San Sabino

It’s hard to nail a sequel. But San Sabino, the seafood-centric spot from the folks behind Don Angie, isn’t just the original wrapped in big sunglasses and a floppy beach hat. It feels like the reverse of a Spaghetti Western: a laid-back Italian cafe imported to 1970s Malibu, perched above the Pacific Coast Highway.

This is the West Village, not the West Coast, so you’ll have to swap out the ocean vistas for a view of uBreakiFix phone repair. But with the help of some colorful, spritzy cocktails, and a few knockout dishes, San Sabino’s limoncello-washed room and surf rock soundtrack lulls you right into a seaside state of mind.

photo credit: Kate Previte

photo credit: Kate Previte

photo credit: Kate Previte

Like Don Angie down the block, this is a tough table to reserve. So unless you know someone who knows someone, you’ll most likely end up as a walk-in, seated at the curved bar, your feet dangling alongside shiny pairs of Aimé Leon Dore New Balance sneakers, and your shoulder bumping against someone’s cashmere cardigan. You’ll lose the street corner view, but it’s still fun to watch bartenders pull falso spritzes from the tap, or pour bright, prickly-pear pink margaritas into cactus-stemmed glasses. 

Stick with the light and easy theme while ordering, and you can’t go wrong, especially if you focus on playful smaller plates. Pair your cocktail with some cheesy, airy frittelle before moving on to 'nduja rice-stuffed mussels, or the chessboard-like octopus carpaccio with alternating circles of tender octopus and spicy capicola. A buttery crab and mortadella dip comes with Ritz crackers, and a pepper jelly that might have been ripped right off a recipe page of Good Housekeeping, circa 1963. It’s delicious. 

photo credit: Kate Previte

photo credit: Evan Sung

photo credit: Evan Sung

The pastas and mains are less exciting, but still worth dabbling in—and nothing is priced over $40. For heavier, cheesier dishes, stick to Don Angie. At San Sabino, get the stuffed farfalle with chili crab. Topped with buttermilk foam and tobiko, it looks like something you might find washed ashore on a morning beach walk, and tastes like a salty sea breeze.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Evan Sung

Cocktails

San Sabino has some good drinks, from the non-alcoholic, cola-like falso spritz they might hand you while you’re waiting in line, to The Benny, a spicy marg that’s a tribute to the burrito place that used to be here. Several of the drinks are on draft, there’s a martini with garlic bread vodka, and the Mambo Italiano is full of basil seeds, aka nature's boba. For the full San Sabino experience, start with a cocktail or one of their three zero-proof drinks.

photo credit: Kate Previte

Stuffed Mussels

With a perfect line of lemon aioli, these stuffed mussels come to your table looking like they’re smiling at you. After your first bite, you’ll be smiling back. Our favorite of the starters—and not just because the bouncy opening chords of LA Woman came on just as we picked one up.

photo credit: Kate Previte

Crab & Mortadella Dip

This is another great appetizer, and worth sharing. While it doesn’t have discernible chunks of mortadella, it feels like something you might imagine pulling out of the fridge for a dinner party in the ’70s—partly because of the ceramic crab it's served in—and the pepper jelly is pleasantly zingy.

photo credit: Kate Previte

Lobster Triangolini

Perfectly al dente pasta envelopes sweet chunks of lobster, and it’s all doused in a luscious white vodka sauce. But there are only four pieces, which doesn’t seem worth it for $38.

photo credit: Kate Previte

Stuffed Farfalle

How they stuffed farfalle, we’ll never know. But don’t worry about that. Worry about stuffing that farfalle into your mouth. It’s sweet with a little smolder from the chili crab inside, and topped with crunchy, crushed up rice crackers, briny tobiko and buttermilk foam. Our favorite pasta on the menu by a nautical mile.

photo credit: Kate Previte

Shrimp Parm

It would be so great if this were a transcendent dish. Unfortunately, between the frying process and cheese-broiling process, these three jumbo shrimp get overcooked. Not to an unpleasant texture, but to a non-shrimpy texture. The sauce is nice and acidic though.

photo credit: Kate Previte

Steak Magazzino

If you’re going to get a main here (you don’t necessarily need to), this is the one. A $40 deep-fried strip, almost katsu style, gets topped with a pine nut and anchovy chili crisp. The steak is cooked surprisingly evenly for how thick it is, and we wish we could buy a bottle of that chili crisp for our daily eggs.

photo credit: Evan Sung

Caramelized Crespelle

There’s something about these filled crepes, topped with a reduced rum sauce, that tastes almost exactly like Japanese cola-flavored candies. And we’re here for it. Electrified with key lime zest, this is our favorite dessert on the menu, but the two icier options—coconut panna cotta with citrus granita, or a gelato viennese with chunks of hazelnut—are good too.