Al Forno Ferruzza

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Please hurry back! This place raised the bar for pizza in Portland! I really hope they find an ideal new location, as any neighborhood would be happy to have them!

I would like to preface this with the fact that I’m a server and I have never complained about a restaurant before, but our experience was so horrible that I feel I really need to warn people before they come here. The food itself is good which makes me even more sad. It is the borderline rude and incompetent service that really does the place in.
Service started off slow but we could deal with that since we weren’t in a rush. We finally ordered a bottle of wine and were informed that we would be charged a $ 5 corking fee. I understand charging a corking fee if someone brings a bottle in, but it is stupid to charge this fee on the wine you are selling. You don’t charge a corking fee for wine by the glass, why would you charge it for the bottle? To top it off it didn’t even have a cork, just a stopper that took two seconds to pull out, or at least would have if the server had known how to open it.
Like other people, we weren’t able to get what we wanted because they were out of ingredients. This isn’t my biggest concern but it seems to be a trend among reviews. While we were eating our food, a couple of people who seemed to know the staff opened a door to a section of the restaurant that was unoccupied and apparently unheated. We and the table next to us started to get very cold since the door was left open and the recent cold snap has dropped temperatures into the thirties. A woman, presumably a manager or someone who worked there, noticed that the customer at the table next to us was shivering but instead of apologizing or closing the door told her that she choose to sit at the wrong table, insinuating that it was her fault for sitting next to an interior door. Eventually the woman came back out and made the table next to the door move rather than just shutting the door. If the place were full and they needed to open the section for extra seating I would understand it, but half the restaurant was still empty.
The icing on the cake was when were ready to leave and we tried to take home our half full bottle of wine. We asked for our bill and to have the wine bagged. The server looked at us as if we were speaking a foreign language. I explained that we wanted to take the bottle home and we needed it bagged so we could take it home without getting into any trouble. She left and came back with an empty plastic ice bag that had a gigantic hole torn in the side and told us we could put the bag in there and put it in our trunk. This is illegal! The law considers it to be an opened beverage even if it has been recorked and OLCC requires the restaurant to bag the wine and staple it closed before it leaves the premises. When I told her this she told me I was wrong and she knew she was right because she had just taken her OLCC liquor licensing test. Apparently she didn’t read the material very thoroughly. At this point we were just ready to leave. We were told there was nothing she could do, that was all she had. Instead of offering to discount the wine or make any amends she just gave us a helpless look when we said we would just leave our half finished bottle there.
This is by far some of the worst service I have ever seen! If you choose to eat here, do yourself a favor and order carry out.

I stopped at Al Forno Ferruzza for a slice and a beer last Saturday evening as I was wandering down Alberta. As it turned out, I came in at the tail end of a children’s birthday party. This meant that staff were distracted and it took a little longer to get to a table, as a toy or 2 crashed into me and as I did my best to avoid getting in the way of a number of happy Kids.
Once I was served, the Pizza was OK and the beer was good and cold. This Pizza is apparently the real Sicilian deal, but with all the distraction here, my mind wandered off to my own recent Italian trip and better dining experiences. I’ll come back the next time I’m in town and see if I can bump up my rating a bit under improved circumstances.

Yuck! Had this pizza last night, place was dead and it took forever. There definitely wasn’t enough cheese, about half of the pizza was just crust and sauce. The sauce was decent and the sausage was good but for the amount of cheese it lacked for the price I would never go here again. That alone makes a horrible pizza for me.
Our server was really weird too, she kept sitting down at the table with us while we were ordering. Not cool, especially when you don’t smell like you shower everyday. She was sweet but we all said at the same time when we left how strange and uncomfortable that was to us. Drink selections were bunk too.
No wonder I never stray far from Bella faccia a mere two blocks away.
Never again.

Lackluster Service
Horrible menus.
check online (on Unilocal) for a better one than in the restaurant. I didn’t really understand that.
Riduculously long wait.
I understand there is a wait when you come to places, It wasn’t that busy. One hour for our pizza.
Under cooked pizza, Go figure.
Over salted pizza dough that was thin but dense.
Shorted toppings
Margarita pizza needs a little basil, not the 1 – 2 leaves on our 18 inch pizza. I asked for more and was told they are low… So how is that my problem? Why are you telling me this? That means I paid for something that you knowingly shorted me on and told me that your kitchen was holding back on an ingredient?
10 min goes by before I see the server grab some chop it up and give it to me. So, wait a second… Were you low or are you too lazy to go prep some. Perhaps you said you were low, so maybe I would say I can manage without it?
The kicker… I had leftovers and asked for a box for a few slices … was handed one sheet of alum foil that was the size of a standard piece of paper.

DE-​LISH-​US!!!
Hubby & I ordered: pepperoni, basil, carmelized onions, roasted black olives, roasted/​pickeled hot peppers, mushrooms… seriously, the best pizza we’ve EVER had. Service was great, very friendly & helpful & we went in @ 10:30; 30 minutes before closing, when staff can be a little impatient. Not these guys.
Had a glass of merlot while we waited 15 min. for our «off-​the charts» hand tossed pizza. Merlot was smooth.
We’ll definitely be back.

I stopped in here for a slice during the last Last Thursday and it was the best I’ve had in a long long time — I can’t wait to go back. Simple red sauce, mozzerella and fresh basil sprinkled on after the slice came out of the oven. Something about the sauce was extraordinary.

If you drive on NE Alberta long enough, you will have dozens of tempting choices for lunch or dinner. There’s a time to drive, and a time to walk. If you stroll by a restaurant and the aroma of good food attracts your attention, it makes good sense to explore it, especially if you’re hungry.
I’ve read the previous reviews of Al Forno Ferruzza, and the common thread of criticism is the wait, the time it takes to prepare the food. I agree, it takes longer to bake than it does to microwave. When the food is served, it’s time to enjoy and, having enjoyed, it’s time to review.
Our order was taken promptly, and I ordered a calzone because I haven’t enjoyed one since I left the East Coast. Yes, it took about 20 – 25 minutes to prepare. When the calzone arrived, I enjoyed every bite and, I should add, there was enough for two. I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!
Seriously, do you want your food quickly or do you want it to taste good? If you’re in a hurry, you should be forewarned that this is not a fast-​food restaurant. If you enjoy a tasty pizza or calzone, place your order and enjoy some conversation with a date or companion, because you’ll have time to exchange life stories. When your plates arrive, you’ll be too busy chewing to complain about the wait!

Portland is a pretty backwards town when it comes to pizza, so I guess I shouldn’t be shocked by the low rating this place has. But seriously, Pizza Oasis has a higher rating than this excellent pizza? So wrong. So, so wrong.
The pizza here has the absolute best crust I’ve had in Portland. Crackery, crispy, the slightest bit salty. The sauce and toppings are all first rate in quality, and all the specialty pizzas are delicious. Great sausage, great capicola, and the veggie pizzas are all delicious, too.
And don’t give me some bullcrap about «Wah wah slow service.» The only times I’ve ordered here the proprietor has been perfectly punctual and pleasant, but slow, surly service is part of any good pizza joint’s signature anyhow. We should thank our lucky stars that there’s one excellent pizza place in town. Shut yer whining traps and just call ahead for takeout if you’re that worried about the wait. It’s worth it.

I’ve been to Portland twice and gone to Al Forno Ferruzza twice and both times I got to have what was darn close to the best pizza I ever put in this mouth. The ingredients are all so fresh, and the combinations are very tasty.
It is on the funky side, mismatched plates and all that, but I like it. I love the tree trunk tables especially. It is on the slow side, I agree, but hey, when I go here, I’m on vacation so I really don’t care. What I don’t like that one time was absolutely freezing… and this is really out there, but they had this really strong-​smelling soap in the bathroom. Over an hour later my mom was like, «Okay Leanne, I gotta ask– what smells like pot?» And it was my hands from the soap. The smell would not come off, so then we had to go get manicures… you know, to soak the smell out.

Growing up in North Jersey has made me a bit of a pizza snob, but on Unilocal I tend to grade on a curve. I’ve been to three pizza places in Portland, and this is the best although that isn’t saying much.
Food– The first my wife and I went we both got amazing pizza and were completely satisfied. The second time was a different story. I had heard that the vegan pizza was good, so I decided to sample it. I know vegan cheese is very hard to perfect, but this stuff was the nastiest cheese substance I’ve ever tasted AND it ended up giving me a bigger stomach ache than I’ve ever received from actual cheese. My wife got a small pie with a couple different kinds of meat and was also equally unimpressed, though luckily she didn’t get sick.
Service– We got the same dude both times we went to Al Forno and he was a very friendly man. Towards the end of our second time there, two other guys came and in completely ruined the vibe. They seemed (by their arrogance and forced air of importance) to be the owners son or something, but they reeked of douche. It took a very long time to get our pies, but I’d prefer to wait than to have something that was premade hours ago.
Price– I don’t even know what to say. I’ spent my childhood and young adulthood spending money in NYC. The past five years I’ve been through NYC, lived in Boulder, and spent a good amount of time in LA. All these places are expensive. Al Forno blows them out of the water. My wife and I paid separate, so maybe it was a mistake, but for two small pies and two beers we paid almost $ 40. I’ve gone to upscale restaurants on the Upper East Side and paid significantly less for more food.
I could get over the two douches and the one bad pie, but I will never be able to rationalize paying $ 40 for average fare.

This tilts to four stars because of its food, and its pizza. It’s not inexpensive, but the ingredients are good and at least for us, service was very good. It’s on the east side of the Alberta St Arts District, and there are performers. Our performer was a very good guitar player, and it wasn’t too loud for us although he was solo. There is a stage, and it might get noisy. We don’t have experience.
It takes a while to cook things freshly, and we waited about 25min for a huge pizza with our choice of a number of ingredients. We also had cannolis at the end, and they were the real-​deal (with ricotta, but semi-​dark chocolate morsels, rather than shaved chocolate). Great food. Don’t go if you’re in a hurry, or if you’re broke. The overall experience, however, was very good.

Good pizza. Bad service.
I had my first slice of Al Forno Ferruzza at the Italian Festival downtown. They gave me a coupon for $ 5 off, they’re close to my house and the pizza was good so…
I called and ordered a pie the next week for pickup. The woman on the phone sounded overly busy but it was dinner time. When I got there it seemed like she was the only person working with a half-​full restaurant. I’ve heard they make a big deal about showing you your pizza when you pick it up and she definitely showed me my pizza. Unfortunately it was made wrong as I half expected from the phone conversation. She grabbed a $ 5 off coupon from the stack on the counter (I didn’t feel special at that point) and kinda acted like she was doing me a favor by giving me $ 5 off. There was another man at the counter that seemed to be having a similar problem only his pizza was missing.
My pizza was decent though…

This place was so yummy! If your looking for fresh ingredients this is the place!

Atrocious! Worst crust ever. RAW!!!
Yes, we were served raw crust. Never have had that happen anywhere. Waited almost an hour in an almost empty restaurant. Staff of four was overwhelmed by the volume! At least we got the pizza we ordered as opposed the to the tables around us. I’ve had frozen pizza that tasted better. Writing this dump off. I remember when this was a stellar cart in downtown Portland. Now it is crap.

Al Forno Ferruzza has some really good cannoli. I did not know this. Now I do.
Pizza wasn’t as good this time as it was the last time.

For seafood lover, get clam and white anchovy calzone. It also had green olive in it which I didn’t care for and didn’t mention in the menu.
Service was slow and off especially we were the only table for early dinner. Our waiter/​chef walked over to our table with water in the middle of prepping without washing his hands, he got flour and shit all over. We just had a bad vibe about him.
I would give more star for the place because the calzone I had was good. But the service and atmosphere…

Great pizza! Thin tasty crust and wonderful cheese! They have a nice little menu with fresh local ingredients to choose from. We sat out front on the picnic tables. Ordered a large pizza with sausage, feta, mushrooms, and spinach. The guy inside was really friendly. Only one there working his but off. We also ordered a few 22’s. A bit pricey. Around $ 8.
The pizza tasted amazing. Service was friendly and quick.
I also noticed a little seating/​playing area with toys for the kids. Friendly family joint. Check this one out!

Totally an example of a place that doesn’t know how to control their quality and so they try to increase their quantity to make up for it.
Just make good pizza guys… why branch out to cannoli’s when you can’t get your pizza consistently good?
We got curious and saw they were advertising fresh home made cannoli’s with dried rainier cherries. Sounds pretty good right?
We ended up with a greasy cookie tube with some cream… no rainiers of any sort and the cream was pretty blasé. We also paid more than 3 dollars for one tiny Cannoli. If this were an excellent Cannoli then maybe, but seriously guys? Don’t waste your time and don’t waste mine. Let’s just do pizza.

I ended a day of neighborhood shootings (one of my part time jobs) with an Al Forno Ferruzza Scarpetta. That was about a month ago and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
The Scarpetta aka «The Sicilian Slipper» is «All of Today’s ingredients made into an open faced baked sandwich» for $ 9. On that day those ingredients were Handcut crimini mushrooms, roasted italian black olives, fire roasted red peppers, natural sheep milk feta, carmelized walla walla onions, infused sun dried tomato, baby arugula, anchovy, pepperoni, salame, clam…
Sometimes I come here for their beautifully sparse pies, but as good as those are I think the fully loaded Scarpetta might be it for me, layers of flavor, wonderful baked dough, a little marinara… I really need to stop writing when I’m hungry.
This one’s definitely worth a look (
) and a taste.