Portofino’s Italian Kitchen

The only reason this place gets two stars and not just one is for 2 reasons:
1. The staff was nice. 2. The chicken «cutlets» were very tasty.
Here’s why I rated them so low. I tried this place around when it opened. I got a chicken parm sub and while it was ok, it wasn’t anything special, so I didn’t really feel like it needed reviewing (positive or negative). I remember the sauce being standard and the cutlet being decent, the bread was just eh. Plus they forgot to put cheese on it (I figured it was just opening hiccups and didn’t think about it).
Today I was craving buffalo fingers. I saw they had a «buffalo finger platter» and so I ordered that.
When the manager and the person taking your order start whispering behind the counter, that’s not usually a good thing. I see some chicken going to the the frialator and then a fist full of frozen fries. Ok, I think, not fresh potatoes, fine. Could be ok…
Then the server takes grilled chicken out of the pan in front. I said, «I’m sorry but I meant buffalo chicken» and he said, «oh so breaded?» I confirmed that I wanted the fried chicken (if you can’t be a little bad on Halloween…) The manager came over and pointed to the cutlets in the fryer and he takes those and the fries he JUST put in out. He pours both into a take out container and asked if I wanted the buffalo sauce on the chicken. While I normally appreciate that kind of forethought, I ordered the buffalo finger platter, not the chicken fingers with buffalo sauce.
That brings me to what it’s called. These aren’t buffalo fingers, they’re full breaded cutlets, with Italian breading. Not exactly right for buffalo sauce. The sauce wasn’t even buffalo sauce, it was hot sauce and pretty runny. They drizzled it over the cutlets and called it a day. Instead of blue cheese, they gave me SWEET & SOUR SAUCE… I don’t get it either.
If you want an average Italian sandwich or pasta, sure come here I guess. Want anything else on the menu, just pass. It’s not worth it. I paid over $ 8.55 for cold fries, decent cutlets (although one was old and chewy) and a drizzling of hot sauce that ate 5 bites of and threw away.

+Pesto Chicken Panini
+Clean
+Moderate price
+Close to my office
–Staff still learning
–Nowhere to sit
–Other reviewers’ vitriol, I think, undermines their credibility

Sorry about this but i just cant stand when places say that they serve italian food and its not, its just another freekin imposter, just name it what it is crappy food with an exotic name.” Portofino” my ass. Well, tried the veal parm, deep fried not sauteed with bland marinara top with provolone, not that veal alla parmigiana is even authentic italian, just try to order the dish in italy, they will looked at you as if you are special needs and ask you if you would like some mooozerell on it too, as they walk away from your table laughing saying sono americani che sanno un cazzo !!!

Eh!!! At best, on par with it’s neighbor Italian Kitchen. The staff seems to be under trained and not sure how to handle an order. I ordered a BLT and the person who served me had to refer to a booklet to see what was in it. Then asked me if I wanted tomatoes, and lettuce and what kind of meat. I have ordered a chix ziti and I have had slices, and at best… on par with Italian kitchen. Hopefully with time things will improve.

My partner and I decided to take a quick code 10 at this place and I must say I was impressed. I got a couple of slices of pizza. I am usually pretty picky about pizza and I did enjoy theirs. the dough had a perfect crunchy softness to it. the cheese was melted and gooey tasting. Service was good I would say give it try.

This place has been under construction for a while. So. this week, I saw a «Soft Open» sign and think…“why not. give it a try”.
STORE:
The place is nice and clean, but tiny. Overall, I will give it a 4 (based on a scale 1 – 5).
There were about 7 — 10 customers. The line formed between the severing counter and a counter (against a wall) for dine-​in, the gap between the two is no wider than 24 inches. The ordering area is at the deep end of the store. I tried to get pass the line of customers to reach the ordering station, it was like squeezing thru a train packed with people on a 5 pm commuter train.
FOOD:
Price is reasonable, Quality is okay. I ordered the Chicken Parmesan with Curly Pasta (Large). The pasta was reheated, but it was «el dente». The only problem I found was that they use curly pasta and did not drain the water out thoroughly. The dish ended up with a washed out marinara sauce. Also, there is some inconsistency in terms of portion size. The Chicken Parmesan with pasta that I ordered is the same price as the Chicken Parmesan on a sub. I got 1 piece of fried chicken and then I saw a sub got 2 pieces (go figure?). I am going to give them the benefit of doubt that this is their first week. and not everyone knows what they are doing. … aka «Soft Open»
OVERALL:
I like their food with some reservation. I will give them a little time to get things right. I will wait for a month, but my next visit. I would ask them to drain the water out of the pasta a little more. If the portion is still the same, which means I only get 1 slice of chicken, my next visit will be my last visit.