I wrote my first Italian food review eons ago while I was having a vacation in Cebu City, it was my first Italian Dining in Sbarro at Ayala Mall.
But first let me introduce you how Sbarro started. According to wikipedia, Sbarro is a chain of pizza restaurant that specializes in traditional Italian cuisine, including its most popular menu item “pizza by the slice.” Its headquarters located in Melville, Huntington, New York.
Chicago Deep Dish, mozzarella, meatballs, ham, pork, sausage, pepperoni, romano cheese – Php 172.00 – The mightiest stuffed pizza of them all.
Sbarro was founded by Gennaro and Carmela Sbarro. The couple and their three sons, Joseph, Mario, and Anthony immigrated to America from Naples, Italy, in 1956 with help from the Padovani family, who took them in. They gave Gennaro employment in their deli. The same year, the Sbarro family opened their first Salumeria (an Italian grocery store) at 1701 65th Street and 17th Avenue in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York, which became popular for its fresh food and genuine Italian fare. Their Sbarro Italian Delicatessen in Brooklyn was well received by the local community and was the first of a successful chain.
The Sbarro SM Davao branch was easily swarmed on that day – March 17, 2012, the experience was like a traffic jam, bumper to bumper distance considering the influx of people lining up to get a taste of their food on display – ready to eat – rte, if it were compared to a clothes it would be called rtw or ready to wear, impromptu.
Half Spaghetti with Meatball, special recipe, meat sauce, includes garlic bread – Php 104.00 – My personal favorite, I think..
The entrance from where I was sitting is narrow I could not imagine people passing by, got bumped and snagged a few times, So I have to change position, but managed to eat well, I was able to enjoy my meal.. hehehe…
Credits:
Sbarro Philippines
Sbarro Worldwide
Sbarro Facebook Philippines
Love their portions!
Oh, I need to be here next week!
I <3 Sbarro and missed it when I relocated back to Davao. However this did not make our reunion easier nor memorable:
1) Seating
As of all new food fares in Davao people swamped to this place to try it out. Filling the already small space to the brim. What upset me was there were people seated there that did not have orders but were having a meeting and one staff was there outside but did not help us find a seat. I was there with a friend and we had three kids between us who were hungry.
2) Unprofessional Staff
A manager or asst. manager (she was not a food crew since she was the same person I saw outside taking to another sbarro employee in blue) kept on complaining "Ayoko na" and you can tell how frustrated she was getting with the place jammed packed an a lot of things needed to be done. Customers were lining halfway to national bookstore.
3) Lack of napkins, condiments, tissue, etc
The pros despite the complaining lady the staff was great. I can't blame them for the line being to long I guess they should work that out to have a better system in place… or a better idea have a bigger space.
the best way to settle things amicably is to talk to the management and iron out issues.