Sammie’s
Im a sucker for a red sauce joint. After living years in New York and Chicago, going out for Italian was almost a weekly tradition. Austin has some great Italian restaurants but when MMLH (MqGuire Moorman Lambert Hospitality) opened up Sammies in the old Huts Hamburger space on W 6th St this past spring all my checkered table cloth, Chianti drinking dreams were answered.
Larry MqGuire said he wanted model Sammies after old school east coast Italian restaurants and was going for the look and feel of famed rat pack era Los Angeles restaurant Dan Tana’s. Sammies hits the nail on the head with its intimate booths, servers in clean white sportcoats, and framed pictures covering the walls straight to the ceiling. For a place open less than a year, they’ve done an excellent job of making it feel like its been there forever.
There isn’t a wrong move to be had on the menu and most of the entrees are served in larger family style portions. A few of my favorites are the Caesar salad, which has a Calabrian chili oil making it a little spicy and crispy garlic in lieu of croutons, and the chicken parmesan which is comforting and familiar and served with perfectly al dente spaghetti aglio e olio. Make sure you end the meal with an espresso martini or amaro, and if you have room, some tiramisu.