I normally have positive experiences at local restaurants and was looking forward to experiencing one on a Saturday night at Portofino Trattoria in Campton Hills but unfortunately a 1 hr 45 minute wait for 3 pretty basic dishes that were obviously rushed in being prepared left a bad impression on us. We sat at the bar and the one bartender tried his best to keep up with the drink orders for the whole restaurant & the bar patrons drink & food orders. As we approached a wait of 1 hour & 35 minutes, we asked the bartender to have the meals placed in to go boxes. 10 more minutes go by without our meals and we asked to speak to a member of management. What was concerning was the restaurant manager on duty only came out when we requested to speak with a manager. In a calm tone, asked the manager on duty if a 1 hr 45 minute wait for our meals was reasonable. He tried to tell us that they were very busy and the kitchen was behind. Agreed. When asked if we should pay for a meal that was severely delayed he agreed the wait was excessive and he would cover the cost of the meal. I appreciate this reaction from the manager on duty. Unfortunately, when we took our meals to go, we didn't have a good experience with the meals. Received one chicken breast grilled and one breaded for the Portofino Pollo dish. Looked like they grabbed what was up at the time in the kitchen and placed it in the to go containers. Flavors were bland, likely a result of being rushed after a 1 hr 45 min wait. This might be coincidental but being short staffed at the Compton Hills location when they are opening a new location in Geneva is probably what led to the severe delays from the kitchen in servicing meals. Hope the opening of the Geneva location doesn't adversely impact the Campton Hills location beyond our dining visit experience. I gave a rating of 2 as the Manager on Duty did agree to cover the meal cost. The bartender tried to keep us from leaving by offering us a drink on the house to stay after we asked for the meals to be placed in to go boxes to take home at that point versus staying and dining. Proactive customer support would've helped versus a reactive attempt of customer support. Didn't penalize the bartender and provided a cash tip since the kitchen's delay was not his fault. Let's hope Portofino Trattoria does better in the future. read more

The service was excellent- Chloe was very attentive and professional- The entrees very disappointing, as well as the stale bread. A waisted lunch and Sunday. Will not be back for a while. read more

Very disappointing experience. Are these ratings realistic? This restaurant was busy on a Saturday evening, as it should be. Really had high expectations given all the positive reviews. Here are some observations. Ambiance is nice. Nice dining room, and bar. Service was okay. It was clear the server didn't know the menu as I inquired about a few items. That said, he was pleasant enough. No bread was offered. We finally noticed everyone around us had bread but apparently you need to tell your server. It finally arrived and was delicious. The dinner salad was good but the tomatoes and lettuce were room temperature and maybe even warm. Ugh. I like my salad cold, crisp and fresh. I ordered the pork chop vesuvio. A double cut pork chop (not two separate pork chops as the menu states) arrived that looked pretty good. I ordered it medium. The first bite revealed a beautiful chop that was overdone and a bit chewy. Worse yet, there was no flavor and the vesuvio sauce was runny and bland. Bummer. No taste of garlic, white wine, lemon or herbs like rosemary or thyme. Tasted like chicken broth. Major disappointment. The ravioli was perplexing. There was virtually no red sauce beyond what was put on the ravioli. Then, clumps of ice cold fresh mozzarella cheese was added on top, leading to a mouthfeel that was very odd. A couple minutes under the salamander would have helped. The bill included an additional 3% charge, and was not inexpensive by any measure. Overall, a very strange experience. Hoping the new location in Geneva brings about some much needed changes. read more

Portofino Trattoria - Looks much better than it tasted. Where are the herbs and spices? - Wine Bars Near Me - St. Charles, Illinois

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Great dining experience at Portofino Trattoria. Clean, bright, white tablecloth feeling inside with outdoor table available as well. Chicken Parm was perfectly prepared with two chicken breasts served. A good bread and cheese covering on the chicken cut easily with a fork and the tomato basil sauce was delicious. The pasta seemed to be dressed with something else which was ok but should have just been covered in the same tomato sauce as the chicken. Overall a great meal along with great service. read more

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Food was right on. Very tasty. Over priced, but good. As far as kitchen charge, thats part of over head.

Delicious food! Second time here and really enjoyed it. Fast and friendly service and great Italian cuisine!

Great place to bring the family with great food! The pizza and pasta dishes are amazing

everything was great!! Just moved here from New York. First italian restaurant I found that is NY quality. Pollo Portifino is delicious. Will definitely be back!!! read more

Portofino Trattoria is one of the best Italian restaurants in the area. The food offerings are consistently generous and wonderfully tasty.

This was our second visit and we brought our neighbors. Good food, good atmosphere and good service! Will be back.

We have been going here since opening and have always loved it. The risotto is the best I have ever had other than Italy. Last night was the 1st time we had a neg experience with the food. We had a party of 6. We ordered Fried Calamari and Bruschetta both were excellent as always. For dinners: kids pasta fine, Chicken Vesuvio excellent, gluten free pizza excellent, minestrone good. I ordered the risotto/sausage that I always do and it came out wrong a risotto with shrimp. Waiter returned to kitchen and a few min later the correct one was brought out but must have made it quick there was no flavor and very watery nothing like it normally is. My son in law ordered the halibut. He took 1 bite and said it was mushy and not halibut it was a very thin mushy filet looked like flounder. Waiter took it to the kitchen and was told no it is halibut! It was not halibut! My husband is a chef and son in law catches halibut! Waiter said if he didn't like it he could return it and order something else so he got the ribeye that was on special which was good. Meatballs on polenta very watery and no flavor not an Italian meatball at all! Choc flourless cake and sorbet excellent. Very disappointing for 275.00 plus tip! Service was excellent but food meh. I sure hope the new restaurant has not caused this one to go down hill. read more

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal tonight from start to finish. The Bruschetta Romano was some of the best we have ever had - and we have had it in many places! Both our entrees, the Rigatoni Abbruzzese and Linguine Scampi Aglio Olio, were outstanding. The service was perfect and the ambiance cozy and comfortable. Highly recommend. read more

Consistently awesome food with attentive wait staff. You can't go wrong if you are looking to celebrate a special occasion. Convenient location with easy parking and a cozy/friendly atmosphere. read more

Best Italian food I've had in a long time, everything was delicious and cooked perfectly. I had the swordfish, great presentation too. read more

Portofino Trattoria - Swordfish special - Wine Bars Near Me - St. Charles, Illinois

Excellent .... fresh fish....Chicken Portofino is our favorite dish. Great service dining at a table or at the bar.

I've ordered take out before which was great, first time having lunch there. Food delicious and service great. I will be going back again and again. read more

From the ambience, the food, and the server, everything was outstanding. We had a party of 11 and not one person didn't love, love their meal. read more

Ordered the bruschetta formaggi, the house salad, short rib pappardelle, and scallop linguine and it was all so so delicious! We loved it all and will absolutely be back. Our server was really sweet, too. read more

Portofino Trattoria - Wine Bars Near Me - St. Charles, Illinois

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My husband and I both loved Portofino Trattoria. We loved the Bruchetta with goat cheese and the chicken with mushrooms. The server was very friendly and efficient. We are definitely going back! read more

Excellent, as always. You can't go wrong with the Calamari Griglia to start with. . I've had it before on two or three occasions. It's always perfectly seasoned, but more importantly, prepared to perfection. Pork Chop Valdostana 100%. Sadly, this is my farewell to Portofino Trattoria. When I return to Illinois, I'll be back again. In the meantime, we're going to try and re-create the Calamari Griglia. read more

So, we've been here a couple of times, food is good, service good. Problem is the last visit here I noticed a random charge of 3% listed only as "Fee" on my bill. No description, explanation or discussion ahead of time, just "Fee". As a consumer, I am sick of this garbage. This is not an inexpensive place. I pay for anything I receive and tip well. This is unacceptable, and I will not support this outright extra gouging. We will not be returning as a result. They have lost a repeat customer over their lousy $8. Hope it was worth it. read more

Food was average, ordered a steak which was unseasoned. Service was okay, not too crowded read more

One of my favorite places to take my tinder dates to! All the servers are yummy lookin, but the food is even more yummy Love the ambiance, all my tinder dates (the past 23 of them) all loved the interior and patio! read more

Soooo good! Had seafood with linguini...Delicious!!! My husband had rigatoni with sausage and sauce. He loved his also. Cute little Italian restaurant. Think we found our new hang out spot. Definitely plan to go back! Two thumbs up. read more

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Always great food! Have been there multiple times. Mostly dinner but have tried lunch too. Both were fantastic! Loved the portobello sandwich at lunch! read more

Great little restaurant, great food and great service and great atmosphere. Definitely our new go to restaurant. thank you read more

Food was mostly pretty good but a little overpriced I had a linguine with scallops & it was pretty good & came with at least 7 large scallops. Could've had a larger portion of pasta though Wife had the gnocchi & didn't like it, I tried it for lunch the next day & couldn't get it down either. The boys had Ravioli, Chicken pasta of some sort & a Fish fry (which had 4 decent size pieces of breaded fish). They all liked their meals Waiter brought several baskets of bread, which was nice. Bill was over $150 B4 tip for 5 dinners & lemonades read more

Delicious food; from pizzas to pastas - you can't go wrong here! We were some of the first diners to visit for lunch, and it didn't disappoint! Service was prompt and friendly, and we got a nice table outside in the shade (which they arranged just for us). We'll be back for sure! We had the Taylor Street pizza and Rigatoni con Pollo - both delicious! read more

The wife and I had finally stopped in for dinner since opening. Bruschetta was fantastic and the "chicken parm" was also amazing! Server was funny and service was great, will definitely be going back! read more

So so delicious. Not kidding. Food and cocktails were excellent!!! Will be back many times.

The restaurant has a beautiful patio for outdoor dining but we sat inside. Food was delicious. My husband ordered Apollo Arosto which he always gets in every Frencesca restaurant and it was perfect here. The restaurant was quite far from me otherwise it would be my new go to restaurant all the time. read more

The food was OK, but everything was much too expensive for what it was from our pizza to pasta. Service was very slow though it seemed like a busier night, but I would still have to rank service as quite poor. They charge a random 3% fee too, which is kind of absurd considering how expensive everything already is. It was a disappointing experience and far from anything special. I wouldn't return and wouldn't recommend it to others. read more

We went on a Saturday after Valentine's Day dinner and it was packed! From someone who's always rooting for retail and restaurant to work out perspective, it was something good to see: a fully booked restaurant. The hostess was smart and super efficient. Despite we had no reservation, she was able to sit us in less than 10 minutes. There are 2 or 3 vegetarian options (apart from the salads) and they're generous in their order size. Great ambiance with natural wood covering every wall, wooden structural beams, and comfortable dim-yellow lights creating the mood. Bailey, our waiter, was able to keep her energy: she was courteous, uplifting, and overall rendered great service throughout the dinner. The only letdown was our drink choice (pomegranate martini: it tasted exactly like Vick's cough syrup!) but that's a personal taste and it's on me. We loved the experience and definitely will return to try out other options of their menu. read more

We had a fabulous dinner! From apps to dinner! The Calamari was excellent and the marinara dip sauce was unbelievable! Our dinners, pasta with scallops, veal and pappardelle with braised short ribs was all outstanding! Service was Excellent! Great waitress! read more

Excellent service and great Italian food. First time here and we'll definitely be coming back. The deserts are awesome as well. read more

Portofino Trattoria - Lemon Delight - Wine Bars Near Me - St. Charles, Illinois

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The food was out of this world. We started with fried calamari, which was perfectly tender and accompanied by a light red sauce. We each had a rigatoni dish for our entree. Mine had house made Italian sausage and a zesty red sauce, my husband's featured veal and beef in a rich, dark sauce. Both dishes were heavenly! My indicator of good Italian restaurant is beautifully cooked calamari (check) and the chef's ability to include veal and eggplant on the menu (check and check)! Service was attentive without being intrusive (thank you Travis) and the ambiance is casual and inviting. We look forward to many more dinners there! read more

Went again with my family and it was fantastic. My husband got the chick parm and the chicken to pasta ratio was much more even. We got the cheese ravioli (delish!), margarita pizza, and a burger (the fries are great!) and it was wonderful all around. So happy to have such a great place close by! Hans was our server and he was great! read more

Service was excellent. We were seated next to bar and right outside kitchen service door, so we were constantly bumped into. There were plenty of other seats available. Utensils were dirty, so we had to ask for new. Drinks were of poor quality. We had to ask for bread as they did not bring any with main dish. The Linguini Pescatore was marketed as spicy, but it was, in fact, very bland. The mussels were sketchy tasting. The ambiance was a bit lower rent than we expected. Many people in t-shirts and hats. It was essentially pub/bar food with a price tag of a much nicer place. A big disappointment. I do not recommend eating here. Live and learn. We tried it. We will not go back. Should have gone next door to Balmoral, which is always an excellent experience. read more

My wife and I ate there last night and I would give them a 9 out of 10! I had Gnocchi and would highly recommend it! Pillows of Gnocchi with a heavenly Bolognese sauce...really great. My wife had a massive Eggplant Parmigiana, took 1/2 of it home...just raved about how good it was. Prices were very reasonable for the entrees, $22 and $19 respectively, and service by our waiter Wally was excellent! Every table in the place was full, the staff was hopping! Food delivered quickly for a Friday night. Comments about the wine being a little pricey are a little inaccurate, since the glass my wife had was 8 ounces. Place was loud, but not bothersome. A few items on the now bare walls will break up the sound, but they are focused on service and food quality right now. Good luck to Portofino's, I hope you are as busy every week as you were last night :) read more

One of our families favorite spots. Huge portions, absolutely delicious and they always treat you like family. Amazing service, beautiful interior. read more