Portofino

My family and I enjoy this restaurant ... it's our usual spot for birthdays or just a place to have a nice dinner together. Everyone is friendly, the waiters are funny, the owner is such a nice man. They always make room or take walk ins. more

The food is delicious, I love all their pastas. You can have something specially made, like I get jumbo shrimp alfredo. It is excellent! more

This is one of my favorite Italian restaurants ... although I haven't been to many. But It's simple and cozy yet classy, nice family place. more

This place has excellent food and service, is very clean, and the bathrooms are spotless. The owner goes out of his way to make sure everything is going well with his customers, and the service they're getting. I go there almost every weekend more

Went to Portofino with my friends on a Saturday night. The place is super busy, had to wait for almost 40 minutes to get a table, eventhough we've made reservations that afternoon. Otherwise, the food and drinks are good, friendly service. Will go there again, but probably on a different night. more

I recently booked a party for 40 people at Portofino and had a great experience from booking to leaving. I met with the owner to review the packages about 2 weeks before we wanted to have the event and he was great. He was very accommodating and helpful. Apon arriving to the restaurant on the day of the event, we were all greated by the friendly staff and seated quickly. The dinner service was perfect and the food was amazing. It was a weekend night and the restaurant was packed but the wait staff was still on top of everything. We were given the room with the piano and the entire experience was great. We will be booking all of our parties and family events there! Pros: Great Staff/Great Food Cons: What are the drawbacks? more

I had a great experience. We were seated promptly and drinks were brought to our table quickly. We had questions about the menu and the waiter was knowledgable and attentive to our needs. We ordered portobello mushrooms with asparagus for an appetizer which was very good, especially the sauce. For the main course, I ordered steamed mussels in a spicy marinera sauce which was really good and fresh. My friend ordered linguini with a bunch of seafood on the top, which was really good too. It had squid and mussels, scallops, and calamari. Very fresh and at the end of our meal, we were drinking the sauce from the bowl... can't help ourselves.\r \r We received all of our food fairly promptly and the place was over half full. \r \r When we were leaving, the host gave me a rose and said something cheezy in italian. Passed by the other day and the buffet brunch looks really good too.\r Pros: Fresh and generous servings Cons: a bit cheezy more

Went here on a Fri. night b/c this is 1 of the only restaurants in the Forest Hills area we haven't tried..Yes it was super busy, catering to a big party of 30 on one end and another party of 15 on the other, but it was exciting to go a new place that was so full of people laughing and talking...it was really loud at times, which could get annoying, but thats what you have to expect here on a Fri. night I guess...I know they were super busy, but it took about 5 min of waiting to get water, and another 5 min to get menus...My bfriend asked the bus boy to get them for us which was a little annoying, but it happens...shortly after, our waiter got our drink orders, brought the wine and disappeared. After 10-minutes of waiting, my boyfriend got up and went to look for the manager, but when he got closer, saw that he was arguing w/our waiter...luckily, another waiter saw he had gotten up and apologized and finally took our order...everything's still ok, b/c at this point, EVERYONE was apologetic and asking us if we we ok..Clams oreganata and salad were fair, and our new waiter was very nice and helpful....our entrees came about 20min later, and it was fair as well...I think although we were trying to have a great time and ignore the events, we really just wanted to eat and go..then our 1st waiter comes back to attending to us and tries to be overly friendly, but seriously we just wanted to go...but AFTER trying the chocolate truffle....heavenly choclate on a plate..all in all, I don;t think we will be back since there are other restaurants w/better food & less comotion. But they seem to be great for large parties...and I think they pay more attention to you if you are in a large party. If you are looking for a quiet place for 2, maybe not the best place to go. Pros: Dessert, piano playing Cons: Loud, service more

Only went there twice, and I dont think I'll ever be back. The location is great, nicely decorated, and servers are friendly. But the food was average, even tho the prices were not. They expect you to dress up for what? a nicely decorated pizzeria? I dont think so Pros: Ambiance, romantic seting Cons: prices, parking more

This restaurant was recommonded to me by a co-worker so I already had high hopes going in there. I went with a group of six. We made reservations on that same night. When we arrived, we were seated within 10 minutes. The guys felt a bit under-dressed; we wore sweaters and jeans while the ladies were in business casual. The live piano music is a nice touch. Appetizer portions are very small. We only got three mushroom heads for the portobello mushrooms. The portions for the entrees did make up for it. My girlfriend and I had chicken entrees which were very good. However, those that ordered seafood were not satisfied. They complained their mussels and scallops weren't very good and hard to chew. They barely touched their plates. I had one mussel from an appetizer and thought it tasted fine. Different strokes for different folks I guess. Pros: Good food, Fair prices, Piano Music Cons: Appetizer portions more

Sometimes people make complaints about places without giving them a chance. (referring to an old review). Portofino's is a very popular restaurant in Forest Hills and there is hardly ever a day you can visit and find it empty. The food is really good and the staff is kind and polite. Yes, there can be a day where it's very busy and so maybe you'll have to wait a little longer than usual for your food, but that's understandable. At least you have the ambiance and lovely live piano musice being played for you while you wait. If you're that hungry that you can't wait about 15 minutes for your meal, then go to a fast food restaurant where they plop your food in a plastic container. I love Portofino's and recommend it. Pros: Cleanliness, Delicious Cuisine, Polite Staff more

Missed our reservation by 25 minutes and ended up waiting over an hour to be seated...understandable, the place was packed. We waited 15 minutes for our waiter to even come by. Then waited 30 minutes for our appetizers...getting annoyed. Our entrees finally arrive and only two of us (7 people) are satisfied with our orders. The service was lacking, and the food wasnt all that great for the nearly $300 bill. Maybe we should have just had pizza on the other side of Portofino. Was the place just off that night? I dunno but on a Sat night your restaurant should shine. Portofino did not. Pros: Great Ambiance, Very Romantic, Live piano music Cons: Over Priced, Poor Waiter Service more

Food is great. The piano guy isn't there all the time, but when he is it's a great addition to the meal. Definietly a great place to sit down and eat if you're in the area--right off of Queens Blvd. more