Porto Bella Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Florida

This has to be the worst service and food experience I’ve ever had. Our server tonight was utterly rude and unpleasant. We had visited this restaurant for the first time, celebrating my nephew’s graduation. We arrived around 8 p.m. and were immediately greeted by the rudest server I’ve ever encountered. She took our drink orders and then informed us that the cook had informed her that the kitchen was closing, so we had to order immediately.

We ordered an appetizer, pizza, and fettuccine Alfredo with chicken for my son. While she was taking our order and rushing us, she kept talking over my wife, my wife is trying to explain the menu to her hundred year-old mother. My wife finally asked her to please stop talking and let her finish. The server moved away from her and walked around by my sister-in-law, saying, “She’s being mean to me, so I’m going to stand over here.” We received garlic rolls that were as hard as rocks, probably because they had been sitting out all day. They were so hard to bite into. Around 5 to 10 minutes after we ordered, the waitress asked my son if he wanted soup or salad, which comes with this meal. He ordered a Caesar salad. The Caesar salad arrived, and he said it had a terrible taste. I told him not to eat it and was discussing with him if he wanted a different appetizer when the waitress came over again and tried to interrupt me while I was speaking to my son. She raised her voice and said, “Hey, ladies and gentlemen, please be quiet. I’m speaking to him.” That really annoyed me, and I had to raise my voice back to her and tell her that she cant interrupt me while I was talking to my son and trying to figure out if he wanted a different appetizer. He decided to get the soup, and later said that the problem with the food was that it all tasted very low quality.

Finally, the food arrived. My son took two bites of his fettuccine Alfredo and found a hair in it. Now it just kept getting worse and worse. The only reason why we didn’t just get up and leave the restaurant was because my sister-in-law was there and I did not want to make a scene in front of her. They took his food back and took it off the bill. I shared my pizza with him, which I really enjoyed. The server said that because of all the problems, if he would like a free cannoli, then he could have one. She brought out the cannoli and said that she was bringing extra forks in case anyone else wanted one. I picked up a fork to try some of the cannoli, there was a big piece of food stuck in the fork from obviously a previous person. This had to be the worst dining experience I’ve ever had. I will never go back to that restaurant again, and I would caution anyone who decides to go. I still tipped her 20% as I was in the service industry and owned a restaurant so I know that’s what they live on but she really needs to find a...

I have had very pleasant experiences here in the past and I'm usually not one to write negative reviews but my interaction with the manager tonight was absurb. The restaurant closes at 10 and my party arrived around 9:10, knowing that we should order quickly so the kitchen wouldn't be held up too late. I ordered a dish that comes with meat sauce but since I'm a vegetarian, I specifically asked to substitute the sauce for something without meat. The waitress addressed this with the kitchen staff and said they could accommodate. When my food arrived I realized that there was bacon in the sauce. I felt very badly asking the waitress to address the error since I knew it was getting closer 9:30pm but we had asked for the bill and were trying to get out of their hair and I didn't want to pay $30 for a meal I couldn't eat. We even asked for it boxed up so they could get to their closing tasks. The waitress was very apologetic and understanding and said she would fix it right away.

What I didn't appreciate was the manager coming out with the waitress and accusing us of not being more specific with my request. She said that in the future I needed to specifically ask for a dish with "no meat" because "vegetarian" didn't get the point across clearly enough to ensure that the food came out correctly. Now I understand that there was a miscommunication but I think it was very unprofessional to parade her waitress in front of us and blame all parties involved for the error when the waitress had already admitted to making a mistake. I had already felt like an inconvenience but as a manager, you need to set an example and not berate your staff and customers because you had to keep your kitchen open for 10 more minutes. When we explained that we had asked for a vegetarian option she remained defensive and was essentially blaming her employee for being a little newer. To reiterate, it was an honest mistake and the waitress was a sweetheart. Some advice to the manager. Don't address your customers so aggressively and put them at fault for situations like this. It doesn't reflect poorly on your staff, it reflects poorly on...

5-Mar-2022 2nd visit Decided to return. Another menu with nice portions. We arrived a bit after 7pm... several tables open outside (mild night for outdoor dining). Seated promptly. Once our waiter greeted us with menus, he asked us for a drink order, we asked him for garlic rolls. Took our order, returned with our drinks, NO BREAD. Asked again. Then he came back to take our orders (still No Bread).

After we placed our order, (soup or salad is included), I asked for house salad, no tomatoes, add onions (they complied last time). And asked for Bread again (3x now).

Let's put it this way... after asking 5x for bread, we asked a waitress from another table. She promptly brought out the garlic rolls.

My salad came with tomatoes and no onions. When I asked about it.. didn't get a sorry.. didn't get onions. Got an absentee waiter. When my meal arrived, the pasta was wrong. I waited for too long for the food and bread, so I just dealt with it.

Very disappointed with the lack of service. How many times should someone have to ask for bed (BTW, the table beside us immediately got bread upon being seated as well as side plates for the bread.)

Bottomline... good food (when they get the order right). Service lacking. Removing one star.

Photos added this time.

Oh yeah... Fra Diavolo is on the menu, however check your bill before paying. They charge you extra for it.

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Mid Feb 2022 - Great food. Large portions. Accommodating (they allowed me to change my chicken dish from a wine sauce to a red sauce). Garlic rolls included. Inside & outside dining.

Service was a little slower than expected (maybe they were short staffed Sat night).

Will I return? Yes. Want to try something else on the menu.

Sorry... forgot to take...