Gabbiano's — Restaurant in Portland

We really wanted to love Gabbiano's and let's just say chance for a second date is highly unlikely.

Friendly service is well worth the automatic 20% gratuity. I wish all restaurants do this. Walk-in only so no RSVP accepted. No takeout at the moment because their website states that their food is best dined in which makes sense to me. They also listed that if you're a party of 8 or more, they may turn you away due to an intimate setting. However, you can buy out half or parcel area with 2 weeks' notice. I would recommend calling to double-check for sure.

Cozy space with eye-pleasing décor giving that intimate vibe. Outdoor hearing patio if you are in the mood for it.

We came in specifically looking forward to eating the ink squid pasta only to be informed it was off season so it was a bummer. We were told that their current menu is limited but all classic and backbone dishes for them and most dishes serve as family style enough to share. There were 4 of us.

The focaccia with oil, $5 was yummy only because of the vinegar in the olive oil. Whatever was in that vinegar, we wanted to lick the dish it came with! The focaccia was okay.

Here comes the big disappointment: the Classic Red Sauce with added 2 meatballs ($8) for a total of $25! The meatballs were dried, barely lukewarm, tasted reheated, and sat around in the kitchen waiting to be placed on the overcooked spaghetti. It was off-putting when the spaghetti and the meatballs were so far off in temperature variation. How could a neighborhood Italian spot mess up this classic dish is speechless for us. We were asked if we wanted pepper or parmesan with it and we said yes only to find out they charge $1.00 for the tiny tube of it to barely sprinkle over the spaghetti. It was not about the cost but we were asked as a condiment so just need to be explicit with your customers. The dish was also bland.

The Butternut Bolognese, $25 was alright, not enough butternut filling and lack flavor.

The Black Cod Fra Diavolo, $36 saved the day! This was the only dish all 4 of us enjoyed and we were saying how glad we were to order it. The cod cooked just right and was well balanced with the taste and texture of the ingredients that came with it.

The Apple Spies Olive Oil Cake, $12, side was definitely overpriced! It was dense, had no flavor at all, and was too oily.

The portion of entrees we ordered was definitely small to be considered a family-style share. We left hungry for sure.

We might come back to check out their ink squid pasta when it's in season because we love ink squid pasta. Yet we won't make the drive out here since our dinner overall was bland at most with disappointment. We can have better spaghetti...

I don't normally write reviews but felt compelled to after our experience last night.

First off - the good stuff. The staff was very helpful and I could tell they were working hard. Decor is cozy and the neighborhood is really charming. Plenty of bike parking nearby and easily accessible via transit.

We showed up with a party of 4 at 6PM on a Sunday and were told a 20-30-minute wait. No biggie, we went for a walk. Hadn't gotten a text after about 25 minutes so we went in to check. The host told us "just a few more minutes". Ended up waiting about 45 minutes total. Again, totally understand, it was relatively busy.

Once we were seated, it took about 15 minutes for our server to come round and take our order. Well, our drink order. We apparently weren't allowed to order food at the same time as drinks? Another 15 minutes and we get our drinks, order our starters and mains.

We waited about another hour for our food to come out, and apparently one of our mains got lost, so we got to wait an additional 15 minutes for that. One thing that rubbed us the wrong way was our server trying to upsell us on more drinks and starters when we hadn't gotten any food at all.

On the topic of the food - it was alright. I can't speak for the others in my party, but I had the mushroom ragu. It was kind of bland and under-seasoned, but the pasta was good. It came out lukewarm.

They tell you the portions are "meant to share" but that's not really true. I left feeling pretty hungry after eating a main and munching on a couple starters.

I don't really think the prices are fair for what you get to begin with, but the mandatory 20% surcharge is really corny. Just raise your prices. You don't need to perform that you pay your staff a living wage, just do it and product will speak for itself.

Overall, I left feeling really disappointed. The sheer amount of waiting really irked me - from showing up to getting food was almost 2 1/2 hours. I had heard good things and was patient, but the whole experience was aggressively mediocre from top to bottom. We ended up missing half of a show we went to afterward - not entirely on the restaurant, but we figured budgeting 2 hours for dinner was reasonable.

I probably won't go back any time soon, but would be willing to give it another shot in the future if they at least start doing reservations so the timing is more...

I knew as soon as I saw the mix matched vintage plates that this place had an East Coast Italian vibe, I knew it was legit. But holy smokes, this place blew my socks off. I am a third generation Italian, I grew up in New Jersey, blowing my “Italian food” NJ socks is a hard feat. It was a high pressure selection for the night to boot. The father-in-law was in town and he wanted a great “chicken parmesan, I’m craving great Italian food.” The adorable server was efficient and experienced. The ambiance was on point. Garage doors, cascading plants, low ceilings, the right balance of light and dark, not too loud, plenty of clinking dishes, the occasional shattering of a dropped dish, the chattery hum of happy patrons, the tenders shimmying ice around - it was just right. Every dish comes out of the kitchen when it’s ready, it’s all shareable family style. You know how you can tell how good the food is by the quality of lettuce in their salad? The lettuce was so delicious and fresh I imagined a farm attached to the kitchen. No salt on the table, that kind of place, but I didn’t even ask for any, which is rare for me. Each dish that came out delighted even more than the previous. We had the meatballs. Holy smokes those meatballs. Then the Caesar salad. Yum! The dungeness crab pasta was just mouth watering. Then the chicken parmesan, enough for three. The wine kept flowing. And they crush it. The food was on the table within five minutes of sitting down, each dish came out as we were ready for it, never waiting too long, never rushed, they have their cadence just right. I wanted a “light” dessert, the FIL ordered tiramisu, to my surprise it was not too bready, not too sweet, and delightfully creamy (with what tasted like hand churned A2 milk from an Irish cow). Not a single plate had any food remaining, nor did we take any home. I know, I’m way over stating myself here, but, when you find a place as sweet as this, you just want to go on and on about...