Solo Italiano — Restaurant in Portland

PRETENTIOUS! If you are looking for overpriced and under delivered, then you have come to the right place! Solo belongs in downtown LA, not on Commercial Street in Portland! The worst Italian culinary experience ever! I use to live in Naples and Sicily and just came back from Tyrol in March, this place would not make it anywhere I’ve been in Italy. Where to start? Well in my experience a true Italian meal is about two things, large portion size and rich flavors, which this place misses on completely. My wife ordered their award winning pesto dish and in a word it “disappointed”. The pasta is this flat soggy noodle that looked more like a lasagna noodle. The pesto sauce itself was bland and was missing something simple, a pinch of salt. My wife cut the pasta in half and in a half again and after sharing a bite with me she was done after three bites. No meat is served with this dish and it was $38. I had a hard time choosing off their menu because of the limited amount of choices and the menu itself was a tiny folded piece of paper in small print. I settled on a pork and beef stuffed pasta dish. This dish was disgusting. In fairness, The pasta itself was cooked perfectly and you could tell it was homemade, but it tasted like a combination of bleach mixed with fennel seeds. The dish was served with neither a white or red sauce, but came with just a hint of olive oil and a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese. There were only ten tiny bite size pieces in total, just slightly larger than a traditional Italian tortellini. This meal was also $38. We ordered two drinks. My wife ordered a Hendricks gin and tonic with a lime and I ordered the “Acadia” house specialty drink. My drink tasted nothing like the description . The menu said a blueberry lavender combination with rum . It was served straight up and had a red color with a bay leaf floating on top. It didn’t taste like a rum drink and I think the color should have been blue or purple not red. I put myself through college in Maine by working at a couple of high end French restaurants in the Mid-coast area as a server and bartender. The one thing I learned back then and that has stuck with me all these years is you can tell how good a place is by the quality of the fruit served with the drinks. So my wife’s lime in her gin and tonic had a big brown spot on it. Rotten! It just shows a lack of attention to detail. The bread service was nothing spectacular. Two tiny pieces of focaccia and two thinly sliced pieces of wheat bread with olive oil. The two hostesses when we arrived for our reservation didn’t smile and fumbled around for an eternity on their IPad trying to find us an open table. The restaurant seems large and roomy, but as we were escorted to our table I was astonished to see our table was jammed between two other two tops and it was like we were suddenly party of six. The whole time we were there the couple to our left conversation dominated our space. So, my plans of a quite romantic evening with my beautiful wife were instantly dashed, although they seemed like a nice couple. They were on a desert course when we sat and she was politely criticizing how bad her meal and desert was and how overblown the hype was on this place. Our server was a nice man from Italy, but his service was nothing spectacular and he never came back to offer us additional drinks or wine. It did seem the restaurant was lacking servers from my observation. To reiterate how small the portions truly were and I’ve never done this in my entire life, we paid and immediately went across commercial street, went up a few blocks to Elevation Burger and split a burger and fries. If you are expecting a true Italian experience like Tresca’s in the North End of Boston or our favorite Molise in Amesbury, Mass, you will be highly disappointed. If you are expecting pretentious downtown LA overpriced and underwhelming, then Solo is right...

I wanted to express my disappointment with the treatment myself and my 7 girlfriends had this past Saturday. We had made reservations several weeks prior and were looking forward to a great weekend in Portland and excited about dinner at Solo. We started our day with a wonderful Spa experience and shopping in downtown Portland and enjoying the culture of Portland and the hospitality. After lots of shopping we didn’t have enough time to go back to the hotel to change for dinner. We arrived at the restaurants promptly at 8pm. Upon arriving I had informed the hostess that we had been out since 12 basically apologizing that we were wearing jeans and not fully dressed up as we normally would be for a dinner.

As we sat down for our dinner the waitress was amazing explaining the menu and her recommendations. She provided us all with water and walked away. As she returned to take our appetizer order we asked if we could put in a drink order and were told “sorry we can’t serve you alcohol for a while”. When asked why she stated that she was told “you have been drinking since 12 and therefore we have been told not to serve you”. We asked to speak with the manager who did approach us in with a pompous demeanor. I explained to him that for one none of us were intoxicated and secondly, I had never said we were out drinking. I simply said we had been out since 12 but to be truthful we had been out since 1:30 and didn’t even have a cocktail till 4:30pm (but that is not relevant at all).

The demeanor of this manager was not only pompous but arrogant he made sure that his tone was loud enough for the guest around us to hear what he was saying (basically calling us a bunch of drunks). This could not have been far from the truth.

We arrived at your restaurant promptly at 8pm for our reservations, walked in quietly, sat down quietly and acted accordingly. We started our day with a wonderful spa experience at the Regency, left our hotel at 1pm where we headed to Duck Fat for lunch at 1:30. We had an amazing experience at Duck Fat (by the way we didn’t drink alcohol with our lunch JUST SAYING!)

I tell you all this because I have never in my time had an experience such as the one we had Saturday at Solo. We are 8 professional females who all deserved a weekend away but didn’t expect to be treated like the leftovers at your restaurant. I will ensure that we never again return to this restaurant but will make sure that I also let others know.

Seeing how your manager responds on reviews to unsatisfied customers I am sure the above will not go anywhere regarding changes in your personnel but that’s ok. We took our money elsewhere where we were treated with class and respect.

*I only gave 1 star because it’s makes me give a star! So I give this 1 star to the waitress who was amazing! BTW we got up and walked out and left her a hefty tip for just serving us...

★★★★★ An Unforgettable Trip to Italy, No Passport Required!

As someone whose heart belongs to Italy, finding a place, like Bellagio, Italy, that truly captures its culinary soul is a rare and beautiful thing. From the moment we walked into Solo Italiano, I felt it. This wasn't just another Italian restaurant; it was a transportive experience. The atmosphere buzzed with the kind of warm, convivial energy that reminds me of late-night dinners in Bellagio. It felt like coming home.

We started with a stunning charcuterie board, an absolute work of art laden with high-quality prosciutto, salami, and artisanal cheeses, perfectly paired with delicious fruit preserves. But the showstoppers were the crostini: one topped with the creamiest, freshest burrata over prosciutto, and another with a rich pâté that was simply divine. Every single bite was a testament to the quality of their ingredients.

For our main courses, we were treated to absolute perfection on a plate. I had a handmade green pasta—I believe it was their Mandilli al Vero Pesto Genovese—that was as delicate and silky as any I've had in Liguria. The pesto was so vibrant and fresh it tasted like pure sunshine. My husband’s steak was cooked flawlessly, tender and juicy, smothered in a rich, savory sauce with gorgeous wild mushrooms.

Even the cocktails were crafted with care, both refreshing and beautifully balanced. And you simply cannot leave without dessert. The chocolate mousse cake was impossibly decadent, and the hazelnut gelato was so authentic and creamy it was like being back in a Florentine gelateria.

Solo Italiano isn't just serving food; they are sharing a piece of their culture and passion. For a few hours, we weren't in Portland, Maine—we were in Italy. If you are looking for an authentic, soulful, and absolutely delicious Italian meal, this is a...