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| - Nestled among the tiny, yet bustling, storefronts of downtown of Matthews, NC, Sante has always been a reliable special occasion destination over the years. With most entrees priced in the $22-35 range, it is a splurge for my wife and I, but we have always walked away pleased. The menu is limited but covers all the bases and the small dining area is either cozy or tight, depending on your perspective. Either way, it has is charming and comfortable without feeling stuffy. I have felt equally comfortable there in a suit or in jeans. The service however falls a little short.
We kicked things off with the she-crab soup at $5. It was tasty but its hobbit-sized portions size were disappointing. Our salads were excellent however. My beet salad was uniquely prepared with paper thin slices of beet used as a foundation for the rest of the salad. They ran $10-12.
For our entrees, I went with the savory gnocci with meatballs and mushrooms and my wife selected the shrimp orzo. Both were exceptional and plentiful. (To fully enjoy, their delicious sauces, ask for a spoon.) They ran around $22 each. We each had a glass of wine which our server was incredibly stingy with.
Speaking of service... our server Brenda appeared very uninterested and seemed to place more emphasis on getting back to the bar to chat with her friends than serving us. Despite a sparcely filled dining room, it still took her 15 minutes to get us the tab and then only after we had to request that she do so. It was definitely not the kind of reliable service one would expect from such a high caliber restaurant. In fact, we had planned on finishing with dessert but opted to pass solely for this reason.
Still, don't let that you prevent you from trying this place. In my mind though, service alone drops it from a 5 star to a 4 star experience and also stops it short of a Gotta Try. By the way, if you ever get a server anywhere that you are displeased with, kindly ask the manager for s different one.
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