for so long.
(4)
Logan J.
This "Italian Ristorante" does offer several Italian dishes, but their steak is probably their best entree. Their Italian food is good, BUT it did not blow me away and I have had better. I ordered "Pete's Delight" which is spaghetti with mushrooms, provolone and a meatball. When my dish arrived it was covered in the melted provolone. The spaghetti and red sauce was mediocre. The steak, on the other hand, was very well thought of by the people I was dining with. A salad and basket of bread is served with each meal. There is also a bar inside, the Stick n Rudder Bar, that is pretty neat. It has many actual airplane seats for people to sit in. There is an airplane theme all throughout the restaurant. Savute's is definitely not the worse place in Wichita, but there are other places I would pick over this place.
(3)
Aunt B.
I was really curious about this place for a long time. I had ideas of gangsters gathering here, Sopranos style. And then I went there. It's certainly . . . odd. And it's dark the way old-school restaurants that haven't had an update in 30 years are. We had to wait for well over half an hour to be seated. The place is always busy and Wichitans speak of it fondly, so I thought the food was going to be good. And I was so wrong. The noodles were overcooked and the marinara tasted like cheap tomato sauce in a can. Will not return. Would not recommend.
(1)
Joe W.
I ordered the Chicken Scallopini, and have been thinking about it since! The bar next door, Stick' n Rudder Club, is cheesy: an airplane theme where you sit in real plane chairs, but its a good time to pop in and check it out. Definitely a place you should check out at least once, its been around for 65+ years.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Matthew K.
This was literally the worst Italian food I have ever ate in my life. The service was slow to begin with. The decor looked like 1965 puked all over it. The food tasted like it had a ton of sugar. A majority of the people at this restaurant where elderly also like the decor. I do not recommend this place to anyone.
(1)Jc M.
I love this place get the T-bone godfather style and get the fried cheese and spaghetti and sauce excellent. One of the Marks family's favorite restaurant
(5)Sydney L.
This is seriously one of my favorite places. Everybody is so nice, and the food is SO good! I've always gone there with my family and just can't get enough of it. Savutes is open til 10:30 and is pretty close to where we live so it's perfect. Not only that but for the amount of food you get, it's relatively cheap. You can also call in a to-go order which is perfect if we just wanna go back home. I haven't had one thing on the menu that I didn't enjoy. Fettucinni Alfredo with chicken is by far my favorite. Creamy and delicious. Plenty enough food for leftover lunch the next day. Their ranch on their salads is my favorite but I also really like the Italian salad too. They bring you a bread basket filled with white and rye bread along with a generous amount of packaged crackers and breadsticks. Another favorite is their fried chicken which comes out more fresh than any other fried chicken I've ever seen. Crispy and delicious. Take that Colonel Sanders! We've also had the Italian sampler, steaks, and fried ravioli. All of which were just as good. For birthdays, they serve spumoni, Italian ice cream (neopolitan-ish) with a little sauce on top with a sugar cube that they light on fire which is pretty cool. Not a fan of fruity ice cream but everyone else seems to love it. A lot of the older crowd goes in there considering its not the most "hip" place in town, but we love the family ran little hole in the wall. Savutes is the type of restaurant that is around forever for a reason.
(5)Kim H.
I am got the yelp app just so I could leave a review for this nasty place. I ordered the spaghetti and meatballs. First, the sauce was bad. No flavor, tasted like ketchup from an old tin can with sugar added, no spices, no garlic: blah, bland, and boring. But while disappointing, that's not what was truly awful and nasty about my meal. No, the nasty part was the meatballs. A day later and I still am struggling to get the vile, rotten, nasty, vomity taste out of my mouth. It is hands down the absolute worst thing I have tasted. I almost vomited from trying it. It took me ten minutes of sitting out in the parking before I felt I could drive workout fear of having to pull over so I could vomit. While they did remove the meal from our bill, I feel the need to warn ppl. It's awful. There had to be something wrong with the meatballs to cause that type of reaction to just two bites.
(1)Bill S.
One word --TERRIBLE How is this place still open It's the worst "Italian" food I've ever eaten -- you can get a better meal in a microwave box from the freezer section
(1)K S.
I think after many years of frequenting this establishment, they have lost our business for a very long time. My order was a short cut and it was extremely tough and overcooked, I ordered it medium rare, not well done to burnt. When my husband and I saw what we did on the east wall near the register, we both lost our appetite. It was roaches coming from behind the pictures on the wall walking down into an unsuspecting customers coat. The waitress really didn't check on us. We were trying to get someone to let them know what we saw and where we saw it, but they got busy elsewhere and my husband and I had to leave.
(1)Sam A.
This place is great! It's part of the heritage of wichita and I have been coming here off and on since I was born. No, it's not the most modern restaurant in wichita, but that's what makes it interesting. I am a big proponent of supporting small business in wichita, and Sabines is an iconic exampl. Try the fried ravioli with the spaghetti, you won't be disappointed.
(5)Stacey D.
Disappointed. I would have rated this 1 star for my meal but my husband enjoyed his meal so I split the rating down the middle. I have heard of Savutes forever and was excited to try it out. I had heard their steaks were excellent and my husband's steak was very good. He said it needed less pepper and more salt but it was cooked properly and was tender. He enjoyed his meal. I should have ordered the steak. I ordered an Italian trio plate and I wasn't impressed in the least. It was lasagna, spaghetti with meatball and chicken cacciatore. The chicken was cooked ok but hard to find under the mountain of cheese and the celery mixture. I know there should be other things on the chicken but it was mostly celery. The spaghetti was bland. The red sauce was lukewarm and the noodles were overcooked and watery. The meatball was pretty good and had a good seared crust on it and good seasoning. The lasagna was sad. It is two pieces of pasta with a little cheese and ground beef crumbled on top and tons of red sauce poured over it. Basically my plate was red sauce and celery. I was really looking forward to a homemade Italian dinner and it tasted like a frozen cheap dinner that I paid $14.00 for. We ordered two appetizers, the toasted ravioli and the spinach artichoke rangoons. The toasted ravioli tasted like it was the frozen kind and the rangoons were ok. Neither one had flavor. The side salad was basic but fresh and crisp. My main complaint was with my Italian entree. Even though the steak was good we won't go back because I felt my dinner was a waste of money.
(3)Brad S.
"Welcome to the best restaurant in the world." - plaque near the entrance to Savute's Some cuisines have gone through transformations over the past several decades and the current preparation of these dishes are sometimes fairly radically different than where they started. At the same time, there's something nice and comforting about those old ways of doing things, too, perhaps giving hope that there exists a world where both could coexist and please people who are looking for the old or new methods of preparation. Italian is not one of those cuisines. The Italian restaurants of old were about one thing: RED SAUCE, and they poured that SAUCE on everything in sight, drowning whatever protein or pasta that came along with it. In the past fifteen years or so, someone finally took a trip to Italy and discovered that while SAUCE is an important part of many dishes, the true tenant of Italian cooking is in the marriage of simple ingredients, each expertly prepared to showcase the harmony that can be created. The meal began with a boring tossed salad served with a couple of slices of pepperoni and a pepperoncini. It was served with a basket of cold rye bread. I ordered Savute's Supreme Piatto, which turned out to be a trio of spaghetti and meatball, lasagna, and beef (or chicken, but I ordered beef) cacciatore . It should be noted that spaghetti and red sauce is an American invention - in Italy, the thin and longer noodles are typically reserved for lighter fare like oils, cheese, and herbs, where the heavy stew-based red sauces are paired with tubular noodles, which are much better at holding sauce. With that being said, I was served a portion of overcooked spaghetti that was topped with a large helping of SAUCE. At no point were the two introduced before hitting my plate, so trying to force the two to come together was an exercise in futility. I found the meatball to be decent, though a bit bland, consisting of nothing but ground beef and some diced onion. It tasted a bit like a Swedish meatball, actually. The lasagna was a rearrangement of the spaghetti and meatballs, layering the traditional ground beef, SAUCE, and ricotta. At no time did the dish work cohesively as a unit, instead choosing to slip and slide at the mere sight of my fork. The beef cacciatore was interesting if only because it wasn't covered in SAUCE, but instead a very lightly cooked collection of peppers, tomatoes, celery, and onions, all cut entirely too large, and all cooked in some sort of wine-like liquid that made them all too sweet. Everything still had a hearty crunch to it, which I found very unpleasant. When my plate was served to me it had a little Italian flag sticking out of the meatball on top of my spaghetti, serving as a reminder that the meal I was about to eat was intended to be Italian. At no time did I see any attempt to use herbs, not even Parmesan, though I guess if I wanted some spice I could have grabbed the container of garlic salt that are handily located on every table. There are plenty of restaurants that have been around for years, and maintain a very loyal following (families with children and the elderly) that doesn't like things challenged beyond their narrow viewpoint of what their definition of food entails, and in many cases, I can give a restaurant a pass if they still make good food (Cafe Bel Ami and Scotch and Sirloin come to mind). In the case of Savute's, however, their way of doing Italian is something that should have been left in the 1940s where it originated. Just all-around disappointing.
(2)Matty V.
I'm a fan, based on ambiance alone. The food was average, verging on poor. But, the aeronautical theme is REALLY cool and is unmatched in any other restaurant that I've seen. It's like walking into '50's. It's dark and musty, aircraft seats and flight memorabilia is everywhere. I really hope that Savute's restaurant continues to stay in business because it's an institution. But when I go back, I'll skip the food, and spend my time chatting up the locals at the awesome bar. I'll order drinks that were typical in the '50s, like a sloe gin fizz and a Tom Collins, while I talk to the people that have patronized this place for decades.
(3)Mike J.
This place is almost 70 years old!! My favorite place in Wichita!
(5)Ron P.
Savute's. When I hear that I think of years of great meals. I am pushing 60 and my father started bringing us here when I was in grade school. I live in Derby so it is not a close location. I am surprised at some of the negative reviews. I believe in all the years I have been coming here I have had only one disappointing meal. I believe the main cook was out sick that night. I joined the USAf to see the world and I was sent to McConnell here in Wichita. Well that was a plus for some of my fellow airmen as I brought several of them to Savute's. tonight I will be there with my wonderful wife celebrating 35 years of marriage. And of course I will be bringing newbies to Savutes so they can discover what we have known for years. The food is GREAT. We have never had bad service. Now I must be honest I am not much on Italian but I am a steak man and I am already looking forward to my steak tonight. Ron from Derby
(5)Kris S.
Savute's is one of those Wichita dining establishments that one absolutely must try before earning the distinction, "Wichitan." The decor is aviation themed and borders on tacky but the crowded parking lot is evidence that a lot of people can look past that to focus on the main event: the food. The simple menu features outstanding spaghetti and other Italian favorites, plus steak. Combine this with the fast, friendly service and reasonable prices and it becomes clear why Savute's has been in business for so long.
(4)Logan J.
This "Italian Ristorante" does offer several Italian dishes, but their steak is probably their best entree. Their Italian food is good, BUT it did not blow me away and I have had better. I ordered "Pete's Delight" which is spaghetti with mushrooms, provolone and a meatball. When my dish arrived it was covered in the melted provolone. The spaghetti and red sauce was mediocre. The steak, on the other hand, was very well thought of by the people I was dining with. A salad and basket of bread is served with each meal. There is also a bar inside, the Stick n Rudder Bar, that is pretty neat. It has many actual airplane seats for people to sit in. There is an airplane theme all throughout the restaurant. Savute's is definitely not the worse place in Wichita, but there are other places I would pick over this place.
(3)Aunt B.
I was really curious about this place for a long time. I had ideas of gangsters gathering here, Sopranos style. And then I went there. It's certainly . . . odd. And it's dark the way old-school restaurants that haven't had an update in 30 years are. We had to wait for well over half an hour to be seated. The place is always busy and Wichitans speak of it fondly, so I thought the food was going to be good. And I was so wrong. The noodles were overcooked and the marinara tasted like cheap tomato sauce in a can. Will not return. Would not recommend.
(1)Joe W.
I ordered the Chicken Scallopini, and have been thinking about it since! The bar next door, Stick' n Rudder Club, is cheesy: an airplane theme where you sit in real plane chairs, but its a good time to pop in and check it out. Definitely a place you should check out at least once, its been around for 65+ years.
(5)