Came here randomly one night with my husband because we were craving Italian. And it's safe to say that this is our new favorite Italian spot in Gaithersburg! Out server was soo nice and knowledgeable with the menu! For the food, first off I just wanna compliment the chef because their calamari's are cooked perfectly. They're soft and airy and NOT super chewy (over cooked). My husband got a seafood trio pasta which he really enjoyed cause he wanted a lot of seafood. And I got a shrimp pasta with a couple scallops. The marinara sauce was delicious. For drinks my husband got an imported beer, and I got a very nice red wine. Highly recommend if you want some good Italian food AND service! read more

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We like going to Il Porto because it's your local neighborhood restaurant. We know all the servers and have been going there for years. We came for a family birthday celebration and they are very easy to accommodate . the fried zucchini is very good with red sauce. the white pizza is to die for with red sauce And the chicken Parmesan with linguine noodles. A dente is perfect. Our family who was with us ordered a veal chop. It looked like something out of the Flintstones very generous portions. The veal piccata was noted to be very good as well as the fried fish. The tartufo is excellent overall great fun night read more

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I remember I used to go here about 3 years ago, after work I would go sit at the bar and eat calamari and fried zucchini and fettuccine alfredo all by myself. no one ever bothered me, it was quiet and calm inside, I got the best care and of course the food was immaculate. I just ordered carryout from them today and they still taste just the same, such a classic staple in the area. read more

I had the Eggplant Parmigiano and calamari. They were both excellent. Other items our group ordered were pizza, lasagna, the ribeye, and fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. All of the meals were fantastic and the service was great. It's a nicely decorated restaurant that gives you the feel of being in Italy. I will certainly return. read more

Il Porto Restaurant - Artwork - Italian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Review #598 None Elite Squad Porto.. when I think of Porto I think of Portos Bakery in Downey which is a home staple for Downey..it's Cuban right ? but wait .. were talking about Porto Restaurant in Maryland.. Italian Restaurant to be exact .. so let's do a 110% honest review. let's start off with today's secret number ..which is 110 1st the food is ok, not great tasting full of flavor but if your hungry it'll taste delicious but it's really just ok. The Scenery and Atmosphere of the restaurant is nice and pleasant ..doesn't feel italianish but it's has a fancy touch to it. The Customer Service is a 110% .. the waiters and staff are Amazing and give Great Customer Service. but here's my problem.. Whey the Hell do they add their own Tip to your Bill? This is Horrible.. I understand they give you great service and they feel that they're entitled to a great Tip.. but adding their own Tip to the bill is 110% Bull.. now, we got separate Bills..now check this out... it was 5 separate bills.. my Tip for example the waiter decided to add $15.. the next Bill and you have to remember..were sitting together.. they added $10.. the next Bill added $16. the next Bill added $13 and the final bill $11.. that's $65 Tip..are you Serious? look, these guys took advantage.. I mean they abused the system to get a $65 tip..and the tipa were coming from 3 15-16 year olds.. and the other 2 were 2 adults with 2 aditional 15 year olds.. i mean.. either the owner is in on this and loves for these guys to Rip off t their community which by the way..the restaurant was empty and I could see why.. here's another thing for kicks ..the restaurant didn't close for another 3 hours ..and these guys locked the front door to prevent new customers from coming in..oh my goodness..wow!!!! yes, 100% true. no .. 110% true. Look, I wouldn't be caught dead coming to this place ever again .. and I wouldn't 110% recommend this place to anyone .. read more

Il Porto Restaurant - Fine Dining - Italian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

This restaurant has been around a long time and I never got around to paying it a visit until last night. Decent Italian food with a good variety of pasta, pizza, meat and seafood choices. Many classic Italian standbys. We ordered fried zucchini, a butterflied whole branzino, a sphaghetti carbonara and finished with a salted caramel gelato with biscotti liqueur. Food was of good quality and quantity. Place is really big. Our server is young and a bit inexperienced. But overall we are still pleased and will likely visit again when we crave some pasta. read more

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It is a very special place for lovely special occasions or ordinary dining. The cream of crab soup is to die for! The service is excellent and the choices for wine pairings are numerous. If you like Italian, this is the place for you read more

We enjoyed our food, The service was good but we were there for a special event so it might not be a good basis for judging their regular service. The ambiance was good. We had not been there for like a decade and we decided that it's back on our list. Great job Il Porto! read more

A Italian classic! Always love the Billy's salad to start and then a seafood pasta. They have almost all the standard Italian dishes you could want and great tasting. read more

Lovely environment, service and food. They go above and beyond for the customers! Love it.

This was a last minute decision to try out this restaurant. We waited too long for anyone to acknowledge us waiting for a table at another place and called Il Porto to see if they had any seating without a reservation. The person on the phone kindly said no problem, just come. We arrived less than 10 minutes after making the call and we were greeted and seated right away. This was such a contrast to what we experienced earlier at the other place. We chose a table outside on this lovely May evening. Even though we were right across from the parking lot and next to a gym, the outside dining area of Il Porto was serene with potted flowers all around. The furniture and seating were comfortable with umbrellas at every table. We started with fried calamari and the passionfruit spritz from the weekly specials menu. My first sip of the spritz was pretty strong but delicious. The calamari was not spectacular but at least the breading did not fall off as another place I reviewed last week. The dipping sauce had little taste. I rather liked the sauce at the other place which was a sweet chili sauce. Our entrees were sausage with linguine and salmon fillet with veggies and linguine. Substitutions are allowed with a $1 upcharge. We did not get substitutions. The sausage with linguine was also not spectacular. The links were small and the meal itself could have been prepared at home and not a chef-prepared restaurant quality. The salmon was perfectly cooked at medium with a nice searing on the bottom. The vegetables were carrots and broccoli which could have been cut smaller and cooked slightly longer because they were hard to cut down into bite size pieces. Almost all the dishes come with linguine. I feel like that's just a filler food. We ended our long week and meal with desserts of mango mousse cake and tiramisu. The mango mousse cake was from the weekly specials menu and was fine. The tiramisu was the classic cake you're familiar with but the exception of cinnamon sprinkled in with the cocoa powder. I didn't have a problem with the cinnamon but would have preferred it without. Service overall was phenomenal. Every server was kind, attentive, and knowledgeable about the menu. There was a person who came by our table several times to fill our water glasses. Perhaps he came by too many times because our glasses didn't need filling to the top every time but it was nice to see him come by. My overall rating should have been a 3.5 because the food was just okay but because of the excellent service that I observed and experienced, I didn't have a problem giving it a 4. I sat right by the hostess stand outside and saw that every customer that walked up to the restaurant received a friendly greeting. This is how you welcome your customers. read more

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I had dinner for a seminar at Il Porto. The food was good but didn't knock my socks off. I had the salmon and pasta dish which may not be on the main menu as we were in the group room. The service was good and everyone was friendly. Parking is plentiful at the shopping center which is always a plus. #yelpMDburbs read more

Been a loyal fan of this place for years. Always consistently delivers, great food, service. About specials nightly, Roast veal and white pizza with fontina are staples. Highly recommend. read more

My first time at this restaurant was an enjoyable experience. The dining room was full of happily chatting tables and the food going past my table looked delicious. My meal of fettuccine Alfredo was superb, as were the shared appetizers of sautéed mushrooms and fried zucchini. All delicious with a nice presentation. It was interesting to watch the well trained servers opening corked wine bottles for the diners. A nice evening meal and I hope to return. read more

Fantastic food. Nice ambiance and clientele. Reasonably priced. Superior service. I have been eating here since I gave up on the other Italian restaurant I reviewed a year ago. I have been here a handful of times and it's my "go to" for great Italian food. Management is super friendly. read more

Not a great place at all. Bottom tier Italian. We go there a lot with some friends who go there for tradition so I've tried a ton of different menu items. Everything is bland and overpriced. I ordered a steak last time just to try something new and ordered it medium. It was a well done hockey puck. Staff is great so they get two stars but food is definitely not anything special. read more

My family recently held my late MIL's memorial luncheon at the iLPorto restaurant in Gaithersburg. EVERYONE agreed that the food was amazing, and the service was spectacular! The menu they prepared for us included eggplant parmigiana, veal marsala, grilled salmon, and chicken parmigiana. Dessert options included tiramisu and cannoli. The service staff was extremely attentive, and the manager added a special touch by providing an easel to display my MIL's photograph. In addition, I had requested that after our dessert and toast to my MIL, that the manager play Dean Martin's "That's Amore!" as that was her favorite song. The manager played it, right on cue, and most of our gathered friends and family members were both surprised and were swaying back and forth. We could not have asked for a better send-off for my MIL, and we will definitely, definitely will return! read more

The wait staff was great. I got the dish Spaghetti Carbonara. The dish was overcooked and the pancetta was burnt. I was with 2 other friends and they got the same dish. I reached out to manager and left my name and number without a response. read more

The food quality was good and there was a very simplistic presentation. The taste were very good and I enjoyed their specialty (Fillet de Pesce). read more

Il Porto Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

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Had a craving for some white pizza and chicken cacciatore. Both didn't disappoint! Fried calamari after being air fried to reheat was good too! I only wish they cut the white pizza their old regular way, aka Pines of Rome style. Maybe because this was a carryout order. The side of spaghetti that came with the main dishes was quite good and large portion too! I really enjoyed my cacciatore dish. My brother really liked the chicken doratti dish (reminds me Buca's chicken limone dish). Two winners. The one dish that was flat with no taste was their linguine with clams white sauce. No trace of garlic or white wine taste. Baronessa has the best linguine and clams white sauce over homemade noodles. It's tough writing reviews based on carryout, as all dishes, no matter where, tastes better at the restaurant. For the price and the food that I ate, thumbs up for Il Porto! read more

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I really enjoyed Il Porto. We had clams with linguine and a pepperoni pizza. The clams were delicious and the portion generous. The pizza was good. But the bread was the best. A nice portion of tasty and crispy bread with optional butter. I could go back for the bread only. Although it was quite busy, the staff was always attentive and helpful. If you like Italian food, I recommend Il Porto. read more

Greeted right away and food is always delicious but I had this to go this time and was only given 2 meatballs with my spaghetti for $20! Insanely expensive for pasta and 2 small meatballs. Next time I'm going to Giant supermarket I was just craving Italian so bad and didn't want to cook smh read more

We came here for a family dinner for Easter evening. Some of my family lives in Gaithersburg and comes here often. They are big fans. I thought the place and food was good, but not amazing. We ordered some apps and entrees. The lasagna was quite good, and other pasta dishes were enjoyed. My spouse ordered their rockfish entree, and it was covered in much too heavy cream sauce and was subpar for the price. The pork chop that was also ordered came out overdone and black on the edges. Their creamy crab bisque was excellent, and the chocolate mouse cake was decadent and delicious. The staff was friendly, although a little less attentive than desired. The tables are spaced a little too close together for my liking, as I felt like our conversations were heard by all our neighbors. read more

Il Porto Restaurant - chocolate mouse cake - Italian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

We discovered Il Porto at their location in Frederick. Later we found out that they had a location in Gaithersburg and that's become our new go to for authentic Italian cuisine. There is outdoor seating as well as indoor. There are so many delicious appetizers and entrees that we have never been able to order a dessert, but if the desserts are as good as the rest of the menu then you are in for a special meal. My husband ordered an Osso Bucco that was not just well prepared, but served with vey fresh, crisp asparagus and roasted potatoes. Truly an authentic version of this dish. I had the Ciopino with lobster and shrimp. It was perfectly prepared. The light cream sauce was peppery and so complimented the seafood. I had the house Pignot Rigió which paired nicely with the Ciopino. My husband had a glass of the house red which was also a good pairing with the Oso Bucco Other entrees we've enjoyed have been been the sweet Potato Gnocci, Eggplant Parmigiana, Fettuccine Alfredo and a few others. We have NEVER left Il Porto without generous leftovers for the next day. We highly recommend Il Porto. You won't be disappointed. read more

My desperate search for a mid-day espresso, while my husband took our little to party it up at the playspace nearby, ended in triumph. Full-on triumph. The espresso was Italian and strong. The coconut sorbet, complete with halfa' coconut shell, was heaven. Best I've ever had, and coupled with the espresso . . . well, that's a marriage that must last forever. Well done, Gaithersburg. Well done. read more

Il Porto Restaurant - Lucky enough to find this spot on my search for espresso. Best coconut sorbet I've ever had. - Italian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

I absolutely love this place and have celebrated many special occasions. The owners are kind and always super attentive. Ambiance is great and super family friendly. The food is super tasty and they have many great options. One of my favorite dishes is Cioppino lobster tail. read more

Not my favorite for Italian food. There are more authentic options available in the area. That said, I hear that it has a number of repeat customers. Ambiance and service are "ok". Depends on one's expectations. Could be great for other clients. read more

I wish I liked this place but it was underwhelming. We came on a Friday night and ordered calamari, large white pizza, and clams with white sauce. The calamari was undercooked and bland, as well as the clams with white sauce. Both dishes came out cold, so I'm super disappointed. The portion of the calamari was extremely small and the sizes of the pieces were tiny as well. The clams with white sauce felt like the pasta was boiled in water and topped with garlic pieces. We had to ask for salt and pepper. The white pizza came out sliced up so don't expected an actual pie to come out. Hoping to give this place another chance and catch them on a better day. read more

Il Porto Restaurant - Fried calamari $13.50 (not worth it based on size; nothing mind blowing) - Italian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

We very much enjoyed our dinner! The waiters are professional, the hand crafted pasta delicious, the ambiance cozy!

My daughter and were looking for a new restaurant to try. Il Porto on Friday evening was lovely. Tables with table cloths and glasses, made it seem like an upscale restaurant. The service was friendly and timely. The food was very good. I had the cheese ravioli and my daughter had the stuffed manicotti. Both of us had marinara sauce which was very good. read more

I don't know what happened to this place but it's gone down hill. With a half full restaurant, we got seated in the back room, kinda like a banquet area. We were the only customers in there all night. We even had a reservation and when we finished our dinner, the main 2 room in the restaurant were still only half full. The service and food were not good. We had to send the carbonara back is was so bad. Definitely not returning. read more

I came here for a wedding rehersal dinner and they had a whole room separated out for us which was perfect. They were handing out wine carafes which was great for such a large party. They did give us homemade bread which was warm and yummy. While they took our orders quickly, they did not get us our food for over an hour. While the gnocchi I got was fine, I wasn't really impressed with it, since it was just gnocchi and tomato sauce and I had waited the hour for it. read more

We have been wanting to try this place and did last night. We had their crab bisque soup and it was very good. They also provided free bread and it was awesome. That is the only good part. I ordered a pizza and it was not good at all. The onions weren't cooked and the flavor was disappointing. Any of the chain restaurants make better pizza. My wife ordered the lasagna and she mentioned it was very bland. The service was horrible. After we got our food, we never saw our waiter again until we were done. I asked for the check and a box to take the pizza and he gave us a standard to go container. Another server walked by and we asked for a box and nobody came back. We then asked a third time to another sever and got one. 15 minutes had gone by and no check. My wife angrily flagged down the manager who was very upset and got us squared away. He took a small percentage off and we appreciated that. We will not go back. Much better places in the area. read more

Came here spontaneously because this Filipino restaurant we had planned to go to happen to close easily since It was Sunday. I'm very glad we picked this spot instead! The free table bread is delicious and fresh, we could not get enough of it. All the dishes were wonderful as well. We got gnocchi with pesto, spaghetti carbonara, garlic bread, tomato and mozzarella, muscles with white sauce. Everything was really good! The kind of good where you take that first bite and you're like "oh wow, i really like this!" The only thing that was underwhelming was the white sauce they used for the muscles, there was not much flavor, but regardless, the muscles were still good and we finished it all! Its a nice Italian restaurant and i would surely come here again if i was craving Italian. Service was great and we sat outside, which was lovely. read more

2nd time to this restaurant. Order the clams casino and lunch special Osso Buuco with risotto and asparagus. Overall great food, service and ambiance . Will go again. read more

Il Porto Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Great place! The food was wonderful! Friendly staff/ excellent service, also a nice outdoor dining area as well. read more

Service was great food was good no complaints. They have delicious moscato. Loved the bread with olive oil & cheese. My fave was the buratta! read more

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Place is packed on a Saturday. Very loud and festive. Food is meh. Tomatoes and mozzarella had no flavor. Bread is good. White pizza is meh. Got shrimp and scallop Fra diavola. Sauce had decent spice. Portion is small for the price of $25. Chicken and eggplant parm looked good. Flavors were a little bland. Portions in general looked small. read more

The complimentary bread here is AMAZING we could not stop eating them they were so soft fresh and hot and doughyyyy. They were served with the typical olive oil and black pepper, but also grated parmesan cheese!!!! I came here for lunch and ordered the chicken parmagiana, which was bigger than my face! It was breaded very nicely and not that thick. It wasn't dry but also wasn't juicy, I think if it had been thicker it would have been a bit better. It comes with a side of pasta marinara but I asked for alfredo, which was a mistake. The alfredo was extremely mild I had to dump parmesan and peppers on it to get some flavor My friend ordered the Pollo Italiano which had this pink sauce with a very unique flavor that was better than the marinara and alfredo. If I came back here I would order that :) The tiramisu was phenomenal - super moist and flavored while not being too sweet :) Nice atmosphere, most of the other diners we saw were elders. The staff are super friendly and attentive! read more

Il Porto Restaurant - Chicken parmagiana - Italian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

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My group (30+ people) had our fundraising event at this restaurant on January 13th. The restaurant was fully prepared for our arrival, and their food & service were all done well. Our group had a great time! (I personally had fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp, and it was beautifully cooked.) read more