Portofino's Italian Restaurant Park Road — Restaurant in Charlotte

Went there for dinner with 6 adults. Two had chicken parm, one had veal saltonbuca, two had pizza and one had the short ribs on special. Appetizers were clams casino and wedding soup. First off..the short ribs were epic..and what a presentation! It was the best I have ever seen...and enormous. She LOVED it. A picky eater had the veal and the clams...both were excellent. Veal portions tend to be tiny...this was a good sized piece and he was very happy. The large pepperoni pizza was split for 2 and it was very well received..but couldn't finish. The 2 chicken parmesans were excellent...not very big but tasted great. The red sauce was excellent. The side salads were good...cold and good size. The hit of the night was the bread...it was plentiful and tasty with a rock hard crust. Best bread in a restaurant in a long time. Dipping oil would have been a nice choice...but butter was fine. Only one dessert..a cannoli covered in chocolate and a touch of cinnamon...she enjoyed it. For improvement...service was slow. We waited 15 minutes for a waiter...and then mid ordering drinks..the waiter was changed..for some reason. We had Bobby and he did a good job. When we first sat down a dour faced woman was dragging tables and chairs for about 10 minutes...totally unnecessary. I think she was actually acting out by making a racket. Seating was extremely tight...close tables, unbalanced tables rocking and very little room between us. Seating was just plain uncomfortable. We had been here years ago until Riccios was discovered. Riccios was a more elegant and upscale experience. Personally I LOVED Riccios...my favorite Charlotte dining...now closed. Portofinos was very good...not 5 stars but certainly 4...and they may have hit their target at 4 in a pizza place setup. We will DEFINITELY be back. If Riccios reopens and returns to their past quality...Italian dinner will be there always. Lunch would be fine at Portofinos. A very good experience...not great. We were all...

Hi I wanted to share some really disappointing feedback about my visit to Portofino on Park Road this evening, around 9:40 PM.

I came in after a walk in the park, just looking to grab a bite to eat. My phone had died, so I asked the manager if there was a way to charge it. She was polite and said she’d see what she could do. A bit later, she told me it was charging, and I appreciated that.

I ordered some pasta, and everything seemed fine. The food was okay, the service at first was decent. After about 40 minutes, I asked for the check and my phone back. The phone had only charged up to 5%, which was frustrating because I barely managed to order an Uber before it died again.

One of the waiters actually tried to help me fix the address in the app because it wasn’t picking up the right location. He tried, but couldn’t do it, so I ended up writing to the driver myself and correcting it manually.

But just as I was getting ready to leave, I suddenly heard a loud burp behind me — very clear and really unpleasant. Then I heard it again, even louder. I looked back and saw one of the waiters doing it, and another staff member nearby was laughing. It was shocking and honestly disgusting. This happened in the middle of the restaurant, where people are eating.

That kind of behavior is totally inappropriate in any setting, let alone a restaurant. It felt incredibly disrespectful. Everything had been fine until that point, but that moment completely ruined the experience for me.

I came in as a normal guest, paid for my meal, and just expected decent service. But what happened was unacceptable.

Hope you take this seriously and speak to your staff. Customers deserve...

Overpriced for what they deliver. Salmon was overcooked, sauce was watery and flavorless. Gluten free pasta option was a nice try but very bland and undercooked (usually it's overcooked so I guess they were trying to avoid that). I wish I would have taken a picture just to show how bad it was, but I usually only think to take pictures of food I'm impressed with. All of it was barely edible actually, and they don't mention the $5 upcharge for gf pasta. The waitress offered me a soup option, knowing I was gluten free, and failed to mention there was pasta in the soup. I had to switch to a side salad instead.

It didn't help my mood or the ambiance when, just as we walked in, a waitress dropped a tray of food, shattering dishes and splattering food everywhere. For some reason the hostess felt it was fine to walk us to our table directly OVER said disaster (there was another route), so, while we apologized and gingerly stepped over the mess, the waitress cleaning it up yelled, "Watch out! Watch out!" Quite angrily. I know she was probably embarrassed but the whole scenario was very awkward and could have been avoided had the hostess paid just a little more attention.

On our way out, the same hostess was seated at a table by the door, eating, and engrossed in her phone. I guess on her lunch break? But she did not even look up from her phone as we left. Maybe take your lunch break in the back and have someone else cover the hostess duties for a few minutes?

We were in for lunch at about 1:30 last Sunday 3/12/2023. I don't think I will be back and do not recommend it, especially if you are...