My party of five visited Porta Montclair on 12/12/25 before attending the Foreigner concert. We had reservations and were seated on the lower level. The ambiance was nice but extremely busy, with a live singer performing a Sinatra-themed set.
We placed our drink orders first. The waitress was consistently kind and apologetic throughout the evening. Unfortunately, the draft Guinness was out of service, so we ordered other beers that were disappointing but fairly priced at $8. The house Porta wine at $10 was worse than a $5 bottle, so I switched to the Italian Sauvignon at $12, which was still mediocre. The disappointment with the drinks was such that we decided we will order drinks elsewhere or at the concert venue where at least they serve cans of beers that are decent.
We started with two orders of the fried calamari $18 each for what would be a $9 portion. The taste was decent; the marinara sauce was actually very good. Unfortunately, the main dishes were a major letdown. The marinara pizza at $16 was, frankly, inedible. The gnocchi at $30 was undercooked, the meatballs at $14 for 2 were edible but arrived cold, and two side pasta orders did not arrive with the main dishes. When they eventually came, the pasta marinara at $12 was so bad that we sent it back, and the cacio e pepe at $16 was excessively salty. The eggplant parmigiana at $23 was the only entrée that was prepared well.
Adding to the disappointment, the food arrived one dish at a time with gaps of about 10 minutes between plates. This made it impossible for our table to eat together. We arrived at 6:00 pm and left at 7:45 pm with no desire to return.
This experience was especially disappointing because one of the professional organizations I belong to hosted a networking event here in September on the second floor for over 60 people. At that time, the pizza was very good; however, I now recall that the restaurant itself was not fully operating, drinks were served by Porta, and the pizza was ordered from an outside vendor. The drinks during that event were actually very good and the reason why I thought we should give this place a try.
Portion sizes were another issue. Charging $16 for a very small, individual-sized bowl of pasta is excessive given the quality. We spent $210 on food that arrived late, was poorly prepared, and largely inedible.
The waitress apologized multiple times for the delays, explaining that the kitchen was overwhelmed with large parties. For a restaurant of this size, managing kitchen flow and timing dishes so that tables are served together should be expected, especially ensuring that side dishes arrive with the main courses.
There are far better restaurants in the area. This place seems to rely heavily on hype rather than quality, and based on our experience, it is definitely not worth a visit. Save your money and go somewhere else.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Daniel Kosinski
Rod was the best bartender ever! He was amazing! Made the entire night! 100% go to him! And give him money!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kiara O'Reilly
Great place! Definitely make a reservation if there is a concert at The Welmont. AND GET THE CACIOA PEPE PIZZA!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
ozzie Vehra
Food was excellent and came straight out of the oven, but the service was even more incredible. Alexis went above and beyond to provide the best dining experience: she gave us recommendations based on our individual tastes, responded to all our asks immediately, and was very hospitable. I'll be back soon for more pizza + pasta.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Maiya Sanchez
I am absolutely infuriated by the way my boyfriend and I were treated at Porta Montclair. We were told we could not be served a simple glass of wine because his ID is from Connecticut. He is 24 years old with a valid, government-issued ID, and being denied service solely because it’s out-of-state is completely unreasonable.
What makes this even more disappointing is that I’ve always loved Porta — I even celebrated my 21st birthday here four years ago. I was genuinely excited to bring my boyfriend to one of my favorite spots, where I’ve had countless wine nights with friends, and instead our entire date night was ruined over something that should never have been an issue.
Your staff asked for a second form of ID as if a typical 24-year-old walks around carrying a passport. The problem wasn’t with us — it was clearly with your scanner or verification process, yet we were the ones punished for it. As someone who also works in the service industry, I would never turn a guest away simply for having an out-of-state ID.
This experience was incredibly disappointing, and it has completely changed how I view this restaurant. My friends and I will no longer be spending our time or money here, and you just lost an entire clientele because of this.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Vishal Desai
Alexis was great! Def coming back
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
liz lugo
Alexis was great!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Keith Brouca
Very disappointed…I set up a reservation about a month prior to my event, a birthday. I was then called 3 days before asking to Move the reservation up an hour and a half. Very unprofessional to change a reservation so close to the date. Could not reschedule a party of 16 people! We just cancelled the reservation and went elsewhere.
Edit: update Management did reach out to help and make things right for us It is appreciated and we will give them another chance Thank you
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Joseph Mulford
The best staff ever.always a great experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Shanne Quinones
Came here for the Guilty Pleasure party on 10/26 and the bar was a MESS. Very weak bartenders on the left end. I understand it was a busy night but even as the crowed became smaller I was still getting ignored by both the man and the woman. They proceeded to take others orders and REFUSED to make eye contact. I hate to pull the race card but it’s the only thing that made sense, as a black girl in a white space. At one point I caught the male bartender’s (dragon tattoo on left arm) attention, to which he gave a me a waiting finger and proceeded to take everyone else’s order. Very odd in my opinion, as I am experienced in nightlife and this was my worst and only experience like this at a bar. Do better.
Went here with my girlfriends and had an absolute blast! Our server Alexis was spot on and super attentive. The vibe and music inside is also fun. The food was delish of course, definitely recommend the Betty Pie pizza and Tiramisu!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alisa Patel
Alexis was amazing she served us with an amazing smile and great attitude. The environment and vibe were the best for our girls night out. The food was yummy, we def will be back to visit them again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Johannah Yousuf
Had an amazing time for a girls night here! The Betty Pie was my fav! Our server, Alexis, was wonderful. Everything was brought out in a timely manner and made sure we were taken care of! Will be back again
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Chuck Rea
Pretty terrible experience overall. Food is pretty good. Service is an absolute disaster. Drinks took forever to arrive to our table. Food came to the table and we didn’t have any silverware. We asked for some and it also took forever to arrive, to the point where I had to get up and look for some myself. Our second round of drinks just never came. We won’t be back.
My party of five visited Porta Montclair on 12/12/25 before attending the Foreigner concert. We had reservations and were seated on the lower level. The ambiance was nice but extremely busy, with a live singer performing a Sinatra-themed set.
We placed our drink orders first. The waitress was consistently kind and apologetic throughout the evening. Unfortunately, the draft Guinness was out of service, so we ordered other beers that were disappointing but fairly priced at $8. The house Porta wine at $10 was worse than a $5 bottle, so I switched to the Italian Sauvignon at $12, which was still mediocre. The disappointment with the drinks was such that we decided we will order drinks elsewhere or at the concert venue where at least they serve cans of beers that are decent.
We started with two orders of the fried calamari $18 each for what would be a $9 portion. The taste was decent; the marinara sauce was actually very good. Unfortunately, the main dishes were a major letdown. The marinara pizza at $16 was, frankly, inedible. The gnocchi at $30 was undercooked, the meatballs at $14 for 2 were edible but arrived cold, and two side pasta orders did not arrive with the main dishes. When they eventually came, the pasta marinara at $12 was so bad that we sent it back, and the cacio e pepe at $16 was excessively salty. The eggplant parmigiana at $23 was the only entrée that was prepared well.
Adding to the disappointment, the food arrived one dish at a time with gaps of about 10 minutes between plates. This made it impossible for our table to eat together. We arrived at 6:00 pm and left at 7:45 pm with no desire to return.
This experience was especially disappointing because one of the professional organizations I belong to hosted a networking event here in September on the second floor for over 60 people. At that time, the pizza was very good; however, I now recall that the restaurant itself was not fully operating, drinks were served by Porta, and the pizza was ordered from an outside vendor. The drinks during that event were actually very good and the reason why I thought we should give this place a try.
Portion sizes were another issue. Charging $16 for a very small, individual-sized bowl of pasta is excessive given the quality. We spent $210 on food that arrived late, was poorly prepared, and largely inedible.
The waitress apologized multiple times for the delays, explaining that the kitchen was overwhelmed with large parties. For a restaurant of this size, managing kitchen flow and timing dishes so that tables are served together should be expected, especially ensuring that side dishes arrive with the main courses.
There are far better restaurants in the area. This place seems to rely heavily on hype rather than quality, and based on our experience, it is definitely not worth a visit. Save your money and go somewhere else.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Rod was the best bartender ever! He was amazing! Made the entire night! 100% go to him! And give him money!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great place! Definitely make a reservation if there is a concert at The Welmont. AND GET THE CACIOA PEPE PIZZA!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Food was excellent and came straight out of the oven, but the service was even more incredible. Alexis went above and beyond to provide the best dining experience: she gave us recommendations based on our individual tastes, responded to all our asks immediately, and was very hospitable. I'll be back soon for more pizza + pasta.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I am absolutely infuriated by the way my boyfriend and I were treated at Porta Montclair. We were told we could not be served a simple glass of wine because his ID is from Connecticut. He is 24 years old with a valid, government-issued ID, and being denied service solely because it’s out-of-state is completely unreasonable.
What makes this even more disappointing is that I’ve always loved Porta — I even celebrated my 21st birthday here four years ago. I was genuinely excited to bring my boyfriend to one of my favorite spots, where I’ve had countless wine nights with friends, and instead our entire date night was ruined over something that should never have been an issue.
Your staff asked for a second form of ID as if a typical 24-year-old walks around carrying a passport. The problem wasn’t with us — it was clearly with your scanner or verification process, yet we were the ones punished for it. As someone who also works in the service industry, I would never turn a guest away simply for having an out-of-state ID.
This experience was incredibly disappointing, and it has completely changed how I view this restaurant. My friends and I will no longer be spending our time or money here, and you just lost an entire clientele because of this.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Alexis was great! Def coming back
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alexis was great!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Very disappointed…I set up a reservation about a month prior to my event, a birthday. I was then called 3 days before asking to
Move the reservation up an hour and a half. Very unprofessional to change a reservation so close to the date. Could not reschedule a party of 16 people! We just cancelled the reservation and went elsewhere.
Edit: update Management did reach out to help and make things right for us It is appreciated and we will give them another chance Thank you
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
The best staff ever.always a great experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Came here for the Guilty Pleasure party on 10/26 and the bar was a MESS. Very weak bartenders on the left end. I understand it was a busy night but even as the crowed became smaller I was still getting ignored by both the man and the woman. They proceeded to take others orders and REFUSED to make eye contact. I hate to pull the race card but it’s the only thing that made sense, as a black girl in a white space. At one point I caught the male bartender’s (dragon tattoo on left arm) attention, to which he gave a me a waiting finger and proceeded to take everyone else’s order. Very odd in my opinion, as I am experienced in nightlife and this was my worst and only experience like this at a bar. Do better.
Atmosphere: 2
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
Good pizza, not too busy
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Went here with my girlfriends and had an absolute blast! Our server Alexis was spot on and super attentive. The vibe and music inside is also fun. The food was delish of course, definitely recommend the Betty Pie pizza and Tiramisu!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alexis was amazing she served us with an amazing smile and great attitude. The environment and vibe were the best for our girls night out. The food was yummy, we def will be back to visit them again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Had an amazing time for a girls night here! The Betty Pie was my fav! Our server, Alexis, was wonderful. Everything was brought out in a timely manner and made sure we were taken care of! Will be back again
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Pretty terrible experience overall. Food is pretty good. Service is an absolute disaster. Drinks took forever to arrive to our table. Food came to the table and we didn’t have any silverware. We asked for some and it also took forever to arrive, to the point where I had to get up and look for some myself. Our second round of drinks just never came. We won’t be back.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
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