Artigiano — Restaurant in Portland

Artigiano- fine dining quality Italian food from a food cart. It's amazing that they make their fresh homemade pasta all in a cart, and they also source local ingredients to complete the dish. Seriously, this is tablecloth restaurant quality stuff, the kind of food that I would expect with candles and sparkly chandeliers... but instead you get to enjoy it al fresco on the streets of SE Division.

Consider their meltingly delicious gnocchi, one of their handmade pasta dishes from their menu. This is the Yukon Gold Gnocchi in Gorgonzola-Cream Sauce with Filberts hazelnuts, and along with some arugula, parmigiano reggiano, and ground pepper with a touch of vinaigrette to help balance the richness... and a nice piece of bread to wipe up the sauce afterwards. I don't know where the gnocchi kept disappearing so quickly- it was in my mouth and then gone like waking up from a good dream and trying to remember it quickly before it fades- and I kept taking spoonfuls and then I had no more, sad. :(

Recently the recipe for this dish for this dish was shared in Mix Magazine as part of an article on Comfort Food, Italian Style: Five Portland chefs share recipes. As Artigiano owner is quoted as saying the article regarding this dish...

"There's nothing more comforting than the melt-in-your-mouth texture of perfectly made potato gnocchi," says proprietor Rachael Grossman.

I agree- I barely noticed the gloomy cloudy skies of a rainy spring day as I sat beneath the little tent next to their cart to embrace the comfort from this dish.

Don't let a rainy blustery day stop you from getting your pasta: you can call in take-out orders, and they have parking available in the Larry's Lighting Repair Lot on 33rd & Division after 5pm for your quick...

Im convinced all these 5 star (local guide) reviews are paid for, no way this many people in Portland cant see the sham here. This place has the appearance that the food will be amazing, the setting looked great, but we were so disappointed less than half way threw our dinner there. At 45$ each person dish, we thought it had to be amazing. Nope. Seems this place is just winging it to make it seem fancy.

1. The table they sat us at was in between 2 poles, so no room to move our chairs, table was slanted in a slight curve, so i had to hold my drink whole time so it would not slide off the table. Just not enough room in there to be seated comfortably.
2. Took sooooo long for each piece of food to show up, we literally waited 15mins between the gaps. We were there for prob 1 1/2 hours by the time everthing came out.
3. When it did finally show up, they were so small and we had to share each one. Plus it was on paper plates, water in picnic cheap plastic cups, cheap hard bread served in a chef hat, ( hope no one wore it) salad that we got prob 4 bites each, green beans that were raw, potatoes that were so hard it hurt my teeth to bite into, the pasta was good, but soooo little and had to share it.Then finally the main plate with just chicken and pork, nothing else, so sauce, no spices, no nothing, nothing Itialian about this, look like dog food served on a paper plate to us. It was dry and hard to eat.

This place is a Mirage! It does not even serve real Itialian food! I do love what they are trying to do and the location is cool, but at $35-55 a plate, felt scammed after leaving there. Had this experience only cost me 40-50$ Id never write a bad review for not so good food.115$ down the...

Insane prices and it's essentially a food cart. The courses are small and while the "course" meal is interesting, it doesn't fit the experience. If it was in a "fine" dining setting it would make sense but it's not. The red pasta sauce for example was bland and the noodles were over cooked. The shrimp was again like the pasta, overcooked. Some of the other "courses" were not appetizing to my pallet unfortunately.

I love Italian food and this place really didn't feel Italian, from the seating, atmosphere, or even the food. The staff were nice and seemed knowledgeable on the menu but also pushed wine way too much. If a customer says they don't want a wine you don't keep pushing them.

Overall, this place is okay however it's way overpriced and for the high price pasta and shrimp was overcooked. Also, the pasta sauce was bland. Looking at the reviews you can tell real people from possibly paid ones. Be wary and honestly, I've never been asked by a staff member how much I was looking to spend when being seated at a restaurant (food cart in this case). I've been places around Portland, the US, and serval countries and this is the first time. Also, the staff didn't seem to care that my party had overcooked food which is another first in this type of...