Portofino Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Edmonds

Husband and I stopped in on a Mon. for dinner. When arrived, there were 2 other couples in the room - one with a woman who was talking, loudly, about all of her previous arrests. Well, you guessed it, we were seated directly next to this awful couple! We asked to move and were moved across the small room. We could still hear her but tried to ignore.

We ordered a glass of wine for me (which we were charged $6.50 for instead of the $6.00 as stated on the menu - so check the menu and your bill), and my husband had Chicken something and I had the Browned Butter Spaghetti with Mizithra Cheese.

Each of these came with a large salad with plain old garden variety lettuce (but it was crisp), a few olives, and dressing that didn't taste like anything (we both ordered blue cheese). Then the entrees arrived. Mine was so smothered in Mizithra cheese that when I dug into it and put that first bite into my mouth, I thought I was going to choke. It was sooooooooooo salty it made my eyes water. So, I removed most of the cheese (I know Mizithra is itself on the salty side but this was just way too much) and tried a few more bites. I finally gave up and put it on the tableside to be picked up. Told the waitress it was virtually inedible because it was like eating a salt lick.

My husband's chicken whatever was, likewise, salty. I don't know if the cooks salt things heavily here because when we left the place was filled with mostly older folks - but, really people, let your customers salt their own food.

The garlic bread was totally lacking the garlic part, i.e., it was bread with butter (maybe) on it, toasted. No garlic whatsoever.

The interior is basically a large room that has been chopped up into smaller pieces with old tables and chairs in it and literally NO atmosphere.

We will...

The food tastes good but the service was unfriendly and unwelcoming. I can't understand the glowing reviews. They weren't rude but were largely inattentive and gave only a minimum level of service. Though we came for the game, they showed us to a table with an obstructed view, and then disappeared before we had even sat down, so we had to move ourselves. We didn't even get our order taken for like 25 minutes. Now we were waiting for someone, but they didn't even ask though the restaurant was largely empty.

The prices looked ok till you realized you have to pay $4 extra for a side salad (though big) or meat other than in the sauce (like meatballs), and the dinner salad was skimpy with the chicken. The "Entrees' were more a la cart pricing than actual meals. Really the prices weren't entirely unreasonable, but as someone else noted, you feel nickeled and dimed on the extras.

Their website looked inviting to Football fans, but this clearly wasn't the case. No mention of the internet-advertised specials anywhere in the actual restaurant, no comfy booths, sound present but a bit quiet (better in the bar, but it was tiny, literally being just a short bar with no tables or space to accommodate even a group of 3) but worst of all was the atmosphere that felt like they wanted you to finish and leave, even when the restaurant was practically empty. We had planned to stay for 2 games, but felt like we were intruding to even finish the Seahawks game. I could understand this better if they hadn't marketed the place like it was a destination for football, rather than a neighborhood cafe that happens to have a few TVs in the background.

We don't...

I placed an order for pizza at 4:45 PM. During checkout, the system gave me the option to have it delivered at a future time, so I chose 6:45 PM to line up with the start of the ball game. The delivery timing wasn’t terrible—the pizza arrived shortly after 6:45—but the problem was what I found when I opened the box.

It was immediately obvious the pizza had been cooked at 4:45 when I first placed the order, and then left sitting until it was sent out with the driver. By the time I got it, the pizza was cold, dry, chewy, and hard—honestly worse than a frozen pizza from the grocery store. This was unacceptable.

If a restaurant offers a scheduled delivery option, it should mean the pizza is prepared fresh near the scheduled time, not hours earlier. If they’re going to cook it right away and let it sit, customers deserve to know that up front so we can make an informed choice. Otherwise, it completely defeats the point of scheduling.

This was one of the worst pizzas I’ve ever had, and I would never serve something like that to a guest—let alone my own family. But apparently, this restaurant thinks that’s acceptable. Be cautious if you decide to order here, and don’t expect quality or common sense when it comes to food...