We had a family dinner there tonight. We had two Tables of six by the fireplace and it was perfect. We were not cold and had the best service. The servers kept coming by to make sure everything was good. We live in Livermore, but for family events, we will call Strings. Thank you for a great night with terrific food and service. read more

Food is bland. Could be better. Their lunch menu is goood because it's cheap and enough food for you to get food. Has lots of clients because there is no other similar restaurants in merced read more

Strings had great food! Everything tasted wonderful. The service was good, despite just a few hick-ups for refills and extra forks - we were in a side room during a busy Sunday afternoon so I can be understanding about that. The side room perfectly accommodated our group for family bridal shower. Albert, the manager, was very helpful by phone to make arrangements as well as in person through the event. Their patio would have been nice as well but I am so glad we opted to use the banquet room as it was still "CA Fall" weather in the 90's. Even though we were not a group over 18, we still asked our guests choose from the menu the day before, we collected their orders and sent it to Strings through email provided by manager. (had it ready in person if needed but it wasn't). This way we didn't waste time at the shower with people trying to choose from their wonderful menu during our time; also made it easier on their staff and helped eliminate potential mistakes. Everyone got the lunch they requested, as they requested it, all at the same time, delivered hot and by their name. Highly recommend giving Albert a call to see if this location would meet your next get-together needs. Also, it is no small task these days finding staff who care about the job they do; so Kudos to Albert for having thoughtful staff members and for allowing us to focus on the fun of our family time together. read more

My fiancé and I were visiting from Los Angeles and staying in Merced for a quick weekend trip (we were going to Yosemite National Park). After a long day of hiking and sight seeing, we were craving Italian food! We randomly ended up at this restaurant and let me tell ya! The food was absolutely amazing! We ordered the chicken parmesan, pasta sienna, and two seafood bisques! So delicious and flavorful. This spot beats a lot of the Italian restaurants in LA! Very flavorful, comforting and affordable! We also really enjoyed the waiters here! Our waiter was Albert and we extremely attentive, friendly and provided wonderful customer service throughout our dinner. Thank you for such an awesome meal! :) read more

Covid 19 spreaders.... none of the cooks had masks on their faces or gloves. They had the masks on their chin area but not covering mouth or nose. Even fast food joints are requiring their employees to wear masks and gloves since they handle food. Oh and never never get there pizza or calzone. My calzone and pizza came uncooked and cheese unmelted. read more

An "Italian" restaurant with no espresso machine. I'll say no more. Food and service were adequate. A decent environment, but not my cup of espresso. read more

My wife and I went to dinner on 8-12-22 and she ordered the Ricotta Chicken Pesto which from the description sounded wonderful. It did not mention any veggies and to her surprise it came with asparagus which my wife is allergic to. The waiter acted surprised and like he did not believe her when she told him that it did not mention anything about having veggies let alone asparagus. The waiter finally apologized and even came back and told us the chef asked if broccoli was ok, she said yes thank you. 40 minutes later after our party and I had finished our meals, she finally got her meal and we just had the waiter bag it up, he took it off of the ticket and when we got home, lo and behold, it was the same exact meal with the asparagus. It was very frustrating that we had to wait 40 minutes for another meal and it was the exact same meal as before. Not sure how, or what happened but it made our experience at Strings very disappointing and not very pleasant. read more

I love their house salad and freshly-made garlic bread, unlike that cardboard crap from Olive Garden.

We hadn't been in for a while and heard they have live music on the patio so we decided to check it out last Saturday night. First things first I was not happy when upon entering the entire staff were not wearing masks. We were seated and the waitress was very nice and complimentary. We ordered our meals and she brought out 2 separate side salads and not the usual bowl of house salad they typically bring for the table which I thought was strange because I noticed the other tables had them like they usually do. The waitress brought our food rather quickly and it was absolutely awful! We had the steak with pasta and the calamari with shrimp. The steak was cold and raw and I'm talking purple on the inside. The calamari steak and broccoli were covered in a greasy burnt tasting sauce that I'm assuming was supposed to be some kind of pasta sauce and it was disgusting. The calamari steak smelled a little too fishy and was a small little brick rather than the nice steak they used to have. We didn't complain and just asked for a box. The waitress offered to have the steak cooked but by this point we were just ready to get the heck out of there. The waitress was the saving grace of this disaster and she even credited half the steak dinner. I wish I would have caught her name but she really tried to make things right to the best of her abilities. Needless to say there are other Italian choices in Merced that are far better choices. read more

Strings Italian Cafe - Raw and cold steak - Italian Near Me - Merced, California

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Food consistently good, service always fast and friendly, menu offers many options, salads and desserts delicious

I recently visited this restaurant with some friends a couple of weeks ago. I have to say Merced Strings location ROCKS! The service was great the food was great...nothing bad to say and it was even a Friday night! Keep up the good work...we will be back for sure! read more

Very good Italian food. Tried the chicken parm and it was great, soup and bread were tasty as well

Ehhhhhhh not impressed. My salmon accompanied by some pasta was just bland, definitely I add more flavor when I cook it myself. Service was good tho. Unfortunately, the food not so much. read more

Good customer service. Deals on deals for the seniors, the ucm students and even during the weekdays. Pasta sienna is bomb af. And good portion size too read more

We are a bit blown away. This is our mainstay, our place of choice. We had heard rumors the quality had declined but we now know this to be sadly true. The last few visits have not been up to par, tonight was not good at all, and very very odd. The salad had a million bread crumbs in it, like they dumped the bottom of the crouton bucket in the salad? All the nuts were at the very bottom of the salad and unobtainable. Small item but the nuts are my favorite. The cooks had recently added new vegies to the minestrone, (to expand what they had?) so it was a blend of way too hard, crunchy and soft cooked vegies. My mushrooms were stuffed, but I have no idea with what because the alfredo covered them drowned them and the stuffing was long lost. The price was reduced but it was still $50 for a soup, salad, mushroom and my daughter's chicken dish. Very, very sad. read more

Strings in Merced is comically bad. Food tastes as if came prepackaged and microwaved. And for the price, it's not worth it I love Italian food, and live near this location but the food is so mediocre and inconsistent I rarely go. The new owners are either clueless how bad this place is or they don't care. Last time I ordered chicken marsala, the chicken breast tasted like mushy rubber as if it had been thawed out in a microwave then sautéed. It was gross. Another time I asked for basil and Italian parsley to be added to a pasta, they said they did not have those in the kitchen ! And this is supposed to be an Italian restaurant. The restaurant is also looking dirty and rundown. Don't waste your money on this place. The owners and staff must be in denial how bad the restaurant and food it serves. :0 read more

We came here for our God daughter's college graduation brunch. The food and service was excellent... We had a large group too!!! Every one really enjoyed their meals and the bread was really good too!!! What a perfect place to spend time with your friends and family. read more

Their salad is one of the best I've had. The food today was surprisingly good. Maybe I will give this place a chance again. Perhaps it has improved read more

The food and service was awesome. Tabitha is the best!!!! The bread, soup, everything on the menu was awesome, no lie!!! read more

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An average italian cafe, no better than olive garden. The pasta was al dente but just a little bland for me, pretty sure they did not season the pasta water. I got the seafood bisque for my soup which was just okay, it was definetely too salty. Besides that, their bread is so soft, garlicky, and airy, it was delicious. I also ordered a NY Style cheesecake, which was $7. The cream cheese was hard as a rock and so was the crust, it also took 15 minutes to come out, which I suspect is the time they took to bring the cheesecake back to room temp from their fridge. read more

I came to this place with my mother just to try it out since it has good reviews and we were in the mood for Italian. For starters it took 10 minutes for us to be greeted, once we sat down, The waitress disappeared and came back 20 minutes later to take our order even though we were the only people in the restruant since we went in opening hour. I ordered alfredo pasta and my mother got the chicken parmesan. It took 30minutes for us to receive our food and when we finally received our food we were very disapointed! I could have made a better alfredo and chicken parmesan at home with my own alfredo sauce recipe. My mothers chicken was not cooked all the way through and still FROZEN in the inside, my pasta was so bland it literally tated like heavy cream on watered pasta. Just over all HORRIBLE. read more

I love strings. Just my favorite "go to" restaurant. Always enjoy the salad and the soup. The service is fast and kind.

Went back after about 5 years of not coming to this place and WOW what a difference!!! It is amazing. Staff was very sweet, we sat on the patio and they turned on the heaters for us and were attentive. The seafood bisque soup was to die for and the chicken mushroom soup was heavenly I usually come for the soup and salad special they offer like Olive Garden but the salad here is better in my opinion. Also free breadsticks, my 1 year old was happy. read more

we recently had an about 30 people banquet at strings for a birhday celebration. The manager Albert was phenomenal to work with. He was very responsive, flexible and accomodating. The servers worked well together to deliver excellent and efficient service. I would highly recomend this place for anyone planing a group gathering/ celebration. read more

I come here for lunch sometimes with my coworkers. It is in a nice area in Merced across the street from where I work. It is just basic Italian food that is pretty pricey. They have great customer service, but the food is only decent. read more

Gross, food was nasty. They have no clue how to make lasagna. Do not recommend and will never eat here again. Would not let me post without giving it a star. But it is a negative star. read more

love this restaurant. the customer service and attitude of the staff is amazing, i thought i had found a little known pasta dish called Pasta Sienna. it happens to be the best seller i overhead a customer order it topped with cheese..i gave it a shot and i found it to enhance the flavor..the salads are delish 1/23/18 first off our server Albert is phenomenal..a caring man with a positive attitude and a fantastic sense of humor. as usual i had the pasta sienna..delicious as usual, i give Strings 10/'s 5/24/18 haven't been back for a while. it's awful pricey. for the three of us it's usually 60+ dollars and that's at lunch. 4/16/19 once again i had a delish lunch with my mother and father. i'm happy to say Lacey started her serving career by serving our table. Lacey did a FANTASTIC job. her smile and attention to her tables was amazing, watching her i would have thought she'd been serving for years. thank you strings staff for noticing Lacey's "go get em" attitude and great work ethic.. you got this Lacey 8/15/19 Strings now offers a lite luncheon menu i neglected to take a photo of that menu, it's perfect size portioned for lunch.. the number one server award goes out to Tabatha‼ i thought i'd never say this however her skills are better than Pizza..(i LOVE pizza) thanks Tabatha your personality and attitude are awesome.. that's 9/11/19 ahhh yes another stellar lunch at Strings. Their new lunch special is great, the right amount of food for a great price $9.99 .. One can't miss with the Pasta Sienna or any of the other choices. Unfortunately (for us) Tabitha had the day off..Hector stepped up to fill her shoes however he looks nowhere as good as Tabitha‼ read more

The best Italian restaurant in Merced! The service is great and the food is always consistently good! Literally the best house salad in Merced, the raisins and sunflower seeds make it pop! Try the pasta Siena (not sure if I'm spelling it correctly) or the short rib pasta they are my favorites! It's one of my family's go to spots, especially Wednesday all you can eat pasta night! read more

It's been a while since I've been here. But the last time I was... it was horrible. Not the food.. but the service. Our server was MIA for a good 5 mins before she acknowledged us. Our drinks and bread were MIA with our server... and when she did bring us bread.. it was cold. We let our server know.. nicely.. that our bread was cold and we preferred warm bread.. tell me why she microwaved that shit. She wasn't very attentive and never offered refills until we asked. We actually had to hunt her down for some takeout boxes. When we finally got our bill.. we asked her to split it into two. There's only 3 of us.. it's really not brain surgery. But she gave us attitude like no other.. saying how we were suppose to tell her in the beginning before we ordered. By now.. my roomie was about to go all Latina on her..but being the civilized college students we were.. we just smiled and responded with a 'well.. we didn't know.... (bitch)' When she came back.. i swear she just threw the check presenter at us and walked away saying nothing. The next time we saw her was when she needed to take payment with our credit cards. After that. she was MIA again. After a good 8 mins.. my roomie wrote a "love" note on the back of the credit card slip that we were to sign & return. On our way out... we handed our check presenter to the manager at the host stand. While getting in our cars.. we turned back to see the manager reading our complaints and calling over our server. Victory was ours. read more

I've been to String's before, this one is pretty typical. Prices at Strings aren't cheap but not expensive either. They're kept clean, got good, non-greasy portions and most of their dishes are pretty tasty. This one is pretty much a typical String's...small, nice service with decent Italian food. read more

Strings is up and down the central valley. I was raised here and while I have my favorite like the lasagna pastry......trust me I crave it all the time. But as I became older I was disapointed in their brown marinara. Sure its a tough economy but spebd the extre 2cents per serving. Service is always soso. I always return because I believe I am addicted!! Oh and the ari ravs are absolutely AMAZING but ask which schwanns catalog they are in! read more

I've been to another location, and while its just basic italian food. It's decent! - Baked/fried ravioli: It's in a spicy sauce that is a nice kick. Very tasty and flavorful - Pizza with Pepperoni in Alfredo Sauce: Nice. Huge pizza, so definitely can be shared many times over All in all. I did carry-out, but this place was nice and would return if in the area! read more

2.5 stars, but a good Wednesday night $8.99 all-you-can-eat pasta. --- This place is an average Italian restaurant; go for the Wednesday pasta deal! It's all you can eat pasta (with a choice of soup or salad) and you get complimentary bread. The bread is tasty but oily and ask for salad dressing on the side (they pour way too much). For the Wednesday deal, I get Angel Hair pasta with cacciatore sauce (it has spices, vegetables, and some cheese on top). Their salmon plate with pasta is delicious; their veggie pasta is tasty but overpriced; the ravioli is pretty tasty, and I can't remember the other things I've eaten here. They do give nice dessert on your birthday.. I've been to Strings over the years and it's not a place I would choose to eat at (except maybe on a Wednesday with a group). read more

As chain restaurants go, this is exactly what you should expect - mediocre (at best) food, forced 'traditional' decor, service representative of a high staff turnover (that's a high turnover of staff, not the staff are high. Although...) Anyway, I digress. I ordered some funky interpretation of a lasagna: the Lasagna Pastry. I guess I got exactly what I ordered, but the lasagna was *way* over flavored - no subtlety and complexity, just low-grade bolognaise sandwiched between lasagna sheets with loads of cheese and puff pastry for good measure. I'm not sure if there even was a bechamel sauce present. You know how places that don't really know how to cook good, honest, fresh Italian food use half a cup of Kirkland Signature Italian Seasoning per serving to cover their trail? That's Strings. I'm pretty certain they couldn't even find Italy on a map. Of Italy. read more

Horrible food, over priced and poor service-bad dining experience! Our server was more interested in chatting up co-workers than attending to drink and bread refills. And I believe she knew the poor quality of the food for when she asked "How is everything" neither my friend or myself could reply before she said "Good" and returned to chatting up a co-worker. The food is overpriced, bland and poor quality. I had a soup that tasted like flour, tortellini that tasted as if it had been soaking in water all afternoon covered by a tasteless watered down sauce. The bread however was wonderful, if store-bought and reheated in the oven, and while I had to remove the lemon, which I asked not to be included, the iced tea was tasty. Save yourself some money, cross the street to Raley's and buy a ready-made meal. read more

Omg!! I was so surprised!! The food was amazing the service hector was so sweet like family best strings food thank you we will Back read more

Food is really not great. Veryyy bland today was my second time trying and it's even worse than it was 2 years ago. Everyone at my large party agreed the food was bland presentation messy and it was overall not good food. Definitely going somewhere else for Italian food read more

The reviews for this restaurant seemed to be polarized to one end or the other...maybe it's the staff on duty that night. My wife and I went for her birthday and had a terrific experience. The host met us at the door, held it open and welcomed us in. We sat down immediately, received menus and a brief on the specials. Our waiter arrived in another minute (he had at least 5 other tables going) and performed flawlessly. A busboy greeted us later and filled our water and yanked dirty dishes as needed. The salad is great, and I believe the bread on the table is the best anywhere, with no concrete outer shell like most. Our dinners looked terrific, and were tasty and filling. I'm sure there's better, but you could say that about any restaurant. If people are so damn picky that they can't seem to enjoy the food, or the service anywhere they go, then stay home and eat. If I had a good experience, I make a point to catch the waiter on the way out with a verbal thank you, and if the experience was great, I say it out loud so a manager hears it. And if it's bad, let the manager know that too. If he or she keeps hearing that a particular waiter bites, then hopefully that waiter will get 86'd and you and future customers will benefit. read more

This place is great. This is the second time I've been here. Once last year and a second time this year. Both times for a team dinner. We had about 16 people each time and we're seated and treated well for a large group. We did however make a reservation! I usually go for the pasta primavera type dishes before a race. I love roasted veggies and pasta, then you add a bit of chicken an you have a perfect pre-race meal. So when I read the description of the "Moreno Secchi" - diced chicken breast tossed with fusilli pasta, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and broccoli served in a creamy sun dried tomato sauce, I knew I'd found the right entree. One team mate order the meatball side and it was delicious. There was obviously some veal in there since the meatball was ever so tender, juicy, and delicious! I got the Cesar salad side which was pretty decent, especially if you squeezed the lemon wedges, which they provided, over the salad. My Cesar's gots to have the right twang if not I ain't happy. If I were being really picky, I'd say they need to add more anchovies to the salad dressing ;-) The bread and water were flowing as long as we were there. Although I have to admit it was a bit strange that they didn't bring out bread until we order? I mean come on, a group of 16 people isn't gonna walk out there that easily without ordering...bring us some bread damn it! I think the first time I was there I had the chicken picatta and if memory serves me it was pretty tender and juicy. We'll definitely be coming back here for future team dinners. Cheers! read more

I've been here twice and both times it's been MEH, if that's an appropriate sentiment. Most recently, I came with a few friends celebrating the completion of some Masters from the UC, partly out of proximity to the university. Anyways the staff was really nice and friendly. We got seated right away. It's just the food isn't that exceptional. Also, it is NOT gluten-free friendly. One of my friends agreed to come here because he called ahead and they said they had gluten free pasta and pizza crust. However, NONE of their other items are gluten-free (sauce, cheese, etc.). We're not sure what that means, but if they say it's not gluten-free then he won't eat it. It comes around to him ordering and the waitress tells him that his options are to probably just get gluten free pasta with olive oil and maybe a sausage. So he got that. He was also offered a salad, but the dressing wasn't olive oil based and probably wasn't gluten-free, so he didn't eat it (I did though, it was ok for me!). I felt bad for him and anticipate that he won't be coming back here again. He mentioned another local Italian joint has an entire gluten-free menu, if you have a gluten ailment. I ordered Pasta Sienna, which was $15 or so. Our meals came with salad or soup; I got the minestrone. There was also a bread basket. The food took a little longer than I would have expected from a place that was not that busy from what I could see...but maybe they had a busy banquet room. Food came out and it wasn't very much. The flavor was ok, but it felt underwhelming overall. It's the American in me. My friend ordered the tortellini and I had some. The next day both of us were hit with a slight case of stomach sickness. Not sure what was up with the tortellini but I'd never get it again. Another friend got the ravioli that was on special, but they gave him mushroom instead (they were out of the artichoke kind), and there were only 3-4 raviolis. I forgot what the price was but it was probably 13-15$. Anyway, I probably wouldn't come back here if I had the choice. read more