Portofino Restaurant & Events

Delicious food and specialty beverages. Friendly people and excellent service. Very accommodating to needs/requests. Very attentive wait staff. The restaurant is very clean. The view of the water is pleasant. Owner visited our table to chat & thank us for coming in.

Our table near the window overlooking the canal was lovely. It was a rainy night, so no outside eating.....but inside was cozy and comfortable. Our dinners were very good. Presentation was beautiful. Especially good was the eggplant. Three thick slices ( I wasn't too sure when I saw how thick) were covered in delicate but crunchy breadcrumbs, fried and artfully arranged on a bed of pasta with a light red sauce. Excellent!

We came by boat and were completely surprised and delighted with the reception we received, the food we ate, and the general atmosphere. Even the music was wonderful. The manager was attentive to us and was very helpful in selecting a great chianti. Thanks for a great evening, Portofino!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We went to the previous Aquavita here years ago and didn't feel the need to go back till we saw it was the new Portofino.
So much was so good, especially all three people who waited on us. I stopped in early to check it out and the young man who met me was so sweet and encouraging, as was a nearby bartender. When we arrived, we had a female waiter who was stellar.
The back balcony overlooking the canal was lovely that night.
All of the food was excellent, from the warm burrata with toasted flatbread to our salads to my vegetarian husband's eggplant parm (and our waitress' patience with his food allergies) and my incredible wedge of lasagna, topped with green (basil?) and red (marinara) and white (cheese) to look like the flag of Italy! And that was fun but not necessary to make it palatable. It was very good.
One of the downsides were our drinks, my pear thing and my husband's grapefruit one. Still, the waitress offered to fix it, and I demurred to get on with the meal. The other was no bread and by the time I asked and got it, the meal was over. Which was the biggest problem: the timing, and not just at our table. Nothing came forever, then everything came at once, with something missing. It was happening at every table, and I see it in previous reviews. This seemed to be a problem of the kitchen/manager and not the servers.
Despite downsides, we'd go back. The food and service and views are just too good.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Shelley was great! Excellent lobster and loved the beets.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Although the food was very good, we had to wait an hour and a half to get our dishes. No bread was served either, not the usual for an Italian restaurant. We were starving. Flies and fruit flies buzzing around. The staff was sympathetic to our wait but still we were there well over two hours. The atmosphere is nice with lovely outdoor seating next to the canal. The inside seating is posh and comfortable but very loud. Had to shout across the table.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 3

We liked the layout and the appearance, especially the outside seating deck on the water. We made reservations and were seated very promptly. The food was very good but the service was not an acceptable wait time. We were waiting endlessly to be served and were there for over two hours. It took long waits for drinks and an hour an forty minutes for the food service, despite them telling me it "will be any minute now" several times. They gave us a free drink because they knew it was a long wait. We arrived earlier than the usual rush when the restaurant was only half full but still it took a long time for every event of service from drinks to serving of the entrees. We also witnessed people getting their food much faster than us - even though we were the same amount of people at the table. It was extremely cold and noisy. Although the overhead music was nice, together with the echo of the room - it was so loud that we had to shout across the table to each other. We are from a big city that thrives on prompt service so perhaps there is a slower pace here? Not sure. I would like to say the food was worth the wait but this wait was too extreme for me to truly enjoy it and we will not return.

Our entrees were exceptional, and the service was outstanding! Our compliments to the chef!

We recently had a baby shower at Portofino. Everything was perfect. From the very beginning to the day of the shower Sherry and her crew were the absolute best and easiest to work with. The buffet we had was delicious.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I loved eating here. It’s very clean, organized and the service was wonderful. The staff was very accommodating and helpful. I loved the chicken parm and the calamari was good. I wish it hadn’t rained so I could sit outside.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

We waited a very long time (like an hour) for our dinners to be served this past Saturday night. Perhaps there was a kitchen chef/staff shortage? Our server was lovely, brought out the children's meals early so they didn't have to wait so long. The food was excellent. This was our second visit, and hope that the slow arrival of our meals was just a temporary issue. Thanks!

Fantastic, unique, flavorful made in house restaurant with Exceptional service!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I normally have a great experience there but the service was very slow, water glasses weren't refilled and hot lunch options came out cold

The manager was wonderful, open hearted and amazing. Felt like Ive known her my whole life. Our lunch was wonderful and the place is fabulous!

Let me start out by saying that the food was exceptional, staff very friendly and the overall atmosphere was great.

With that said, there were definately some odd things happening... My girlfriend made a reservation and we were seated right on time. We sat outside next to the canal and really liked the spot. Good thing we liked that spot because it was probably 20 minutes before anyone noticed that we had no server. A very nice server passed us a few times and noticed us sitting there and kindly took over our table. She gave us menus and water. It was a while longer before a woman I suspect was a manager came over to ask if we needed drinks. She suggested a Lavenger Lemonchello-tini (not sure if the name) for my girlfriend. A WHILE later, a drink comes out and it appeared to be something with cold coffee. We asked the guy that brought it and he very nicely said - yeah, that's the right drink. After taking a few sips, she knew it wasn't right but before we said anything, back came the guy with an obviously Lemonchello drink in a martini glass (he apologized - again, very nice guy)...we thought, this must be it. About 10 minutes later, we see the manager look over and say something to our server. She then comes over with the correct drink. LOL My girlfriend now had 3 drinks... We ordered our food and about 15 mins later were given some hummus and crustini (VERY good)...another 15-20 minutes later some bread and herbed butter comes out (VERY good)...meanwhile at least 4 times different people tried to drop off food or drinks to our table that did not belong to us. Each time, the person bringing it over was very pleasant, apologetic and got it to the right party. Maybe 25-30 mins later we got our food. The food was GREAT. Once finished it took a bit but we got a dessert menu. Ordered coffee and a dessert to share. Took Maybe 15 mins for the coffee and a other 10 for the dessert to arrive...dessert was as good as the food. Whole dining experience was 2 hours and 30 minutes. We were in no hurry so it wasn't a terrible thing for us. Our server was extremely nice and I don't believe was the cause of any of the timing... The place is just disorganized.

Bottom line is, the food, staff and atmosphere are worth the disorganization and overall time. If you are on a schedule, this is not the place to go but if you have the time, and some patience, it's definitely worth a try.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4