Ristorante Pizzeria Il Portico — Restaurant in Stresa

Went inside to avoid smokers outside but was warm inside, no air-con but beats smoke smell. I ordered beef with mushrooms and wife ordered chicken. Waitress was pleasant and friendly enough though we never got the water we asked for. My beef came and looked insipid. The mushroom sauce was cold. I returned to waiter, no problem. It was returned and the sauce was hot. Fine. Tasted awful though, like water with some weak solution of something in there. My wife was part way through her chicken when she cut into a thicker part to find it was pink. More parts were pink. She couldn’t eat it as it was and said for me to check my beef. She returned it to be cooked properly which it then was upon return to her. I tried to cut into the thickest part of my beef but even the steak knife struggled to break it. It was raw. Other parts were also pink and uncooked. I called the waiter. He said “what’s wrong with it now?” I stated it tasted awful and was also raw and I wouldn’t be eating it. He said it was the sauce so I told him at least twice to taste it. He wouldn’t. He tried to pass off the beef as cooked, so I protested more. He then got angry with me so I told him “don’t get angry with me, it was you who cooked it”. He asked what I wanted, I said I didn’t know maybe a bowl of pasta, something they may be able to cook properly. I got nothing further so ended up having fries and the bread left for my dinner. The red house wine was passable but not great. This goes down as the worst meal I’ve had but only on account that I actually never ate much of it at all where other bad meals I’ve eaten but not enjoyed at all. They also charged for the water we didn’t receive. The option of a one star goes directly to the waitress as the rest of the experience was...

Husband and I had dinner here which was very disappointing. This was a return visit as when we holidayed here 4 years ago we went to this restaurant a number of times as we enjoyed it so much. On arrival the waiter who seated us was so vague with his arm waving and seat direction that we ended up seating practically inside which was not our intention but after being seated we did not want to cause a major upheaval for a small inconvenience. The waiter then proceeded to speak to us in German. When my husband pointed out we were not German the waiter reacted as if we had insulted him. He then proceeded to try and make up our minds as to what we would like to drink . There seems to be an assumption by a lot of Italians in Lake Maggiore and Lake Garda (where we has just come from) that if you are not Italian then you must be german !! The starter was good which was Beef carpacio with rocket and parmesan. Husband had Sphagetti Ragu which was OK and I had Lasagne which I can only describe as slop. Taste was ok . When the waiter collected our plates he asked was everyrhing OK and I said no because I had left half of it and I said it was not OK and was very sloppy and it was as if I had not spoken. Will not...

The restaurant was only a couple of customers when we ventured past but the friendly manager and a need to avoid the crowds enticed us in. The beer that we ordered sadly indicated that it wasn't perhaps the place to try meat or shellfish as it tasted like the pipes needed a good clean. And at €5 it wasn't cheap. The starter we ordered Caprese di Bufala (mozzarella and tomato) also came in at a hefty €9.50 and wasn't anywhere near as good as my wife made the day before in our apartment. Sticking to the safe options we then had very ordinary pizza (I ordered a Margherita, first time I've ordered it). Overall it was a disappointment as we only ate out properly in Stresa twice and the first time was wonderfully Italian, tastier and cheaper. 2 stars as I can't fault the service and after all, we chose to sit down at this...