Piattino — Restaurant in Portland

Anniversary dinner, perfect pick, loved it. House made everything from pastas, pizza, San Marzano sauce, breads, mozzarella, and so many menu choices! Can't believe it's our first time through their doors, Piattino having established 11 yrs in Pearl already!

Food 4/5 Tuscan Salad fills a large plate and easily shareable for 2 and just $11. Dressing was slightly sweet vinaigrette, shallot mint over Organic romaine, dainty white Corona beans (many), and scattering of green beans and pitted quartered buttery mini Castelvetrano? olives my fave with large flakes of shaved Parm. This was actually my fave dish and hubby thought he'd just take a few bites, but eating to the end even with a sweeter dressing he normally passes on.

Eggplant Parmesan $24 was a single stack of 2-3 pcs baked in a mini cast iron with plenty of thick house San Marzano sauce and cheese, sans breadcrumbs. Very enjoyable would order again. Comes with pistachio pesto Fettuccine that was a wee bit soft (overdone as such a thin noodle) and too loose, wet soupy vs adhering to the noodle in oily lather (guessing pasta needed straining a few more before joining the pesto) Flavor is good though!

Calabrian Pizza $19 Hubs always requests extra sauce and probably should of requested a tad longer in oven for a harder crisp, as extra sauce naturally made it wetter. Came out with a brown bottom, kinda firm, but lacking the crackly crisp he prefers, and the pepperoni too should be curled to a crisp, so blackish all around next time lol, and actually with a lil less cheese...yeah that's a thing too hee hee! Salumi gives a definite oink factor on nose along with mushroom medley a nice meatiness of it's own but Calabrian Chile was much less prominent and pepperoni not so spicy. Sauce has slight zestiness so Hub ranked it 3/5 but as much for execution than for overall taste.

Ambience 5/5 Long intimate dining room with lots of wood accents reclaimed from 1800s barn in Aurora, OR instantly warms you, drawing you in from the cold wet streets on a winter December evening. Further enhanced by the old schoolhouse lights that span the sky-high towering ceiling of embossed tin tiles, stacks of cut wood to fire the pizza oven with it's tall stainless chimney daring you to put it to use over the house pasta that begs your attention, to individual Live Edge tables that beckon you to sit and enjoy. Then the blue bar lights and sparkly fairy ones remind you it's cocktail time; this room will totally bowl you over with charm and dreamy vibes!

Service rocks + Drinks 5/5 Lucky to have our perky waiter, Pickles, how could he not be with such a chipper name ;D?!! Knowledgeable, helpful and accommodating, he made the perfect Espresso Martini when I asked him to try and lower the sugar by cutting some of the liqueur measures (Kahlua, Godiva & Amaretto my goodness!). Supremely well balanced, frothy, creamy top, to vodka and Water Ave espresso ratio, dressed down to it's stem with a lace of chocolate drizzle, it was such a giant pour and just $12 this is soo very addictive, damn it Pickles my sugar for the week all in one pour ha ha! He checked in several times appropriately from beginning with menu Qs and order, and throughout meal, to boxing up leftovers and tab at end, Pickles is a pro!

Negronis $11 were excellent. Hubby had a 2nd as the first was like Kool-Aid going down, quite the treat... and so quickly too!

Dessert kinda skipped it, but kinda didn't with that gigante Chocolate Espresso Martini that I'm still salivating over hours later?!! Cannoli next time!!

Definitely re-visiting Piattino, and not waiting another 11 yrs to embrace a date night here! See ya soon Pickles, and try to get the Happy Hr going again, seemed dead empty at 4-5PM, and go mad on those...

Delicious food and cozy ambiance, but you will be rushed. They book reservations for 90 minutes which in my opinion is not conducive to an experience where you are spending money on lovely food and drinks and reconnecting with family or having a romantic evening. Our server was extremely kind but perhaps accidentally referred to us as “slow” when our hot meal came out when we were still only halfway through our salad and entree. (Also we were not eating slowly; this is not Burger King. We were enjoying our meal and having a conversation, not shoving food in our faces). The food was timed wrong and we were told we were slow because of the restaurant’s mistake in timing. Restaurants are equally about experience and not just the food. Food was delicious but wouldn’t go back because they missed the mark on experience. Hospitality is not about rushing people in and out the door. You will have to take your dirty forks and put them on the table between courses; they won’t bring you new forks unless asked and will ask you to hold on to your silverware. I personally think that’s unseemly when at a nice restaurant. I personally think it’s thinks like that that makes a difference. Also it’s is an iPad ordering and pay system which I personally think detracts from ambiance and is tacky although I understand it’s a sign of the times. It’s interesting to see restaurants scrambling to determine their value to clients. The places I personally return to are places where I feel cozy, unshed, and cared for. That’s what hospitality is about and what I personally want to be paying for when I go out, more than even the food. In my opinion, with the competition restaurants face, restaurants need to strategize on ways to nail the customer experience. It’s not just about lining up reservations back to back to increase profit. You’ll miss the real mark that way. Our server was extremely attentive and sweet and filled up our water many times. Low rating is an honest reflection on just the experience being off enough that I wouldn’t return or bring a...

No kids friendly. Poor hostess, greet and meet service.

This feedback reflects the lack of basic understanding of CUSTOMER SERVICE by the owner and all staff in this business.

Based on decent rating in social channels and close location to the hotel where my family were staying for the weekend in Down Town of Portland we selected to try this restaurant. There were not option available on ‘Open Table’ to make a reservation. So I called directly to restaurant and ask table for four in flexible time window of 1 hour+/-. The owner replied right away they don’t accept any reservation but we can come and ‘try’ to be seated. I wondered if they were too busy at the moment. He said ‘not really’ but he is not ready to commit and guarantee available table within an hour. As I mentioned, the location was not too far away so we decided to give it a shot. Not later than 20 min after the call , 4 of us walked in to restaurant-which was half full ( on the pic). Asked for a table, the hostess told us it will take 30 min to be seated. Literally, a few min later, the owner came itself and declared the waiting time for us probably at least 1 hour. I wondered why, if they don’t accept a reservation but obviously they have more then one table available at the moment. They said the available tables are minimum for 6 and we are ONLY 4. SERIOUSLY?! Are you business is too good to compromise on party of 4 for Saturday evening? Of course, we left this place and easily found another restaurant where we were welcomed and with had a good time, delicious food, drinks and light heartedly spent a few hundred bucks for the pleasure. In attempt to maximize your profit, you ready lose a business of potential customers? Customer experience started with first impression and in this place it was poor skills in taking an incoming calls and greet and meet...