The Italian Joint

I really miss this place. Please come back!

My heart weeps … alas Italian Joint is CLOSED! I will miss you so much! Please come back!

I am in love with this place. I get excited just typing about it. Great food, Great wine, and best of all the atmosphere.

I love this place. It is definitely a little cozy, and sometimes there can be a wait, but the staff is super friendly, and always excited to see you. The carafe of house wine is about $ 10 and pours 4 healthy glasses of wine, and the house red is pretty good for a house wine. I always get the lasagna, which is really good, while my girlfriend oscillates between the dungeness crab ravioli and the seafood pasta medley. Every meal we have gotten here has been exceptional. And it comes with a healthy sized soup or salad, and all the complimentary bread you can eat. My tip: fill up on the bread and salad (or soup) and bring the majority of your meal home for leftovers. Just as good the next day! Prices are really reasonable considering the quality and quantity. A great date spot.

I wish this place was bigger… or maybe not, considering that the small-​ness is one of the charming aspects of this cozy, warm, and inviting place. I haven’t been in awhile and am looking forward to going back soon and splitting a carafe of house red wine with my hubby (be prepared to walk or bus it home, but it’s worth it). The service is friendly and the atmosphere is perfect for date night. The only down side to this place is that the entrees are hit or miss. I have never had a ravioli there that I didn’t like, but some other dishes have only been so so. The daily specials are usually a good bet. Be prepared for a bit of a wait, but there is often room at the bar… where you can get started on that carafe of wine ;)

Hmmmmm.
A divine place to come for a glass or carafe of wine and perhaps an appetizer (I did not try the deep-​fried ravioli, but it sounded fun).
A frankly disappointing place to come for dinner.
The good stuff:
The servers, though harried, were professional, friendly, and helpful.
The crowd of people waiting in the doorway for a table, I found charming.
My green salad was crisp, fresh, and included mushrooms, which makes me happy.
The «Oh, no. Really?» stuff:
The entrees. Ick. Super old school basic stuff. A pile of sauce on a bunch of noodles. Definitely filling, definitely boring. Vegetables are our friends, people.
The choices were limited: Fettuccini Alfredo. Meat or Vegetarian Lasagna. Spaghetti with marinara and meatballs. Eggplant Parmesan. All fine dishes, but not really $ 9 – 14 fine.
I guess that’s really my only complaint. Great service, cozy atmosphere, nice wine.
But– big, bland, and boring entrees.

I have never had a bad time here. Every time has been amazing food, amazing prices, and amazing service. Last time I went was for my significant others birthday. Not only did the «birthday up» our desert with some fine booze concoction added, but gave some good booze on the house. The food here is by far the best Italian in Portland that I have had. Fettucini = perfect. Eggplant parmesean = Godly, tiramasu = better than sex. Seriously.

Statement: The Italian Joint is a mediocre restaurant.
Clarifying Addendum: The food is tasty but sufficiently lacking in quantity.
Irritated Declaration: $ 8.50 for four moderately sized ravioli? Something is not adding up.
Wistful Reminiscence: I enjoyed the bread and olive oil /​balsamic, which WAS in plentiful supply…
Forceful Interjection: …but the Sprite I ordered arrived flat, weak and 90% ice cubes.
Amused Consideration: The service was brusque and hurried, as though they had something better to do. With attitudes like that, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Italian Joint were a front for some other «business.»
Conclusion: I cannot recommend eating here, unless you’re willing to fill up on free bread and olive oil.

i really want to love the italian joint.
i love the olive oil. i love the balsamic vinegar, i love the bread, i love the wine, i love the salads, i love the ambiance, i love the deserts i love the bar, i love the prices, i love the staff.
but i don’t love the entrees. everything is great up until i get my main dish. then it’s just ok to mediocre.
one day i’ll find an entrée i like there and then it’ll be one of my favorite restaurants.

Decent, but not great. A bit bland.

Bottom line is that I shouldn’t have let my friend order. Yes, it was his birthday, so he was entitled to be king for the day. (And yes, this is the treatment I expect as well. May 12, if anyone’s curious.)
So it was with a celebratory wave of the hand that I let him order the whole meal, featuring ravioli in marinara sauce and chicken alfredo with linguini, with a plan to share, splitsies style.
I should have let the server (who was also celebrating her birthday, how ’bout that) serve the overly rich, somewhat devoid of flavor, creamy concoction to the birthday boy. Instead I got the cream catastrophe and he got the ravioli, which turned out to be absolutely delicious. Slightly sweet, just thick enough, with a little kick at the end to leave you mopping up your plate with your bread. Which he did. While I watched. Mouth watering.

The Italian Joint is waaa-​hey-​hey-​hey better than it looks from the outside. I can’t decide if its low profile and unfortunate name and branding are at least partially intentional, since the place is so very small, they wouldn’t be able to handle a huge crowd.
But it’s good. Very good. Service, good. Food, good. And price, not too shabby. All around goodness, really.
And not the kind of goodness in the «wow that was a lot better than my lowered expectations» kind of way. Good in the «that might be the best minestrone soup I’ve ever had» kind of way. That kind of good. So that’s good. Right?

I picked up takeout from here once. Never again. The taste of the food reminded me of Chef Boyardee from a can. I have a couple of friends who really love this place so I should probably try again but I’m really hesitant.

The food was fine, not great, but not bad either. Maybe worth another try if I’m in the neighborhood, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to go back.
For a busy Sunday night, including a party of at least 10, the service was very good. I was a little worried about sitting outside and being forgotten, but our server was prompt and polite.
I had the «spicy» angel hair which was just sort of meh. It comes with feta (which melts into a gob by the second bite. i’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but it is what it is.), kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, and sun dried tomatoes over angel hair with garlic and olive oil. I could have used a bit more work with spices and seasoning in terms of the pasta; I ended up eating all of the veggies and leaving a pile of pasta on the plate. I also had the small caesar which was quite big for a dinner salad. It was also quite garlic-​y which was good at the time, bad after the second douse of Listerine. My girlfriend’s stomach couldn’t handle the garlic (she got the full order), but was happy with the tomato soup, which looked more like marinara sauce in a bowl than soup to me.
I was shocked to see $ 12 pasta on the menu as the review I read on here said this place was cheap, but that included a good sized caesar salad which made the price much more reasonable.
Overall it was a decent experience.

I skipped this place for months because it looked trashy and box-​like from the outside, but it’s actually super cozy inside. The portions are enormous and the food is great (we had fettucini alfredo and the meat lasagna). It’s heavy and rich and you will more than likely have leftovers.
As another reviewer mentioned, the carafe of house wine is cheap but decent and there are 4 glasses worth in there.
The standout here, though, is the tomato soup. If you’re on a budget, but want to eat out — this is the answer. It’s hearty as anything (my friend made fun of me for describing it as hearty, but there is no other word for it), and the entrée size (even larger than the already generous appetizer that comes with your meal) will easily fill you up. And at $ 4.50, served with a plate of Grand Central bread — I think it might be the cheapest and best dinner you can get in Portland.

I love this neighborhood to begin with — so anything located here has instant potential for greatness in my book.
But oh my starry eyed surprise…
Fantastic Italian food and a quaint atmosphere (seats about 25) that’s uniquely Portland. I had manicotti with a house salad that was great. There is a happy hour menu for drinks and pasta — quite a few wines to choose from — and a variety of vegetarian options.
Service was quick even though it was busy. I felt like I was at a dinner party at someone’s home. Very casual — it would be a cool place for a date or a stop while wondering the shops along Hawthorne.

I dont go out to eat very often. When I do, I want to be treated nicely, relax in a comfortable environment and eat great food. Especially when the entrees average $ 14 and up.
Upon entering the Italian Joint, my friend and I sat ourselves and waited for a few minutes before anyone came over to greet us, give us menus, offer us drinks. A few too many minutes, in my opinion — the restaurant is small and was not that crowded or busy for that to be acceptable.
The food was good. I will say that. It wasnt great, it was good. — The portion was somewhat dinky. When I think Italian, I think massive doggy bag!
The server came back as minimally as she possibly could have.
The people seated next to us werent finished eating their meals and went outside to have a smoke. Simultainiously, the server was turning the Open sign to Closed when they came back in. She promptly said to them ‘So…you want all of this boxed up?” — they said «uhmm… no. We are still eating.» (which was obvious, they still had ¾ a bottle of wine as well… I just thought that was too pushy and weird)
She did eventually come back to us and hand over the bill without offering dessert or coffee or anything else. It was a complete dismissal and it made me very angry.
One more thing that bugged me about the Italian Joint…
Im not saying that you have to play Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, or Pavarotti all of the time, but PLEASE DONT PLAY DUB-​RAGGAE! The dub was honestly the last straw.
very loud… WAY too loud… boring and sluggish. COME ON!!!
I dont know what it is about Portland Bars and Restaurants playing this annoying crap, Please stop!
So, I dropped almost a benjamin in this place, and I am never going back.
If you want crappy service and alright food, go ahead.

Good food, good service — tight space. It’s charming, true, but charming often just translates into tiny, which is as true here as anywhere. But the staff try to accommodate you as best they can, as quickly as they can. There are usually seats at the bar while you wait, or if you’re dining alone, or just plain don’t mind sitting up there to eat your meal.
Getting past that minor complaint, the food is great, and prices are reasonable. They don’t give you as much food as I would expect for the price, but they give you plenty — it’s just that I’m so used to huge portions from most other restaurants, that their near-​normal, healthy portion sizes have started to look small in comparison.
I love the spinach and cheese ravioli, and they do the whole bread and oil/​balsamic thing, too, which is great.
I would tend to stay away on busy weekend nights, or if you have a large party, which is going to be difficult to seat, and will engender spite from other customers who have to put up with your inevitable loudness, which is only as loud as it is because it is confined to such a small space. Plus you’ll take up half the restaurant (literally) and further engender spite/​hatred by taking up that seating for a good chunk of time.
Perfect place for a romantic date for two, or a nice dinner out with a friend, though.

This tiny little Italian joint has big charm and great food. The staff is warm and friendly and easy to talk to, and the atmosphere is great.
Not ideal for groups, but perfect for intimate friend dinners or a date.

I have heard over and over again from friends what an amazing place this «Italian Joint» is. Come to find out, they were right. Although the restaurant itself is tiny (maybe 8 tables inside), the large portions of food they serve more than make up for it. They have a great selection of traditional Italian dishes, including a tasty Chicken Marsala, and each meal is served with bread and soup or salad of your choice. They also offer a list of traditional Italian desserts, which I did not have room to try, but the Tiramisu looked awfully delicious. But MOST IMPORTANTLY, Portland, I need to mention the HUGE carafes of (very decent) house wine for only $ 9. Yes, you heard me correctly. This is not the place to go with a group, but perfect for an intimate dinner with a best friend or date. No reservations though, so get there really early, or way after dinner rush.