Sabrina's Restaurant

If you like authentic, non-chain type yet still great Italian this is a good bet. This one guy Steve does all the cooking and has for years. It's a fairly small place so make a reservation, and bring your own bottle if you drink because they don't have a liquor license. No corking fee or anything. Plan to wait a bit for the food, and entrees at the table will come out at different times, just expect it, it's worth it. Had the caviar to start and salmon with side potato, all awesome, rich and filling. I rarely pass up a shot a dessert and this was one of those times.

I've never been to a restaurant that makes you wait SOOOO LOOOONG for your food. And then the portion size is small for the price. The waitress was nice but kept apologizing for the long wait. When the food arrives, it arrives in spurts. While one hungrily chows down, the others watch. When the second and third get their food, the first person is halfway finished eating while the fourth person watches. When the fourth person gets his food, we're all watching him eat. If this is Sabrina's style, it's uncomfortably wierd. When we ordered coffe, the cups were half full because they were running out! When it was time to pay, we were told their credit card machine was broken. Could it get worse than that? Overall BAD dining experience. I will not go there again, nor recommend it to anyone.

For the 3 hours I waited to get one dish... you could buy your own ingredients and cook it yourself at home for a fraction of the cost. This place is located in a tiny strip off of waialae near a greek place, an indian place, a sushi place and a sweets place. They are rude, they are only amiable towards older white people...so locals, beware, they treat asians like dirt. The food takes forever, and the waitress ignores you whenever you ask for help or try to order. 3 hours is not slow food, it doesn't taste good, you just think it does because you waited so long and are drunk on the wine you brought yourself. Don't go to Sabrina's, They use the excuse that they are "authentic made from scratch italian food the italian way," oh, i didn't know they serve grocery store bread and salad in italy...and mushy gnocci, and have rude fat white american waitresses. For the price you're expected to pay, this restaurant is not worth the risk, the time, or the agony. There are plenty of nice resta... Read more

This is a small restaurant without a liquor license. All items are authentic and home made - it takes time to make. The owners are from Rome and use their traditional recipes - which means, if you know anything about Italian cooking - it's done from scratch. So be prepared to wait- if you want fast food Italian out of a can - go to Buca Di Beppo or Arsenio's. The seafood is excellent as is the lamb dishes when available and the deserts are all home made - cannole & tiramisu are both light and worth the wait. Bring your own wine and enjoy the eventing - I think it's the best authentic Italian food in Honolulu

I have been a reluctant fan of Sabrina's for some time. The warm attitude, simple decor, and straightforward tasty food won me over from the start. Another great bonus...BYOB. The reluctance had to do with the extraordinarily long time it took for my food to arrive. While always worth the wait, I began to plan small snacks before dining at Sabrina's so that I could make it to dinner without the experience of hunger pains. I am writing tonight to inform all those who are listening that the tide has changed. The food continues to be prepared with love, Sabrina greats us and treats us as if we are friends, and the very tasty Italian fare was served in an expedient manner. And you know what...even when I have had to wait, it has always been worth it. My palate is always pleased and where else do you have a friendly hostess who thanks you for being the last table, drinking your wine, and enjoying both food and company to the fullest. Over the past year I have been lucky to share wi... Read more

We've eaten at this place 3 times in the past 4 months-each time the food was superb. You have to undestand there are only 12 tables and 2 servers for those tables. The kitchen has only a few chefs. The paces is gentle (we were 2.5 hours the last time but think Slow Food) But what comes from the kitchen is ambrosia-we had a lobster-gnocchi dish that was the best I have ever had. Ditto with a Piedmont style meat sauce on pasta. Wow! They have no liquor license so it is BYOB. The food is worth waiting for-just take it slow don't be in a rush. By the way, the word is out among the locals. We were there on a Sunday night and every table was full with locals. GO!

I am an advocate and lover of independently owned restaurants, so I decided to give this place a second chance after my first horrible experience in it. It's an Italian restaurant owned and operated by actual Italians for godsake, a rarity in Honolulu. Dean is playing on the stereo, Sophia is adorning the walls, your encouraged to bring your own wine. What's not to love, right? Well, Everything else. The meal begins with chewy lukewarm grocery-store quality bread (served with a tiny bowl of olive oil and balsamic, trend of chain restaurants circa 1995). The service is ridiculously slow: two of my guests reluctantly finished their entrees before the third entree even came out. The third dish contained pancetta, despite the fact we hade told our server we required one vegetarian meal,and had chosen somthing on the menu decribed as meatless. We realized that it was necessarry to order our coffee and dessert while in the middle of eating the entree our vegetarian friend was unable t... Read more

This is a mixed bag. One the one hand, Sabrina's has the best Italian food in Honolulu, hands down. On the other hand, I have eater dinner there 3 times and have never left in under 3 hours. THREE HOURS!!! Sabrina is a very nice woman, but she is the only waitress and thus does all the dining room work herself. This means on a typical weekend night that you might wait 30 min or more before even getting to see the specials menu, an hour before you ever order, 2 hours before the entrees some, and 3 hours by the time you're done and on your way. This is simply unacceptable. I've decided to not go to Sabrina's any more - unless she gets some more help.