Caffe Mingo — Restaurant in Portland

I went to this restaurant trusting most of the great reviews, and I can only agree with them in terms of the food quality. It was our first time here and I wanted to take my boyfriend out to celebrate Father's Day and we were both craving our favorite, Italian food. We love going to new places, so we searched for the best Italian restaurants in PDX and came up with this one. I called a week ahead of time to make a reservation and the earliest they had was for yesterday at 0730. We got there a few minutes earlier to find out that the nice lady whom I had talked to on the phone a week prior, never took my reservation. First impression: not good.What is the point in making one, then? The host was kind and was able to get us in, but all throughout the service experience I felt like they were doing us a favor. Our server was straight to the point, only interacted with us to explain the menu, but I saw her being more engaging and interactive with the couple next to us. The food was very tasty indeed, but our server never came by to check in and see how we were doing, or if we needed anything, except for when it was time to take our plates away and asked if we wanted dessert, etc. We had our 3 course dinner, it was delicious, but certainly overpriced considering that you don't only go to an upscale restaurant for the food. The service is a big part of it. I wasn't paying any less than the other guests and I wasn't begging to eat there. I called in ahead of time and they messed up. The server didn't even say 'thank you' or anything when she brought in the check. I wish that at some point the service is up to par with the food quality. I wish I could say that the food is worth going back to this place,...

I want to start out to say the food was amazing. We had the brussel sprouts and carrots as an appetizer. I had the swordfish and my boyfriend had the lamb stew. The lamb stew was the most wonderful part of the meal for sure with its flavors that blew us away.

The dining experience had much to be improved upon. The tables were so small (like side tables in a bedroom) that the candle took up 5%of the space and provided so little light to the dim lighting that my photos do not showcase the fine food we had.

We were also sat and one of the tables next to the curtains by the front door. These curtains were thick but not long enough to go to the floor and because of this, when the door opened it blew in cold air under the curtain and blew the curtian to touch our glassware. The server was kind when we brought that to his attention saying new curtains were on order to fix the problem. Which brings to question, why would you still have tables next to those curtains if there has been problems before?

Unfortunately, the expectations for this place were set pretty high. The food rocked but the atmosphere was lacking and table size does matter when the...

I LOVE Caffe Mingo. I have been coming here at least once per month for the past year. It is a little bit on the pricey side for me, however, it is worth it. The service is fabulous, the manager and servers are nice and accommodating (including when you order off-menu drinks and modify some of the food dishes), and the atmosphere is great.

The food is exquisite and the drinks are delicious. I always get their fun mocktails, such as my ultimate favorite, the sondrio, however, people who have been with me have enjoyed many of their other specialty cocktails (the calabria, the limoncello, and more!) I love their pizza and pretty much exclusively order that, however, I also know many of their pasta dishes are delicious (such as the penne al forno and the ravioli in the brown butter sauce). People who have been with me have also loved the beef tenderloin, as well as the various stew specials over the past few months (lamb and beef). The cavoletti (brussels sprouts) is also always a hit.

Thank you for being such an amazing and welcoming restaurant! Going here is one of the highlights...