Portofino's Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in New Haven

This was our first visit here. It's a Friday night, just out of work. We want to try the new place where the cheese place used to be, but they don't open for dinner until 6, and the person who answers the phone is a bit snotty when I see if they have any spots open for 6 sharp. Needless to say that place didn't pan out. So we start driving, thinking about where to go that we haven't been to in a while that isn't low end (a difficult proposition considering how much we eat out.) We are driving up State St. I say out of the blue, hey how about Portofino? My wife says sure, we've never been there. Let's try it. So we stroll in about 5:15. The place is empty except for some barflies. We walk in and get seated right away. We start looking over the menu. My first thought is there's not a huge number of items in each category, and the ones there, the description seems...oh como se dice...meh. Then the server comes up and starts telling us the specials. There were as many app specials as there were on the menu. And each one sound better than the one before. After about a dozen of them he says there's a special salad. I say...woah back up...which ones were the dinner specials? He says...I havent got there yet. Oh. Ok. Just like the app specials he keeps going on and on and on, a mesmerizing list of specials, each new one better than the last. I am quickly becoming hypnotized by the length of this list. Thrm he says it...pork shank osso bucco with mushroom risotto. I am in love. We ended up getting the stuffed artichoke and meatball fra diavolo apps. Well worth every blessed bite. Then the pork shank comes for me, and the double cut stuffed pork chop comes for my wife. We can't eat it all even though we wish we could finish what we had and go back for another round.

We are so going back here. This place is going into our heavy rotation. Which means 3 times a...

Don't bother with this place! I can't comment on the food because we were never seated but the hospitality was a zero. Had a seven o'clock reservation for two, when we arrived we were told it would be a couple minutes. As we stood waiting, three groups without a reservation walked in and were seated. Two of these groups were told by the manager "let me see what I can do" and were seated instantly. When I inquired about our table the hostess showed me her hand and said a few minutes, as if she was annoyed by my asking but luckily she had her cell phone to pass the time. I was done! We left and went across the street to Oak Haven Table and Bar. The place was packed but they instantly greeted us and kept us posted with seats available. Great food, drinks, and staff. Go there...

Awesome spot on State St, pretty fancy but with laid back atmosphere, our waitress knew her stuff and was on point through out night, food was incredible , bar is cool if your having a drink before or after dinner, I had a chicken special with roasted potatoes fresh peppers onion and zucchini, sounds simple but it was amazing, chicken was all white, cooked perfect, same with the veges, again the dish was simple but can be ruined when not cooked correctly but everything was cooked perfectly. super clean all around and pretty sure they have outside seating when the...