I love italian food, and I love this place. It’s a small restaurant and very popular because the food is killer. The portions are not huge but pretty filling. They do take reservations and I would definitely recommend making one, especially if you have a party of more than 2.
Prairie D.
Tu valoración: 5 Portland, OR
One of the top 3 Italian restaurants in Portland in my opinion. Great service, good prices, and tasty food!
Marnie S.
Tu valoración: 5 Portland, OR
Delicious Italian food and great atmosphere. Went here for a baby shower dinner for my second son last night and loved it. It’s a small place so tables are very close together but it doesn’t feel like you are eating on top of each other. Lots of windows makes it feel much bigger and brings in the ambience of the twinkle lights outside in the trees of the Pearl. The server was very good and attentive. Food was delicious — we had both kinds of bruschetta and I had the Gino’s favorite, which was rich and tasty. I will definitely be bringing my hubby back for a date night when I can drink wine again!
Sarah G.
Tu valoración: 5 Brea, CA
Whenever I’m in the Portland area I always have dinner here. The food is unreal! Ive become addicted to Ginos Favorite… honestly I’m not sure if in the last 2 years I’ve ordered anything else. The service is always great too. I gotta give a shout out to one of the waiters there– Jon you’re hilarious and you always remember who I am even if its been a year! Thanks for that you’re amazing, and you always have delivered the best service! I was just up in Portland for the New Year and I wanted to take a large group of friends somewhere impressive for the first night… so of course I took them there! They all commented on how much they loved the food and Jon. Only down side is… living in southern cali I get cravings for this place and theres nothing like it down here… :( All in all… just go here. If you want delicious mouth watering food that you’ll be talking about for days this is your place. You may want to make a reservation for dinner, but you don’t have to. The atmosphere is super fun, People are great… can’t say enough good things about them. This is one of my all-time top 3 favorite restaurants in the USA. Glad I found you guys… I’ll probably still be going here when I’m 70! Tips– If you have a group of 4 or more and you’re going for dinner make a reservation Dessert — even if you don’t always order dessert just do it. The tiramisu is incredible. It’s way above average. Parking — is on the street it can be a little tricky to find a spot so plan an extract 10 mins ahead. Still not really a big deterrent from going here. Be hungry the portions are generous :) Enjoy!
Daniel H.
Tu valoración: 5 Portland, OR
Best of the best. I’ve been here a few times and each time I’m blown away by the food and atmosphere. I’m a sucker for good lasagna and these guys have it down. Just an oval plate of boiling cheese and incredibly tender pasta. Blows my mind. My partner got the Linguine alle vongole(clam and white wine/garlic linguine) and said it was the best pasta she’s ever had. The family that runs the restaurant are incredibly friendly and the soccer fan atmosphere of the place with all the jerseys on the ceiling is so much fun. And one of the best parts about Piazza is that, even with being smack in the Pearl and serving top-notch authentic cuisine, they’re affordable. All prices are completely reasonable for the quality and portions you receive. Huge plus in my book. If you want the best Italian food in town, look no further. This is it.
Gary J.
Tu valoración: 4 Toronto, Canada
Consistent pasta and spaghetti! I’ve tried this place twice and both time I left satisfied. It’s a family run restaurant and it’s not a big place, therefore reservation is recommended during lunch time. I’ve tried linguini vongole and spaghetti Mare e Monti, both are well prepared and perfectly executed. They cook the pasta well so the texture is always preserved. Definitely a decent place featuring simple and fresh Italian food. Tiramisu is tasty and not too sweet as well. As it is a family run place so the service is warm and friendly. Unlike Italian restaurants in Toronto, they don’t serve large menu. Not sure if this is the best pasta in town, but surely it should be close.
Rebecca V.
Tu valoración: 5 Portland, OR
Absolutely the best Italian place in Portland! Loved everything about this place. Legitimately Italian. It is in a nice part of town however it is not a snooty place and truly amazing. Highly recommend it.
Judy L.
Tu valoración: 5 Dublin, CA
a very family feel. soccer jerseys line the ceiling, soccer games on tv. friendly and handsome wait staff who are oooooozing charm. the food is delicious!!! we all got the pesto pasta with prawns, and the artisan bread is perfectly dense and soaks up the olive oil beautifully. i’d definitely come back for a girls night ;).
Jenny L.
Tu valoración: 5 Damascus, OR
My favorite little spot for legit Italian in the PNW! It is so hard to choose from the delicious Lasagna or to try something new from their menu because everything all sounds good. BUT! I’ve found a solution; Give up the appetizer and order both. You may need to be wheeled out of the door but it will be so worth it. It is a little restaurant and gets super busy, so I would recommend you to call in for reservations or go in early to grab a table. It gets crowded for dinner time, be prepared to sit in close proximity to another table. Tip: don’t come here for a first date. First dates are awkward, don’t make others sit through it with you.
Amanda D.
Tu valoración: 5 Eugene, OR
Wow this place is the most authentic Italian I have had in Oregon! I had the noodles with clams(Amy’s favorite) and it was absolutely amazing! It tasted very fresh and the wine sauce was great! Victor was very nice and friendly as our waiter! Definitely recommend this place next time you are in Portland or the Pearl District!
Eddie T.
Tu valoración: 5 Eugene, OR
Authentic!!! I love the Italian vibes. The pasta and sauces are exquisite. Service is great. The waiters treat you like you’re part of the family. I would definitely recommend. If you love futbol, you won’t be disappointed! #ForzaAzzurri :)
Andrew T.
Tu valoración: 5 Los Angeles, CA
Came here for my first lunch in Portland with some friends! Small little Italian place with great pizza and pasta! I had the pesto pasta options, which was a great choice, but honestly everything tasted pretty good. The service was on point, and their football/soccer decorated room seemed really homey. Nothing particularly spectacular, but if you’re looking for a solid Italian meal I think this place really fits the bill!
Jeff W.
Tu valoración: 4 Portland, OR
It was the day after Thanksgiving, and there were many tables available when we entered the restaurant. The first thing I noticed were the T-shirts hanging from the ceiling and the soccer games playing on the television. What really excited me was the espresso machine sitting in the back. When I looked at the menu I was a bit overwhelmed because honestly, I wanted a pasta sampler and it was really hard to choose from amongst all the pastas offered. The Chiabatta bread basket was very welcoming — olive oil and vinegar combination included. My companion asked for an order of olives which the waiter promptly brought to the table. I ended up going with pesto pasta, which was really good and perfectly cooked. The portions were appropriate. I did get an after dinner espresso and it was really nicely made and a perfect end to the meal. One of the things that I really liked about the restaurant where that all the waiters were authentically Italian and spoke Italian amongst each other. It felt like I was in Italy a little bit and it made me pine for my time in Naples.
Jessica N.
Tu valoración: 4 Portland, OR
I’ve been eye-ing up this place for the past 8 months because there is always a CROWD here — it looks lovely and cozy — and i finally got to try it out this weekend! The servers are all friendly, everyone is helpful. I would love to come here and watch a good soccer match — it seems like the place to go! The bread is a DREAM. This seems like a silly thing to talk about but they make it all in-house and I tried some of their pizza at a recent street fair and the dough was absolutely amazing. They only serve their pizza for lunch though so at dinner I gorged on the bread basket. Amazing. Insalatona and Antipasti — All solid Pasta — obviously this is where it’s at. We had the linguini Squarciarella. The prosciutto was a dream, and with the egg in the sauce it was delicious. I also loved that it was a reasonable portion — not overly huge — enough for a meal. Can’t wait to come back and try more. Note, it fills up early but they do take reservations!
Swati P.
Tu valoración: 3 Seattle, WA
I wanted my last meal in Portland to be awesome, and so I chose Piazza Italia based on its great reviews. I was disappointed. Let me get this straight: the staff here is the BEST I’ve ever seen. I got in close to closing time, but the manager made sure I got a seat. The servers were extremely polite without being fake or pushy. But the food was just not good. I ordered the Ravioli which was a special that day. There was only a tiny bit of it, the texture was rubbery, the sauce was mediocre, and there was literally nothing about it that could justify the $ 15+ price. Maybe this would be good for meat options, but there were far too few vegetarian options, and the one special they had was not great at all. Not recommended.
Melissa M.
Tu valoración: 3 San Jose, CA
After going to ‘hair of the dog’ and having really bad food I came here because I didn’t eat and was starving! I got the rigatoni bolognase and it was pretty good. Not the best or anything I would rave over but it was good. My bf said it taste like chef boyardee, and after he said that I could kind of taste it too, more in the meat. Didn’t really like the bread they served but my bf ate the whole basket. Portions are a bit small but just the perfect amount, I hate leaving restaurants feeling like I cant walk because I’m so stuffed. The customer service is outstanding here! We walked in 10 minutes before they close and were were greeted with smiles and menus not the evil, why are you here, we are closing soon look. Very cute Italian décor inside and it seems as its a family owned business and they were all speaking the language, it was entertaining to watch.
Yenny D.
Tu valoración: 3 Culver City, CA
We were craving some Italian and Unilocaled Piazza Italia. Made our way over from Blue Star Donuts(dessert for after dinner!) and we were seated at a two top inside right away. Place was busy, but cozy. FOOD: — papardelle with wild boar meat sauce — I love papardelle, but some of the noddles were undercooked. A little too al dente for me. The sauce was good, but the meat was a little gamey — linguini(gino’s favorite) — good, but salty Portions were good, not too little, but not too much that you get instant food coma. SERVICE: Friendly, but they are a busy place so it can get a little difficult to flag someone down. A good number of the servers speak Italian, so that adds to the ambiance :) VENUE: Small and cozy. The tables are packed pretty close together but they have several large tables and outdoor seating as well. Right around 7pm, two musicians set up right inside the door and started singing/playing Italian jazzy music! Which was very cool, and it looked like all the restaurant people knew them because they were welcomed very warmly. Food was okay, but I wouldn’t come back.
Vicky M.
Tu valoración: 5 Seattle, WA
We were randomly driving through the streets of Portland when we see our friends sitting outside this restaurant at a table. They yelled for us to join them so of course we did: p The waiter quickly pulled up chairs, and handed us wine glasses with red wine and menus. Our friend recommended the lasagna, so that’s what we ordered. While waiting, the owners personally came up to our table and greeted us and chatted with us. They are actually friends of our friends, so it was cool to meet them and chat! They are older, Italian gentlemen and were so charming! One of them even sat down with us and had wine with us. He came to me and told me if any one of the boys are bothering me, to let him know and he will take care of it: p When the food arrived, I was salivating– the lasagna smelled so good!!! It tasted delicious, all the flavors were just right and it was an explosion of deliciousness in the mouth. I can only imagine how good the rest of the menu is, so I will most definitely come back to try more!!! At the end the meal, the waiter came and told us our bill was taken care of, although we refused and demanded to pay he winked and smiled and said to come back again. The hospitality at this place was amazing! You can really tell the owners care and I can see how their customers are lifelong loyal customers!
Dennis H.
Tu valoración: 4 Irvine, CA
Definitely authentic … really interesting vibe … it was like I was in Italy having dinner. These guys love their soccer as you can see from my pics. Trying to remember what I had … Pappardelle with wild boar meat sauce … tasty but a tad gamey. Don’t think my wife liked her pasta plate. The food is about a 3.5 but the décor and vibe was 4.5 so I gave it 4 stars!
Vinnie B.
Tu valoración: 4 Portland, OR
This is a very good Italian restaurant. I’ve been here many times lunch and dinner. I love their sauces and pasta is always consistent(al dente). I also just like the casual vibe here. Soccer jerseys on the walls and on TV year round. The wine selection is very Italian strong. One of the better Italian restaurants in Portland. I’ve never had a bad meal here. Top 3 best in the Pearl.