Ken's Artisan Pizza — Restaurant in Portland

During COVID, I bought Ken Forkish's book. After two years I have managed to finally come across the pond and try his pizza.

I have to be honest, I came with my expectations under control. I was ready to come and and find a regular, maybe even bland, overrated pizza. And it would have been fine, I came as an act of gratitude for all the fun his book has taken me through. But, man, was I in for a surprise.

Food: I imagine that there are lots of people who don't know who Ken Forkish is or the contents of his books. With that, they evaluate the place as a regular pizza place. This is not it. The bread produced here is a celebration of bread.

The pizza dough is bubbly, yet chewy all the way through. It's cooked to perfection. You can see the crisp on the same level on the bottom of the pie and in the outside crust and you can taste the olive oil. The ingredients are precisely balanced. I had a New Yorker with pepperoni. I like pepperoni, it's my favorite, but I had numerous pizzas that were too acidic, too oily or too salty to the point you'd feel it hurt your mouth. Ken Artisan Pizza found the perfect balance. So good that it even makes me sad going back to Europe and knowing they won't deliver there.

I asked for the free bread from Ken's bakery as an entry. I can't describe it. Literally. If you are reading this, go to the pizzeria, dip a slice of bread on the olive oil and sprinkle a couple of salt crystals of salt on top of it. Then, you'll know the feeling.

Service: Our waiter Jonathan, or Johnny was very friendly, polite and professional. The bread and the pizzas arrived in a very reasonable time. The whole staff provided us with an unforgettable experience. If there was one small detail I would change about this experience would be noise. The volume of the music and the proximity to the table next to ours, where a very chatty couple of ladies sat, mounted up to a night slightly noisier than I would have preferred, but nothing too disruptive. We spent around 30 dollars each, generous tip included, for all our experience. My experience is based on a Sunday evening, we arrived around 6PM and had to wait for a few minutes, maybe 20, while having a drink on the waiting area. For us it was great because we took our time to decide. Plus, we had called the day before and we were told that, at times, there could be a waiting line of even more than an hour. So positive surprise.

Overall Absolutely recommended. This pizza is fantastic. On my personal experience it is only rivaled by pizzas I had in Napoli. It stands at the very top of the list, unless I discover something ground breaking in the future, it doesn't get any better than this. Five ou of...

Kens is ranked 5th in the US for its pizza and deservedly so. The aromas when you first enter are the first indication of what will be an excellent pizza experience, providing you're willing to wait (more than an hour on a Saturday or Sunday night, around 6). NB, there is very little space in this small restaurant to accommodate waiting folks.

The ingredients are top notch, the crust and sauce both way above the standard, the 'za topping choices are varied and delivious (watch that mozzarella string!), as are the selection of drinks and the starters. the service is friendly and attentive, and the room is lively and comfortable. i was curious about about the bread i saw (artisinal, from their bakery of the same name) and was kindly brought some to take home, without charge (it is delicious, by the way!).

This would easily be a universally 5 star rating, but for one thing: there is no reservation system. first, you must show up and sign in. then they ask you to call back in X time (their well-estimated time, in our case 1 1/2 hours). if, however, someone shows up when a table is liberated, but you haven't called to find out if your table is ready or are not waiting right there, I believe the newcomers will get the table, because the communication between the person who receives the phone calls and the person who greets you at the door is poor.

There's absolutely no reason for any of this, either financially, or customer service-wise. this problem could be solved in a number of different ways, and quite easily: for instance, they could take reservations either over the phone or with a service like Reserve your Table or other. If they're totally against taking reservations, they could give out those beeper things which indicate when your table's ready or, they could take people's phone numbers and call them when their table is ready. we came on Saturday and gave up, returning Sunday with more patience and determination, but an equally long wait, which we spent in the car, parked 5 minutes away.

if you love great pizza as i do, it was worth the wait. but the reservation system could benefit from being brought up to the rest of this extraordinary restaurant's...

My partner and I visited Ken’s on a Friday night, hoping to end our week on a high note. Unfortunately, our experience fell far short of what you’d expect from a place that claims to be one of the “Top 5” pizza spots in the country.

Having worked in food service myself, I understand things can get hectic — but what we experienced wasn’t just the result of a busy night. It was a complete lack of care.

We waited in line to put our name on the list and noticed the staff warmly engaging with the guests ahead of us, asking about seating preferences like indoor or outdoor. When it was our turn, however, we got a curt “name and number” — no greeting, no options, just transactional and cold.

Once seated, we immediately noticed a foul odor coming from the plates — something close to wet dog. When the pizza arrived, it was more burnt than charred, even for a wood-fired oven. It was inedible. Still, no one checked on us. Meanwhile, other tables were getting attentive service while we were completely ignored, like we were invisible.

After flagging down our server (after 30 minutes of trying), we politely mentioned the pizza wasn’t up to the usual standard. The response? A dismissive, “Oh yeah, it’s a bit charred,” with no offer to remake it, comp it, or even acknowledge the issue with basic empathy.

Trying to escalate the matter, I asked to speak with a manager. The person I spoke to responded with a casual, “Yeah, what’s up?” before walking away mid-conversation as my partner tried to explain our concerns which is were I drew the line, realizing this was beyond their capabilities. I later saw the actual manager making a face near the expo line once the employee spoke to them. At that point, we just decided to cut our losses and leave.

It wasn’t about the $64 we spent. It was about the complete lack of hospitality, professionalism, and care. What I saw wasn’t a busy restaurant doing its best — it was a chaotic, disorganized team that didn’t seem to give a damn. If this is what “Top 5” looks like, then they can care less if they loose another...