Lo Porto — Restaurant in New York

For people who are regular customers of Loporto"s Restaurant, I am sure they will agree with every word I am about to share. From the very first visit 7 years ago, I was treated like family. Michael Loporto would greet each table and talk to you like you grew up together in the same neighborhood. His wife, daughter, nieces and his nephew; chef Carmelo, will stop at your table to check up on things and make sure everything is to your satisfaction. The wait staff also shares the same friendly cheer and expertly steers your dinner along at the pace you want it to.

I have come to love not only the people and the food at Loportos, but the warm cozy atmosphere as well. Please do not update! My significant other, Jim, and I love to sit in the small window nook. On the wall are a few scuff marks from people who lean back on their chair and rest their feet against it: something that Jim does every time we sit there. I read the newspaper reviews every time I go which reminds me how long Loportos has been making people happy. There is the long comfy bar with either Francesca or Paul carefully wiping wine goblets ready to pour you your favorite drink. I don't know how they do it but they remember what you like and it's served usually without asking by the time you sit down. .

Oh boy, the food!!!! Everything on the menu is absolutely delicious but naturally my friend and I have our favorites. The escargot, clams casino and oysters Rockefeller are to die for. Unlike almost every other restaurant in the Capitol District, they make these appetizers from scratch! I always get the citrus vinaigrette dressing for my salad, which has just the right amount of tart to it. My friend the vegetarian usually orders the Fettuccine Cagiucco or the Eggplant parm. I usually get the Filet Mignon and order a side dish of linguini with garlic and oil. This sauce on the el dente pasta is out of this world. You realize that only a chef with talent could make something so simple, so outstanding. The filet isn't one of those silly dinky little medallions you get at other restaurants. I can never eat the whole thing! People don't know that Italy isn't just famous for pasta; they make the best steak, in my opinion and loportos's is at the very top! Carmelo adds to this buttery seasoned filet a demi glace that is just perfect. One of my very favorite comfort things in this world is to get up in the middle of the night and eat the leftovers.

This review is not only for anyone looking for a wonderful restaurant to go out on a date or with their family, but a thank you to the Loporto family for giving me so many...

Disappointing and overrated italian restaurant. Some of the most basic dishes, like the carbonara, were really bad, though there were a few decent entrees that maybe I would come back for some day.

Firstly for appetizers, the bread and salads were good, the oysters were bad quality and needed a lot of lemon to be nice to eat. The calamari were somewhat okay, they had little flavor and a light breading. Perfectly edible but not comparable to good calamari at other restaurants.

The entrees were where things got really inconsistent. The carbonara, one of the most basic staples at italian restaurants, was the most egregious dish of the night. The sauce was separating, and the heat in the pan was too high so it had lots of fried egg bits. Looked like something a college student might make in their dorm for a quick dinner, or as my friend said… it looks like a science experiment where you try to separate all the ingredients of a carbonara! The only real flavor it had was salt. There was no smooth creamyness like any decent carbonara would have. (Look at my pictures to see what i mean)

The chicken milanese sauce was bad, tasted mostly just sour from the lemon, and was a mess of soggy vegetables and chicken on the plate. Chicken picatta was edible but similarly messy and not great, but it was cooked well at least

Fortunately, there were a few good entrees. The eggplant parm was decent, and the mancotti had good béchamel. The red sauce used seems pretty standard, not sure it its jarred but likely is. The fettuccine con cognac sauce was simple and enjoyable with nicely done mushrooms.

Im a fan of the big portion sizes, I feel like if the entrees were better it would be a nice place to come share plates. Unfortunately given the inconsistent food its a risk ordering outside of the basic red sauce pastas.

Our male waiter had a bit of a strange attitude but was refilling our water, and i appreciate that they box the leftovers for you. The female waitress seemed nice and took a picture for us.

Definitely disappointed by Lo Porto, its not the worst but I think theres better dinner spots for the price both in Troy and especially...

Respectfully, It is not tasty, authentic Italian food. Italy has many, many different regions, and their cuisines different personalities, notes and hints. The food here was terrible. We were here on Valentine's Day and had Reservations for 8 pm. We got bad seating but they generally have an honor system for seating. If you are a generational patron, you get better seats. We got them by the stairs. The food was bad because it was old and poorly made. They made a pasta but it tasted like they used grocery store sauce-- which is fine but the obvious Ragu TM notes is insulting. I patronize Italian places and generally like the ethnic food but this was really gross. It was bad It's nothing personal but it tasted terrible. Their wine selection was OK. The waitress was not familiar with it and she was tired. The staff was really burned out and tired and although they didn't put care in their work It's completely understandable. I will look back at the menu to review exactly what I ordered. Take a trip to New York, stay at a hotel and fine dine Italian there because it's worth the money, unfortunately this place isn't it but that's not bad they cater to the natives there and the natives are used to it. I won't spend money...