Sarina’s Italian Kitchen opens its first full-service Salem restaurant at 11 a.m. Thursday, July 23, completing its transition from a delivery-focused ghost kitchen to a permanent downtown dining destination.
The restaurant at 401 Center St. NE features indoor dining, a full bar and outdoor patio seating. Customers can enter from both inside the mall and through a separate exterior entrance, allowing the restaurant to remain accessible after the enclosed shopping areas close.
For owner Ryan Sarina, the opening represents the next stage of a business that began serving Salem customers in 2021. Sarina’s previously operated as a takeout and delivery concept from a virtual kitchen inside McGrath’s Fish House on Center Street Northeast.
Sarina told Salem Business Journal in January that strong support from local customers encouraged the company to establish a traditional restaurant.
“We have had Sarina’s Italian Kitchen since 2021 as a ghost kitchen, and the Salem community has been very supportive,” Sarina said. “We decided, in partnering with the owners of the Salem Center mall, to develop a brick-and-mortar location with a new updated menu and feel.”
The menu combines recipes inspired by the Sarina family with familiar Italian-American dishes. Offerings include lasagna, chicken Parmigiana, seafood linguine, pasta carbonara, shrimp scampi and eggplant Parmigiana.
Sarina’s meatballs combine beef, pork sausage, fennel and Italian seasonings. Its lasagna is prepared with imported Italian noodles, fresh mozzarella, cream cheese and house-made meat sauce. The menu also includes appetizers, salads and desserts such as tiramisu and cheesecake.
The new dining room has an Italian-inspired atmosphere and original murals created by a local artist. Sarina previously said the restaurant would offer an extensive selection of wines and cocktails.
The downtown location was expected to create approximately 20 full- and part-time jobs. It also adds another full-service restaurant to the area and brings new activity to a prominent space near the intersection of Center and Liberty streets.
The opening is a significant step for a restaurant that built its local following without a traditional dining room. Customers who previously knew Sarina’s primarily through takeout and delivery can now experience the company as a sit-down restaurant with a broader menu, bar service and patio seating.
Sarina’s opens at 11 a.m. today, giving downtown workers, shoppers and visitors a new locally developed dining option.
