Renata

Great atmosphere, food and service. We have high standards as Nostrana is our favorite restaurant. Renata was great and did not disappoint. If you can sit at the kitchen bar I highly recommend it. Fun to watch all the wood fire action. The pâté crostini, pasta with leeks and mushrooms (amazing) and the apple crostata were delicious. We will be back!

Agan, anticipating this restaurant from the reviews on Unilocal and Portland Monthly magazine. I am not sure if it was an «off» night for them, but I found the food to be somewhat pedestrian. I was anticipating rustic Italian food w/​a Portland vibe, but kinda felt that the food was prepared by Olive Garden.
The service was friendly and timely. The staff are knowledgeable about the menu and preparations in a very laid back way. The space is somewhat confusing to me — not sure if the exposed beams are to give a rustic feel, but the neon sign glaring in the dining room blows that theory away. Somewhat on the loud side — need something to dampen the reverberations in the space.
The food was just OK. The charcuterie plate to be nothing out of the ordinary. The family style sharing is nice. I amused to large plates of Italian food to share, but you won’t be getting that here. There is usually enough for 1 – 3 bites by a table of four.
Overall — not a place I would recommend for Italian — there are much better restaurants that serve more authentic Italian food.

We came here for my birthday dinner and enjoyed a fabulous meal. We couldn’t decide on an appetizer, so we ordered two. The brussel sprouts were perfectly cooked and wonderfully garlicky. The baked polenta with fontina cheese was gooey and delicious. We both ordered the Isabella Scarpinocc pasta for our entrees. The stuffed pasta is drizzled with honey and toasted almonds, which sounds weird but it totally works. For dessert the pine nut crumb cake and the panna cotta were both delicious. Service was top-​notch, although we did arrive on the early side (5:30) so I can’t speak to how it is later in the evening. One downside to this restaurant is that it has high ceilings and gets VERY loud. Still, I would definitely eat here again.

After spending $ 150+ on our party of three — a birthday celebration WITH reservations — we were requested to sit at the bar (but we already drank to our limit) to make room for a party of 2. No one else waiting. And why couldn’t the party of 2 be offered the bar to dine? We had wine, many courses, 3 desserts. There 2 hours 20 mins. About 25 minutes into our reservation, we felt pressured to decide on our main courses despite their opening remarks about the place is about trying many dishes and sharing. I find this insulting and will not return, my first and last time there. Lived in PDX 20 years. Only happened to me once 7 years ago at Farm Café. Now this place, what a pity because the food was wonderful — but a dining experience has food as one element. Ambiance, service, count as well.

Not impressed. The food was overly salty. The place is really nice though and the server was really nice and informative. I probably will not return. There’s too many other good restaurants in pdx with better food.

Terrible service and bland food just like the other reviews say. We took friends from out of town and were extremely embarrassed to have suggested this place.

Based on stellar Unilocal reviews, I recommended Renata to my girl’s «dinner night» club. Service was very friendly and highly professional, and we were seated quickly with our reservation. Based on reviews, I knew I was getting the fried stuffed olives and the squid ink pasta, which was gnocci on our night. Neither delighted me … I expected the stuffed olives to explode with juicy flavor in my mouth, but they were kinda dry, almost tasted like they were oven baked vs. fried. The squid ink gnocchi was salty and the sauce overwhelmed the calamari that I eventually discovered in the dish. (Restaurant could use more light!) One friend’s butternut (?) ravioli was delicious … but another’s pasta bolognese was on the dry side and simply not what she expected — no tomato sauce. Maybe it’s authentic that way, but it didn’t do anything for us. Sauteed greens were again way too salty for any of us. Above said, I’ll give 2 big thumbs up for the desserts: the panna cotta with blood orange granita and sour cherry sorbet were both delectable.
Looking at the dishes I see on Google that we didn’t order, I’m thinking maybe we just didn’t order the right things. I might go back and hope for better luck next time.

Couple days ago three of us dined at Renata for the first time. Loved everything about it: Design, seating arrangement, friendly and helpful staff, and, most importantly, very tasty food. We shared one each of an antipasto, pasta, pizza, main course, and dessert resulting in five courses total and several forkfuls of each course. At the end we felt very satisfied – not stuffed – and with three glasses of wine our total came to approximately $ 120 (before gratuity). In my estimation not bad for what turned out to be a great experience.
My favorite dishes: Escarole salad with salt-​roasted beets and candied walnuts, radicchio pizza with fontina, balsamico, and caramelized onion, seared steelhead, and caramelized apple crostata with pear sorbet.

I just finished a 6 town round about from San Francisco to Portland, ending in Grass Valley for NYE. First stop was in Arcata CA where we always do the Samoa Cookhouse (awesome fam style). 2^nd was Depoe Bay, OR for a sleep over, then Portland for 2 nights, Ashland, then Grass Valley. There was some great food on the way, but when we were on the way back to SF from GV, we asked… what was your fav moment, and fav meal.
After a little thought, one dish stood out over all the great food we had, which was the Trout at Renata (Mi Piace). The color was almost red, like Salmon. While we were forking into it (we share often), we realized it was deboned, but amazingly well intact. The flavor was incredible. We also had the squid Ink pasta (perfect), and started with an Escarole Salad with cumquat vinaigrette, salted roasted beets, and candied walnuts (very nice). We also had a nice bread with the pasta that would rival Tartine in SF.
Service was outstanding. Thanks to the chefs, servers, and management who made it the most outstanding meal of our bi-​annual Portland 7 day road trip.

Renata continues to be one of my favorite places. As an update, I want to point out something that may help with navigation of the pasta section of the menu. It seems to me that they usually have one stuffed pasta available, and that it never has a name like ravioli that I could recognize as such. So, I’d suggest that guests ask their server about the pastas that are available on the evening’s menu. I’ve never had a pasta dish at Renata that was not among the best I’ve ever had, but their stuffed creations elevate their work to high art.

Not the best, but far from the worst
Yes, Renata had a lot to live up to
and I wanted to taste for myself what was
so highly rated.
The space is warm and inviting with
plenty of parking and a nice patio.
I came here with a large party and
was able to taste lots of dishes.
Ok so, let me break it down.
Drinks~ Cosmopolitan, my first one was excellent
my second one was watered down, not
mixed well, too much lime and took longer
than expected to get to me, clearly
the second drink was made by another
bartender. So, I decided to have
their Hard Apple Cider from Reverend Nat’s
hard cider taproom. So good I bookmarked it.
Margherita ~ Nice red sauce but the bottom
of crust was soggy.
Risotto~ Very flavorful/​rich, nice texture, cooked
perfectly. A little heavy on the cheese on top.
The choice of using a serving plate instead of a bowl is
questionable (I’ve never had Risotto served on a plate)
It lost it’s temperature a bit quickly.
Roasted Beets~ More tangy than sweet and earthy.
Tip, have this alone as an appetizer because it makes it
very hard to pair with ANYTHING. including cocktails.
Chocolate Torta~ marsala zabaglione,
sesame-​cocoa nib gelato,
chocolate-​olive oil feuilletine,
The best thing I had, not too sweet and
the texture was perfect I would get this again.
Service~ Good hustle but not as personable as
I would have liked for this class of restaurant.
(probably not a good idea to laugh at a customer
that miss pronounces a name of a entrée)
All and All, a solid 3 star rating for me. Nothing
really jumped out at me. however that Chocolate
Torta was on point tho.

Renata… Renata… Ren… Well, I’m not really sure what the name means (Google-​fu has failed me), but what I do know is what to expect the next time I’m there: A really overpriced and mediocre tasting meal, served with a side of bad service.
I only went here as a member of a group (who already made the reservation); I was wary because I hadn’t heard many good reviews about the place. But hey, 4 stars on Unilocal.Can’t be too bad, right? …Right?
Wrong.
It took forever for the waiter to bring us drinks (the place wasn’t even very full and had a handful of empty tables). And even when he did, we were missing a couple. Over the course of the night it seemed like he actually forgot about us.
The prices were really exorbitant. I get that I’m also paying for the ambiance and overall experience, but neither were redeeming qualities. I mean, I’m a-​okay with spending $ if the food is amazing. But I could get the same meal here at any major Italian chain restaurant.
With drinks, appetizers, entrees, and dessert (which we all ate family-​style, so I tried them all), we spent over $ 500. The experience was good, because my friends kept everything lively. So I will say Renata seems like they can handle a big group.
Oh… and during my Google search I saw the Oregonian listed them as the 2015 Restaurant of the Year. And here on Unilocal they’re 4 stars. So I’m either crazy (which is not out of the realm of possibility) or I had an isolated experience.

I had never been here before, I thought a visit from a friend from across the country would warrant a visit. I was at the end of the night embarrassed.
2 stars.
The good
Folks were earnest and attentive. Service was all in all good.
Arancini was good. Crisp, cheesy.
Then it was all downhill.
The bad
Salads overdressed. So much STUFF on my carpaccio, the meat would have been rancid and I wouldn’t have been able to taste it.
Pastas were bloated, like they sat in lukewarm water for way too long. Thickness 2 mm too thick. Execution poor with over salted clumpy ragout.
When food is bad, I just drink more.
After a day in wine country, we just wanted glass pours of a decent red. Of the 4 out of 6 we tried and bought, there wasn’t even a single mediocre glass. Someone who I think was supposed to be a wine steward brought our 2 tastes. When asked for other recommendations his response was so terse and unhelpful. This is good. That is good. Without any supporting descriptions. Turns out, they weren’t.
I was just disappointed. I know that Unilocal isn’t always a true reflection of reality sometimes. Could it be this off?
We left two uneaten bowls of pasta and full glasses of wine. Never to return. …
Without some epic improvements in the kitchen.
Heading back to Tabla!

Renata is a super cute and yummy place. New and hip. Lots of antique glassware which I love. I really liked their gold rimmed cocktail glasses. In the bar, it was happy hour before they opened and I had their punch, I had two glasses it was so good!
My friend and I went on a Saturday and went right after work so there was a bit of wait to be seated because their dining room didn’t open til 5:30 and I think our reservation was at 6. At this time, I couldn’t help but notice lots of old people, like 60+. Must have been the time of day.
We had great service. We shared 5 plates. Get the melon cheese salad, that was devoured quickly. The cheese was made in house and was so good. Just melts in your mouth with a hint of salt. So good!
We also fried olives, those were good. Interesting because they had the black squid ink aioli on top which isn’t super appetizing but they were good. We also shared the crab pizza, that was pretty dang good too. Crispy thin crust with big hunks of crab meat. Yum.
We then shared the sea urchin pasta and the veggie broccoli pasta. Both yummy. The sea urchin had a fishy aftertaste but all uni does. We liked that one a bit better than the broccoli one. The broccoli one was simple since it was all veggies, no protein.
We also enjoyed a bottle of their red. They had a wine enthusiast on staff that helped us pick our bottle. He helped us choose a great one.
I don’t think you will leave hungry or disappointed here. I had heard both the chefs or owners maybe came from French Laundry so you can’t really miss this place. Gotta try it.
One minor thing — there isn’t a whole lot around this place, if you want to go out after, there isn’t much to choose from within walking distance or short drive. You will have to drive somewhere else.

absolutely love the space! feels like a wedding venue. its elegant and cozy at the same time~
we waited at the bar area sippin on couple of drinks before our table was ready. as much as how elegant this place looks, there were no snobs here. our bartenders were chattin, making jokes, made me feel like they were my friendly neighbors. (that i wish to have one of these days…) lol
food — amazing. we ordered one too many cause our group of 4 was doing family style but no regrets. everything was flavorful and no doubt the ingredients were fresh.
i hear they have an amazing private party area in the back. id definitely consider if you’re planning a fancy get together with ur loved ones.

We’ve eaten here three times and I’ve come to the conclusion that if you opt for the early bird dining experience at 5:30p you will have the most lovely meal. If you however eat anytime after 7pm be prepared for the worst service ever. The ambiance and menu are fantastic. I love the fact that the menu is changed frequently, but they keep basic pasta types. They will always have a agnoleti on the menu and it will always be delicious. We’ve had the pleasure of trying three different preps– all fantastic. The pizzas are good, but in a city rife with excellent pizza options there’s nothing unique here. Cocktails are unpredictable. One day they are delic, the next meh. Wine list is pricey and also kind of meh for the price point.
Ok– now onto the service. The first time I went there, our server was terrible, but we enjoyed the meal so much we thought– hey probably a fluke. The second time (super early dinner– pretty empty restaurant) — the service was impeccable. I had set my friends up for good food and terrible service and they thought I was crazy and were pleasantly surprised by how attentive the server was. Third time around– just awful. It took forever to flag down our server for more wine and cocktail (which we needed plenty of because it took freaking forever to get our food), he ignored our bread requests, and I think the expeditor went on strike that night (it took way too long to receive our food and the items were strangely staggered).
Also on a side note, please please clean those bathrooms, or better yet separate out the mens’ and womens’. The toilet seat and floor in the bathroom I had the displeasure of using was covered in piss, and the trash can was overflowing. I went to another bathroom, as it was hard to avoid the urine puddle, and found the trash can also overflowing and the whole bathroom just felt dirty (although very cooly decorated). For a bar or a hole in the wall restaurant– totally expected, but here– just gross…
I like this place– Its not super special, but the food is solid and it has a cool vibe. I hope they clean up their service/​food expediting issues (as well as those bathrooms) and you’ll definitely have a fan here.

Renata — oh Renata! This is the new «it» restaurant for me in Portland. The food, the décor, the location, the drinks — its just a wonderful place.
As for the food — Renata has the best pasta in Portland. Yes, they make their won in-​house pasta. Heck, everyone does now. However, what makes Renata’s pasta so noteworthy is the amazing complexity they bring to each plate. Not only are they mixing proteins, adding unique pairing elements –they are also working with «old world» pasta making styles that you won’t find anywhere else.
The salads were decent — but not anything spectacular. The meat plate was fantastic. They make all of their won charcuetiere and it is so obvious.
The atmosphere is really unique. The close in Southeast location is just becoming a go to restaurant location for Portland. Until very recently, few entrepreneurs had the guts to put their restaurants in the mostly industrial area. Well — that’s changing and the ambiance in the area is great.
Do I like Renta? Well, my buddy and I went for a weeknight dinner to catch-​up. We ordered so much food the servers brought another table. It was awesome.

Okay, I’m not sure if the person who decided that Renata deserves restaurant of the year understands how food works. Perhaps their tastebuds were on vacation?
After hearing the buzz about Renata, we had to check it out for ourselves. It was not only selected as restaurant of the year, but it was on the list for Portland’s top 101 restaurants. I don’t know if we came on a bad night or ordered the wrong things, but the meal was severely underwhelming and poorly timed.
We went on a Tuesday night. We made a reservation so there was a table ready and waiting for us. We were excited. We walked in to a diner-​sequel vibe. I assumed the ambiance would be nicer, but fine. It was clean. I’ll take it.
We’d been looking at the menu online earlier that day to get an idea of our options. First pet peeve – update your online menu, or reference it as a sample menu. We asked the server for his recommendations, and he said that everything is good, and made some suggestions for us. We started with the smoked trout antipasti. The portions were tiny, but the dish was good. It only went downhill from there.
We got the pork sausage pasta and it was ground pork drowned in butter. It tasted okay, but wasn’t anything special. There was no wow factor to it, but it was edible, so that’s a plus. The last thing we got was the Margherita pizza. It was not good. My dining partner, who LOVES pizza, mind you, was not impressed either. The sauce was decent, but the cheese tasted burnt as did the crust. I love Margherita pizzas, but this one, I could’ve done without.
Once the dessert menu came out, let me tell you – I’m not usually one to pass on dessert. In fact, I find myself eating it multiple times per day. But if their dessert tastes anything like the rest of their food, I’ll pass. And I did.
There are tons of restaurants in Portland at this price point that serve much better food. There are even restaurants below this price point that serve much better food. How this restaurant was chosen as restaurant of the year is beyond me. I might give it another shot someday, but I’m not so sure it’s worth my hard earned dollars.

This was okay. A little too foodie pleasing for our tastes. Loud, waiter trying too hard, mostly because she couldn’t hear us and we could not hear her.
Unremarkable. And I was trying to like it a lot. Interesting combinations of flavors but nothing sensational.
No need to revisit this «restaurant of the year». Let’s give it a while before they really are the best place to eat in Portland.
Not a cozy atmosphere. Tables set up to be a unique configuration but in such away it’s a little uncomfortable.

Dear renata, I am so glad you brought yummy Italian to pdx. I could eat an entire loaf of your crostini – the perfectly balanced tart and rich. Your pastas are to die for. If I had an Italian grandmother is like to imagine this would be what came out of her kitchen – if she had staff working for her all day. And that dungeness brandade… It’s not often I have food these days I have no idea what it is – but it was freaking amazing. And clearly my eyes were much more large than my stomach – as I was quite stuffed even before the meatball pizza came out – and I almost ate several slices of that. There’s something so magical about the perfectly thin crust with slightly burnt bubbles of pizza…
And the service was lovely – I like the juxtaposition of service worthy of fine dining but the servers wearing plaid and industrial-​esque aprons.
Anyways renata, you have stolen my Italian-​loving heart. Thank you.