We were traveling from Santa Fe to Vermont. Became very hungry so looked up Italian. Not the best reviews but we went for it anyway. The eggplant roll was the best of everything. The lobster on the pasta dish was great. The place is beautiful inside. I'm thinking our waiter was the owner! He is from Serbia and couldn't have been better! As great as the Best waiter we've ever had. He was 5 star. We saw him with one other table that knew him well. He was kind and respectful but also wanted to make sure we loved our meal. He made the whole experience 5 stars! The food was beautifully presented. But unfortunately not the best Italian we've had. But darn that waiter/owner "Mo" was a champ!!! Thanks for a great night. We had another hour to get to our hotel. We spoke of our 5 star service the whole way. read more

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I am beyond disappointed and honestly shocked by the treatment my husband and I received at Portobello Restaurant today. We were denied a table simply because we had our service dog with us. My husband is handicapped, and this dog is not a pet--it is a medically necessary service animal. When I calmly explained that denying access to a service dog is illegal under ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) law, the staff acknowledged that they were aware of the law... yet still refused to seat us because "management said no." Let that sink in--they knowingly chose to violate federal law. This wasn't just inconvenient--it was humiliating, discriminatory, and completely unacceptable. Businesses are required to accommodate individuals with disabilities and their service animals. There is no gray area here. No one should have to argue for their basic rights just to sit down and have a meal. If this is how they treat disabled individuals, I would strongly urge others to think twice before supporting this establishment. There are plenty of restaurants that respect their customers and follow the law--this is clearly not one of them. read more

Good was good, catered by Valencia it came out family style service was good. Parking lot is small for the size of the venue. Beautiful place though. read more

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Another wonderful experience with excellent service, flavorful and fresh food and a great place to eat never feeling crowded! We came to celebrate my wife's retirement and we felt at home. We have come often and are never disappointed. I feel like family when I come into such a nice environment. read more

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I had been going to Portobellos for a very long time. In the late 1990s until 2008 I worked in Oakland and made it a point t go there for lunch most Fridays. Very inexpensive lunch menu. After a gap I started going to portobellos in the last few months. My favorite Shrimp Caurso. A very big portion with artichokes over linguini, comes with a nice salad and all under $20/-. Friend and I that worked in Oakland have started going back there for lunches. Sometimes I just pickup to go. The staff, excellent. read more

Oakland, NJ - I was rather apprehensive seeing the low rating but my experiences here have been largely positive. It's a huge restaurant that does banquets and can accommodate large groups, so we've been here the past three years for New Year's Eve dinner organized by a friend. Obviously it's a super busy night, but we've always encountered pleasant and very good service, with the staff working as hard and efficiently as they can, and still trying to be as attentive as possible while juggling multiple tables of large orders. The food is classic Italian and ranges from mediocre to great (all the shrimp dishes are fantastic). I'm never fond of lengthy menus as the quality inevitably suffers, but there is definitely no lack of variety. We always order the shrimp Salerno appetizer in garlic sauce, and I've really enjoyed the stuffed salmon and chicken francese/marsala. I ordered a seafood pasta this time (i tres frutti di mare) and while the shrimp was great, the lobster and scallops were not too fresh - I'm sure they came frozen, but the texture of the lobster was somewhat mushy and the scallops had a faint taste of ammonia indicating spoilage. I should've known better and stuck with something more basic. My expresso martini was excellent - not sure which vodka they used but it was not a crappy one as low grade liquors make me feel ill so I can always physically tell when a bar/restaurant substitutes top-shelf spirits with a cheap well product. There was a photographer coming around the tables to take photos the last couple of years. I actually appreciated this as for larger tables, it can be challenging to get a nice group photo, and the ones they took were much better than the ones we took with our phones. There was no pressure to buy. We bought one last year but not this year - the photo comes in a souvenir lucite frame. It's clear from the mixed reviews that the food and service are inconsistent (which isn't surprising given the size of the restaurant and the sprawling menu), but they seem to have a loyal regular clientele. 3.5 stars but rounding up to 4 for the commendable job they've always done in handling our party. read more

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Re: Celebration of Life brunch for 29 people. The food was good however "lacked good service". We had 2 of the lunches not delivered on time. Everyone was eating and 2 people had to watch us eat. It was very awkward and uncomfortable . When everyone was done with their meal, the 2 missing lunches finally showed up! After one minute, and taking 2 bites, the server asked to take the plate away. Is anyone paying attention? A side note: Both outlets did not work for the projector and we could not show photos. No outlets were available per the staff, (tried 3 outlets, all broken) ......wanting to show pictures of my mom....very upsetting. read more

This is one of my favorite spots to go to. It is big and great service. The food is great.

I've been here a few times for various parties. I've never dined at the restaurant without being a guest at a party. Last weekend I attended a communion party, that was held outside. I'd say the service was good, and the food was pretty good. The event was held outside, and it was little chilly, so my husband stepped in quite a few times to sit at the bar. The bartender was very nice, and the drinks were good. I've heard they have a DJ on Saturday nights. If I was in the area I'd definitely stop in for a good time. read more

Yeah this place is horrible. Cocky host with an attitude, he ensured me or any of my family won't be back. Never been treated that way when trying to give a business my money. My kids had wanted their weddings here, not anymore. Sorry, not sorry, you lost a very regular customer. read more

This restaurant was always consistently good throughout the years. I have been going there. It's been about two years since I have been there so I decided to go to lunch with a friend. Wow have things gone downhill. The food was not good. The service was horrible and there was only four of us in the entire restaurant. Our waitress did not understand English so she totally missed the appetizer. Our entrées were very disappointing so we decided to make it up with dessert. I got a cannoli and the cream was gray. I didn't eat it. The singer was setting up for nighttime, pulling out tables and chairs all around us complaining to us that someone was supposed to help him and there was no one there on my way out. I went to talk to the owner who wasn't even there. We have crossed this restaurant of our list. read more

Some people prefer skydiving, but nothing gets my adrenaline pumping faster than knowingly going to a restaurant with incredibly negative reviews. What a ride. One of my top-tier chums has been craving a solid Italian meal for months now and specifically picked this place for its cuisine and relatively convenient location just off 287. In what I found to be a fascinating throwdown between the two main online review portals I use, Yelp cited an average rating of 2.3, while Google was at 4.0. Google is an easy lay in my opinion, which is why I usually rely on Yelp for the tough but accurate assessments, but even I thought this was a gigantic discrepancy worth investigating. This wasn't off-the-charts terrible, but I can understand why a lot of people are pretty tepid on it. We stopped by here for dinner last Friday night a little after 6pm. It is...a behemoth. I'm not sure how else to describe it. It feels much more like its natural business model is that of an event or banquet hall versus a "normal" Italian restaurant. There's a ton of parking (a good thing), large ostentatious rooms and there's nothing small here - even the wine glasses looked like twice the size of the ones I normally use. Despite what I'd consider to be a pretty busy time for an Italian restaurant (aka Friday night dinner in North Jersey), it was noticeably empty throughout our visit. I guess it's possible that there were other rooms beyond our radar that were bustling with patrons but I honestly doubt it. Odd though. I decided to play it super safe and go with their general pasta/sauce entree (where you just pick a type of pasta and its accompanying sauce) - Penne with Bolognese. Huge helping and tasty. I was pretty hungry and still brought at least another meal's worth home with me. No need to go metaphorically skydiving with the menu. Like most white tablecloth Italian restaurants, we also got a generous portion of bread and butter, and two of us had glasses of wine. All good. If the experience had maintained this level throughout, Google would have won the day unquestionably. The meal took a real nosedive toward the end when we ordered dessert. In hindsight, it's pretty frustrating because Portobello got SO close to the finish line here and then stumbled - a real unforced error. Up until then, I would have classified the service as very good. Our waiter was friendly, attentive and stopped by often. If memory serves, there was a secondary staffer nearby as well to add some grated cheese to dishes, fill up the water glasses, etc. So plenty of assistance on the premises and all was going well. We split a few items (I ate most of my chum's cappuccino gelato - refreshing and a decent palate cleanser) and the minute the dessert showed up, the service went up in smoke. Very strange - all they really needed was ONE more visit to the table for the win. But despite the fact that we were within eyesight of numerous employees and very obviously done with our meal, it literally took close to half an hour for someone to come back to our table for the check. Our guy just up and disappeared, and no one took his place. It's hard to look at that as anything other than bad management, and from the other reviews, this seems to be their biggest problem - fixable but doesn't seem like it's being solved. The food is decent but something isn't quite clicking here. I don't think it's worth the risk, especially when you have so many options for this type of cuisine in the area. read more

Portobello Feasts Restaurant - Penne Bolognese. - Italian Near Me - Oakland, New Jersey

The interior was beautiful however that's where it stopped. The staff were non attentive and just seemed bothered with ppl being there. For 2 ppl with two entrees and two drink it was $100, there are too many other better test at that price. Piece of salmon was huge but nothing special and barely any sauce on the contrary the chicken had plenty of sauce and was eh. Just not impressed with the food and service however the restaurant was clean and beautiful interior read more

Portobello Feasts Restaurant - Salmon special - Italian Near Me - Oakland, New Jersey

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This restaurant is huge. We dined on the second floor, so my review applies to the second floor. The ambiance is dated, not appealing to a young-middle age crowd, nor did I see any older patrons there either. The food was below average. I've had much better at store front pizzerias. Lastly the service was very slow. I'm not sure what type of patron they're trying to attract. read more

Went today as a Repase Great food and service Very surprised Had the Filet steak Cooked great read more

I've been here numerous times and they never disappoint! I recently visited again and sat at the bar and had the pleasure of having Tara behind the bar (again), and as always, it was a wonderful experience! She is absolutely one of the best in the trade, extremely knowledgeable and professional! Always a fun experience when she's around! I can't recommend this place enough.. Do yourself a favor and try it out.. Both for the amazing food and staff! read more

The service was poor and the food was worse. I was terribly disappointed. The room wasn't crowded but it sounded like a cafeteria.

Went to grab lunch and was flat out refused service because I had a service dog. Not an emotional support animal, but a licensed service dog. At first the hostess said we would have to be seated outside because of the dog, strike one. Then came back and said management said no dogs allowed which I replied. He's a service dog and this is against the law and the hostess replied I know, but I can only tell you what management says. They will absolutely be getting a case from ADA. read more

Have a fun holiday lunch with a large group of 15 girlfriends. The restaurant had a distinctly rustic Italian feel with colorful painted ceramics, terracotta, wrought iron and fire place accents, giving off a warm and inviting ambiance. The courtyard was reminiscent of a Tuscan villa. The food was good and the service was friendly. Price was very reasonable. read more

We had an outstanding dinner at Portobello last night. The eggplant rollatini was delicious, stuffed artichoke done to perfection and shrimp and scallops with a citrus glaze over risotto was heavenly. The pasta primavera with chicken was plentiful and very good. Desserts, creme brule, canoli and tartufo were very, very good! What stood out the most was our waiter and the outstanding service he provided. Momir is always so super accomodating, friendly and fun and he makes you feel like family. We always try to sit at his section! read more

The food is terrible and I would never go back again. It was like hospital food--just poor quality and slopped together in some cases.

Came here for lunch and it was wonderful! Our waitress was super friendly and attentive. We started with burrata which was delicious. Our entrees came with salads before and they were good. My husband got prime rib which he said was cooked well! He also enjoyed the mashed potatoes. I got the special which was crib stuffed scallops over corn and bacon risotto. Definitely hope they keep this on the menu for a bit this was such a delicious entree. Ended our lunch with espresso martinis which were so good! There was a party on the other side of the restaurant so the bar was a bit backed up but our waitress kept updating us and apologizing for the wait. We were in no rush and were enjoying our time so we didn't mind at all. They were worth the wait! read more

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We celebrated 3 family birthdays and my parent's 70th wedding anniversary at Porrobello last Thursday evening. We had a spectacular time. The quietly elegant dining room, gracious waitstaff and absolutely delicious food made our dinner a night to remember. Uncertain about the other reviews here because our experience was top-notch! read more

Portobello Feasts Restaurant - a group of people sitting around a table - Italian Near Me - Oakland, New Jersey

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There is a reason for the two-star average here. Despite trepidations based on this, our family made reservations here for a birthday celebration and drove 40 minutes to experience it. The food was good. However, removal of stars will be made clear once you read on. Initial impressions from the outside were that the location was styled in a classic Italian decor and it was incredibly promising. Upon entering the establishment, the interior ambiance was just as pleasant. There were multiple rooms, various painted murals on the walls, etc. It was an enjoyable and comfortable place to be. Staff was welcoming. Bread and water came out promptly. Upon taking our drink order, our server was unaware of the various offerings at the bar, which entailed multiple members of our family walking over across the restaurant to see what was available. For example, various bourbons and other liquors available were unbeknownst to our waiter, which was surprising. The bartender, however, was prompt, efficient, and very good. Cocktail prices were very reasonable. Sadly, we had to leave our table and walk over to him to find this out. During our appetizer and dinner, we found ourselves swimming in used plates and utensils. We began to stack and organize them attempting to signal that we were done with them. No one removed them. Eventually, my fiancée had to ask for them to be removed. Until that point, working around them became difficult. The meal was good. Veal Piccata was excellent. My fiancée enjoyed her ravioli. Other family members were pleased with their meals. It's unfortunate, as leaving three stars for a restaurant with such good food saddens me. We brought two birthday cakes. Initially, we were told we could bring them by someone on the phone. Next, A day before the reservation, We were quoted $48 to simply cut those cakes, which was wild. Given the price of the bill with drinks, appetizers, entrees, tip, etc., this was shocking. We opted to not use the cakes at our celebration and went home to eat them instead. Long story short, this could be a 4 or more star experience. The food was quite good. However, between the inattentive service, the uniformed waitstaff, the lack of consistency between info on the phone, and the ridiculous charges for the cake cutting when our party's bill was already quite high, the service is what costs Portabello the additional stars. Would I come back if they got their act together? Maybe. However, Bazzarrelli in Little Ferry does Italian just as well and just as authentic in a no-frills way without these drawbacks. read more

My wife and I were there on Thursday 8/28/25 and were disappointed with the service and one of the meals. First of all, we waited in the foyer to be seated a good 10 minutes before being led to a table. The wait staff were not very attentive and dishes were whisked away too quickly. The Nonna's Gravy dish was dry (not very much sauce), the meatballs were mushy (little meat / mostly bread) and the whole meal was poor at best. Even the appetizer of mandarin calamari was not as full as in the past. We will not be returning. read more

I've been to both the banquet hall and the restaurant many many times. I've never in my life thought " I would like to go to portobellos" but it's local and convenient. I stand behind my last review, but have met my parents here a few times since and have had good experiences, especially today. Their outdoor area is very large and looks great but I haven't used it. The air conditioning inside does work well. My mom comes here regularly with some of her friends and they love it. They don't have many vegan options and use a lot of plastic unnecessarily but they will accommodate you if you have requests such as: leave out these animal products in my meal and do not bring me anything in plastic. Both my mom and my dad said they deserve a 5 star review, but seemed to have forget how much complaining they did waiting for desert and because they were served coffee without a spoon. If you're in a hurry, don't order desert. The food is good, but I don't think anything is excellent or exceptional. They have a big selection which may be too much for some (me). I wouldn't want to come here because of the lack of vegan options, but if you're still eating animal products and would like a good selection and ambiance, give them a try. read more

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Went with our good family friends last night. It was not an enjoyable dinner. The service was subpar. The meal took for ever to arrive. When it did it was no better then poorly cooked food. Will not be back. read more

We dined here for our company's holiday dinner. The second you pull out you would certainly admire the layout of this place, traditional Italian. Which we loved. The food was okay. However, one should highlight the fast, attentive, and friendly service. The prices fall among the most affordable restaurants I have ever seen. So if we are speaking prices against quality of food, I must say this place is pretty great. read more

Portobello Feasts Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Oakland, New Jersey

We went to Portobello's for Mother's Day. While I understand some restaurants are very busy on this day, I don't think that should drop quality of food. The ambiance is not great, the decor is all over the place with different te types of tables and chairs, disjointed flow and storage rooms closed off by bookcases on second floor. The tables look dirty and the glassware and silverware were mostly covered in dry spots. The waitress, while pleasant, had very little knowledge of the menu. Most of our questions had to be repeated and she would leave to get an answer. While I can understand a few questions not being answered, I don't think fixed menu items should be that difficult. The food, I ordered the sesame seared ahi tuna. Dish came out cold, the rice pilaf, if that is what you want to call it, was cold and clumpy. The "bed of spinach" was cold and tasteless. The spinach tasted like a frozen packet was placed in microwave and then on my plate. Not even salt and pepper saved the spinach. The pizza for kids looked like pita bread with tomato sauce and a few droplets of cheese. Terrible. Overall this was a bad experience. I will not go back and I do not recommend this place. read more

Reviewing banquet hall. No one welcomed or directed us. Upstairs room chandeliers dirty, sconce and overheads burned out, windows dirty. Staff did nothing about first floor's booming bass interfering our quiet ceremony. Food tasted freshly-made though dollar store-presentation. Ceremonial cake tasteless. read more

We went to Portobello's for my daughter's 2nd birthday. We sat at the racetrack (upstairs) and there were 12 of us including my daughter. Juanita was our server and she was amazing! We booked the dinner with Marcelo, I called a couple of times in advance to clarify a few items on the menu (we have some kosher family members that were dining with us) and everyone answered our questions very pleasantly. The staff was accommodating to our requests and the food was amazing! Huge portions - almost everyone ended up taking something home. We had a great time. read more

Portobello Feasts Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Oakland, New Jersey

Portobello's is always amazingly delicious every single time Ben coming here with my father my blessed father for many years and it always is delightful and consistent and we had Momir today and his enthusiasm really shows and his passion for what he does always the best choice, Blossom read more

The ambiance is nice and it has a lot of parking. Food was just "okay". I ordered salmon and there was barely any sauce. Which was disappointing as the fish was dry and the sauce really helped with the texture. The potatoes were cooked well, but plain. Personally, I did not agree with the price point. It was high for the quality of food. read more

Portobello Feasts Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Oakland, New Jersey

I like a cheap lunch so for me portobellos is the place to be. I've been getting the same thing for 20 years. Service is slow, but the servers are really nice. This is not the place to go if you're in a rush. Today we had generally good service although no one checked on us after we got our food so I didn't get to ask for cheese on my pasta until o was almost finished. You get a nice simple salad with their pasta entrees which was good on a hot day. For lunch I had the pasta with seafood (there's a fancier name for it). Lunch is very simple $8 for a glass of wine and $18 for the pasta. Portion size is good so it fits the price for lunch. read more

Portobello Feasts Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Oakland, New Jersey

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Decided to get back here for lunch after not eating here since having dinner here that wasn't to good. Lunch has always been fantastic here and today did not disappoint. We had the string bean salad that was delicious. I love it. Sandra had the penne primavera that was delicious. I had the sliced steak sandwich and loved it. Cooking perfect and lots of flavor. They did raise prices a bit but that is understandable. It's still a good value for what you get. Definitely recommend lunch here. Enjoy read more

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Ate here on a recent Saturday to celebrate some birthdays. It was my third time at Portobello. We were a party of seven, and had made a reservation about a week in advance. When we showed up, the restaurant was not very busy, and a party that appeared to be help upstairs, was finishing up. One thing I will give them is that the place is cool looking - almost like an Italian villa. We were on time for our 3:30 reservation, but still waited about 10 minutes to be seated. To set the stage, the downstairs dining room was almost empty. They told us they would sit us at a 'nice big booth', and then proceeded to seat us at a regular table in the middle of the room. They never brought menus until after about 15 minutes, my wife got up and asked for some. No water, no bread, no wait staff coming by - very strange. When the time came for someone to come by, they seemed to be blaming each other for not being attentive to our table. I was willing to look past all of this for the food. I had been here before, and had my thoughts, but tried to keep an open mind. My parents enjoy eating here, mostly due to the portion sizes. My son ordered Frutti di Mare that he said smelled rancid and tasted like 'old fish' . He had a few bites and was done - ironic, because he is not a picky eater at all. My wife ordered a chicken dish, I think it was Portofino, that she described as 'horrible' I ordered a fish entree prepared francese which was ok. The fish tasted pretty good, but the side dishes were awful. The saffron style rice tasted like cinnamon, and the vegetables were stale. Most of us got salads with our meals. Since most of us asked for dressing on the side, they brought over two small cups of dressing for the table. At one point, someone heard the waitress say to her colleague "they didn't touch the dressing - put it back" Yuck! After the meal was done, we waited about 20 minutes with no one coming by. Again, the place was not busy at all. By this time, we gave up on any coffee or dessert, and just wanted to get out of there. I was hoping to have a better experience than my other times being there, but that didn't happen. There are plenty of other good restaurants in the Bergen area, so I would skip Portobello. read more

I am stuck between a rock and a hard place while completing this review. I want to put 3 stars, but maybe its 4. There were a lot of great things, just too many short comings to bump up the score. Came here for my wife's birthday on a regular weekday. It was a party of 5. Food: Everyone seemed to be happy with their meals. Mine was great, i had some kind of gnocchi. The portion size was big, the sauces was tasty and i really enjoyed it. Overall no complaints with the food although it did take a while to arrive. Service: This is where it all fell apart. It was a regular week day, the place was relatively dead to be honest when we first go there. We sat outside in their beautiful outdoor area. Unfortunately they only had 1 waiter for all the tables outside and it seemed like he may have been working inside as well. AN hour into dinner there was enough tables outside filled that one person cannot handle it. I felt terrible, everything we asked for we had to ask 3 times, and it took forever to arrive, even just forks and plates for the cake we brought. I had to walk inside to the front desk and the girl helped us out. When you need the hostess to help buss tables and stuff, you are understaffed. Turns out the kid (our server) was making desserts inside too, i felt terrible, he was clearly overwhelmed and could barely keep up. Where was the manager? Where was the owner? I cannot blame the kid, he was trying his best, this is poor management and if that server or hostess aren't working there anymore, i wouldn't be surprised. I am trying to be lenient becasue i know COVID has effected many businesses, and bums don't want to work. I sure didn't see the owner or GM making an effort to be there and help their staff, that i cant understand. Atmosphere: This place has great outdoor seating, its honestly beautiful. The inside of the restaurant is big and nice, and they even have another building next door for large events where we held my wife's bridal shower. No issues there besides dumb COVID regulations that did not make sense about number of people sitting at a table lol. That issue was resolved. Overall, my family has been coming to this place for a few years now and typically its good, seems like COVID hit this place hard though and management needs some help on how to handle the situation and their staff properly. Food good, a little expensive though. I'll come back.... sooner or later. read more

It's a great lunch menu food is great. Not particularly happy what too be told to do when spending my money. Could have plenty of opportunity s to tell the bar maid how do her job instead of talking read more

We had a party of 7 and everyone had a great meal. Service was very prompt and everyone was very nice while servicing a large gathering on the second floor. If you haven't been there in a while then give them another chance, we did and were pleasantly surprised. read more

This was my first time coming here and Im not sure how I feel. I was satisfied with the food and ambiance however the service was definitely an issue. We made reservations for Sunday at 4:30p and didn't wait long to be seated. Then we were seated directly in the sun and we asked to move because of the heat. We waited maybe 20 mins to get some bread and chilled water but no ice. And we never got refills for our water. Our waiter didn't arrive to our table I'd say 30 mins later because I had finished my water and really wanted to order drinks. There were people that left because they were seated and waiting for a while without even meeting the waiter. On the drink menu, there was a Froze and I really wanted something cold. Only to find out 15 mins later they didn't have the ingredients so I decided on the peach sangria which was good. Food wise I enjoyed the penne arrabiato, spicy calamari, and mussels in white sauce (the sauce was thick though). My dates pasta was very hard and chewy which he didn't like. Overall, the food was good and it was definitely a nice setting but if you're really hungry this might not be the place. I felt the waiter was very overwhelmed and they did state and tell other diners to be patient and understanding. It didn't seem like there was enough staff for the amount of people that were there. I'm not sure if there is a better time to go but I don't think I'd go again on a Sunday evening. read more

Portobello Feasts Restaurant - Perciatelli catanzaro and penne arrabiata - Italian Near Me - Oakland, New Jersey

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