Pazzoria

Eating my sandwich as I’m writing this… I have been looking forward to trying this place for weeks. I was really hoping this would be my new go to place for lunch. Got the grilled cheese and organic greens salad to go. As I opened the container the first thing I saw was a 10 inch hair in between the salad leaves. Threw away the salad, still ate the sandwich. Half of a grilled cheese for $ 8.50 (includes tip)… Don’t think I will go back.

$ 7 polpette (meatball) sandwich.
Pros: Nicely toasted roll, fresh vegetables. Came out toasty all around.
Con: bland. Needed acid: vinaigrette, some lemon, a tomato sauce/​jam/​relish, pickles… something. I added some dijon from the sidebar, and that was ok.
Maybe worth a second look given the reasonable price, but I would not recommend.

Seriously yummy! Had been craving a tuna sandwich for a while. Stopped in today and got a half (very generous) with a side potato salad (the special salad) and they were right … except it was ALL special. YUM! I’ll be back again and again, I’m sure of it.

This is the perfect spot for quality lunch at reasonable prices. The staff was very polite and helpful. And the eggplant parmesan was delicious. I’ll definitely be back for more.

Love this place for lunch, especially the lunch combo. Though if you don’t get in before 1pm, you most likely will have about half the options left available on their menu to choose from.

This is a great spot for lunch. Very casual and small. The most important thing is that the food is great. I had the pizza it was delicious.

Thanks to the Wheel of Lunch, I tried this place for the first time today. Excellent! Quick, friendly, affordable, high quality ingredients. I got the daily special sandwich (today it was bean spread, roasted red pepper and eggplant on grilled rustic bread). It turned out to be exactly what I wanted, even though I hadn’t known it existed. Add one more to an already very solid list of lunch options!

Pazzos and the Pazzoria is literally on the same block as my work, and for that reason I always seem to pass it over for more enticing treats farther away. I’m not sure why, because after my last visit I’ve been convinced that I need to stop in more often.
Breakfast: great for coffee for those looking to escape the line at Starbucks and grab a full breakfast or a breakfast treats. I can personally vouch for the chocolate hazelnut scone and the chocolate croissant. Their mochas start at 3.25 and are delicious and fast.
Lunch: you can get 3 salads for $ 8. Or two salads and a soup for also $ 8. Or a ½ sandwich and soup or salad for $ 6. OR soup and salad for $ 6. Salads also include whatever specialty dish they may have made up that day. When I stopped in, it was a potato salad with a kale pesto dressing, and oh was it good! It also made me seriously rethink my own pesto choices with how delicious the pesto was… but anyway. I added in a spinach and fennel salad and a cream of asparagus soup. They were even kind enough to warn me that the soup had a chicken broth in case I was vegetarian. How thoughtful! The pazzoria is a great choice if you want a food-​cart priced lunch but would also like to sit down and enjoy your food indoors.
Dinner: nope! They close at 3 p.m. and often serve as an extra dining room for special events at Pazzo’s. So if you need an afternoon pick-​me-​up be sure to stop in before 3, or you’ll have to circle the block in disappoint like I once did.
Staff: I love the guys that work here too. They’re always cheerful and chatty no matter if I stop in at 8 a.m. or 2 p.m. It’s a small crew, usually the same guy that takes your order will make your coffee, and another guy in back will whip up your sandwich or pizza order.
Verdict: awesome little lunch spot that gets passed over far too often for less comfortable places. Great for a casual lunch and go or a quick breakfast before hitting town or the office.

Amazing food! We tried this place because it was right next to our hotel, and I’m sure glad we did. The service was a bit lacking. When we were done with our food, we had to wait about 5 – 10 minutes to get our check. But it didn’t affect my rating of this place.

I love this place for lunch. Good food, nice atmosphere, really nice staff. Just one suggestion for the OWNERS — PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT FRONT DOOR!!! It blows frigid air on the front 4 tables and makes it so not fun to dine in. Some of my co-​workers avoid this place in the winter because it’s so cold inside — they only go there in the summer.

I love this place for lunch. I know everyone goes nuts over the food carts, but can you get a quinoa mozz salad with a lobster bisque soup for $ 6 at the food carts — with a piece of delicious fresh baked bread? No — I don’t think you can! This place is awesome and a perfect stop in for a healthy, affordable lunch. They are very nice and will give you samples. I haven’t had their sandwiches yet, but really enjoy this place for lunch!

I got in touch with the general manager, who was extremely apologetic and gracious about the whole undisclosed allergens situation and about my having been double-​charged, so bumping them up a star. I would still call ahead if you have potential food allergies, though.

Very nice ambience, just had a cappucino since I was already full from lunch, but the sandwiches looked good, and will have to go and try them out sometime.

LOCAL’S FAVORITE LUNCH STOP
With so many food carts, it’s nice to find a sit in café for a decent hot sandwich and refreshment at reasonable prices.
Yu-​go chauffeur doesn’t even have to drive or sail here for his Italiano Cubano hot sandwich. While I order their daily special of a ½ cup of Bacon with Chard Minestra plus a half sandwich which was called Pulpetto (beef and pork meatball).
The seating is designed for you to eat and go. Not read War and Peace nor re-​write your resume. It’s a warm feeling with white Italian tiled floor and the classy sculptured wooden based and granite topped counter.
Sandwiches are made to order and they’re piping hot following being pressed in a sandwich hot presser. They’re ready to eat without having to consider adding any mustard or mayo. Soup was deliberately rich, concentrated in flavor and most satisfying.
I much prefer this sandwich shop to the other Cubano place that’s Zagat rated. Price, quality and quantity here is so much more reasonable.

This place has great cookies. I’ve only had a slice of pizza, but there menu looks good.

Consistently one of my favorite lunch spots in Portland! You get so much bang for your buck here. It’s predominantly a soup/​sandwich/​salad spot, complete with coffee bar. Their menu changes daily; a new soup and sandwich each day. Rarely have I had anything here I didn’t love.
Notes:
–Try the 3 salad combo plate (things like tuna salad, beet salad, pasta salad, etc.)
–Usually have a daily rotating juice with some great combos (melon/​mint… lavender lemonade?!)
–Perhaps the best grilled cheese in town
–You can buy full loaves of their bread (baked fresh daily)
–Yummy morning pastries, though I much prefer them for lunch
Be wary: lunch items are not out until 11:30pm and once they’ve sold out of an item, they’re out. They can get quite the line between 12:00 — 1:00, as the business lunch crowd are frequent visitors.
I’m salivating and ready for some Pazzoria.

Back in town today after a few year absence but really enjoyed it. It was super crowded for a Saturday downtown. I had the half soup and sandwich special with a meatball sandwich and the veggie soup choice. My daughter had the pasta salad and a piece of pizza. We had excellent service in spite of the fact they were crazy busy. The place had a real family feel to it — like the customers really mattered.

One of the absolute best downtown lunch spots. I highly recommend the puffy pillow cheese pizza, which is cheap and totally filling. Also, their pasta and meat salad is the perfect blend of creamy and savoury, and I’ve never even been partial to cold pasta salads. Another mind-​blowing dish: the eggplant Parmesan. Crispy cheese on roasted eggplant steaks plus deep hearty tomato sauce. Yes yes yes.
Pazzo also offers a variety of soups and sandwiches that will impress even the most stubborn and snooty of your foodie friends. Cauliflower cream soup. Perfectly grilled chicken paninis. You name it.
I also really love their baked goods, especially their cookies. Pazzo knows how to show their customers a variety of simple dishes made out of high quality ingredients. And in my opinion you can’t go wrong doing that.
The service people can be a bit surly but not so much that I refuse to come here. Everything on the menu seems to wash down well with a bottle of Orangina.

Back in Portland, and Pazzoria was just as good as it was in my original review 2 ½ years ago.
My wife got a soup and ½ sandwich, I got a plate with three different salads. The soup. the salads, the sandwich, the bread, and the service were great.
In those intervening 30 months Portland has had food truck invasion. Pazzoria has great, fresh, foodie food at food truck prices in a lovely environment where you can sit down and enjoy your meal.
I used to wish DC had a place like Pazzoria. Now that I’ve moved to San Diego, my wish has changed: If only SD had a place like this.

The reason for the 5 stars…
1^st-​It has a very comfortable atmosphere.
2^nd-​Before ordering lunch the man behind the counter explained all the lunch specials.
3^rd-​They care about their customers, I ordered a panini without tomatoes and was immediately asked if I was allergic!
4^th-​My panini was slightly over cooked so I got a free cookie and was told that if I didn’t like it they’d make me another one!
5^th-​Not only is the food great, the staff’s customer service is beyond par!
I’ll be back soon!