Sal E Pepe

My only complaint is that we took so long to try this place! Food was phenom, portions generous, service attentive and lovely without being overpowering. And the Nutella pie was the most delicious dessert I’ve ever had!

Truly one of our favorites! Food is always fabulous as is the service! We are there a couple of times a month. Their weekend specials are fabulous too! Make sure to have a reservation.

Sal and Pepe’s never disappoints… my family and I have eaten there at least 6 times and it is always awesome. Food is delicious, staff friendly and attentive, drinks are unique and worth trying. Nutella pie is to die for. One of my favorite restaurants!!!

limited menu. over priced. this is not the italian restaurant i’m a custom to.

This restaurant got a very good review in Connecticut Magazine so we decided to try it out for dinner on this Saturday night. The décor is simple with yellow table cloths and different ceramic salt and pepper shaker sets on each table and just a bit dated. The person who greeted us asked us if we had a reservation. When you say no they they start hunting through the reservation book making you feel like you made a huge mistake by not making a reservation when the place was half empty at 6pm.
But we were seated at a relatively nice table. Our waitress Rachel was sweet and attentive and prompt. We ordered wine and water which came quickly as did the fresh warm bread with a garlic herb melted butter that was very good. We ordered the classic calamari and the balsamic and sweet pepper calamari which they gave us as half a serving of each — a little skimpy on the amount of calamari. Both the sauces were absolutely delicious but the calamari was tough and chewy. We have had much better.
Both my husband and I ordered our main entrees from the specials for the night. I had the pan fried trout with a fig/​balsamic glaze over a potato-​leek mélange along with fresh asparagus that was mostly raw. The trout was left just little too long in the pan fry stage and the asparagus not enough. My husband had the t-​bone steak with a gorgonzola risotto and haricot vert which he said was cooked to his direction of medium and said the risotto gorgonzola went very well with the meat. For the price it was just average on the food but the service was excellent. We probably would have done better to have stuck with the pastas and traditional Italian fare. Nice wine list and choice of wine by the glass.

The food here is delicious. The wait staff have been nice. Below is list of what we tried so far and we recommend all of it. This is my favorite Italian restaurant.
Gnocchi
Angus beef bites
Fried Calamari
Pear salad
Seafood ravioli
I’m looking forward to going back:)

Sal E Pepe’s is a contemporary slightly upscale Italian restaurant. In the past I was impressed with their service and overall quality of food. Recently over a few visits notice a slight decline of service and food quality. Servers could not answer basic questions about the menu. The mussels not cleaned properly resulting in a sandy crunchy experience. Mentioned this to the server but no one came out to address the issue. Sal E Pepe’s please brief your server about your menu and clean your shellfish before serving them to your patrons.

Has a warm, upscale atmosphere with white table cloths and tuscan décor. However, it’s casual and relaxed. The waitstaff is very attentive but they seemed almost robot like — they have a job to do and that’s it. It would be ok with me if they were more friendly and relaxed.
This restaurant offers the classic italian dishes like lasagna and chicken parm as well as some that are more creative, especially with pork and seafood. I thought the food was strictly average. The pasta was fresh but was overcooked and soggy. It also had a strong aftertaste of wine. In fact, that was the theme of the night — all the dishes had strong flavors of wine.
Yes, I’ll go back, it’s not terrible. But it’s not the best either. Competition for this restaurant would be Brio in Danbury and John’s Best in Brookfield.

I came here for a late Friday lunch this week with some colleagues, and so glad they picked this place in advance! I’m new to this side of the state, so it has been super exciting getting to explore new territory and discover new favorite places — and Sal e Pepe has been added to the list!
The interior is a bit dated and its very classic in style, but the food is phenomenal. The calamari was perfectly tender, very lightly breaded. Our dried fig pizza was absolutely delicious — perfect combination of salty, tart cheese, sweet figs and earthy greens. And my pasta — homemade ricotta cavatelli in a pesto white wine sauce with sweet italian sausage, fresh tomatoes, artichoke hearts, EVOO and garlic — so perfect! Our service was attentive and on top of everything.
Overall, great spot for a business lunch, and it seems like a nice place for a romantic, relaxed dinner, if you’re craving good Italian!

Went here tonight with my husband for dinner with a gift card. This is my second time here and I just loved it. They served bread before the meal, which is so crunchy and fresh. My husband had the Parmesan Tilapia and I had the Veal Saltinbocca. I strongly recommend both of these dishes. They were absolutely delicious. We topped off the night with dessert, also great. I would definitely recommend it to a friend!

I am rounding up from a 3.5. I’ve been here many times over the last 7 years or so. It certainly has good following so you should call ahead on Friday or Saturday nights. The staff is very friendly though overall maybe a little under experienced with more part timers than 5 star restaurant lifetime pros.
Chicken Scarpiello is a favorite of mine and they do it very well and give you a pretty good sized portion. The calamari in either style is top notch although it’s the one thing on the menu I think they are a little skimpy on… but maybe that’s just because I could eat a whole plate myself since its soooo good. Everything I’ve ever had is at least good if not great although perhaps entrees are not as adventurous as some other modern Italian places in the area. This place is a safe bet for a mixed group, you can bring your grandma and it’ll probably be her new favorite place.
Sal E Pepe usually has a few good draft beers and nice wines by the glass.
Honestly it might not be my favorite restaurant in the area (but judging by the crowd it is for a lot of people) but I can’t imagine why anyone would rate it less than a 3? I am highly suspicious of those reviews.

Walked in & we were promptly ignored by the hostess and then the manager (who walked right past us without a word). After several minutes went by, the hostess returned and offered us a choice between sitting outside or inside. We requested to eat outside as it was a pleasant evening and that is when she huffed and puffed and proceeded to tell us that we shouldn’t dine outside because, «It’s probably going to rain.» ??? FINALLY (upon our insistence after they tried to reneg on the original offer), she seated us outside in the most uncomfortable plastic chairs and left us to rot. Between five and ten minutes went by before the server appeared, slammed two waters on the table in front of us and said to us without greeting, «You have ten minutes before the kitchen’s closed.» Fortunately, in the time that we were left outside and ignored, we had decided and so we placed our orders. When the food came out, it was soggy, bland and greasy. Food that you might find your demented grandmother trying to slip you on your weekly Sunday visits. At this point we were just looking for another round of drinks to help ease the pain of this so-​far horrible experience. As fate would have it, we lost our very friendly server for another lengthy period after we finished our food and we never saw a second round of cocktails. This left us completely sober to pay better attention to our surroundings as the sun went down which was how we came to notice the quality animal show that was happening before our very eyes. Rodents, in fact! A robust family of mice, several furry little squeakers running up and down the railings surrounding the seating area and dining on all of the uncleared tables! This was it for us. We retrieved our check from the server, paid and fled the scene. Somehow we never came down with hanta virus or the plague — and for that, we will afford them one star.

Have been here only twice but both times it was fantastic. Fresh made pasta, well presented and tasty entrees, wonderful desserts and a courteous and attentive staff all in an non rushed atmosphere.

Always excellent! Waitstaff has excellent customer service skills and knows the menu. Food is always fresh and delicious.

Went to dinner here to celebrate my birthday. I have had some truly outstanding meals here and some so-​so. I have to say that this was so-​so The food was okay but not the best they’ve served. I’ve had so much better other times that I’ve been here. The real problem was our server. We had to wait for our entire party to gather and she came to take our order just literally a few seconds after people sat down then made us wait more than 20 minutes before she returned and took the order. I am giving only 3 stars for the whole experience. Need to work on being more consistent with quality and service.

Delicious food, fresh ingredients, great service & «yummy wine» (not my choice of words)

As a 15 year newtown resident and having gone to this place dozens and dozens of times, must say it’s my favorite place to go. Very consistently good and just love some of the dishes. Cannot go wrong going here!

Stop by on a road trip to Foxwoods. Glad we did! It’s just minutes off of Interstate 84. We sat at the bar like we usually do at most places. All the staff was very friendly. Since I has specific diet requirement I know how a dinning experience will go. But at Sal e Pepe they went above and beyond. My whole wheat pasta was perfect from the quality to flavor. My wife ordered the Fig Pizzette. It was outstanding. Perfect pit stop for our trip to Foxwoods.

Great greens and the Aged Ribeye was really good. It had that unique flavor you only find in good aged steaks. We also had the beef, mushroom ragout. Both dishes were very good. We will return and try additional dishes. We used the gift cards from costco, so we saved a bit of money.
We arrived early before they officially opened, but they still seated us and started to take care of us.
The bread pudding was very good, it was made from croissants and that gave it a good flavor. Plus, we tried their Limoncello Martini — very good. I heard they make their own Limoncello.

This is another Newtown restaurant that I’ve driven by dozens of times but never stopped inside. I was meeting a friend for lunch today and suggested Sal e Pepe, and I am glad that I did!
Sal e Pepe is upscale on the inside, but not pretentious. There was a decent lunch crowd at 12:30 on a Wednesday, mostly ladies who lunch (like us) and some business lunches. Service was good, not rushed, but it could have been a little faster for my taste.
Bread was brought to the table. The dipping sauce, which I suspect was cheese, oil, lemon, garlic and a touch of red pepper flakes, was divine.
There is a large lunch menu and an equally large list of specials. Many of the choices looked delicious, but we ended up with their ‘fig pizzette’ for an appetizer and we each had a bowl of pasta for lunch. It ended up being too much food, but not overly expensive with pasta dishes in the $ 10-​$ 12 range.
The fig pizzette was described as a pizza for one and too small for a meal — ha! It was about 10″ big and big enough to share as an appetizer but easily a meal in itself. It was VERY tasty.
Two dinner sized portions of pasta came out next — me, the gnocchi and my friend, the special mushroom ravioli. Both were delicious. The gnocchi, a litmus test for me for good Italian food, were definitely homemade (as described, but you never know) and the meat sauce substantial. The ravioli we also suspected to be homemade, just enough cheese and a lot of mushroom, not the other way around.
They have a ‘loyalty’ club that seems worth the effort to sign up if you’ll be a regular. I will definitely come back for another taste, the food was worth the drive.