Bar Carlo — Restaurant in Portland

We went here for a Valentine's Day dinner, and were seriously underwhelmed. The organization was severely lacking, and the timing of courses and drinks were WAY off. There were employees walking around constantly, but nobody seemed to be doing much of anything, and the owner would walk through the dining area every few minutes without speaking.

The Food: we ordered Ceviche and a Fruit and Cheese board. Most of the chips served with the Ceviche were broken crumbs, I definitely got the bottom of a bag. On the fruit and cheese board, the only "fruit" was a couple of pickled grapes that were halved. Everything else was some variation of picked vegetable like carrots, green beans, and asparagus.

Our Entrées were where the wheels truly fell off. Not only were we sitting without our course for some time (we didn't get our second round of drinks either) but the food we did receive was not impressive. If the dinner was intended to be small plates, it should be mentioned. My Shrimp Molcajete plate had 3 sad little shrimp. Tasted good, but I've never been so hungry after eating. My partner had a steak that was ordered medium-well, but was served VERY rare and nearly cold to the touch by the time it made it to our table. We would have sent it back to have it cooked some more, but nobody came to our table to check on us for a while after this, and by then we had enough.

Dessert was pushed through and it was fine, my poached pear was arguably the most pleasant thing I ate during our time here.

Our server was very apologetic to our experience, but the owner seemed to take it personally. While she did offer to discount our dinner, when she brought over our check she was very curt and rude. I wasn't going to write a review until this happened, but it seems like we're not the only ones with this impression from reading other people's comments. The steak wasn't a "little under because the note wasn't translated", it was raw.

The space is cute, the drinks that we actually received were good, but the organization and service are nonexistent and we left hungry. The value is just not there, and we will not be back to this spot...

I don't write a ton of reviews for restaurants or bars even though I frequent many, but my consistently great meals at Bar Carlo certainly deserve a few words of praise. From the super friendly staff (whether you're a weekend regular to a first time weekday guest) to the perfectly paired and constructed breakfast/brunch fare to the beautiful and delicious cocktails, there really isn't anything bad to say about the place. The food is consistently delicious without being pretentious or overly ambitious. There is occasionally a wait for a table during brunch rush, but (even at the risk of attracting too much positive attention for this place for saying it) it is never too horribly long, especially by Portland brunch standards - AND - you have access to fresh hot coffee while you wait (or you can order an adult beverage at the bar if you prefer to wait with boozy accompaniment). They are SUPER tolerant of me being Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally every time I'm there without even once rolling their eyes in acknowledgement of my horriblebess ("Could I please get the chipotle cream instead of the salsa verde, the chips instead of the tortillas, and my eggs poached instead of fried? Oh, and sauce on the side, please. Oh yeah, and an iced tea AND a cocktail, please.") Check out the daily sweet/savory crepe specials because they are often AMAZING (I prefer to have a full breakfast and share a sweet crepe among my pack of friends as "breakfast dessert", and I HIGHLY recommend that amazing indulgence).

Quite honestly, I often have breakfast here once per week and I've NEVER had a bad meal, rude service, or anything else to complain about. Plus, the food is legitimately tasty and consistent - something I really appreciate as a foodie person.

So...please don't spread the word TOO far and wide, because I'd really like to maintain my easy access to my favorite breakfast place - but really, do check Bar Carlo...

I don't like to give out many 5 star ratings, but this place had flavor-popping originality for dayzzze! Not to mention your slamming ur head against the wall trying to decide from so many amazing items. I got the shift meal which my amazing waiter Aaron i think his bame was said was most popular , amd u can taste why!!! If only I brought my favorite tortilla chips to go w/ but don't get me wrong their chips are great but they are heavy on the seasoning so they over power quickly. I would take away 1/4 star if i was rating this meal alone. The platos are amazing to im getting those next time! The brunch menu ooks show stopping from the description to what i saw! I dont do breakfast food so there brunch is a perfect mash-up for me! Drinks: Mojito- It was tasty not super frilly, but also not all mixer and ice cubes like most trendy places. Amazing Portions & $- I have half of my plate for another meal, but if you are a healthy eater you will be really stuffed. Prices are so reasonable. My plate was $10. Plates range from $8-16. Service- I went about 1:30pm on Sunday & Sat outside w/ my dog . They have dog bowls , but he brought out a freah one just for my pup. They also use the wine bottles for the table water so you dont have to chase a waiter to get your h2o on! It was over the top attentive service , freindly, super informative about ingredients, & my food was in the table w/ perfextly cooked why yolk n melted to perfextion cheeses in almost under 10 mins. The people that go here and walk by outside are so frindly and lively that it made dinning alone actually really entertaining.

I HAVE HERD EVERYTHING HERE IS GREAT NOW I AM A BELIEVER!!!! THANK YOU BAR CARLO KEEP UO...