Porto — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

A really disappointing meal with several things contributing to that.

First and foremost, the pace of the meal itself. We arrived for dinner at 5:30PM and were seated immediately. We finished our meal as quickly as we could and left at 9:30PM. Our party didn't order an enormous number of dishes, so I was wondering why it took so long. My question was answered when I walked by the restaurant's single, very small kitchen. There was clearly some kind of preparation happening in the main bar area, but I'm not sure how many of our dishes would have been prepared there.

On to the food. Nothing was bad, but nothing was good either. You have to love that wood smoke flavor. Truly, you do, because it's all you'll taste in 80% of the dishes. For all of the talk of "salinity" that was given to us by our waiter, most of the dishes genuinely seemed to lack salt. As in, they weren't seasoned before leaving the kitchen. We ordered several appetizers. The jamon itself was the best part of any of these. We also got several entrees. The moment the percebes (barnacles) hit the table, I knew we were getting ripped off for the price that we were paying. Smaller than mussels and no more flavorful, I wouldn't order them again if someone else were paying. The Turbot was simply okay. The squab and its pasta was like drinking liquid smoke that had formed a hardened crust at the top. The squab itself was, once again, flavorless. Not even a hint of salt on it either. All you could taste was smoke. Obviously, I didn't care for that one. Octopus is always a mixed bag. Ours was tough, but sometimes that's how octopus is. That being said, if sushi chefs can make it tender, a Michelin-starred restaurant should be able to do that as well. All in all, the food was thoroughly average. But when you consider the price you're paying, it's insulting. Portion sizes are obviously a bit different at higher-end restaurants, but what other reviews say about leaving hungry is accurate. One other thing to note is that having looked at the menu ahead of time, many things listed on the menu on their website were not available that evening.

The service was something else. Our waiter was nice, but was somewhere between a used car salesman and a college lecturer. Every single dish came with a sales pitch about how "If you were to buy this sauce at a store, it would cost $80/ounce", or "We're the only restaurant in the country who has this seaweed". Who cares? It's the most pretentious thing in the world, considering how the dishes didn't deliver at all on such over-hyped sales pitches. Every dish also came with an elaborate explanation of how it ought to be eaten. Again, unnecessary and pretentious. If something ought to be eaten a certain way, it should hit the table in that form.

By hour two of the meal, all anyone wanted to do was leave and we weren't even halfway through. I legitimately felt bad for dragging my family through this, considering that coming here was my idea. By hour four, we couldn't believe that the waiter was still having us wait to eat our food so that he could tell us some story about an ingredient. The price for this sham of a meal: $800, plus a 3.5% credit card processing fee. What is this, a Denny's?

I cannot recommend that anyone come here. If you ignore everything but the food, the food itself is bland and monstrously overpriced, given its quality. Why bother flying in fish from Spain if it doesn't make a difference in the final product? Use local ingredients and apply the Spanish/Portugese technique to it instead. Not a single diner in the restaurant cares that the chef befriended a fisherman, which enabled him to circumvent the two-year wait on getting the barnacles in to the restaurant. Four hours of my time and $800 before tip and fees for such a let-down of a meal was absurd.

My honest advice, tell the waitstaff to drop the obnoxious, pretentious sales pitches that accompany each dish, have the chefs actually taste the food that's leaving...

I was excited about Porto opening - I'm half Portuguese, have a large family there, visited this summer and ate copious amounts of Octopus and seafood. Porto Chicago has a beautiful ambiance, customer service, and wine, of course. Those are the reasons I am giving three stars.

The reason this restaurant falls shorts, for me, is the price point for the amount of food you get and my octopus was overcooked - burnt and chewy. Compared to the Octopus I had in Portugal, this was my least favorite, most expensive, and least amount of food. To be fair, my date had the fish with butternut squash and she loved it. I wish I could give 3 1/2 stars for that but it seems Google doesn't give the option. But nonetheless, we left there still hungry. Had we ordered more, we would have left there with around a $300 bill, including tip - perhaps $250 if you substitute out the bottle of wine we got with a couple of glasses, a piece, instead.

To steelman Proto, I'm sure if I would have mentioned something they would have tried to correct the overcooked octopus, but I don't have that personality type to complain, nor should the burden be on me to complain - with the price point, for one leg, comes the expectation of a delicious octopus the first time, without putting customers in an uncomfortable position to complain.

In a favorable estimate, $200 - $250 dollars (including tip) to leave Proto feeling good and satisfied, is not sustainable to visit there more than once or twice a year - something I was expecting to do before visiting. ( I can rationalize spending $100 - $150 for a two-person meal, with drinks, once or twice a month - but those are two dining experiences. ). I'd prefer going to somewhere else, such as Folklore or Le Bouchon - who are arguably a bit cheaper, provide delicious food with proper portions. In contrast, I left those restaurants wanting to return.

For those of you that have been to Portugal, the meal I had, would be approximately $15 ( You don't tip ), in Lisbon, for the entire Octopus. I know this is the US, things are more expensive, but the price point of $26 ( $31 including tip ) for one leg, was unfortunate, coupled with the fact that it was overcooked. I understand that this is based on one dish, but I wouldn't return to try the others, based on the price vs portion.

It's unfortunate I couldn't give this restaurant 5 stars. In my harshest criticism, Porto is not a Michelin star restaurant but feels as entitled as one. Perhaps they will be one day, but arguably have more work to do.

This review should be taken as a criticism, not a complaint. This is my own opinion - Your experience will vary, I'm sure. I'm trying to communicate my experience to give people a perspective of price vs portion, a perspective from eating in Portugal, and the taste of the...

Michelin star awarded Porto Chicago is an eclectic and charming restaurant located in West Town, Chicago. The colors of the decor and ambience are rich, vibrant, and inviting. What I loved most was the history behind certain pieces in the venue, giving it true Portuguese and Spanish flare. The large chandelier near the entrance goes unnoticed as it sparkles beneath the sun roof. The main dining room is immediately visible when walking into the restaurant. There are lovely velvet chairs located at the bar, in seating places near the windows, and larger tables underneath the chandelier and in another area adjacent to the front entrance. The second dining area is located toward the back of the restaurant, with a long wooden table that stands out as the centerpiece of this room. There is also a lot more seating and light fixtures made from fishing contraptions. The wallpaper reminded me of shells and sea waves. The decor in this room gives a different feel but beautiful nonetheless.

For dinner, I tried their 10-course tasting menu. I love experiences like this because it exposes me to flavors and cooking techniques I’m unfamiliar with, despite my culinary background. 1st course: CONSERVAS & SEAWEED 2nd course: SALPICÓN DE MARISCO 3rd course: UNI TOAST 4th course: MATRIMONIO DE ANCHOAS 5th course: RILLETTE DE TRUCHA 6th course: RAZOR CLAMS AND WHITE ASPARAGUS 7th course: SARDINE 8th course: BACALHAU 9th course: MOLE DE MAR 10th course: PLAYA Cocktail: CREPÚSCULO Dinner was certainly different from what I’m used to, but I truly enjoyed the experience. The cocktail was very interesting, it consisted of Gin and Squid Ink! I spent 4 hours slowly indulging into each course and analyzing its unfamiliarity. I welcomed this encounter wholeheartedly. I advise anyone who desires to try this menu to do so with an open mind and understand the purpose behind the cooking styles and flavors. I definitely recommend Porto Chicago for a visit. It felt like a small journey to Portugal and Spain...