La Buca

La Buca is one of my favorite lunch spots in NE Portland. The food is excellent and a really great price. I am surprised how inexpensive it is compared to other Italian places on this side of the river.
The sandwiches are a great choice for a quick lunch, my favorite being the Pollo Cesar. With the sides that it comes with, it is plenty of food.
When the server yesterday apologized for bringing out the food too quickly, I laughed and thought: «now that is service!».

Really delicious food! The atmosphere of the restaurant was real nice, clean, and open. Service was super quick, food came out super quick, it was a really good experience! Very cheap as well.

Excellent staff, amazing service & incredible food. I’ve lived in a lot of places and I would say this Italian food could rival places in NY City. Very pleasant atmosphere.

Excellent local restaurant in Portland, great service and reasonable prices

This is one of my favorite laid-​back dinner spots in Portland, the kind of place you can go for a Saturday night date without a reservation and get Italian classics that are not only good but also affordable.
Favorites include the olive bruschetta (four generous pieces), the abituale and the spaghetti pomodoro with spicy meatballs. The special tonight (pork and beef bolognese) was also delicious.
You can get by with two entrees that have meat in them (vegetarian is cheaper), an order of bruschetta (plus bread comes with most entrees) or salad and two or three glasses of house red wine for less than $ 50 including tip.
I’d give it more stars but the service wasn’t great the last couple of visits. It’s not the servers’ fault necessarily — they might just be a little understaffed at times.

We drove 45 minutes to try this restaurant based on online reviews and it was totally worth it!
We had the caprese bruschetta which reminded me of the ones we had in Italy. well very close to it! Mediterranean olives were delicious. For the main course we tried puttanesca and vegetarian pasta and were very happy with both and I’m now a big fan of their puttanesca for the crushed red pepper. Excellent service, nice cozy place where families are welcomed. We finished with their house gelato — they had coffee flavor that day and it was to die for! Definitely going back here.

Cute little Italian place off E.Burnside. Had the Abituale pasta with italian sausage which was excellent. They serve wine in small glasses and not your usual wine glasses which is kind of strange for an italian place. The star of the show were the desserts. top notch tiramisu and excellent chocolate torte!

1^st time dining here and it was GREAT! Had to wait few minutes for a table but was not bad. It was hard to choose one dish coz all menu looked so good. Ended up ordering the Al Forno and it was delicious! The sauce… Yumm!!! This deserves a 5 stars, not 4, Unilocalers! Come on!!!

Got the pomodoro with spicy meatballs. Meatballs definitely had a kick so beware! But they’re good. Chianti is not worth getting. Flour less cake was worth getting.

Why we have never been here before I have no idea! Now that we found it we will make this place a regular stop! Great space and even better little bar in the back! The menu is not your typical italian menu and this one shines! Pricing is wonderful and the wine selection is fine. Only thing we would not order again is the carrot cake… it was not the best. We will just eat more menu items and skip the desert menu… simple!

I don’t like tiramisu but I found that I really liked theirs! Maybe it’s because my friends use too much coffee in their home made batches, but this was more creamy and chocolatey.
I’m also not a huge salad fan, but I wasn’t very hungry so I ordered their Gorgonzola salad… and it was AMAZING! That’s saying a lot, coming from me.
One friend ordered the al forno, which she gave me a bite of. We both agreed that it was sinfully delicious.
The 2^nd friend ordered the pancetta e funghi. She gave me a sampling, which rivaled the 1^st friends pasta dish. I just had to pick out the mushrooms because I am not a fan of fungi, no matter who makes it.
The last friend ordered the pesci del giorno, which she thought was too salty. It could be that the «fish of the day» just is that salty. I donno. I am not a big seafood lover.
Since 3 out of the 4 dishes ranked 5 stars and were items we would all order again, we are going to not blame the restaurant for the salty fish and say that this place is a neighborhood gem and definitely worth trying out.

After a recent dinner, I feel like it’s time to update my review on La Buca. This is my favorite Italian place in PDX! Why? Well, because they have stellar food, good service and the prices are reasonable. I’ve been to tasty, more upscale Italian places in town but we always seem to have service issues at those establishments.
First off, if you can, snag a table in the bar. It’s a much smaller, quieter, more intimate space. At our recent meal there, we had a small table by a window, it felt like we were in our own private world. The room has a very romantic glow about it. It’s too small for large groups, but will work if you have four or less people.
The thing I notice about great food and drink is that it’s all about balance, getting the perfect balance of flavors.
Since I’m not much of a wine person, I ordered a vodka and cranberry. Why would I even bother mentioning such a run of the mill drink? Well, because it was perfect. I’ve had them at places where they pour so strong my drink is very light pink. And while I’m all in favor of a good buzz, it can be a bit much to choke down. The majority of bars err on the other side, where I’m served a drink that is so weak that it feels like I’m drinking a glass of juice. La Buca gets it just right: I could taste the vodka, I could taste the juice, neither was overpowering and the lime was a perfect compliment.
My partner ordered a Caesar salad as a starter and I had wanted to try a bite. We ended up sharing as I couldn’t stop taking bites of it. Again, the flavors were just excellent. Too many restaurants either under-​dress or over-​dress this salad. La Buca brought it with a lemon wedge and it was a perfect blend of creamy dressing, sharp lemon and mellow parmesan. Totally delicious!
Saturday night is my cheat meal night and I had been looking forward to getting the alfredo pasta with chicken. It was everything I’d hoped for: rich, creamy and decadent. Personally, I would have preferred a touch more garlic in the mix, but it was still divine! My guy had the polenta with roasted pork. I had a bite and it was terrific as well, very creamy and flavorful. The pork was so tender it almost melted in my mouth.
We passed on the dessert menu as we had something waiting for us at home. But they did have some fantastic looking cakes in their display case.
Service was quiet, efficient and relaxing.
This is the perfect place for a lovely dinner and evening.

We had dinner here a few nights ago. We didn’t seek it out, we were just walking the neighborhood and decided to stop. We wanted to love it. The prices and the menu are great, it’s casual, full of nice afternoon light, with what looks like local/​rotating art on the walls.
I ordered a cocktail that was so bitter I couldn’t drink it. I am NOT the kind of person that sends cocktails/​food back. I usually just chalk it up to misjudgment on my part, or not reading the menu correctly, because it’s not the server’s fault I don’t like something. But I couldn’t choke it down, so I sent it back. (I can’t remember the name of it, and it’s not on their website.)
I ordered the «pomodoro — spaghetti tossed with a fresh basil and garlic tomato sauce.» When I used to have a garden, this was a favorite easy meal I could make for lunch. I used to add fresh mozzarella, so I asked if that could be added. The waitress obviously thought that was an odd request, but she agreed. When I got it, there wasn’t any fresh basil in it, and I could barely taste any garlic. It looked like a child’s plate of spaghetti and tomato sauce. At least it had the mozzarella. It was extremely disappointing.
If Portland didn’t have a million other restaurants to try, I may go back and give it another chance, but I doubt that will happen.

If you are craving Italian (pasta), then try this place. We tried it based on Unilocal reviews and I’m glad we did. The pesto is fresh and the pasta is delicious. The ambiance is good and the service is nice. Overall, this is on the top ten choices for dinner. The prices are great, but the food! It’s delicious! We are determined to eventually try everything on the menu.

I don’t get to eat as much Italian food as I’d like to up here in PDX. I guess that’s because there’s so much good international cuisine that some of the standards I grew up with haven’t gotten as much attention. There aren’t as many mom and pop pizza joints/​Italian restaurants up here, just higher end Italian. That’s not a bad thing because homemade pasta is so good. But because it’s higher end, it also means it’s gonna cost you to eat that good food.
La Buca isn’t really that high a priced place and the food was clean, amazing and presented well. It was an evening to splurge a little. I was over around Burnside and 28^th and there are so many good choices up and down 28^th, both north and south. Tapalaya, Bar & Kitchen, Paadee, the food pod south of Burnside. I chose some rather good looking Italian food.
I got a really tasty spinach salad to start with feta, tomatoes and mixed olives with a lemon-​infused olive oil and balsamic dressing. The citrus was clearly tasted and made for a pleasant salad. For my meal I got Polenta con Maiale. Slow roasted pork with caramalized onions and peas over a parmesan polenta in a sage chianti butter sauce. This was sweet but not overly sweet with the onions and the pork. The polenta was creamy and balanced it out. I will admit, I didn’t really get any sage flavor but it didn’t take anything away from the dish. It was perfect.
Overall a great meal with great service and the prices were pretty good for all the pasta dishes and even sandwiches on homemade bread that are on the menu. Some really great Italian food.
Enjioy.

We had a really good dinner here last weekend. The service was very friendly and the food arrived nice and hot, just the way it was ordered.
My only recommendation is that if you have leftovers, you may want to consider packing them at the table yourself. My chicken scaloppini was great and the gravy/​sauce served with this dish played the starring role. It was divine! When I opened my leftovers the next day, I was sad to find only chicken and potatoes inside of the box… packed without the delicious gravy that was on my plate when it was taken back :(Next time, I believe I’ll pack my own to go box so I can choose what stays and what comes home.
Overall, go here soon! You’ll be happy and well fed.

LA Buca is a solid 4 Stars. .
I enjoyed the dinner very much. I started with a Caesar salad and then had their chicken Marsala over risotto. It was very good and very reasonably priced. I finished with a tirimisu which looks authentic but will enjoy later. My bill was only $ 26.00 which is more than worth it.
I will be back for the food but not the parking. All in all dinner cost $ 116 because of the damn $ 90 parking ticket that I got down the street. Street was painted with the + signs indicating parking spaces, but the sign said no parking which I missed.
Thanks LaBuca for a nice dinner and no thanks to the parking Nazi’s…

This place was «eh» for me. With such high reviews, I may have entered with too high of expectations but my dinner was a flavorless plate of pesto pasta that I could cook at home (and I’m no top chef either!). Maybe I ordered the wrong dish? Or, maybe the prices reflect the quality of food…
Pros: reasonable prices, solid service, relaxing atmosphere
Cons: bland food
A place in keep in mind for cheap Italian in the future but I’m betting there’s other more interesting Italian joints in the area to check out.

A definite go-​to, can’t miss spot when visiting Portland. We were on the look out for a good Italian restaurant and came upon this place during our search.
I ordered the polenta con maiale which is deliciously slow roasted pork with fresh green peas, tender onions, and a big pile of soft cheesy polenta sitting in a flavorful light brown gravy. I also ordered a side of broccoli which had fresh garlic, red pepper, and was served with a lemon wedge.
boyfriend ordered abituale which was penne pasta with a creamy tomato sauce and fresh sausage (no casing). usually I have a bone to pick with Italian sausage mainly because I don’t like fennel seeds and I feel that it overwhelms the meat, but la buca’s sausage was excellent: tender, flavorful, and oh so yummy.
In short, forget about those ridiculously priced Italian eats in town, come to la buca where you pay half the price for exemplary food, a cozy atmosphere, and a chance to eat where the locals eat.

This absolute Portland must is a great place for a casual family dinner, a client lunch date, or a special intimate dinner. You will not be disappointed. The staff stand out– professional and personable.
I have my stand by regular pasta dish and so does my son. He has practically been raised on the LaBuca menu.
The bar is small and has separate seating from the main restaurant. The drinks and desserts are delicious!