Sole Mare

We were regulars at Sole Mar, unfortunately, we stopped going due to the lack of service. We enjoyed their food, found the atmosphere a little tacky (plastic fruit as decour)but was a good place to go for Italian. Once Gianni's (their sister restaurant) opened the service was very poor. Food arrived very slowly and no attention was paid to us on a (even remotely)timely basis. We waited for a waiter for a very long time. We felt that the service had gone down since Gianni's opened up. In addition, the menu is almost the same but you can't compare the difference physically between the two restuarants. For the same money, I would prefer to go to Gianni's as the restaurant is much nicer looking and more pleasant than Sole Mar. If Sole Mar's prices were cheaper than Gianni's (baring poor service) that would be more of a draw to come back.
Having said that, we felt that this restuarant must really improve their customer service. Ironically, I would know say the same thing about Gianni's but that is for another review!

Peter and GB must have a hair across their plate. We lamost did not go there because of them. I will tell you that we had a wonderful experience, including treatment of an infant. The food was excellent, and the pasta was all served al-dente and hot as I like it. The eggplant parm was awesome, the shrimp scampi was perfect, and the service was great. What are these people talking about. They must think they are the worlds best critics. I think not. They seem to have a real issue here and I think folks would do well to disregard their reviews. Go to Sole Mare and enjoy. Don't let these pompous reviews trick you into missing out on a good restaurant.
Sole Mare will be a return destination for me. I think it should be on your list too. By the way the Ruffino Chianti Reserve 2005 is an excellent wine at a fair price.
WFG

Sorry this is so long in coming, I did not know this site was there.

We visited the island in Jan-Feb 2008. On Feb 5 we made dinner reservations so we could enjoy the sunset and wine before we ordered dinner. I was looking forward to a nice romantic evening in a restaurant in which we had had a good previous experience a couple of years prior.

The atmosphere (swans in the "lagoon" and all) was wonderful. The wine came FAIRLY quickly but not as quickly as it SHOULD have.

After the waiter delivered the wine he took our dinner order. As I recall, I ordered steak (as usual) and my wife ordered a fish entree with a whipped potato.

It took OVER 50 minutes to have the food delivered. I kept looking for the waiter and he seemed to have DISAPPEARED!!!! ANOTHER SERVER actually brought our food, which was COOOOOLLLD. Not just un-hot or only warm, BUT COLD. We looked for our waiter who FINALLY showed up and he just seemed to shrug it off. I asked for a manager and waited another 10 min. to no avail.

Mean while everyone around us who came in AFTER us was eating their entree.

When things don't go right, I WILL complain. I figure that if I don’t and no one ELSE does, the place NEVER will know, so I complain as nicely as I can, because I think it is my duty to tell a manager when something is OFF ( OR ON ). My wife tells me to stay CALM. I did, too. But when I got NO WHERE, I just stormed out. We walked out past surprised guests and past the maiter'de's podium where we were asked by the two young ladies seating people, how was our dinner. I said, “AWFUL; but then again I did not TASTE it.” They looked at us quizzically and I thought they would say let me get a manager, but they just DID NOTHING.

I told those girls not to even THINK about asking me to pay for HALF DRUNK glasses of wine. I DID NOT EVEN ASK for a check. I JUST WALKED OUT.

Needless to say we will NOT RETURN.

Then in my planning for a return to Aruba next month, we were going to eat at GIANNI'S up the street. A friend had eaten there last year and said his companion did not like that place much, so I did a little look-see on this site. Imagine my surprise when I found SIMILAR complaints on it for GIANNI's. It just so happens it is owned by the SAME PEOPLE. SURPRISE SURPRISE.

Needless to say we will not go there either.

We will just have to stick with MADAME JENNETT'S, I guess.

Great Food! Great Service! Great Restaurant! What more can I say?

We was here on 8.12. There was plenty of empty and ready tables but still we had to wait almost 10 minutes to be seated.
Food come in time, quality was average. Tiramisu I can get a better taste from the grocery store. Overall food was not bad but there are better Italian restaurants on the island. When you get the bill be carefull. They say with big letters that they add no service charge but when I checked my bill I found 15% added. This was no single mistake ! I paid the bill without that and left no tip. I don't like to be ripped off !

Disregard all the bad reviews for Sole Mare. I would like to know what people expect from an Italian restaurant on an island. I came from a 100% Italian family that is mainly homemade sauce etc....The spaghetti formaggio for 2 is excellent. I will admit that the meatballs were awful. It was enough food for myself, wife and son. If you want pristine Italian food. Stay in the states and go to Mulberry St in NYC or Hanover St in Boston.

This is definitely the dining experience on the island. You need to be prepared to drop some cash for the meal, but it is definitely an experience worth paying for. My family of five thoroughly enjoyed the meal, but more so, the experience and atmosphere. There is a guitarist who livens up the room, the spaghetti cooked in cheese is to savor and enjoy, and the other pasta dishes are excellent. If you are on a budget, do not go to Sole Mare as you will constantly compare and gripe about the grocery costs of the meal to the menu price. However, the price factors in the environment that is thoroughly enjoyable (like a NYC Italian restaurant), relaxing for an upscale restaurant, and the impeccable wait staff who are prompt, helpful, respectful, and family-friendly. We look forward to our experience at Sole Mare every time we visit Aruba. It is one Happy Restaurant on one Happy Island!

The first word that comes to mind to describe Sole Mare is overpriced. One of my husband's coworkers recommended that we try Sole Mare while we were on the island. They are famous for their Pasta Formaggio which they prepare in a large wheel parmigian cheese. The presentation is nice, the food is good (not great), but the price - $42 for 2. This dish is actually just spaghetti and tomato sauce with cheese. For $42. Maybe it's me. I'm from New York and have grown up eating Italian. With our spaghetti and tomato sauce, we asked for a side of grilled chicken - we got 4 tiny (tiny like the size of 2 fingers) little slivers of chicken - $24! Are you kidding? We did not have dessert because dinner is filling, but we had coffee and cappuccino. If you like mud, you'll enjoy the coffee. Me, I'll stick to Starbucks. There was no amount of milk that was going to help this coffee. I don't think we'd go back. It's not that I'm cheap (we dropped a couple of hundred at Pago Pago the night before), I just don't like feeling like I'm getting ripped off. I can't imagine we would go back.

We loved everything about this restaurant. Since we ate her our first evening, they definitely set the bar for the rest of our dining experiences while in Aruba! The "spaghetti for 2" in the flaming wheel of cheese is VERY good. The service was excellent, and we will definitely return.

Pasta for two....so yummy. My husband and I have been going to Aruba for 12 years now and we always make sure that we eat at Sole Mare our first night and the last night. Can't wait until September to go back! The prices are fair. There are plenty of other restaurants that are more exspesive and not as tastey.