Due to Italy’s insatiable addiction to angel hair, bald Cupids are boycotting trattorias until they switch to a farm-raised alternative. Take a deliciously winged bite with today’s Groupon: for $25, you get $50 worth of Italian fare at Sam and Gabe’s Italian Restaurant.
Named one of Central Iowa’s top 10 restaurants by Metromix, Sam and Gabe’s Italian Restaurant serves up a menu of traditional dishes from the northern area of Italy’s patent-leather pump. Snack daintily upon a small plate of fresh salmon cakes topped with roasted red-pepper sauce and lemon-dill aioli ($9), or team up with table mates to dominate the antipasto platter, piled with meats, cheese, olives, and fresh veggies such as artichoke hearts ($11). Entree selections showcase an edible menagerie of meats ranging from beef tenderloin DeBurgo ($29) and veal piccata ($23) to chicken Romano ($20) and baby back ribs ($20). Grilled eggplant and zucchini packs a garden-friendly punch ($16), and nourishing noodle sculptures such as the sausage-packed lasagna al forno provide a cheesy taste of Italian culture without having to lick the Mona Lisa ($19).
Nearly overstuffed diners can take inspiration from the sounds of live music that fills the eatery six nights a week and find the second wind needed to attack a slice of the Metromix-lauded french coconut tart—a mixture of tropical custard set atop a sugar-cookie crust.
Sam & Gabe's Italian Bistro
Hailed in Metromix as the top-ranked Italian restaurant in Des Moines, Sam & Gabe's Italian Bistro earns its crown of laurels with a menu that features Northern Italian pastas, house-made Italian-American entrees, and a robust selection of wines. Servers ferry entrees of veal piccata and fresh gulf shrimp to tables as diners toss back bottles of imported beer. Spaghetti strands slither into the shapes of quarter notes as live musicians pepper the air with the sounds of modern jazz and baroque opera Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.