Sofia’s At The North End

This review is from 6÷8÷2013.
Now, for the worst eating experience my wife and I had on our honeymoon, we have Sofia’s. The evening we went here was a disastrous one. We walked 2 miles to get to Tautog’s, only to find it was closed on Memorial Day. We then stop at Catch 31 on our way back up the strip, to find out the wait is 45 minutes for a place that looks and sounds like a frat party. No thanks. We had almost decided to just eat leftover pizza until we walk by Sofia’s. The place looked deserted, but we are both big fans of Italian food, so we decided to give it a shot. We awkwardly stood at the hostess table for minute or so, waiting for someone to actually seat us. I saw several employees around the bar right next to the door, but I guess they didn’t want to bother with us. We were seated right in front of the window. There was a party of elderly people in the back of the restaurant, and I believe another table of 3 – 4 people next to them, so it was a nice atmosphere, at least. We ordered the calimari appetizer, I had the crab cakes entrée, my wife had the chicken parmesan.
Our server was probably one of the friendliest we had on our entire trip. However, even though she was friendly, she was also not very professional. Right off the bat, she begins saying negative things about other employees, namely the hostess. She also informed us that the restaurant had lost it’s liquor license for 2 years because another waitress served a minor alcohol, and that «she was being watched closely.» I found these little conversations she was having with us highly unprofessional and uncalled for.
We went to try the complimentary salad bar, which looks like something you would see in a low-​class buffet. The salad wasn’t bad, but the selection was quite small.
Our appetizer came out in a reasonable amount of time, but the calimari was just not very good. It had a very rubbery texture, which I’m sure has something to do with it not being cooked correctly, but I’m not a chef, so I can’t comment on that.
Around this time, some more folks begin trickling into the restaurant. I notice they, too, had to wait around a bit before being seated. After they are finally seated, they are seated directly next to us, in front of the windows. This sort of irritated me, as the restaurant had probably 30 empty tables. The tables in Sofia’s are crammed together closely, so it was sort of uncomfortable to have strangers sitting close enough to smack you in a «fine dining» establishment. I also noticed the staff hovering around the bar either standing there doing nothing or eating… at the bar. That’s a major no-​no in any restaurant, especially one like this.
The entrees came out later. My crab cakes actually weren’t half-​bad. I would even go so far as to call them good. My wife’s chicken parmesan, on the other hand, was not good. The chicken and pasta were both a bit tough and hard. We’re not much on complaining, as we both know what happens when food is sent back.
Soon after this, another table of patrons is seated next to us, once again, in front of the windows, and the table is assigned to our waitress. That table waits around for a few minutes, and another waitress comes to take care of them. Eventually, our waitress came by to attempt to help them and they told her they had already been taken care of. The waitress begins complaining to the customers about how the other waitress has stolen her tables several times that day, and then runs to the bar to complain to what I assume is the manager. Again, highly unprofessional. The waitress and the manager begin arguing right at the bar, no more than 20 feet away from our table.
Going to this place is literally like seeing an episode of Restaurant Impossible in person. The décor is old and dirty. The salad bar is old and dirty. The ceiling tiles and vents are absolutely disgusting. The flooring is old and dirty. I would call the food «okay,» the service pretty good, but the professional demeanor of the employees horrible. I was completely shocked, after all this, to get a bill of more than $ 70. I know that isn’t an extraordinary amount of money for a nice dinner, but I have been in McDonald’s restaurants that were cleaner, more appealing, and more professional than Sofia’s, and that’s just sad. I will never be back to this place. If I could only use two words to describe it? TOURIST TRAP. Avoid like the plague.

The food was okay. they cook everything in soybean oil. I really want to believe that My body could handle the soybean oil and that is what caused the dysentery. In any case, i will not be going back.

We walked in and was surprised that this is one of the best kid friendly places I have ever found. The waitress Rhonda was accommodating one of our sleepy kids by finding a table with a bench. She also put our order in before two large groups to make sure our kids would not have to wait to eat. Rhonda rocks and we loved our experience.

This restaurant was probably the worst that I have ever been to. This tables were outdated and in disrepair, the place was dirty, and the food was God awful. The fried fish platter was terrifying and inedible. The employees are well aware of how awful it is because they don’t even ask you how your meal was. DON’T GO!!!

Listen to the reviews and do not waste your time. We had to go because we had already bought a coupon from Groupon. It looked pretty tempting from the Groupon website so we bought the voucher, but after reading the reviews on Unilocal I instantly regretted it. The décor is dark and uninviting. It’s a huge restaurant but there were only 6 people dining at the time we went for lunch on a Saturday afternoon, which was another warning. I ordered a caesar salad and the shrimp basket with french fries. The caesar salad was served without croutons because they apparently make them by hand and they ran out and I guess whoever makes them ran out too (see pic posted). As far as the entrée, I ordered what I thought would be fairly safe… and it was. The shrimp basket and fries wasn’t bad at all… but that’s the only good thing I really have to say which is why I gave it two stars. The waitress was nice but a lttle ditzy. I think she hadn’t had much practice because it’s apparent they don’t get a lot of service.

We should’ve listened to the other reviewers. The food was not good, at all. Too much salt, pasta way overdone, seafood over seasoned presumably to hide lack of quality. The prices were way too high for the quality. Portions were too large.
The server was exceptionally nice. Everyone there was. It was clear that their normal traffic is tourists. Décor was tired and the elevator music didn’t help. I will not be back.

Sofia’s offers lowest common denominator food, made without soul and banking on the ignorance of the great, unwashed seasonal tourist. An effort of cooking so cack-​handed, so foul, so astoundingly grim you want to congratulate the kitchen on its incompetence.
The crab cakes were gnarly, nasty abominations not fit to be served to a dog in the street. I stared at them, angry. I would have gotten up and left, but they weren’t served to me — I wasn’t that lucky.
My steak arrived, sad and gray, on a plate with a terrible baked potato, a sprig of curly parsley and a week-​old slice of orange. No hint of sear or seasoning, just this sad piece of meat, resplendent in its fat and gristle, swimming in what had to be its own tears.
And how do you mess up a baked potato, you ask? Well, if you’re Sofia’s, you grab a potato with an enormous spot of mold, wrap it in foil and bake it, assuming your patrons won’t un-​wrap the godawful thing.
For the finale, they bring out the single saddest, most pathetic dessert tray that has ever been presented in a restaurant. This is actually a good thing, because you don’t want to stick around Sofia’s any longer than necessary.
On the upside, the place is a filthy sh**hole.

Went here for Christmas lunch with my family. It was buffet style with hot food, a salad bar, 2 soups, meat carving, and dessert table. Not impressed, had turkey, some fried (tiny, probably frozen) shrimp and pieces of fish. Some stuffing, the only vegetable was some sort of mixed concoction that didn’t look appetizing at all. My food was cold by the time I got to the table (not very long).
I’ve heard better reviews, so maybe I was just unlucky.
Only saving grace was the attentive staff and soup. As much as I hate cleaning/​cooking, I think I’ll be volunteering next year.