Porta Montclair — Restaurant in Montclair

I'm a savvy Porta veteran, having been to both the Jersey City and Asbury Park locations before. The pizza is very tasty, and the two aforementioned locations juggle an interesting balancing act between a bougie wood-fired Neapolitan pizzeria and a nightclub (my understanding is that they both literally are nightclubs when the sun goes down). This location is a little different from its predecessors. For one, the ceiling isn't nearly as high and the outdoor seating options are more limited - understandably so. You don't have nearly the room to play with on Bloomfield Ave as you do a block or two from the Asbury boardwalk. That's not to say that the space is unpleasant; far from it. It's pleasant and inviting, even if it's arguably not quite as hip as its siblings.

My noble chum and I stopped by for lunch on a recent Saturday afternoon. There were a few occupied tables, but we were there pretty early and had the place pretty much to ourselves. Everyone we interacted with was very friendly and professional, and that's been true at all three locations. Props to their HR team (not sure if restaurants have HR teams). Both of us decided to be a little naughty and went for some classic brunch cocktails, mimosa for her, bellini for me (both $8). My chum confirmed the inclusion of pulp in the mimosa, so I'm glad I opted for a drink that I didn't have to eat half of. The bellini was good, though not the best I've had, which coincidentally was down the street in Bloomfield at Blue Steel. It didn't have quite the zip as that one, but Blue Steel has some of the best cocktails in the area, so it might not be a fair comp.

At my strong urging, we ordered the fresh mozzarella ($10) with a side of bread ($2 extra). It is a delight, and I am mystified that every pizza/Italian restaurant doesn't do this. I would pay for this on the table automatically in lieu of standard bread/butter (which I'm definitely not opposed to either). Whether she wasn't as enthused as I was or because she was responsibly monitoring her caloric consumption, my noble chum let me have roughly 70% of this app, which was fine by me.

Some of the brunch options looked mighty tempting, but when in Rome, I think you have a moral obligation to go with the pizza. Is it the best I've had? No, but it's solidly above average and I'd have no problem ordering it again. As a Neapolitan style pizza, the cheese is by definition not as prominent of a star as it is with other types, but the mozzarella still stands out here - not surprising given the aforementioned app. The sauce is the perfect balance of sweet and tomato-ey and the crust is airy and lightly burned - every part of the pizza does its part.

So why can't I go full five stars here? The service was really excellent in almost every aspect, but there's a price gouging element that rubbed me the wrong way. First, the bread for the mozzarella app is an extra $2. I can't imagine ordering that dish without the bread, so it feels like it's just a way to tack onto the bill. The other issue was a bit of mild deception on the part of the waiter. My chum got a calzone and requested a little marinara sauce on the side. It was immediately brought out, but no mention was made of the fact that we were charged an extra $1 for that. It was literally just a little container of marinara. Not only do I not think there's a need to charge for what amounts to a few extra dollops of a condiment, but the waiter absolutely should have mentioned the additional cost. Would it have changed her mind? No idea, but she deserves to know before we're looking at the bill in confusion. Beyond that though, we really liked the waiter, who good-naturedly joked with us throughout the adventure and was very accessible.

I've gone on the record many times that I think Montclair is one of the most overrated food towns in the area. They ARE starting to climb back up to respectability though, and Porta is a part of that progress. But next time we go, we're going to have to apparently smuggle in...

Where to begin. First our waiter was super nice and accommodating. I have a dairy allergy and knew that Porta had dairy free/vegan options. I went to order a pizza and asked for vegan cheese to be added to it. Our waiter informed me that it was not something could be done. For context, I have dined at Porta before and been able to get vegan cheese on my pizza. I explained that I have an allergy and wasn't trying to be difficult but would really like to eat here. The waiter went to ask the Head Chef and the Manager what could be done. Turns out that both the Head Chef and the Manager said no. NO?! WHAT?! It was as simple as "please do not put regular cheese on this pizza and put vegan cheese on it" - someone tell me where the complication is? I even told them I have done it here before and I was told that the Head Chef does not make adjustments to the menu, he only leaves things off. That is the craziest thing I have ever heard. You can't accommodate this simple request in order to assist with an allergy? WOW. My only option was to have a pizza with no cheese on it and a side of vegan cheese. COLD. Vegan cheese brought to my table with the pizza as a "side" that I had to add on myself. It was just not enjoyable at all. Thank god my drink was good. Even the bread in the beginning was cold. OH and they charge for EVERYTHING. Bread? CHARGE. Side of vegan cheese? CHARGE. Overall, great atmosphere and good drinks but if you have an allergy or try to ask for something specific, I would recommend going somewhere else. Before I even left the restaurant, I look at my friend and said "I will never dine here again" - Porta should really look inward at the stupidity of their Head Chef and Manager because they are going to continue to lose business this way. Thanks for the cold bread, cold cheese I had to add on myself and the decent drink....

I've been here a few times and the food is excellent - I was looking forward to on Sunday but it turned out to be a no-go. I was with my elderly mom and the only option was to dine up-stairs (I did see something that might have been an elevator but it wasn't very clear what exactly it was - for the sake of accessibility that should be remedied especially since the first floor dinning area was closed with only a sign to come upstairs).

We did get seated right away, however, but after 15 minutes a runner came by to ask if we ordered a salad (we didn’t) and I told her we’ve been waiting a while to order. (Our menus were still in front of us).

We left after about 20 minutes and told the host at the front no one had come by. She asked where we were sitting but made no attempt to rectify the issue by inviting us to sit back down and having a server come over (which would have been appreciated - we were excited to have their carbonara pizza again which is a favorite along with a pasta dish). In my experience a restaurant can overcome a poor first impression with good service - but no attempt was made here. I did reach out to their parent company Smith via email and have yet to get a response...

The service can be very uneven here - sometimes the pizza oven is backed up but usually the wait staff is fine and explain issues upfront (As I've been here a few times I usually make it a point to ask upfront if they have a backup and order accordingly). The upstairs space is quite echo-y, not a great space for a conversation (I had been to a party here two years ago and it was fine for that). Thankfully there are many other high quality dinning options in Montclair - including one across the street that served us quickly instead of dropping the ball...