Back the other night on a whim. Roe, the owner and proprietress of Fabio's, who I've had the pleasure of knowing for many years is closing up shop and joining her husband in retirement on May 25, 2013.
The food, as so many times before was delightful. The service and environment just as flawless. My only wish, besides wishing Roe and here family many thanks and the best of luck is; once, just once, I'd like to dine some place decent and NOT see some numb nuts youngster wearing his baseball hat at the table while he, I and others dine.
It's as simple as playing checkers. Â Proverbs 22:6 simply says: "train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."
Â
Ladies - If you are dating, live with or married to this man who lacks home training. Please get him educated about appropriate dining attire, manners and etiquette prior to you both going out on the town again. Â Â Â Â
There's a time and place to wear baseball hats but, inside of a restaurant, especially a posh one is NEIThER that time nor the place. Â
Hat wearing Guys - Either leave your hats at home or take them off your big heads before sitting down to dine at table cloth establishments such as Fabio's.  If what I've said or asked of you has somehow overloaded your senses or,  comprehension is just not your forte, there is hope for you still.  McDonald's understands you and your kind.  I understand the folks working at and visiting  McDonald's don't care if you wear hats, shoes or spit tobacco inside their establishments.
Ladies, back to you - if the guy mentioned above belongs to you and, you've tried your best to train him up right but, he just won't or can't get it.  DUMP HIS A** and run far far away like Forrest Gump  If you dont, youll find out soon that his hat wearing is the least of his knuckleheaded issues.
This is the guy who will NOT open doors for you. Â He sits down to eat and doesn't think twice about seating you first and making sure your tucked in tight. Â This man will let you shiver in the cold while he continues to wear his Raiders beanie, gloves and jacket. Â This man will walk with you hand in hand down the street but, will allow you to walk next to the traffic lane. Â And sadly, this is that same guy who makes sure to always get his first and leaves you empty, unfulfilled and with the promise he will take care of you later.
Now, I know my words, thoughts and writings have offended and upset some of you but, please understand; your feelings wouldn't be hurt if you we're honest and true to yourself.
One of the more upscale places in Tracy, there's only two. The drinks are expensive when they charge to for the liquor and then also charge you for the mixers. My theory is that if you are ordering $70 worth of food you should be kinder with the mixed drink/bar prices. Stick to the the wine list, it's more reasonable. The food is great and the young staff offer great service. I have only been here one time so far.
The Calamari steak was the best I ever had. The Caesar salad was boring........
My wife and I just moved to the area and we were looking for a great Italian restaurant. We tried and had a great experience. We tried the chicken Parmesan and beef and spinach ravioli. It was very tasty and well portioned. The ambiance of the restaurant is not the greatest but the food was great. We will be going back soon.
Review Source:Mediocre food, terrible service, but the sausage and prawn appetizer was wonderful.  My wife has a gluten allergy and no one seemed to know what it was and they were not very accomodating.  Said they could not make shrimp scampi gluten free...come on, butter, garlic and  shrimp, how hard can that be.  Too bad because we really wanted to like this place.
Review Source:The food was less than average, Olive Garden is sadly even better, and the service was horrible. We tried to wave down the waitress for a refill for 20 minutes, and it was the bus boy that helped us at the end. No one checked on our table, it felt like a picnic more than anything. I will not be returning to this restaurant.
Review Source:I have been wanting to try this place for weeks and I really wish I had more positives than negatives to report.
Let me start by saying my waiter was very nice however not very attentive as there were only three parties. Â I ordered the chicken parmesan, nephews both ordered chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, and my sister ordered the sausage and peppers. Â The plates tasted microwaved and the super thin alfredo sauce was already breaking down as old sauce does. Â I did voice my concerns with Fabio the owner and he was very cordial and offered a 50% discount on the check. Â I will give the benefit of the doubt and assume it was an off night for a Tuesday. Â I will come back perhaps, just alone next time.
Pros: Â struggling here
Cons: Skimpy on the very delicious bread, Cesar salad was riddled with brown edge lettuce, garden salad was nothing more than spring mix from a bag. Â Basically the food sucked.
I am really trying to be kind to the server even though I was not even offered a refill on my soda.
If it weren't for the owner's attempt at making the meal right, I would have given only one star.
As they say..."fool me once, shame on you..."
We have been in Tracy for over ten years and this is our first time dining here. I was actually excited as I like trying different restaurants, especially locally or family owned.
Here's my review:
-Bread was good- soft on the inside and crispy on the outside
-Appetizer- fried gnocchi was ok, a bit salty. Nothing great.
-Cesar Salad- tasty, a bit too much oil
-Capellini Medley minus the Prosciutto: large serving, it would be good for sharing especially since we finished our appetizer. Nice flavor but the pasta was a bit overcooked.
-Service was ok, nothing great. The waiter was actually rude.
Overall, disappointing. It's not worth coming back for me.
3.5 stars.
My bf is always on the hunt for a good veal parmesan. Unfortunately most italian restaurants only offer eggplant or chicken parmesan. We almost went to Olive Garden but fortunately, I found Fabio's via Yelp.
I'm all about supporting family-owned local businesses and was excited to see what Fabio's had to offer (the fact that it shares a name with a hunky romance novel character helps too). We started off with salads (vinaigrette with blue cheese for me, caesar for him) and I had the pesto gnocci and he had the (surprise!) veal parmesan.
My salad was really good, with a generous amount of blue cheese. Â My gnocci was tasty, although I prefer a straight pesto sauce as opposed to a pesto cream sauce, because the latter tastes more like alfredo with pesto for color. Â My bf finished his veal but from his reaction it seemed like it was just so-so.
Overall I was happy with my meal here and would definitely return to try other things on the menu.
The past several times we have gone the service has been on the decline. Â On one recent visit we were made to wait 15+ minutes for a table when there were empty tables available and parties larger than ours and also without reservations were seated ahead of us. Â The food was fine, and if it had been once I would chalk it up to a one off and move on but I am worried there is a pattern developing.
Review Source:Fabio's is one of those perfect tucked away Restaurants that serves amazing food...It's become one of my weekly favorites for me and my kids.  When  they have the filet mignon for they're special  its  hands down one of the best meals I've ever had.  My favorite right now though is  the Tilapia  Dore  but my kids stick to they're same ol favorites  Chicken Picatta and Chicken  Parmesan which is fantastic so I can't blame them. Ro is the sweetest lady and treats everyone superb. I will be a life long customer
Review Source:We went to Fabios tonight. We ordered the Lasagna, and Gnochie. I thought the Lasagna was way to hot, it almost felt like it was microwaved. The taste was not bad but not worth the money. My wife had the Gnochie and thought that it was not as good as the first time she tried it here. She said she thought they changed the reciept. I had hoped for better.
Review Source:Decided to have dinner here with my husband a couple weekends back when I saw the great reviews on Yelp. I'm happy to say we were not dissapointed.
Finding a place to eat in Tracy on a Friday night is pretty hard unless you wait close to an hour. We came here and there was no wait. The restaurant is small and cozy. It seems to be family owned and all family that works as employees. Service was very good- drinks were refilled, plates were taken right away to avoid clutter, etc. The food was DELICIOUS! My husband got the chicken parmasean. It came with a HUGE piece of chicken with very tasty sauce and instead of spaghetti noodles, fat wide noodles were on the side, which I thought was unique. I had the salmon fettucini alfredo. Salmon was cooked and seasoned perfectly with dill. Very big portions and well worth the money.
It's hard to find authentic Italian fare in Tracy or anywhere close by so we plan on coming back again and again to Fabios. Two thumbs up!
We eat at Fabio's often for special occasions and when we want a good Italian meal. Â We have never been disappointed in 18 years! Â Always great service and the business is owned and operated by the family. Â I've tried just about everything on the menu. Â My favorites are Chicken Picatta, the Italian Sausage plate, Saltimbocca and the Pesto (without cream). Â The salads are delicious as well. Â Fabio's is always very relaxing and a taste treat.
Review Source:Every single time I have eaten here I have had to wait a LONG, LONG TIME... They never have enough staff, front or back of the house. Â I still would come, every once in a while because the food was O.K. and in Tracy, for Italian food, O.K. is about as good as it gets.
So, went again last weekend. The whole dining fiasco took two hours, from start to out the door. The owner mans the bar and does not kick in too help the understaffed wait crew which consisted of one server, yes, only one, waitress. Â
The food really sucked. My fettucine was more broken pieces than anything else. It was as if they were out of fettucine, and scraped the bottom the bag to get enough for my meal. The Alfredo sauce was runny, tasting like milk and little else. I had to dump a whole small bowl of parmesan on it to be able to choke it down. Normally, I wouldn't even have eaten something this awful, but I had skipped lunch and was starving.
I have never had a meal here that didn't drag on waaay toooo long. This place bites, even for a Tracy restaurant.
Food is good... However the service leaves something to be desired. Â Every time I asked for something the response I got was let me check if we still have that we may be out. then 10 plus minutes later. Â Yup, were out. Â Okay so what are you not out of,. Maybe it was just a bad night but its a small place so Id assume you would know whether or not you have the minestrone.
Review Source:Love this place! Â Here with a dear friend and it was super Yummy! Â I ate some yummy seafood dish that I cannot remember the name of it anymore but it was delicious. Â Staff were super friendly and super hot! Â Our waitress happened to be the daughter of the owner of the place. Â The owner did introduce herself to us and she was super hot. Â i would recommend this place to everyone who is in the area and is in love with Italian food.
Review Source:We visited Fabio's for our anniversary dinner. It kind of has a "hole in the wall" atmosphere in an out of the way little strip mall. I wasn't sure what to think when we walked in because it had the feel of a Mexican restaurant given the fully stocked bar, but I knew they served Italian food.
We were seated at our table and my only problem with our evening is that it took a little over 5 minutes for a wait person to check in with us. After that.....it was all good.
My wife had chicken saltimbucco and I had calamari cutlets in a wine, butter, lemon sauce. My son had a pasta dish with butter, garlic, and parmesean. Both main dishes came with salads that were tasty but I was a little dissapointed in the small size of my ceasar. The saltimbucco and calamari were both very good.
All in all Fabio's was a very pleasant experience. It was not inexpensive but you do get a decent portion of food for the price. I would definitely catagorize Fabio's as the best Italian restaurant in Tracy and worth the visit. You can't really go wrong when you support your local small family owned restaurant that serves good food.
Small restaurant tucked away in in a corner of the shopping area opposite BofA in downtown Tracy.
The restaurant has the ambiance of a small, family-run place, which is a nice change of pace from the other franchised chains in Tracy. Â Their dining area is not that big, so it might help to call ahead on busier nights. Â That said, we ate there on a Friday night at 8:30pm, and had no trouble getting seated, and the casual atmosphere was comfortable in jeans and a tshirt.
Food-wise, I tried the minestrone and lasagna. Â The minestrone was thicker than I'm used to, but ok. Â The lasagna however, well... that was outstanding! Â Easily enough for three, the thing was the size of a football, Â loaded with pasta, cheese, meat sauce, and spinach, and baked to perfection. Â With prices similar to other places in Tracy, this place is a great value.
great food and wonderful service!
Happy with their salads...and you have an option to add anchovies to your Ceasar salad! Â They were out when we went b'coz they used it for the dressing but that tells me they make their ceasar dressing from scratch which to me is a big plus!
I'm a big ravioli lover and base most italian places on how good their raviolis are. Â Fabio's raviolis are TASTY! Â Great round sizes not the small squares, stuffed w/ meat and spinach and served with meat sauce. Â They also let you add meatballs or sausage as a side!
Definitely go there again!
So I just had to go back and give Fabio's another try. We'd heard so many positive things about the place and figured we must have been there on an off night. Let me tell you, I'm glad we went back!
We went in on a Thursday night and sat in the bar area. We had cocktails while we checked out the menu and decided to have appetizers instead of a full meal. I had smoked salmon served on crusty bread and wife had a Cesar salad. Excellent! We were so pleased! We chatted with the owners and their daughter - this is truly a family restaurant - and had quite an enjoyable time. They're all very nice people and their attention more than made up for our first experience.
Service: 5 stars
Food: 5 stars
Cocktails: 5 stars
I'm VERY glad we went back and will be going back again.
The best Italian food in town hands down! A comfortable atmosphere, friendly service & amazing food :) The portions are very generous, you'll never leave hungry! Homemade desserts that are to die for! Their wine list has so much to choose from as well. Â Great place for a date, family dinner or a martini after work :)
Review Source:I visited my brother over Memorial Day Weekend and he took me to Fabio's and I have been dreaming about the meal I've had there ever since!! We started with the Carpaccio which was delicious (first time I've ever had it). After mulling over the menu, I chose to try the Rigatoni Salsiccia which was AMAZING. Molten cheese covering huge homemade rigatoni and sweet italian sausage made for one of the best dishes I've had in ages. I loved the sauce everything was mixed in. I wish I lived closer so I could sample more of their food on a regular basis!
Review Source:Fabio's is wonderful family owned restaurant. My parents and I have become regulars. Last night I had the eggplant parmesan and it was outstanding, it is offered as an appetizer or dinner. I have never had a bad food experience there, everything has always been excellent.
The atmosphere is welcoming and the wine is great! I look forward to visiting there whether it is for a nice glass of wine and appetizers, or a sit down dinner.
Tried Fabios on a Wednesday night after driving by it for years.
My 3-yo daughter wanted spaghetti, and Fabios is much closer to home than the chain Italian places.
I really wanted to like this place, but overall the food was just OK.
The place is dark, with nice decor.. better for a quiet date than for a family just trying to have dinner.
The service was a bit slow, especially considering how empty the place was. Overall it was a good enough meal, but with no real high-point to speak of, and more expensive than the alternatives.
The lasagna was mostly ricotta cheese and a couple layers of pasta.
They bake it in an individual bowl, which is unique - but I think I would prefer something more typical. This was more of a cheese dish than a pasta dish.
Overall its not a bad choice if the chains are too loud or too busy for you.
Ate @ Fabio's on 07/20/10. It has a very cozy setting. Had the lasagna which was very tasty (could have had far more meat & a lil less cheese); my date wanted fettuccine with meatballs .... but alas we were told there were no meatballs to be had. So she had the lasagna as well.
Will definitely go there again .... but will call ahead to check on the availibility of the items.
A little pricey, but well worth it!!!
My personal take on this Italian Bistro was that it had delicious food, a warm vibe, and curteous staff. Â However, I have to say that at an empty night, it still took the staff about ten to fifteen minutes to seat us and there was no one that greeted us upon entrance. Â Guests that were seated at the bar had actually called the staff members and notified them of our arrival. Â
The food is delightful. Â It is Italian so expect the majority of the dishes served to be pasta. Â The pasta dishes are served with a complimentary salad of your choice (Ceasar or Italian Garden).
The price estimation for a dinner for two would be fifty to sixty dollars which is not too bad for a four course meal. Â Guests are usually served with bread and butter for a complimentary starter. Â
The hours are the only factor that throws me off because they open around five in the evening but close around nine which means on the average, they only do approximately four hours of business and are closed on Sunday and Monday evenings.
This is some top notch Italian food! They serve up a Tiramuse that is to die for. They also have a very interesting approach to making lasagna. I have to say their lasagna is probably the best I've had. Basically they bake the lasagna in a bowl. Really cool. They also use super fresh ingredients in all their dishes.
Decor: Dark and sexy! With interesting art hanging from the walls. Candle lit tables and all!
Overall this is a top notch spot and for someone who has been following Fabio's for over 10 years, trust me when I say you will not be disappointed!
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