Burano's Wood-Fired Pizzeria — Restaurant in Scarborough

UPDATE - On this same day, as we were heading back to Portland, we decided to give it another try for dinner...and I'm glad we did. Apparently, the owner had seen this review that afternoon and made immediate changes to their process and we had a GREAT experience. Kudos to you sir for being attentive to feedback.

The food was fabulous. We got the Pear D'Carter, meatballs, specialty wings, and a few other things. Highly recommended!!!

The owner, not know we had left the review earlier that day, came out and was talking with us and was very friendly, knowledgeable, and accommodating. Toward the end of our conversation I mentioned that we had been in earlier and of our experience and how impressed I was with the changes he had made. I had promised I would update my review and am just now getting to that. I wish I had been as speedy as he was to correct :D

THANK YOU FOR A GREAT VISIT. If we are ever in the Portland area again, you are definitely on our list.

So sad. We are visiting at a nearby business and decided to stop for lunch because it smelled amazing outside.

We were instructed to sit anywhere, then the server just stood nearby doing nothing to get us menus, take a drink order, etc.

There were only 3 other tables when we arrived. 2 had food and the other was waiting for a check. We were still waiting for menus when 3 other tables came in.

The 3 other tables got menus, 2 got their drinks, we were still waiting to get menus.

The dining room is small and open. There is no place where we would be "hidden". We set a time limit to at least get menus before leaving. Still no server or menus. We rolled out....very...

Every aspect of our visit today was top notch! The ambiance is warm and inviting. Tables are clean and we were greeted cheerfully as soon as we walked in. Ellie, our waitress, was superb and knew both the menu items and cocktails extreme $2 well, answering questions without having to ask anyone or look anything up. Just about everything is made from scratch in house with fresh ingredients and prepared in ways to bring out the most flavor. For example, mushrooms on pizza are roasted first. They even make their own infused spirits for cocktails. Their meatballs are delicious as is their house marinara. Pizza was the best I’ve had in Maine - yes, better than Otto, Portland Pie or Flatbread. We took cannoli to go and they are also made in-house and filled at the time of order. They are to die for! We will be back and often - my only complaint is that this place will get discovered soon and I’ll expect long waits to get in - it’s worth it! We didn’t think it was pricey, especially for how much food we got…we shared an order of wings, ordered 2 signature cocktails (and I upgraded the brand of mine to top shelf), my husband got the meatball sub which was huge and came with more fried than we could finish between the 2 of us, I ordered a 12” pizza with 2 toppings and we got an order of cannoli which contains 2 large cannoli with choice of shell and toppings. Our bill was $62 before tip,...

Being a local guide, I always want to promote local establishments but for Burano’s I’ll have to be honest and simply say “they need improvement, and quickly”.

They were short staffed like many places so it took a while to even get an order in. The bartender was running around like her head was cut off (in bare feet) and trying to help but drinks took a long time to arrive which means my wife finds herself drinking a cocktail long after she’s finished her meal.

We ordered the special 12” pizza off the night which was a broccoli bacon Alfredo sauce. The wood fired oven gives a nice char to the crust but they need to season the floor of the oven so your tongue gets flavors it’s looking for. Overall, it was a good pizza but not great. You know when you take that first bite of a GREAT pizza you sit back and digest it slowly and savor the flavor and ingredients. This never happened.

The outdoor section is a bonus and a little nicer if you have a date and want a little quieter location, but sit farthest from the road if you can.

I hope with proper management, Burano’s can get things organized, more staffed, and more efficient, along with some finishing touches on the wood oven and this section of rt. 1 will be a great addition to...