Grassa — Restaurant in Portland

I hate to write this review because I really like this place. We have been to Grassa several times since moving here eight months ago. Last night was the dealbreaker. We love their homemade pasta and have never had any kind of issue before last night. We normally visit the location on Washington in downtown Portland. We try to sit at the booth that is closest to where they prepare the pasta because it's in the corner and pretty private my husband ordered the vodka sauce pasta and I ordered a mushroom dish. Mine was tasting very good until I found a piece of metal wire in my dish. We asked for the manager. when he came to the table and apologized and offered to replace the dish, I ordered another entree. He then came back and told us that we found out what happened and that it was actually from.A Brillo pad pad used for washing dishes and he doesn't know how it happened. I kind of expected for our meal to be refunded (since you pay when you order ). Or some kind of something more than replacing a dish. No worries. I get my new dish and as I'm eating I see the line prep person that is packaging up, homemade pastas, and also dressing, salads and pasta with his bare hands. Then he dropped one of the lids and picked it right up off the dirty floor..... and continued dressing, salads, putting cheese on top of pasta, and packaging up homemade pasta and two containers that they sell. As we were leaving, I mentioned it to the same manager, and he apologized again and said that he will talk to the guy. I told him that I am a nurse and that it's unsanitary and not a good luck, unfortunately we won't be back between both of these items and the way they handled it… It's...

Pardon the terrible pictures, since we got takeout and our hotel room is dim. The food was DELICIOUS, and some of the best pasta I have had in years.

We placed a pickup order online for Cacio e Pepe, Spaghetti & Meatballs, and Spaghetti Aglio Olio, plus garlic bread and a Caesar salad without anchovies. Staff was masked properly and very friendly on pickup, food was ready on time.

Walked around for about 15 mins before getting back to our hotel room to eat. Everything was still packed securely and still warm, so food definitely travels well for takeout. Portions were very good. I definitely recommend ordering different types of pasta and sharing, because they're so good.

Cacio e Pepe was amazing, and my favorite. Aglio Olio was also unique and delicious, and was my husband's favorite. Meatballs really good, actually a very close 2nd to my grandmother's. Salad was crisp and fresh. And garlic bread was fantastic and fresh, and clearly NOT made from day old bread they're trying to save money on, like many other restaurants do.

Last, the prices were great in the eyes of a visitor coming from NYC, where very similar restaurant concepts EASILY charge 30% - 50% more for entrees with smaller portion sizes, and inferior recipes, or ingredient qualities.

Great job Grassa. Very happy with our first Portland meal in 2+ years! We will...

Walking into Grassa it feels more like a deli than an Italian restaurant. But that makes it all the better. I was impressed with the quality of the pasta considering it was ordered at a counter.

When we were waiting, a man walked past saying "the rigatoni is bomb, garlic bread is a must." Thank you sir, you were right. The rigatoni was amazing and the garlic bread was a delight. My friends ordered the Black Truffle Pappardelle, Occhi Di Lupo, and Carbonara.

Alayna (Carbonara) says the noodles are perfectly "bouncy," the pancetta was great (she got more of it than she expected and they were larger too), and that the menu says there's a fried egg on top and that's accurate so be ready for one. She was not so I got to eat the egg and it was very good.

The staff were all quick, kind, and ready to help. We sat down at one of the booths before it was completely clean and the staff took care of it quickly while being nice about the fact that we were the ones that sat down too quickly.

The restaurants design was great and I was impressed by the faux industrial touches. The booth was comfortable and the tableware was nice too.

Overall this is a great little restaurant and the food is ready quickly. A good option for before or...