Sugo Italian Steakhouse at Hotel Ballast

“Our first visit celebrating my husband’s birthday. Beautiful waterfront seating. Clear explanation of the menu and plenty of time to decide and savor every bite. We never felt rushed or over-managed but greatly cared for. The FOOD! Very easily the best restaurant meal of my life! Chef Jonathan, you knocked it out of the park for us! We live in New Bern. So worth the drive! Highly recommend. Absolutely order a steak!!”

“We visited on a busy Saturday night (2/07.) We had a reservation for 8:15, arrived around 8pm, and the host let us know our table would be ready closer to our reserved time and we could go to the bar if we wanted. Although it was crowded and busy, everyone was kind and courteous. I checked my coat and we made our way to the bar. The bar and waiting area were full, and the manager noticed us and said we could order through a QR code if we wanted to. My husband is disabled, on a cane, and needed a place to sit. The small waiting area was packed, so we made our way out to the hotel lobby until our reservation time. The Carolina Jazz Fest was going on at the Hotel Ballast that same weekend and there were lots of other visitors. Our server was Ben and his service was immaculate! He made personal recommendations, made sure our requests were handled, and answered all of our questions with the utmost professionalism and grace. Thank you Ben and staff of Sugo for making our 16th Anniversary dinner a truly memorable one! I highly recommend the calamari as a starter and definitely request Ben as your server.”

“My husband and I had an amazing dinner at Sugo! The service is great, the atmosphere is cozy and inviting. The food was wonderful. We were especially impressed by the foccacia bread appetizer and the butternut squash casserole side. Highly recommend!”

“We celebrated my father’s birthday here, and everything was wonderful. The food was amazing, and the service was truly phenomenal. It’s definitely better to visit during the week. They offer free valet parking, and the restaurant is just a short walk from the drop-off point. Plus, the hotel lobby smelled incredible. Overall, one of the best fine-dining restaurants in North Carolina. My only critique is that I prefer to pack my own leftovers rather than having the waitstaff do it.”

“We chose to spend Valentine’s Day here and ended up spending over $200 for the evening, which felt justified given the reputation and price point. When you book a high-end steakhouse for a special occasion, you expect not just good food, but attentive, thoughtful service that matches the atmosphere. Unfortunately, that was not our experience. Our server was noticeably short with us from the beginning and often seemed to forget about our table. He forgot to bring my boyfriend’s drink entirely, the busser ended up delivering it instead. At the same time, the server had taken my boyfriend’s silverware and never replaced it, so we were left sitting there waiting again just to be able to eat properly. It felt disorganized and honestly a little careless. Beyond the specific mistakes, the overall service just lacked warmth and professionalism. There was no personality, no effort to make the night feel special, and no sense that we were valued guests and it’s especially disappointing on Valentine’s Day. We weren’t checked on consistently, and the energy felt rushed and uninterested. We are genuinely not people who rush to leave negative reviews. We understand restaurants get busy, especially on holidays. But when you’re spending that much money on what’s supposed to be a memorable evening, the service should reflect that. Instead of leaving feeling celebrated, we left feeling overlooked and disappointed. The food alone cannot make up for service that falls this far below expectations.”