When this place first opened up the service was lacking and the food not so great. But, that was years ago and I'm glad to say that they've gotten their act together and its wonderful now. I probably dine here about once every few months and love it. They have my favorite salad and the staff are friendly. I noticed that the menu recently changed and I miss the old one, but I'm told that if you describe what you are craving, the chefs will be more than accommodating to whip something up. The house chianti is always a good wine choice. I love Strings! read more

I'm amazed by the 3-star trend for this restaurant. I had dinner the other night here and thought it was great. Service is very friendly and the dining room has a cozy feel. Entrees are large portions and very tasty. There is no lack of cheese here! I got the lasagna. Bread is also very tasty. A nice place to have dinner in Merced. read more

Strings is a nice relaxing place to eat and the food is good!

The bread they serve with dinner is amazing..small garlicky triangles. We ended up ordering the artichoke ravioli, the pasta vegetarian, and the veggie pizza. I was a fan of both pastas, but the pizza was bland and a little soggy to me. The salad and creamy italian dressing were both good as well, but next time I'll say no raisins in the salad..they were overwhelming and didn't really go. The service was good, and they pour a heavy glass of wine! I was pleasantly surprised overall and will be back next time I'm visiting. read more

I love coming here! The services though is 4/5. The food has always been very good and I enjoy eating and take out. I eat the veggie pasta with red sauce. I high recommend to family and friends. read more

We had eaten at Strings in Lodi years ago so decided to give this one a try. It was terrible I am sorry to say. First of all I ordered one fish and got the shrimp scampi. No I did not say anything as I like shrimp scampi. This was NOT shrimp scampi. The shrimp had been frozen I am sure and were then thawed out and heated an served in a little bowl all by themselves. In another dish was the sauce that was neither garlicky or lemony. My husband got the chicken piccata and that too was sad. We will not go back to any Strings. Sorry read more

Authentic Italian cuisine, even the host looked Italian! Unlimited amounts of bread and good deals on pasta Wednesday's (all you can eat!) they were very considerate and welcoming, especially since it was my sister's birthday. They gave her delicious elegant cheesecake. I would highly recommend it. For all of you coffee lovers out there, Starbucks I'd conveniently down the street so you can go get a latte after if you still have room! read more

Good stuff! Fishermans Stew is excellent. Prices are OK, service is good and it's nice and clean

Server Alex is over extending herself and giving crappy service as a result! That is for a bad first experience get it together people.

Salad is great, I love the cucumber cilantro ranch dressing. However, most stuff is saturated with fatty gross alfredo sauce, which people do like around here. Love the salad, did not like the seafood bisque. read more

We enjoy dining at Strings. The food and staff are always great! We just went for our anniversary and received exceptional service from Albert and his staff. They also treated us with a delicious desert for our special day! read more

Strings Italian Cafe - The brownie lasagna is delicious! - Italian Near Me - Merced, California

I enjoyed a great lunch here with my family today. I ordered the chicken asparagus filled pastry and I was very satisfied. Their complimentary garlic bread and never ending salad was very good. It was very delicious and creamy but it was fifteen dollars. If your ever in Merced stop by for lunch or dinner and hopefully everything else is great on the menu. read more

Friday night at a table for 15, we had the most delicious dinner! The service was friendly, professional, and very timely. All dinners arrived together, hot, and very delicious. I had the Pasta Sienna which I would recommend to everybody. It has shrimp, chicken, a lovely sauce with touch of curry (surprise!) I'd have it again anytime. We also had pizza appetizers and they were fabulous (veggie pizza, and pepperoni pizza) both delicious. Live entertainment, Cottonwood Creek on the patio was just the best. It was a magic night. Going again soon! read more

My fiancé and I had a pasta sienna and a chicken Alfredo style dish.. They were very tasty.. Price is okay, not too pricey but not cheap either. The bread was yummy and the salad was great too.. I would recommend.. read more

Made a reservation at 1:30pm today to celebrate a friend's graduation. We wanted to change the time 2 hours earlier and the manager Paula denied that we called in to change out reservation. Before she had even asked all the employees who we may have spoken to on the phone she straight up cut us off with "uh, I've been here all day." She was so focused on who made reservations first she didnt bother asking all other workers on the floor if they picked up our phone call. I used to be a host/waiter at a restaurant and even I'm more professional than this. Unbelievable. read more

Not good. Sorry the food is poor! Not any flavor and was bland, no salt or herbs. If I have to keep writing it's not positive. Not very good. I tried it again and still the same. Awful! read more

Ok so strings is supposed to be over priced and not very good, from what I had heard. Sorry but the bread was amazing and the service was great. And my entre was good. For Merced you can't go wrong with this place x10 better than de angelos. Enjoy- goose read more

The food was decent but somewhat mediocre and on the bland side. The service was good but not outstanding. Prices were typically about $13 for lunch which is a little expensive but not terribly expensive for Italian food. There is nothing outstandingly good or bad about the place. It's slightly yuppy and very average. read more

I've had a few positive experiences here.. food is always above average.. calzone is my go to dish.. prices are fair.. service can be good or bad just depends on the roll of the dice. read more

I love this place. When my husband and I want to go to a nice restaurant to eat we come here. They have the best salad. Love it!!! And the dishes are good too. To me it is the best Italian food place in Merced. We come often and come hungry. read more

I used to really love coming to strings for dinner, but it seems that since they've changed ownership the food quality has gone down drastically. I went recently and my go to dish the artichoke ravioli was barely warm and I think they changed something in the salad dressing because it was not nearly as tasty as I remembered. I was pretty disappointed to say the least. Not sure when I'll be going back. read more

First time there and the food was amazing. I had the pepperoni cheese stuffed shells and my husband had the stuffed chicken. The wait time was a little long but Hector the waiter was fast and polite. Overall, we would definitely come back! read more

Food is not very flavorful and definitely overpriced. I'd prefer Olive Garden to this restaurant, which is saying a lot. I had the mushroom risotto and my husband ordered a shrimp pasta dish. We both were not impressed. The restaurant was fairly empty at 8pm and even then the servers didn't circle back more than once to see if anything was needed. We won't be going back. read more

Very friendly staff, food is great, and dinning room is very nice. Outdoor seating for the wonderful Merced nights.

My husband and I had dinner here last week and we could not be more pleased. The sauces are made in house and the meat sauce was the best I ever tasted. The pasta was cooked perfectly, not over-cooked at all. Brianna the waitress was amazing and so knowledgeable. We even met the owner who was charming. This is such a jewel and to us has Olive Garden beaten by a mile. Wonderful atmosphere. Oh and the salad is so delicious. read more

Do yourself a favor and drive to Turlock and go to Strings! The food and service are excellent where the food and service locally is so so!

My group of four came into Strings tonight at around 8:30 we were seated immediately and given warm wonderful bread to start on. We chose our appetizer (stuffed mushrooms) and ordered our meals (spaghetti with meat sauce, pan fried ravioli, sienna pasta(?) and chicken parmesan) we all got salad and one person got soup. Our server was awesome (Amanda K.) she was professional and funny and showcased impeccable customer service skills. Our glasses were never empty for long but we were not pestered either. All expectations were met and then exceeded twice over, Strings has earned four new loyal patrons. read more

My daughter and I had lunch here...it was really good and we had left overs! We will be back again.

Ate Lunch there yesterday. Thier Lunch menu leaves alot to be desired. I kinda had to put together a dish I thought would be delicious. Thier salad dressing tasted like thousand island with some Italian mixed in. It was horrible. So I waited for the main Lunch entree to come out. The butter was browned and then they added my Angel hair in the pan and it looked burned. They show the scampi appetizer shows about 8 shrimp. They only gave me 3 tiny shrimp which tasted fine but I was supposed to get the scampi with the angel hair added. It was just a mess. And they charged me full price. I asked about a senior discount and he said no not at Lunch time. Really not happy with the entire meal. Then it upset my stomach by the butter being over cooked and I threw it up before I even left. The waiter acted very rushed. He did not offer a knife, had to ask. No salt and pepper, barely any ice in the tea. No butter offered for the bread. Had to ask for sweetener. Just wow! read more

I've had better food and service at other Strings locations. They sat our party of 5 at a small booth which made it very difficult to eat because everyone's elbows were hitting each other. They didn't take too long to take our orders. I ordered one of their vegetarian dishes under the "Pastas & More" section. I ended up being charged $13 for a bowl of grilled zucchini, eggplant, onions, bell peppers & tons of mushrooms. No pasta, nothing. Just $13 for a bowl of veggies. Very overpriced. The other pasta dishes they had were a lot better than what I had gotten. The minestrone soup was warm and tasty. The bread they brought out was always warm. The service that night wasn't very prompt or efficient but it was a Sunday night. Probably won't eat here again. read more

Attention Yelp. There is no option to delete my review, so please delete this review like you delete all your negative reviews to businesses that pay you. read more

As always, Albert takes THE best care of us!! Our late lunch was delicious. The chicken Caesar salad is a must try. This is the best restaurant in town. read more

We never got anymore bread...the food is great but we wanted the bread. Bread never came!...R.i.P bread...

Strings (pasta place) in Merced is super overpriced ($16 for a pork dish which had sauce that had clearly been microwaved because it wrinkled when you touch it). But most importantly, their tip suggestions on the receipt are off. When it says "15% is $___" it's actually almost 20% and that's even INCLUDING adding in tax to the number. Our bill was $45 including tax. Their 15% suggested tip was almost $9 which is 20% on the total amount. Tip should be based on the pretax amount. I wonder how many unawared customers actually got tricked into tipping more generously than they thought. I won't go back. read more

Havent been in a while but the new upgrades were awesome, new patio area is beautiful and the service is fantastic. Of course the food is up to part as usual... Ive always loved eating here read more

Whenever I crave Italian food, Strings is my first choice. It's far better than Olive Garden. The pasta at this place doesn't taste frozen. I always order the minestrone soup and cheese shells. Delicious! The staff is always friendly and very welcoming. Worth every penny! read more

I was not impressed at all with their food. My vegetables were soaked in olive oil, and the portions were way too overpriced for their size. The third star is only because the restaurant was clean and service was great. read more

Went to Strings the other night. Great food as usual. Band was terrific. Service was much better than last time.

My friend and I had lunch at Strings today. Friendly service especially Mike and the busboy too. My friend had a chicken sandwich and a bowl of seafood bisque. Delicious. I had the shrimp dish and a spaghetti dish and a salad. Delicious. We both took home leftovers. We will be back. :) read more

Went there last weekend while visiting and I was quite pleased with the service and the food! Our waiter was very nice and he recommended this fish dish that was amazing. :) read more