Il Porto Fish Restaurant Livorno BST — Restaurant in Livorno

We were greeted in an ok way. The menu was a digital version via scan with the cell phone cam. The wine I wanted to order from the menu was not available and the waiter said it wouldn’t exist, although I showed him the exact text and wording from his own menu. So, I had to order another wine , only one option from my choice of half (small) bottle for one person was available and the wine didn’t taste at all. When I ordered the dishes the waiter said at some point that it would be sufficient thus I stopped and wanted to order something later on if more would be needed. Our child was very hungry but there was no bread at the table to kill some waiting time until the food would be served. I had to ask for the bread which was definitely forgotten, although the price of the Coperto costs was and would have definitely been on the final receipt. Then later finally the hard and not freshly cut bread and exactly at the same time also the food arrived and the tuna was very good. The salad had no dressing at all and the leaves of the salad were partly brown and old. Not even oil or vinegar was available , but the other guest at the other tables were served with this extra. The octopus was ok, but had no avocados on the side as it said in the menu. The fries were ok. Overall the food wasn’t enough , so I wanted to order more dishes but both of my next choices from the menu were not available (anymore), although the restaurant just had opened roughly 45 minutes ago. Thus we had to order another plate of French fries just to not leave the place hungry. The other (native Italian) guest were given a normal regular paper menu, which we didn’t receive. I couldn’t see what dishes were on that menu and what the prices were there?!? Overall a low average or bad experience, food was ok, service was nearly not available and then slow and we won’t come here again, one time is more...

To say it short - visiting this restaurant was a mistake for us. Initially, we were drawn in by the seemingly positive feedback from other guests, but reading the reviews ( below 2-3 stars) more thoroughly afterwards, it became clear that we should have chosen differently.

Upon arrival, we politely requested a specific bottle of white wine that was listed as available. However, their "sommelier" refused to serve it, claiming it didn’t pair well with our meal. This wasn’t a friendly suggestion, but rather a blunt refusal without any alternative offered—and the wine he did suggest was noticeably more expensive.

Despite this being a fishmonger & restaurant, we were served several closed mussels and the flavor of the dish was off-putting.

To give the whole thing another try, I ordered the local lobster with pasta. Unfortunately, the pasta was served cold, and its quality was reminiscent of a cheap, store-bought brand, not the homemade standard one would expect for this price. For €35, I received half of a small lobster and a meager portion of pasta—far from the value I anticipated.

Adding to the disappointment, the menu is only accessible by scanning a QR code, which directs you to their WhatsApp account. You are required to message them, thus giving them your phone number. Later, after leaving the restaurant, we received both unsolicited instructions via whatsapp on how to leave a Google review, which felt intrusive and unprofessional, if not a deliberate attempt to manipulate feedback.

In conclusion, the experience was deeply underwhelming, from the lackluster food to the questionable service. Based on this, I cannot recommend this...

During our 2w summer 2024 holiday to Livorno we have decided to try some fresh Peschi. Unfortunately our kids are not really a sea fish friendly… but anyway we’ve decided to give it a try. Our first steps were towards port, more specifically to fish market. And already in the car we have tried to find some reasonable restaurant… So finally we came to this Pescheria, just steps away from both parking and fish market…. First feeling was positive, there is even an option to sit in a room without fish-like smell. It’s been really appreciated by my daughter. So after reading English manu our kids order French fries so they were finally happy. Independently me and my wife both ordered the same - grilled tuna steak with small smoked chips. Along we’ve chosen dry French white wine. And still water. A lot of… I have to say that food in this restauarant has been awesome experience. Tuna steak was very well prepared (obviously medium-rare) and with smoked chips it completely blew me off. We were really over the moon. We would love to come more often. But obviously we have to follow our kids preference. And everyone can understand why I really hate McD…. Small issue in t his restaurant is only sort of small misunderstandings - result of communication in English whereas people here typically speak in Italian only. Also to prepare food it took some 30min. It was very long for my hungry kids. But at the end for me the most important is quality of the food - and it is simply fantastic. I wish everyone to have the same culinary experience. And if you have the option, choose to come...