Cafe Portofino — Restaurant in Kauai

Food was good. It was the Server (Merrick) who was AWFUL.

Upselling: We were greeted by a smarmy waiter named Merrick. Merrick asked if we wanted cocktails before wine was served, to which my wife and I replied no. I asked for a Sprite and she a water. I said "and I don't think we'll be having wine tonight." Merrick tried upselling us like crazy, we can't hold that against him as that's his job, but it was getting annoying. When my wife asked his opinion between two pasta dishes, he replied, "well you should get the lamb". When pressed further he said, "well they're basically the same, ya know?" It was extremely frustrating working with him.

Common Courtesy: We started noticing another waiter, an older gentlemen a section over, who was being awesome with his guests regardless of how busy the restaurant was. He offered complimentary bread, which we didn't know existed. He offered fresh cracked pepper for their salads, which again Merrick did not give us. He offered fresh parm for their pastas, which again Merrick did not. To make matters worse, we noticed Merrick offering these extras to other guests, some of whom had wine or upcharged items.

The Meal: Throughout the meal he never checked on us, leaving my Sprite empty for 2/3 of the meal and when we finally flagged him down (albeit with empty plates) he came over and my wife asked if we were supposed to get bread. He said, "yes you were." No apology. Then my wife had to say, "well can we get it?" He didn't say anything and disappeared, returning five minutes later with bread. No check, despite our empty plates, just dropped bread and left again. We waited another twenty two minutes to flag him down again in order to get our check. Unfortunately, he just brought over the dessert menu. We demanded the check, at this point we had been waiting for nearly 30 minutes with empty plates.

Check: When he brought the check back, he said, "it has the minimum tip applied automatically, anything additional would be appreciated". They had charged this two top 20% tip automatically. This guy treated us like dog spit because he knew he was getting tipped automatically and thought us tourists would just take it. Not these people, I flagged him down and started to point out that I found his service very underwhelming, I prepared my list and starting to speak and he just interrupted, not once, but twice. "--- would you like me to remove the tip"... "-- would you like me to remove the tip". Honestly, this Merrick guy must be so used to this.

I know everyone has bad days, but I felt like we gave him a million chances. Having been a server myself I know that it can be tough having a smaller table, but you should still treat them as the same as everyone else. We still tipped 10%, which is the minimum I ever leave a restaurant with, but wow was this whole experience brought down by a...

This is not fine dining or even upscale. We just got off our flight to Kauai and we still had to drive to Princeville Resort for our two week Hawaii vacation. The family was hungry and wanted Italian so the wife got on the smart phone and found Portofino. Gave the directions to the driver and he brought us right to Cafe Portofino. Everything looked great the tables are set with linens and look very professionally set. The wait staff is all well dressed and our service was really on. The menu and wine list had very fine choices and the adults decided on a nice Tuscan Chianti suggested by our server and we were really pleased with it. We were a party of six, four adults two children. I won't go through the all the choices for each in the party but most of the choices had similar issues. I am very experienced with fine dining and upscale fare. So I will simply explain my experience. I ordered the Rib-Eye with chianti demi glaze mushroom sauce served with fresh vegetable of the day. I asked the waiter for my steak to be Medium leaning rare, a common request. So I want my steak to be pink in the middle with juices running clear and a nice char or grill marks on the surface. When I received my steak it was Well done, I cut into it and the center was grey and dry. Great cut of meat destroyed. The waiter did ask as soon as he saw me cut into it if he could take it away and bring me another one. I literally didn't have to say a word....so excellent and professional wait staff. Everyone else seemed ok with their food and I enjoyed another bottle of Chianti. So rib-eye number two they cooked it right this time, but there was no seasoning at all, minor thing but this is a Upscale place the Chef should know very well that great execution is important...my veg of the day was green beans and carrots. They were cooked to the point of being soft and mushy. This is a $36 plate in front of me. I do expect value for the money I am spending. I spend money for food all the time and I am fortunate to be able to experience upscale or fine dining but I don't want to pay fine dining prices for poor execution. Steak is not complicated especially when great cuts of beef are being used. Maybe the chef was having a off night but each of the plates served to our table had some basic flaws like under seasoning and and a carbonara sauce that was broken so maybe the Sous-chef cooked that and was having a off night. I may sound very picky and critical but if you are going to market you fare as upscale or fine dining then that is what I will expect. I will also expect to pay for that fine dining experience so if you want me to pay for upscale then you must produce upscale. We all left feeling good but with a little disappointment. I will say the wine was fantastic and worth every penny and the list...

Do not go here!!! Horrible experience!!! Ok so I want to start this review my saying that our waitress was incredible and tried to do her best. The manager of this establishment however is a totally different story. I ordered a dish that I had never tried before...asked them if I could change my side because I did not like the vegetable of the day they said no so I let that go. When I got my plate I took one bite and knew that it was not for me. Asked the super nice waitress very apologetically if I could swap it out she said no problem and takes my plate back. Then she walks back out with my plate and said the manager said that if I wanted something else I would have to pay for both. I immediately asked for the manager because its not her fault and I didn't't want her to feel bad. He comes over and I explained the situation to him. He immediately argues with me telling me that I came to the restaurant to order a dish not to sample them and starts asking me why I would order a dish that I have not tried. Like who is he to judge my food choices. He pretty much refused to bring me something else until I told him that I am a server in the restaurant industry and I know exactly how it works and I also know how frustrating it is when someone wants to change dishes. I offered to pay for another dish but I would not be paying for something I took one bite off and was awful. He then backed down and let me order something else while standing over me as I read the menu. They brought me my dish and I got it to go paid and as I was leaving I asked to speak to the manager again because I was very upset with the way he handled the whole situation. He was sitting in the back corner and didn't even get up made me walk all the way over there to talk to him. I asked him his name it started with a T i couldn't really understand him and I told him, "I just wanted to let you know that the way you handled things was 100% unprofessional and I am upset with the entire experience because of the way it was handled." I barely had a chance to get that out before he started interrupting me. He was arguing saying that he has been in the restaurant industry for 55 years and he knows more then me about the business. He started waiving his hand and napkin in my face. At that point I got pissed. I have never been disrespected like that by a manager. I went off on him I had to yell just to speak over him because he would not stop. Worst customer service ever. I would not recommend waisting your time here. We came for the beautiful view not a piss poor attitude because I didn't like my dish. I would go to Dukes next door. If it wasn't't his work he would have got punched the way he was talking to me. Do not go here!! Kauai pasta is better and half the price...