The Drunken Cook

If you want a great family atmosphere and wonderful food try the Drunken Cook Restaurant. We recently enjoyed a wonderful meal and met the owner and Chef Mossimo. He was very charming and made sure our meals were perfect. We really loved everything and had so much fun making new friends while enjoying a fantastic meal. Thanks Mossimo and staff

I love delicious Italian food so yes, I recommend The Drunken Cook. The raviolis were absolutely incredible, and so was the dessert cannoli. The food is really authentic and fresh! And the staff was super friendly, including the chef/​owner who came out and talked to everyone at the table, making it a really fun, family style meal. Next time I’m in Portland I will eat there again.

This was our first time eating here. Friends had recommended it and we are very glad we came. Service was great, as was the food. The flavors did not disappoint. We will be back. Even dessert was delightful and we rarely order dessert. Thank you for a great evening out.

Enjoyed a wonderful meal at this 3-​year old establishment last evening. I ordered their Lentil soup and Osso Bucco. Both were wonderful.
Our server, Nancy, was very attentive.
I will return if I’m in the area.
F.

Forget the fancy wine lists and spendy décor — here it’s the basics. We’ve eaten here a number of times and think it has improved. Love the expanded menu with specials like perfectly done pork loin and wonderful unique raviolis and a panna cotta to die for.
This is authentic Italian — simple, not heavy with delicate flavors lovingly prepared. And so reasonably priced!

I had a Groupon for this supposedly «Italian» restaurant and we were looking forward to finding a new restaurant to try. What a disappointment! ! The entrees are limited and the quantities on each plate rather small; especially considering the price of $ 16 per plate. There was no bread (we were told the owner had gone out to get some — he must have gone to Portland since he never returned while we were there). What Italian restaurant doesn’t have bread for the customers?
My husband had pasta con aglio e olio (pasta in garlic & oil) — very bland, no seasoning discernible.
I had pasta al ragu that was supposed to contain ground beef & pork; however, the meats were so finely ground, the taste was more like sawdust. There didn’t seem to be any seasonings that would elevate the flavor.
The service was good when we arrived; but as more customers came in, the only waitress was running from table to table trying to serve the customers. I can’t imagine what would happen if they became really busy. Also, there was only one cook working.
Will we return? NO — over priced for less than mediocre food. We will return to The Olé Spaghetti Warehouse for much better food, larger selection and better prices.

Got the Groupon and was glad we went. Loved the food! Pasta cooked perfectly. I had a mushroom dish and could taste the flavor of the different types. Hubby had stuffed pork and the meat was fork tender. Great service. I enjoy the shorter menu. I think the chef can focus on making a select number of dishes well rather than use pre made product to fulfill a larger menu. Will definitely return.

Gave this a try for dinner tonight and my expectations were more than met!!! Friendly staff and the chef is amazing! You can even sit at the bar and talk to the chef as you’re food is prepared. Laid back feel and the best food! All made fresh in the open kitchen. Dangerously Close to home I will definitely be going there as much as I can. I recommend to anyone, they even have gluten free options if needed.

In a nutshell: good service but food was mediocre and overpriced.
Two of us were there for dinner in the middle of the week. The place was about ¼ full, and looked spacious, bright and inviting with lots of knick-​knacks and photos on the walls, and historical Italian flags on the ceiling (bizarrely including one from when Italy was fascist).
The menu only had about half dozen entrees (I think all pasta dishes) and two appetizers. A couple of entrees were specials available only on specific days. They also had a wine list — not sure if by the glass and/​or bottle — but they don’t have a full bar.
Service was friendly and reasonably fast, but the food and prices were disappointing.
The side salads were a real letdown. There were a lot of bruised and slimy spots on the greens, a few small bits of hard to identify roasted vegetables, and virtually no dressing (but the croutons looked homemade and were good).
As far as entrees, my roasted vegetable ravioli had good flavor, but it only had 7 thinly filled medium sized raviolis and the marinara sauce had an unusually fine and runny texture. My partner had the mac & cheese; it also was a bit skimpy on quantity and he said it was just OK. Neither dish had any garnishes.
The meal also included a basket of bread with a little ramekin of colorless olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar (by the way, there was no oil or vinegar — or grated cheese — on our table, but our server did come around with fresh ground pepper).
Each entrée (including salad) was $ 16. Not worth it considering the quality and quantity.
Overall, disappointing and not worth going back to — and that flag bothered me too.
P. S. Not sure what other reviewers are talking about re. «family style» — seemed like a normal restaurant to us, i.e. not family style. Maybe they stopped doing it or maybe they only do it when they’re busy and have to seat more than one party together.

Twice this week I had dinner here and it was a great example of fine food and simplistic way. somethings don’t need to be complicated and here you get a very nice meal. this is what old school food should be like. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. A nice restaurant.

I really wanted to like this place. Got the groupon to try it. The service was great, the ambiance funky and fun but the food just so-​so.
We had 2 complete dinners: pasta with a meat ragu sauce for my daughter and the ravioli in a sage cream sauce for me. We each had the house salad. Meh. Nice assortment of greens but a rather bland, oily dressing. Ordered the antipasto and it was not the typical fare. Strawberries (?), baby corn, a few slices of cheese, some olives and almonds and very thin slices of some meat. Not very good at all.
Overall the portions weren’t too generous and the flavor just okay. I’m sorry to say I won’t be back.
Love to support local independent restaurants so here is my 2 cents to the owner: increase portion sizes, spice up salad dressing and reinvent your antipasto. More meat, some peppers, more cheese…

My hubby and I were looking for a change on the usual, and have previously been unimpressed with the other local Italian restaurants here in Salem (not because we have unreasonable expectations… quite the contrary. I just expect to have tasty Italian food, ideally authentic and not overpriced).
We went here on Friday night, and not just any night… we were celebrating our 11 yr anniversary and wanted something new and different. It was different alright. The place is a bit on the informal Italian side I would say, but as a named «family style» I was (and always am) OK with that… as long as the food speaks for itself. I had the penne alla formaggi (basically a four cheese pasta) and my husband had their special which was a stuffed pork loin over (again) penne pasta. Two words for the pasta– absolutely BLAND. Bland. Bland. And not just mine, but my husband’s was too. The pasta tasted like it had no salt at all (and I reeallly don’t like my food salted much, so that should speak pretty heavy to the absolute lack of flavor here). EVEN with the four cheeses (I could barely make out 2), it had no flavor, no salt. The salad even seemed a bit strange… I would call it just «OK». The topping on the cake was when I saw the main cook (he looked like the owner) went in the back and grabbed boxed, Barilla penne pasta. No. Joke. And this pasta ISN’T even the good stuff! Its the CHEAP stuff!!! And with that, my appetite disappeared and it made sense why the pasta was flavorless. If I wanted a boxed pasta, I could have come up with a better dish myself! I just can’t understand why, if you take so much pride in your food, WHHHHYYYY are you using boxed pasta?! But more importantly, you have GOT to be crazy (or drunk…) if you think charging $ 16 for bland, boxed pasta is even remotely OK! Finally, the cook (owner?) was a TOTAL dick to his employees. Example– every time there was a new order up, he would yell «order up» or «(# of) salads up»…BUT if his waiter/​waitress wasn’t there LITERALLY within 20 secs (I’m not exaggerating) he would yell their name, MULTIPLE times and yell again «order up!»…and this is regardless of if the said employee was helping a table or not. I actually felt bad for his employees.
I’m having a hard time understanding how in the world this place has so many good reviews and stays so busy. Maybe if that’s what you’re used to? But cmon! I’ll at least end on a couple positive notes, but they were definitely not enough to make up for the above (at least not for me): my hubby’s pork loin was tender and flavorful, so at least the cook had that going for him and knows how to cook his meat. The service was good and our waitress was attentive, so for that, I’m willing to give this place the 1 star. But my husband and I won’t be back…

Good food, great service. Owner was walking around tending to each table. We need more restaurants like these. The carbonara pasta was delicious, but the real treat of the night was the ravioli! The new wine tasting ($ 12 for 4 glasses) was a great addition to the meal. I think we found our new weekly spot.

We went here because of a groupon. The food was delicious and starts off with bread and olive oil followed by salad. Your main entrée of choice follows and it’s quite tasty. Our kids really enjoyed their take on Mac n cheese. We also decided to try dessert and had the tiramisu and chocolate cake. Personally I would skip the chocolate cake and stick with the tiramisu. The chocolate cake was very dry and frosting was hard so I suspect it’s not fresh.

My family was so looking forward to a birthday celebration at the Drunken Cook. We made reservations and confirmed them. We had a large group of about 16 people who arrived. Unfortunately the restaurant was not prepared for a large group, as we waited about an hour and a half for our pasta dinners. When they finally arrived they were cold and of average quality. When we asked for bread to sop up our pasta sauces, we were told they had run out. Three members of our party left because they were tired of waiting for their meals. We did complain, but only received defensiveness from the staff. We all really tried to make the best of a poor dinning experience, but sadly this place just didn’t cut it. We’ll never go back.

We have been here four times. The osso buco on Wednesday is excellent, the pasta dishes the regular nights, not so much. We had dinner there tonight and we’re not impressed. We asked the chef/​owner to come to the table and we expressed our concerns about the bland pasta. He agreed after sampling that the water for the pasta was not salted.
We enjoy the concept of the restaurant and hope that he corrects the deficiencies that we pointed out.
The place was dead for a Saturday night and I have to assume others had the same experience.
We will give them another chance and hopefully others do too. It would be a shame to see this quaint, family style restaurant go away.

The small, rotating menu concept is a nice break from the normal options in Salem (most of which are lame). Although, it makes it hard to write a review unless you’ve been there through several iterations of the menu so you should take all reviews for taste here with a grain of salt.
On this visit, the minestrone was excellent, and both entrees that me and my dining partner tried were top notch. The only downside would be that the entrée portions are extremely small for the price, almost appetizer size. But they were both very rich and buttery so there is quite a bit of substance to them.
I find the reviews about the wine being served in drinking glasses absolutely hilarious. Clearly these folks have no concept of glassware being cultural and regional. They should have been reviewing the actual house wine that you get as part of your meal which, by the way, is not very good. Within an hour of two after drinking it, both my dining partner and myself had headaches. Pretty cheap crap.
Overall, a simple and unpretentious place with well prepared food. I would recommend just going for the ala carte entrees rather than the meal until they get some decent house wine. Not worth $ 16.

The pasta of the night was spaghetti. I decided to try two sauces 1. Pesto 2. I can’t remember the name, but had eggplant, garlic, and chile flakes.
I loved that they separated the two into two smaller plates. The ingredients on both dishes as well as the minestrone starter were excellent and very well prepared, but all three really needed more seasoning, specifically salt. The addition of salt dramatically helped all three dishes, especially the minestrone which really needed it. The dishes were all very good then, but it’s hard for me to give 4 stars when the seasoning was so obviously lacking without a little help. I also added a few more chile flakes to the eggplant dish.
The dessert of Crème caramel however was just crazy, over the top delicious. A must have.

I go here about three times a month. Just went late last week. As usual the food was excellent for original Italian neighborhood family style. Masimo updated the soup recipe last month and the flavor now explodes in your mouth with every spoon full.
Really excited about going again tonight (New Years Eve) as they are running a number of special dishes. My mouth is already watering.
The service has been friendly and great each time I go in. Masimo comes out of the kitchen and greets his customers. The decorations continue to change over time so the places grows and is a little different each time you visit.
If you like the fast food of the national chains or all you can eat of never ending this or that this is not the place for you. If you like well prepared food in a friendly, family atmosphere, try The Drunken Cook.

If nothing else, you gotta love the name… The Drunken Cook. I’ve been to the Santiam Wine Company a few times for their Friday evening tastings and have been intrigued about the restaurant situated next door. Finally, one night I decided to give it a try.
The interior is an open, café-​style atmosphere that isn’t exactly intimate date night but is comfortable and casual none-​the-​less. I thought the clothes line, complete with hanging clothes, was an interesting touch.
On to the food. They have a rotating menu with a couple of choices, which is great if you’re someone like me who can’t seem to make up his mind. For $ 14, you get a soup, an entrée, and a glass of wine.
I started off with the Minestrone soup. It was delish. I especially loved the garlic cloves – very mild. The wine wasn’t spectacular, especially since I just came from wine tasting, but I wasn’t expecting much. On to the spaghetti. A little note here: they do have gluten free, but it does take a little extra time. However, it was well worth the wait. I’ve had gluten free pasta a number of times at different places but this was as close to the original as you could get. The sauce complemented the pasta perfectly. And the meatballs were to die for. No Costco cutouts here – all home-​made. And what was that spice?!
This was the type of place I could see Pavarotti slipping into for a casual bite to eat.
I wish I had another stomach so I could eat the other entrée!