Prontobella Italian Kitchen

In search of a real Italian meal in the Portland area I was blessed to stumble upon this gem of a restaurant. Fortunately I was with my family so we ate family style, so I was able to try many different items. Some of them were so good I didn’t want to share though! Started with the Marinated Olives and Calabrian Chile Honey Wings, both were delicious. Then had the Caesar Salad and Seared Brussels Sprouts Salad. The dressing on the Caesar was perfect, you could seriously taste the quality and freshness of the ingredients. The Brussels Sprouts Salad is a must! We ordered the Margherita and the Northeast pizzas. Both made with real San Marzano tomato sauce. The crust was perfect with some charring which made it even more delicious. My very favorite dish was the Cacio e Pepe, a dish of pasta, cheese and black pepper which was insanely flavorful the way they made it and the best pasta dish I’ve ever had.
For dessert I tried the Zeppole which were served warm and were complimented by some fresh lemon curd and the warm chocolate brownie with ice cream. Both were great.
Also, they have a great selection of wines, beers and cocktails.
Not to mention the ambiance and service were on point. I cannot wait for my next trip to the Portland area so I can eat there again! Well done Prontobella!

Came here for the lunch buffet a few times with coworkers and it was always good. Tried dinner for the first time tonight with the family and it was even better.
We had the clams and polenta appetizers and both were excellent. The bread was great for dipping in the excellent broth. The polenta is always crispy and fresh.
We shared a half and half burnside and margherita pizza and the kids had cheese. Pizza is always great here. It’s one of the few pizzas I eat the whole crust on.
Zeppole for dessert was great and the lemon curd and whip cream is an excellent compliment.

Out of this world. Not your average pizza place.
This restaurant has an original menu and we love it all. The staff is amazing and they have live music and karaōke on the weekends. Our son loves the little play room with train table.
You can even get delivery through delivered dish– but the experience of going there is really nice.
5 stars for a restaurant that does a great job making the customers experience a positive one!

The kids menu actually has healthy choices. The menu for the Italian food is a little underwhelming, but it does sell itself on being a pizza place. Definitely looking forward to trying the pizza next time. I got the clam spaghetti dish. It was good, but a little on the speedier side. Service was pretty good and the owner especially seems to care about her patrons. Looking forward to trying happy hour on my next visit.

We come here often. The buffet is always solid. Today it was excellent. 2 soups, 2 salads, beef stew with polenta, bread sticks, roasted veggies, pasta salad and 3 kinds of rotating pizza. All homemade from scratch. I love their pizza, the crust is delicious. And the bubbly lemonade is soooo good!

We were there last Saturday night and had the best ciopino ever. Their four cheese pizza was also great. I would love to go back but I live 350 miles away.

I love their gluten free pizza, and the roasted Brussels sprouts salad is to die for! It’s spendy, but worth it as a special treat. I’m used to paying more for GF food. However, cross-​contamination here is a real issue.

Pizza was great, fresh. Although the service was slow, (waiting for the pizza) but our waitress was spot on refilling my house made lemonade. This place was decent, got free donut centers with raspberry jelly with Unilocal check-​in.

Great service very clean and super service. We came in for lunch after a kids sporting event hungry and tired. We enjoyed great attention to every detail.
The kids ordered off the kids menu. So fresh and nicely presented.
Our garlic cheese bread with sauce was perfect. I really wanted to lick the plate but decided that might be considered rude in public.
We had two pizzas one red sauce one white. Both where to die for. The crust was perfect the amount of toppings just right and fresh parmigiana for the top was a very nice touch.
This place is truly a hidden gem. I wish them luck and prosperity because they really have it going for them. They have taken a dive and turned it into a place I would bring an Italian Grandma for a home cooked meal.
Job well done thank you for everything

I really like the fact that they let you go half and half on their pizzas, even if one is white and one is red. When we came, the place was empty but the service was super friendly and the food was good.

I’m from the East Coast and I can honestly say this is the best pizza I’ve found so good, great staff, great owners always have a great time.

I really wanted to like this place since it’s in the neighborhood.
Service was pleasant, but slow. We only saw two people working.
We had the «Burnside» pizza. Great concept, poorly executed. Minimal toppings and the sauce was extremely bland, like watered down tomato paste with no seasoning. Which is a shame because the crust was quite good.

So happy to have such a yummy and cute place so close to home! I love the remodel and décor! Unfortunately last time we visited they were all out of the polenta fries. Had the homemade mozzarella sticks instead and they were very delicious also. The anchovy caesar is the absolutely best I have ever had!

Best pizza in Clackamas county. This is one of my favorite pizza places. Great quality ingredients and lots of other options too.
Pros:
–delicious
–quality
–full bar
–lunch buffet
–big menu w/​appetizers salads & pasta
Cons:
–pricey for pizza sizes
–sometimes slow service
–mozzarella sticks are… interesting

So, I was really hopeful about this place because it has such good reviews. First and foremost, I want to say that they appear to have changed their menu. They still have the GF mozzarella sticks, and the polenta fries. No arancini to speak of, no brussel sprout salad… It was very quiet in there. The service was good, except it took almost 15 minutes to get our drinks, which seemed unnecessary.
We ordered the mozzarella sticks for a starter. They were so close… they really needed a bit more salt in the breading. It was almost like they were counting on the sprinkle of parmesan to do the work, but it really wasn’t enough. Panko is so light and delicate that it couldn’t really stand up as a mozz stick breading without some help. On top of that, the sauce was… well… meh. It was like they took some really good tomatoes, seasoned them right, but didn’t simmer them long enough. It was chunky and runny at the same time, and really needed some garlic and some kind of sugar. I know marinara shouldn’t be too sweet, but this still had too much acid from the tomatoes, and just a pinch of sugar (or a sweet red wine, or maple syrup, or even carrot juice) could have helped that out a lot.
We ordered the Burnside pie. The pork was delicious. The crust was delicious. They advertise a flatbread while still calling it a pizza, and that is what we got. Everything on there was great, again, except for the sauce. For a place that works so hard to make everything from scratch, I don’t understand why the sauce is so neglected. And one more comment, but this is a pet peeve of mine, the pizza advertised caramelized onions. The onions were NOT caramelized. They were delicious, sweet, and really well sweated, just past crunchy. Caramelized onions are a rich, deep brown, these were white. Just sayin…
All in all, it’s not a bad place, but the quality doesn’t justify the price, or the current Unilocal rating.

The Caesar Salad is the best I have ever had. Do add the chicken it’s roasted and melts in your mouth. Also organic and free-​range. Well worth the extra $ 2.50. Which makes it only 7.50 and great portion.

I’m not a frequent Unilocaler, but the owners of Prontobella were generous enough to host and help organize a very special fundraising event for my children’s school and I’d like to share how awesome it was… I am floored to see that someone would post negative comments regarding this very same evening, and I feel inclined to paint a more accurate picture!
Prontobella welcomed the marimba band from my children’s school to perform in front of the restaurant, and hosted a fundraising dine-​out from which they have given back a very generous portion of the sales in support of our school. There were approximately 50 families in attendance throughout the evening, and yes, that means many children!
The owners let the the kids have access to the vintage arcade games for free and they even convinced a professional karaōke DJ to donate his time for a «kid karaōke» session in the back room. It was a fun, lively, music filled, and happy event!
Even with a high volume of customers in a short period of time, the service staff was kind, smiling, and attentive. Our food was fabulous! I especially love the Sellwood pizza and their Caesar Salad is one of the best in town. There is nowhere that compares to Prontobella in the Milwaukie/Clack./Happy Valley area. The attention to quality ingredients is evident in every item on the menu. My parents and mother-​in-​law both dined for the first time with us, last night, and everyone loved it.
One of the things that I love most about Prontobella is that they encourage children to have a sophisticated palette! They welcome young families with kids, they offer healthy and delicious food, and they even buy from local farms whenever possible! Not to mention that they serve tasty Breakside Brews.
I’ve had work-​related meetings here, lunch buffets with family/​friends, soccer parties for kids, and dinners… Every time, they exceed my expectations!
Thank you Prontobella staff and owners for bringing something wonderful to the suburbs. You are the best!!!

Nasty Nasty nasty!!!
We had the worst experience ever. The place was empty and we had to wait like 10 minutes get a table. Our waitress was very unprofessional.
We decided to put up with the bad service in hopes that the food will make up. Oh boy what a mistake!!!
With this experience we are invited to NEVER come back again!

I have been so looking forward to reviewing Prontobella. Sunday at eight o’clock, the establishment is calm. Soft music and soft lighting fit well with the interesting art deco. Icy water is served in a cold carafe. So far so good, but oh, it only gets better and better.
Instantly we received a warm welcome from our server who seated us where we liked. She was warm and friendly with a contagious laugh. The owner popped up to answer our questions about the liquor selection, and before we knew it he was decided on bringing in some Scotch for us with his next order. They get as many of their spirits as they can from local makers. The ease in which he smoothed me from a first time customer into a promising regular captured my attention delightfully. We had yet to order food and I was sold on the service, the use of local ingredients when attainable with the rest coming from Italy, and the amount of food made in house, from their sausage to their pasta. We were fully informed.
We ordered the Herb Bread with Spicy Sweet Tomato Oil, the Willamette Pizza, the Rigatoni with Sausage, and the kids pepperoni pizza. The Tomato Oil was great. Spicy, sweet, almost smoky tasting with a truly rich tomato flavor. The slight ring of chili colored oil coated the thin crusty bread.
The two pizzas were delicious, even the child’s pizza looked and tasted better than most regular mainstream pizzas. Great crust with smoky charred bits here and there. Perfect placement of toppings, fresh tasting cheese, sprinklings of herbs… Yes.
The Rigatoni was perfectly cooked. The sauce coated it well with savory homemade sausage. Hand torn bright green basil splashed the top of the dish. The cheese was used sparingly adding a delicate richness… This was Italy.
They had a fresh Marionberry compote to use with the zeppole because they were out of lemon curd. The zeppole was good but paled in comparison to this lovely chefs concoction of tart sweet berries.
Our service was followed by more great service. I left with a huge smile on my face. The quality of food and service more than justifies cost for me. I have not had such a nice experience at a restaurant in quite some time. I will be back soon.
Update 01÷23÷16 — Came around again, always checking to see if that quality is still there. It is. I love the seared brussel sprout salad so much that it consumes my foodie thoughts. I am in love with this food.

This place is a hidden gem down here in Southeast. The pizza is not only inventive, but some of the best I’ve ever had. I’m so hooked on it! The staff is fun and attentive, and there are plenty of choices for even the pickiest eater of the group.
If you want some good pizza and pasta, make your way down here — it’s more than worth it!