Scarpas 2

Pizza, salad and beer, what a great combination. Scarpa servers up an abundant array of pies but my absolute favorite is their carne pizza. Once I tried their spaghetti but I wouldn’t recommend that so let’s just stick to the pizza. As a side note, I found rather odd that their baby changing table was in the hallway area rather than in the men and women’s bathroom themselves. Perhaps that area is used as the changing area but there were no sinks unless you went inside the restrooms. Very Strange.

I’m surprised to see so many 1 – 3 star ratings. This is a staple for my family — we eat here on average a few times a month and have never been disappointed.
Salads are always fresh and crisp. Occasionally the balsamic vinaigrette is more oil than vinegar so I always ask for a side of just vinegar even when I order takeout. The only thing I consistently don’t care for is the bread. I prefer a hard crust and soft interior; Scarpas can be dry at times so I skip the bread and it’s a non-​issue for me.
I’ve always enjoyed the pizza and the pesto pasta. The dessert is good; I’d like to see more options, but the one that’s there is excellent so I have no complaints.

What a horrible experience tonight. I took my two kids out for dinner because it’s been a long week and thinking about even making pancakes for dinner tonight was overwhelming… We should have stayed home and had pancakes, it would have been much better.
We got there early to catch the start of the dinner rush so we wouldn’t have long waits… Didn’t help much. We waited a good while for anyone to even notice we were there, were seated in a high traffic location (though the place was barely ¹⁄₃ full), waited 15 mins for our server to show up, which in that time we realize we had not been given children’s menus. When our server finally arrived we gave our drink orders and asked for children’s menus, or server took two more tables worth of drink orders, filled them, dropped ours off and I again asked for children’s menus, then he dropped off the drinks to the other tables and he took their meal orders. While he was taking their meal orders I get up and ask the hostess for children’s menus and she tells me they are out so I ask her if she could please ask her manager for more and she says she will… Really!!! I have to put two and two together for you? Our server realizes I am doing his job so he gets on the hostess about making sure we get menus… What a hero! Oh, he also screws up our drinks and we have to wait for all of the above to happen to get that fixed. We finally order — three meals and an appetizer… They eventually bring out two meals, 5 mins later the appetizer, 5 mins after that the final meal.
The food… Was not good. I had the red Chile cream pasta. The pasta was under cooked, the plate had red chile powder around the edge as garnish and just made a mess and made things look dirty and got all over the place. The flavor was odd and not in a good way. The chicken and shrimp were both pretty good, lots of chicken but only two shrimp.
The child’s pasta with meatballs was horrible. The meatballs were flavorless, fell apart into mush, and the sauce was more like tomato paste with way too much salt. The pasta was also under cooked.
The pizza was the best part of the meal, which says very little. My son seemed to like it but it was only OK.
The garlic bread appetizer… The bread was completely soft, no crunchy crust, and wasn’t toasted like we were told it was going to be. Nope, not doing that again.
Never again will we go back. So many better places in town to go. Not worth the money or calories!

The service was good, but I ordered the Pollo Salad. It was a pretty presentation, and the greens were fresh. However, the dressing had no balance; oily, no flavor. The chicken was cold and very dry. 3 – 4 stars for ambience and service. 1 for food.

Green chili chicken Alfredo for $ 12.50 had 3 thin slices of chicken in it… not worth the $$$ Same for the El Pollo salad. Margins must be excellent. Stop being cheap and give the consumer what they pay for.

If there is one place I miss for Food in ABQ, it would be Scarpas. While the service is so so. The Food is Fantastic. The menu has lots of offerings worthy of 1^st dates with no regrets. The service is what one would expect but when you compare it to the quality of food the kitchen puts out one might wonder why the help isn’t more proud of the hard work of there coworkers.

Great food. Great service. Love going on a nice lunch date with my husband. We always order the asparagus soup and it’s delicious. My favorite is there ceased salad pizza and he loves there enchiladas pizza. Definitely recommend to everyone

I ate here with my wife 11 months ago. I had shrimp pasta, it was okay but kind of pricy. My wife had a pizza with no sauce, they compensated with too much gatlic. The pizza was not so good. It looks nice but the best part was the free candies by the door.

I had not been to this place in years and I am not even sure why. Tried it again last night and was pleasantly surprised. I had the half size of antipasto salad and it was enormous. Good selection of wines and beer. The son had pasta and loved it. Good service and if you have kids, this is a family-​friendly place where you can still get a decent salad or Italian food with a drink.

I remember all the hope when scarpas opened in the early 90s and my friends and I were ready for a new flavor. Now 20ish years later same old boring food. Lifeless noodles. Sauces that have no taste. The salads and wine must be how this place stays open. These guys have the art of keeping their food costs really low down to a science and it comes through in the taste. Wild mushroom pizza was farmed shitake that had been overcooked. The linguine was limp and the Alfredo sauce was watery. I don’t know how this place makes it but there are 5 star reviews here so it must be that they are cheap.

I read a very favorable review of their salads, so I had high expectations. Sadly, i was let down. $ 18 for a salad and glass of wine. I wouldn’t recommend it to a friend. Next time I’ll drive 10 minutes farther to Zio’s. They have better food.

My friend and I came here and had a wonderful experience. Melinda was such s sweet waitress. The pizza was phenomenal. My friend really enjoyed the mocha chocolate chip ice cream! The staff is always kind and food is always fresh! Will be coming back!

Very quiet and laid back in off hours in the afternoon. Good and friendly service. Food came quick and was delicious. Decent wine selection. Will definitely be back!

Used to be a favorite of Scarpas and I have to say I won’t be back… first of all, their spoons and forks have such sharp edges I was afraid to cut my mouth, a nice restaurant should invest in better cutlery!
We tried 3 different pizzas and they were all slightly off, and the crusts were incredibly salty. The desert (torte-​de-​mele) seemed overly sugared and even the caramel tasted burnt.
On top of the sub-​par food, we had a terrible waitress that was constantly injecting her hands millimeters from our heads, she was silent and awkward, and always making us super uncomfortable carting way too many drinks and plates around. I was incredibly nervous that she was going to punch someone in the face or smash a stack of dishware.
(Please Scarpas managers, watch your servers and help them improve!)
EDIT: We couldn’t resist trying again, this time with a group of 2 instead of 10, and we had an acceptable server. The Santa Fe pizza and minestrone soup were both pretty bad… I hope we remember not to go back in the future!!!

They get 5 stars because of customer service but their food is good too. My favorite dishes are the chile Alfredo and a Greek style salad served with lemon.
There is an old style feel about their service. They catered several of our meetings. Because they know us, they trust us to pay later. Most restaurants want payment before they deliver food. Of course we pay our bill promptly.
I expected them to bring food in aluminum pans for one of our meetings. They brought food in steel pans, hot plate, white linen, sturdy plates and silverware! They delivered, set up the food, and picked everything up without me knowing. The GM and manager are just wonderful. They have such attention to detail and they care. A rarity these days.

I used to love Scarpas. I’ve gone there since they opened, however three years ago I was diagnosed with Celiac disease (meaning I can’t eat gluten). The first time I went there and asked if they had a gluten-​free menu, the server took the menu out of my hands, said «we don’t have anything you can eat» and walked away never to return. I was so humiliated I just left without asking to speak to the manager (which was my mistake). I did however call and ask for a manager that night but was told there was no one available. I then sent a message via the restaurant website and received no reply.
Then last month a friend wanted to go to Scarpas and I saw that they now serve GF pizza and pasta. I ordered the BBQ chicken pizza which I used to LOVE and it was delicious (although very oniony and missing the sweet sauce I liked so much). When the check came I saw that there was not the usual up-​charge for gluten-​free and though… uh-oh…no wonder it was delicious. Our server had long since vanished and no one had come to our table for 30 minutes, but I flagged down a very nice manager who verified that indeed — the chef had not made any gluten-​free pizzas that day. «Sorry, SO sorry, here’s a coupon for a free pizza next time», but no they could not refund the $ 20 I had already paid for the privilege of being poisoned. The manager took my name/​number and promised to have the owner call me, which of course never happened.
I definitely appreciate the difficulty of catering to food allergies and preferences, but once you say you’re serving something safe then the customer should have some confidence that is indeed being done. The price I paid for the pizza I ate was a searing 2-​day headache, «intestinal difficulties» and general malaise requiring me to stay home from work for two days.
I probably won’t be using my free pizza coupon.

I love scarpas! I’ve never had a bad dish. The house salad is my favorite. The pizza and pasta have never been a disappointment. I do wish they had more beers on tap but that won’t stop me from coming back.

Shout-​out to my greens huntin’ fiends: looking for a good salad? Find oodles at Scarpas. Looking for something other than salads? Peruse other reviews.
As stated in a previous writing about Vinaigrette, great greens are exceptionally difficult to find in the 505. Scarpas remains an enormous exception. Creative, artisanal and bright, the bowls of lettuce served up in these environs truly satiate, I fuckin’ love ‘em. All ten of ‘em. The Al Arancia, Caprese, Spinaci, Antipasta, marinated chicken (not a top fave), Di Pollo, Bacon & Bleu, let’s just say I’ve surveyed the gamut. Salad salvation. Manly portions. This is my go-​to when I’m in the Heights and I want something light, filling and (semi) healthy. (What, bacon isn’t a SuperFood?)
The place has never let me down. When I worked nearby, my to-​go order was always on-​point, and the same has been true during the last few visits. As of this writing, don’t trust the wi-​fi, it’s wonky. As far as the pasta and pizza options go, the plates look great but honestly, I doubt I’ll ever get around to them. The piles of greens are fantastic. Good service. They can get slammed over the lunch hour, it happens. If you’re a fellow lettuce fan, prepare for salvation.

The service is hit or miss but the food is fantastic. I have a big family so we just order about 6 dishes and share. My kids love the B.L.T pizza and the Southwest Chicken Salad.
And you absolutely have to get dessert. They only have two, they are exactly the same with different ice cream. One is a Moca and one is a cinnamon. Both excellent. Even if you don’t eat dessert, you’ll love this.
The bread and the pasta are best in town as well. Enjoy!

One of my favorite places in Albuquerque to visit when I go back. I LOVE their bread w/​garlic butter. It comes with most dishes and it’s so good. I’ve been coming here for years and there is rarely a long wait, if any. It’s a great place to grab a quick lunch. The service is friendly. Most recently I had the caprese salad and minestrone soup. The minestrone soup has always been a favorite of mine. The broth is really flavorful and I really like the little spaghetti noodles which is different than most minestrones. The caprese salad was pretty standard. Nothing special, but still tasty. The pizzas are all good sizes and it’s difficult for me to even get close to finishing it. I am a fan of the margherita pizza. I’d definitely return when I’m back in town.