Santa Maria - Baunei

I’m 100% Sardinian and know the island very well but very seldom have I been so pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the food and the impeccable while friendly service at a restaurant like the Santa Maria. Normally hotel restaurants are neither good in quality nor price but this one is definitely an exception which I would highly recommend to anyone looking for high quality and service.

We picked the restaurant because it had the number 2 spot in Santa Maria Navarrese. We had a nice table in the garden. Good service, but most of all: excellent food. The sea bass and pasta both had an excellent taste. Would recommend. Minor detail: the clams were a little dry.

The waitress and the owner (female) were so rude. The salad was wilted. Pasta was cold when we complained they were not interested. We now understand why the restaurant was empty. Last year we went a few times and the male owner was much more friendly. We will not be attending again. Perhaps, over time this place had gone downhill as it was an empty restaurant.

The atmosphere brings this up to a 4 star review. Table outside, near the vines, the garden, and with the music stereo box playing nice jazz music- we liked it alot. The lamb chops were just fine, nothing to write home about, but not bad. The dessert was just fine. We had a great time though, enjoying the music coming from the speaker near our table, the wine, and the generally fine food.

A very enjoyable experience. Service and food were very good. The menu offered a wide range of dishes and the portions were hearty. I enjoyed the risotto with porcini mushrooms to start and my husband had the scampi tagliatelle which was delicious. We both had the lamb chops to follow which although very tasty proved challenging simply due to the size of the portions. Would definitely eat here again.