Second time dining at iL Porto and have been impressed both times! Great selection of appetizers and entrees. We started with the Fig and Goat Cheese pizetta - this was good but probably the least favorite dish of the night. Would have been better on a flatbread or something a little less doughy. Our table had the Almond Encrusted Salmon , Vegetarian Bowl, and the Capellini Pescatore. All were fantastic and shows the quality of the food across a variety of options. The scallops were cooked incredibly - my favorite part of the night. Servers with professional and attentive, meal was perfectly paced! A cozy BYOB spot nestled on the Lake Mohawk boardwalk with great views and delicious food! read more

super late review but nevertheless, i remember we had a good time during our visit. Seating option was limited though, at that time, since there was a private party. We started off with calamari which was generous in portion and had good taste however some of the calamari was tough and chewy. pasta was cooked perfectly as well and had good sauce. Even the burger was good. Despite all the "goods" there is little bit of something missing.. not sure what it is exactly and maybe il find out if i ever come back. location is lovely but parking can be a challenge. try your luck here though! read more

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IL Porto has a perfect location, adjacent to Lake Mohawk, and with beautiful scenic views. This is a BYOB restaurant serving Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. On this day, we ate from their brunch menu. I chose the Mediterranean Omelet and it was delicious. Every ingredient in that omelet was fresh and the onions were amazing. We also had the Challah French Toast and that was just as good. The preserves were natural, sweet, and complemented both the French Toast and the omelet's wheat bread. Our Server, Justina, was very attentive and made the meal enjoyable. I recommend iL Porto and If you're lucky enough to sit by the window, you'll have a gorgeous view of the lake and its surrounding beauty. read more

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We were seated as soon as we arrived. I did not have a reservation and they were still able to accommodate us on a Friday night. We ordered appetizers for the table. The fried calamari was delicious and tender. The 3 big meatballs were plenty for all 5 of us to try. The steak sliders were a real hit. Juicy and enticing. We ordered shrimp risotto, chicken Marsala , seafood with pasta, steak it was all good. Followed by affogato, tiramisu, and chocolate mousse cake. Nice evening with family. read more

This place was right on the water with a wooden interior. The décor suited the location ideally. The service was okay. It took an extremely long time for our food to come out. I believe the ticket was missed or it was just entered late because of the duration it took for us to receive the food. They start the meal off with some bread and olive oil, high quality olive oil and the bread was okay. For a starter, the scallop crostini ($16) was ordered. There were two crostini slices with scallops wrapped in prosciutto with caramelized onions, arugula, and spicy mayo. This was alright. The onions were not caramelized completely and there was hardly any spicy mayo present. However, the scallops were cooked appropriately and paired nicely with the prosciutto. The smoky flavor and marks on the crostini were a nice touch too. For an entrée, I had the coffee encrusted steak ($36). It was a coffee encrusted NY strip steak with a honey garlic whiskey sauce topped with crispy hot cherry peppers. It was served with mashed potatoes and sautéed asparagus. I ordered it medium rare, and it came out closer to medium well. Everybody who ordered steaks at the table, their meat was overcooked as well. Somebody sent theirs back to get a replacement because it was more well done than medium rare. It was unfortunate to see. Regardless, the flavor and quality of steak was good, but just failed to meet the required temperature. There were also hardly any crispy hot cherry peppers on my plate. Some were crispy, while others were not. The best part of the dish was the mashed potatoes. They were creamy and smooth with plenty of flavor. I also tried the halibut special with pistachios and this was not good. It was cooked well but lacked any type of seasoning at all. It just seemed like the pistachios were placed on top of the halibut and nothing else. Will I go back? Ah, probably not. read more

iL Porto on Lake Mohawk - Scallop Crostini - Italian Near Me - Sparta, New Jersey

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Great Italian food at reasonable price with good service and awesome view of Lake Mohawk sunsets and polite staff! Just wish chairs were more comfortable for my bad back. Great value and love fact it's BYOB too! read more

Went for a wedding rehearsal dinner - let me say I'd never have gone to this place on my own b/c it is near 2 hours from my home. That written, I can't speak of the prices because I didn't pay for dinner. I can speak of the service - quick, polite; and the atmosphere - a casual and homey; and the food - yum. Dinner started with a caprese salad with grilled eggplant - I'm calling it that. Yum. Next was pasta - rigatoni with fresh veggies and garlic/oil - a sort of pasta primavera but not with red sauce - yum. Next, salad - yum. The bread basket was never empty. Dinner was the options of chicken stuffed with asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes, wrapped in bacon with a sauce which was ... light in color. Served with a scoop of mashed potatoes. The combo was odd to me, but it was delicious. OR, strip steak with mashed potatoes and grilled mixed squash - everyone who had it said - yum. OR, cod fish and the way it was prepared all I can remember is it came with capers and I would have chosen it, but if I wound up disappointed, it would have ruined the party for me, so I didn't have it. No one at my table had it, so I can't speak on it, but it sounded like it would be tasty. The kids at our table had pasta, meatballs, fries, and ... I can't remember what else, but the restaurant accommodated the kids. Dessert was cheesecake (regular restaurant stuff, not spectacular) but hey. I would imagine on a sunny warm day, dining there is a dream. It was raining and cold and we travelled a long distance - and it was really a good party and the food, etc. was quite good. I will likely never be in the area in future, but perhaps I am, I will dine in again. read more

Our favorite brunch and dinner spot!! We go to il Porto at least once a month and we are always so happy! We have tried just about everything on the menu for dinner and brunch and everything is fantastic! Services is always amazing and when it's nice out, the views are the best out of any restaurant in Sparta!! read more

I begin this review by saying, we spend our Christmas eve here every year, my birthday, and Fathers day. So it is with heavy heart that I write my disappointment for a first New Year's Eve dinner at Il Porto. My wife wanted to try the Scarpariello which comes over Linguini. I had Christmas eve and she loves linguini (me I'm not a fan, but I love the dish so I wanted to try it). For this outing into the New Year, I wanted to go back to an old favorite I have there, the Rigatoni Quattro Formaggi. Well, the disapointment comes when instead of linguini, it was some thinner pasta, and some translucent? Also, unlike the Scarpariello I had a week before on Christmas eve, there was barely any pasta? They open at 4pm, we sat at 6:45pm and there is no way they could have been out of Linguini in less than 3 hours. If that were the case, the chef should have said something and had our waitress relay this message to us. My plate arrived and I immediately noticed my pasta was smaller as well. It was not Rigatoni, but Mezzi Rigatoni (I only know this now because I had to do a search to find out what it was from what it wasn't). To me, it looked like Spaghetti O's. I prefer the larger, as advertised Rigatoni. In all my years of dining out, I have never, ever experienced substitutions on my plate. Oddly, this has occurred at some other places as well in the last 2 years. I know times are tough, but for what I pay at Il Porto, I shouldn't expect last minute substitutions on my plate. I have always left Il Porto and other trusted placed we go by saying, "they never disappoint," but unfortunately, this was not one of them. Will I go back? I'm usually ok with a one-off like this, but one thing to mention is when they brought out the bread on Christmas eve, it was dry, stale, and hard. I can overlook that although I can't understand why they would have bread pre-prepped in the basket just sitting around getting stale instead of pulling it fresh from the package and warming it up before serving it. I'm not so sure, because nothing good lasts forever. We'll see. read more

iL Porto on Lake Mohawk - See different - Italian Near Me - Sparta, New Jersey

What a nice restaurant in a great location! A group of us met at Il Porto for dinner last night and had a great time. We ate indoors, but the outside seating on the Lake Mohawk boardwalk looked fun as well. This is a Mediterranean restaurant that serves a combination of Italian and Greek dishes. The dishes everyone ordered were all well prepared and tasted great. We had appetizers of calamari and bruschetta, and entrees ranging from the specials to delicious menu items. I went with the Mediterranean Cod and loved it. We also had a dessert made up of fresh blueberries, strawberries, and cream, that was outstanding! Lake Mohawk is pretty busy in the summer so you may need to search for parking or use the paid lot around the corner. This is also a BYOB so bring your wine! Il Porto was definitely a great find! read more

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Hit or miss...if they are really busy, things fall apart. We've gone many times but find that it's best on an off night. Food is hot, fresh and service good. When it's busy, soggy salads and warm food...and the maître d is cranky and not very nice read more

Amazing food, service, and atmosphere. Scallop risoto, chicken milanese, Mussels and hot chocolate were all fantastic. We were seated right away with no wait at 3:30pm on a Saturday. There was ample seating indoors and outdoors. Beautiful view of the lake from inside. Service was fast and all the girls were friendly. I would highly recommend this place! read more

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We had a nice dinner with great service. View of course nice with the lake. Staff was very attentive, food was excellent and also the appropriate spacing. Nice atmosphere and will be back!! read more

First time at the place and have to say the view is absolutely incredible . We came in at 1:00 and did not realized that the brunch menu runs till 2:00 and we could not order from the lunch menu ( only negative thing) . We had a brand new server (first day on the job) , a young kid that was polite and attentive . Highly recommend if taking a ride to Sparta !! read more

The food at il Porto on Lake Mohawk was good but portions were small. I think inflation is hitting these businesses hard. They need to cut back somewhere. I was satisfied with my portion size but others in my party complained of being hungry after they ate. I hade the grilled salmon with the cucouse stuff and it was good. Cheesecake was terrific. Service was slow but I was there for a party so those things are notorious for dragging on. The scene over looking the lake was beautiful. Probably the highlight. Parking was tough. Go to the public lot and make sure you park in the white striped spaces. Have ParkMobile on your phone. Enjoy. read more

Probably the worst service I've ever experienced. Waited close to 2 hours to get served our entrees and didn't get anything comped from our bill OR any apology. The burger wasn't cooked how I ordered it either. Thankfully it is BYOB or we would've had to wait an hour per drink. read more

The restaurant is located at the boardwalk of lake Mohawk. A really beautiful place. The vibe of the place is just wow, very intimate and perfect for a date night. The menu is limited but the food was amazing. read more

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Beautiful scenery and great staff. My mom and I enjoyed watching the night come to and on a beautiful summer night. BYOB

Beautiful ambiance and fresh food! Some of the items we ordered weren't as good but overall pretty decent food. The ambience is everything. I love sitting outside with the lake views. Good overall read more

3 1/2 stars! Pro's: Great menu, lovely setting on the lake, delicious food! We enjoyed steamed clams, fried calamari, & papparelle bolognese - excellent with homemade pasta! Con's: When making a reservation, they tell you that you can only dine for 90 minutes -OK. We get there for our reservation for 4 people at 7:30 & they tell us they are backed up & our table isn't ready. I see an open 4 top not cleaned yet & I asked about that table "Oh, they went to get wine around the corner". So, we wait 10 minutes, no one ever comes for that table so they clean it up & give it to us - like WTH? Saving tables for your regulars? That is what I suspect. BTW, tables are extremely small. We had to store thing on the ground. Wait staff is inexperienced. We had to ask for water, glasses, extra napkins, & more bread. Mind you, the menu states that they charge you $2 for an additional bread basket. Bread is nothing great. Yes, I would return but just be warned about the crappy service & tiny tables. read more

Came here for Sunday brunch a few weeks ago with my siblings. I had a delicious, and very delicious avocado toast as well as a freddo cappuccino. It was my brother's first time having chicken and waffles and he couldn't stop talking about it! Our service was great as well, we have a younger sibling who is very picky and she made sure he enjoyed his meal. We have lived in Sparta for years and I can't believe we have never been to iL Porto, but we will definitely return. read more

iL Porto on Lake Mohawk - Avocado toast Chicken and waffles - Italian Near Me - Sparta, New Jersey

Food is fantastic as is the scenery. Food is seriously top notch and byob keeps the price down. I would 100% give it a 5 star but my dad died here. read more

Really great BYO spot in Sparta located right on the water. my original plan was to sit outside for dinner this summer but unfortunately when I went it was too cold to sit outside but I definitely recommend doing so! I want to come back to enjoy the outdoor view. I brought out of state family here and it was such a nice evening. I ordered the pappardelle bolognese which had great flavors and it was just the right portion My family indulged in a few seafood appetizers that were enjoyable but I don't eat seafood personally. Since we were celebrating a birthday, we got lots of desserts - my favorite being the ice cream! iL Porto is a great family dinner or date night! read more

iL Porto on Lake Mohawk - a plate of pasta with meat and cheese - Italian Near Me - Sparta, New Jersey

Wonderful. My favorite food and location in all seasons. Beautiful lake view. I try to make it an hour before sunset. Catherine Hyland read more

Definitely one of the worst food experiences. Five out of eight of us did not eat our food. Steaks were over cooked and had four sauces on them. Pasta was cheap and over cooked. Shrimp was breaded for the shrimp scampi. Terrible quality and no concept of how food should be prepared. read more

Wasn't planning on writing a review but after the so called "owner" responded to my husband's review with inaccurate and defamatory comments; I felt it necessary to chime in. I would like to start off by saying I managed restaurants in Manhattan for 20 years and I was totally sober the night of our dinner. So it's safe to say I'm a good judge of the events that evening. We were a group of 8 with a reservation. Showed up on time and were seated. Server didn't even touch our table for a good 10-15 minutes after we sat. When she finally approached it was a quick introduction followed by what do you want to order. Mind you, we had no knowledge the menu was digital. No bread or water was offered to our table. At this time we asked for wine glasses (BYO), water for the table and a few minutes to look at the menu. Server came back and took our appetizer order and ONLY the appetizer order. She walks away and we are left with what is only described as a feeling of disorganization and unprofessionalism. After roughly 20 minutes, 2 of our 6 apps were placed on the table. We waited for the rest of our order but after a solid 5 minutes nothing else came out so we decided to eat our food before it got cold. Keep in mind, no server checked on us to see how we were doing and we also had no side plates to share our incomplete order. Another 20 minutes go by and our full appetizer order comes out. Doubles and triples of things we didn't order were being dropped on the table to which we directed the runner to bring it back because we didn't order them. Where's our server you ask? Oh, here she comes out only to reprimand us for sending food back that we ordered. After we explained to her what had happened she calms down. After our apps were finished we finally get to put our main course in. We have now been in the restaurant for over an hour and a half. After waiting another 30 minutes our entrees come out and my food is not what I ordered. It was so late at this point, I didn't even touch the plate (could eat it even if I wanted to seeing that I wasn't given utensils). I told the food runner my food was incorrect and please just take it back to the kitchen. And who decides to show up, our amazingly inattentive server. She proceeded to argue with me about how I did order that dish and why am I sending something back that I ordered. I calmly told her that I didn't order it and that it was fine, I wasn't hungry anymore. She told me two more times I did order it. We weren't getting anywhere with this convo so I smiled and told her it's fine I don't need any food. At this point my husband, who is sitting on the opposite end of the table, sees I have no food and is not pleased with the chain of events. This is where things go even more in the wrong direction. Server comes back out and wants ME to explain to her what happened with my order. She proceeded to tell me yet again that I ordered that dish when I absolutely did not. Now I'm getting frustrated and upset to be fair. I just wanted to proceed with the night and I wasn't arguing with her about this. My husband sees her reprimanding me and as any husband would he decides to step in. Tells her firmly to stop badgering me and asks her to leave our table. I will admit his voice and tone is direct. She apparently didn't care for his intervention. So bring on the manager. Manager comes out, tells our table our server isn't comfortable serving our table for the rest of the night. But this is simple untrue. You know how I know? Because here comes our now combative server at my husband's end of the table and she is now arguing with them!! It's a scene and the manager tells us to leave. Now here's where I ask the reader, was this necessary? The service was terrible and any mistake made was the fault of the customer. This is an awful business model. Dear Owner, Instead of being nasty to the people that give bad reviews to your restaurant, look in the mirror. The tree rots from the root. You clearly do not know how to manage people or restaurants. read more

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY HERE. Feel free to look at my profile, I rarely leave reviews unless the service was exceptionally good or terrible. In this case, I felt compelled to leave a review because it was without a doubt the absolute WORST dining experience I have ever had and this sentiment was shared by the other 7 people in my party. Service was bad to the point that we had to laugh about it, up until things took a turn.... We waited over 10mins after being seated before a server came up and asked, "Do you know what you want?" No greeting, no water or drinks, nothing. It was only then we found out the menus were digital. Too many mistakes and shortcomings to list here, but we waited another 10 minutes or so after all the apps were finished before we were able to place a dinner order. Several of the orders were messed up. The big issue came when my wife's food arrived and it was not what she ordered. Long story short, she ordered a salmon dish, several of the ladies sitting around her asked her what she ordered and she told them (i mention this for a reason). Her food came out and it was blackened salmon - not the dish she ordered, she has never ordered, and wouldn't because she doesn't like it. She isnt one to complain or send things back, but in this case did not want to eat what she was brought and was so frustrated by this point with the awful service and the long wait (we were there over 2 hours at this point) so she simply asked that it be taken off the bill and she didn't want anything else. The waitress came out with an attitude and instead of trying to apologize and fix the situation, wanted to argue and insist that "you got what you ordered." I was engaged in another conversation and missed this, but was told about it after the waitress walked off. She came back minutes later and AGAIN wanted to argue and insist she made no mistake and my wife was being unreasonable and didnt know what she ordered, at which point the other ladies chimed in and insisted "she told us what she ordered and it wasn't that." I got fed up and tried to put a stop to it, saying basically this is ridiculous, why do you insist on arguing with us, either fix it or leave us alone but you are not gonna stand here and bicker with my wife this is ridiculous. She wanted to talk over me so I raised my voice slightly to make my point and put a stop to the nonsense, at which point she stormed off. The manager comes out and without asking a single question or trying to resolve anything insults me and the rest of the group, says we made the server uncomfortable and she wouldn't be serving us anymore. "Good" I said. Guess who came back AGAIN to continue arguing??? Absolutely outrageous. We all left, inthe middle of our meal, and will never go backl. Again, this is the cliff's notes - too many other blunders to mention (like kitchen staff hitting the guy at the end of our table with a door twice and not offering so much as a "sorry" or "excuse me"). The food was mediocre at best, the atmosphere is great if you are seated outside with a view of the lake but inside was hot and cramped and they seated us at a cheap flimsy plastic folding table right next to the kitchen doors (we had a reservation days in advance, we didn't surprise them). This place was absolutely awful, avoid at all costs. I should have checked here and payed attention to the MANY reviews that cite the garbage service. TLDR: absolute shit show - mediocre food and atmosphere and the WORST SERVICE EVER. read more

This review would be a lot better had we gotten our money's worth. The prices do not fit the portions. Pasta is cheap. So much sauce that it wouldn't have hurt to add more pasta. I had the rigatoni which was a bit more plentiful so I shared with my husband so he didn't leave hungry...but you will leave hungry unless you eat five bread baskets. Perhaps a side salad should be included in the $26 meal. Sad, because the location is so pretty. The food was tasty. It's byob so we saved money there.. read more

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Il Porto's brunch was a pleasant surprise! There were delicious options to chose from and they were all unique menu items. Our waitress was cheerful and attentive. read more

The focaccia bread my sandwich was on was so delicious! The chicken was perfectly cooked. read more

DO NOT GO HERE! Terrible service!!!! We waited 2 hours to get our food. We were celebrating my sisters wedding and now we are extremely late to meet my sister on her wedding weekend. 3 other tables near us got served dinner before us. Our table also didn't get our food at the same time. I would NEVER go back there. The only positive was BYOB because we had drinks. No one checked on us. We had to ask MULTIPLE times for water refills and bread refills. Save your money and go literally anywhere else!!! Would never recommend. read more

Food was not good it came unseasoned I order my steak medium rare and it came medium well when I complained I got argument that the center is correct ( I do eat the whole steak and not only the middle) My daughter's meal were unseasoned and blend The location was the best part of the meal read more

We made reservations for Mother's Day and our reservations got pushed back by 30 mins which is no big deal. Once we got to the restaurant we ordered and had to wait over an hour for our meal and after the wait my food came out wrong. I did not send it back cause I did not want to wait another hour. I would not recommend to come here for any holidays. read more

Had my son and daughter-in-laws rehearsal dinner there. Staff was wonderful and very helpful, food was delicious and the view outside is lovely. read more

One of the worst food I have put in my mouth in a looong time. The pappardelle was so over cooked that it didn't survive the toss in the sauce. It came to the table in shreds. The pizza appetizer is ricotta cheese shmeered on sad old cold pita. Yes, pita... in an Italian restaurant. The waitress came to our table and asked, mid-meal, "is the food still delicious?" Was it ever? This place is an insult to all food, not just Italian. read more

I went last night, first of all I'm Italian, this Italian restaurant has nothing, the food is not Italian, an appetizer and a first course of pasta $86.00... I brought the wine, I'm sorry, I expected better. No food is Italian read more

Cute place but portions were small we were still hungry when we left. It took an hour to get our food. Staff was nice but inattentive. I will not return or recommend. read more

Great view of lake. So/so food. Meh service. We went early during a holiday weekend. Granted we were a bigger group (10 of us), everything was off. Service was spotty. Food was meh. Prices were a bit off character based on the whole experience. It definitely wasn't a memorable experience. The entire group was meh about everything as well. Not in a rush to return. read more

First time dining here, let alone during a pandemic. The food, service, staff & view were incredible! We had 3 courses & each one surpassed the previous. Highly recommend the Tarragon Fettuccine, Seared Scallops & the homemade Tiramisu is a MUST! read more

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A beautiful setting on Lake Mohawk, the food is always good and the staff friendly and attentive. It's a cozy little spot so reservations are recommended. During the warmer seasons, you can sit out on the boardwalk and enjoy the view. Definitely a Sparta favorite!! read more