Stopped in for lunch while I was in town and had the Calamari as my meal with a glass of Pinot Grigio. The restaurant is decorated in true Italian style and was clean. The staff were friendly, professional, and attentive. The wine was chilled nicely and went perfectly with the Calamari. The Calamari was fried perfectly with a light batter and cooked until tender. The star of the show is the marinara. It's amazing! Is it the best Italian food in Charlotte? Probably not but it's good and in a great location. I would recommend. read more

Portofino's - Calamari Marinara - Italian Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

What a disappointment. I met up with our EAL Retirement group for our monthly lunch. We rotate between restaurants and this was the February selection. Probably the largest group we've had since I started with this group almost 5 years ago. I'm guessing there were maybe 30 people. We sat on the patio which is a large open and airy space. It was just a bit on the cool side so they had the overhead heaters on. Our Server rattled off all the specials. I had the Caprese appetizer, $11.45 the chef salad, $14.25 and I added the salmon, $10.00 and I had a diet coke $3.50, the total is $39.15. I got a bill for $52.10 I think the server was also the owner, his name was Sam or Samie. I had to ask him twice for salad dressing, which I told him specifically when I ordered I wanted the balsamic vinaigrette. After waiting almost 10 minutes I had to chase him down to get the dressing and then he delegated getting it to someone else but he delivered it. He took it on himself to take all the orders, deliver all the food, deliver all the checks and run the charges. It took forever! I will never go back to this place as long as Sam is there. read more

Great Italian restaurant off of Park Rd in south Charlotte. I have had nearly everything on their menu and it has all been outstanding! I spent some time in Italy so I take this review very seriously. That's why I visited multiple times trying different dishes before writing this review. Everything I tried has been fabulous but I will mention a few dishes specifically. The Fried Calamari is very tasty as an appetizer. It's crunchy without being chewy and the portion is quite large! The Linguine with White Clam Sauce is almost certainly the best in Charlotte! It's listed under Pasta as "Clam Sauce." I order mine with extra garlic and it's superb! The Chicken/Veal Marsala is outstanding. That is a dish that my mother made often so I am particular about it but their's passed the test! Chicken/Veal Piccata is excellent as well! One of my very favorites is Pizzaiola which is Olive Oil, Garlic, Cherry Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives and Capers. Beautiful! The Chicken/Veal Gorgonzola is divine if you like creamy cheese sauces. It's sautéed with garlic and mushrooms in a Gorgonzola cream sauce. I would definitely be amiss if I didn't mention their Shrimp Fradiavolo which is Shrimp and Clams in a spicy marinara sauce. It's awesome especially if you want a little heat with your food! Their Shrimp Scampi is some of the best I have had! They use fresh garlic and the shrimp are large and cooked perfectly. Other great dishes that I have had here are Saltinbocca Alla Romana, Parmigiana and Baked Ziti. People rave about their pizza and sandwiches too. The atmosphere is great including a covered outdoor seating area. They have a full bar and the bar area is quite nice with many seats for solo dining or waiting for a table. The service has been excellent every time and the wait staff are actually able to make recommendations based on your input. Roberto has been exceptional in making recommendations and guiding me through the menu. They serve an excellent Lunch Menu until 2PM, M-F. Don't forget to check the Daily Specials board! In summary, this is an outstanding Italian restaurant that does things right! Bonus: They bring out freshly baked (and delicious!) bread with butter like they typically do in Italy! Buon Appetito! read more

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the wrong soup, which was frustrating enough, but what really ruined the meal was being given a dirty cup with someone else's lipstick still on it. It was extremely unsanitary and honestly made me feel sick to my stomach. I almost threw up when I noticed it. Mistakes can happen, but basic cleanliness and food accuracy should be a priority at any restaurant. This experience completely ruined my appetite and left me questioning the restaurant's hygiene standards. I hope management takes these issues seriously and improves their quality control. I won't be returning. read more

Had a good pizza at the bar onion and sundried tomatoes crispy. Service was a little slow to engage patron. But once assigned a waiter, had frequent touchpoints. Pizza cqme out with crsipy crust. Cheese was a good quality not greasy, and the sauce had great flavor. read more

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My husband loves the penne al salmone, so whenever we are near the arboretum, he makes a point to grab takeout from there. I normally go to the arboretum location, but the Park road location was closest to the Atrium hospital where my husband was having a procedure. The takeout counter is located in the back past the bar. The place was empty. Service was good. Food was ready in a timely manner. I ordered the penne al salmone and a veal parmigiana. I shared my veal with my son, and he said the sauce had more flavor than the veal. The veal was tender, and I agree with my son. My husband added some Tabasco sauce to his dish and it tasted much better. Overall, the dishes were good. read more

Absolutely the best pizza in Charlotte! Pro tip-get a side of marinara to dip the crust in. Always consistent, always fantastic. Always Portofino's. read more

Portofino's - Large pizza with half portobello mushroom - Italian Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

Very disappointing experience. The calamari was extremely rubbery and tasted bad. To make things worse, the cup handed to me had lipstick on it, which was really unsanitary. When I politely brought it up, the older woman at the front seemed annoyed that I even mentioned it. No one apologized, and the service overall felt very rude and dismissive. Unfortunately, I won't be returning read more

calamari tasted like rubber. Cups and dishes were dirty when given to us. Customer service was horrible. never coming again.

Still consistent. Still delicious. Still everything you want in a good Italian restaurant. It's not overly fancy or anything outlandish, but it is good quality food. I love the ambience here, along with the service. Honestly, I always know what I'm getting here and I love that I can count on that. Also, get their house dressing! read more

Portofino's - Pasta with Clam Sauce - Italian Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

Let me first say I eat here probably once if not every other week and there's a reason why...the food is INCREDIBLE! True Italian food ranging from perfectly cooked pizzas with savory crust to the chicken portifinos (my personal favorite) the staff is incredibly friendly and the atmosphere really does make you feel like you're in little Italy. Anything that may get missed due to a busy weekend or time of day they will fix no problems or questions asked. This is by far my FAVORITE place to eat in Charlotte! read more

Portofino's - Chicken Portofino - Italian Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

Another delicious meal at Portofino's. So yummy! They have a zucchini flower I'd like to try next time. Sam is an awesome waiter and the food came quickly. Always great! read more

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The food was delicious. Just simply delicious. Why write much more as it would just be fluff. The veal parmigiana dinner portion was huge and the sauce was on point. The waitress was great and her customer service was excellent. Very very roomy restaurant with plenty of seating and nice ambiance. It was affordable and just delicious! Did I mention delicious? It just was ! Two thumbs way up... read more

Portofino's - Delicious Veal parmigiana . - Italian Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

We've tried Portofino's twice now, once for take out and once we ate there. Both times it was delicious. So far we've tried: - baked ziti: good, but a little plain - chicken parm: huge portion - shrimp scampi: too many tomatoes for my taste, but delicious - baked lasagna: big portion and tastes home made All of their entrees come with a side salad and portion of bread and butter, so it becomes a pretty large meal. Their house dressing is like a ranch mixed with marinara - a must try. It has become our go-to for Italian! read more

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My family and I have been coming here for many many years and it's always one of the best Italian restaurants we eat at all their locations are excellent! read more

I ordered this by door dash to our hotel, because the ratings were pretty good. I do not understand it. There was no flavor at all. I had a shrimp butter garlic dish and my daughter had the capellini with meatballs. Neither of us finished our plates, because it just was not good. It was like Fazoli's level Italian at the price of what should be a good Italian restaurant. read more

Always a great experience at Portofino's at Park Road! Roberto provides excellent service and the food is always delicious!! Thank you!!! A+ read more

I was in the area and my daughter and I decided to get some pizza and Portofino's has always been a great option at other locations so we decided to try this one out. When we arrived, we were promptly seated and within a few minutes we had drinks. Our waiter Stuart was very helpful and professional. We ordered some calamari as an appetizer which was decent but could've had more flavor. We also order a medium pepperoni pizza which was very good, quite possibly some of the best pizza we've had in Charlotte. The crust was thin and the flavor profile was perfect. The medium size can feed 3 people easily thus we brought some back home. We went during the beginning of dinner and the atmosphere was very relaxing and quiet. Overall, I highly recommend this location near Soutpark! read more

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Always fresh and fast here! Our server was super nice and made sure we were taken care of. We ordered side salads, pizza, and one of us ordered the gluten free vodka pasta. The medium pizza was the perfect size for three of us to split. Restaurant was quieter than usual when we were there since it was a late dinner. read more

Portofino's - Medium pizza half black olive - Italian Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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We recently returned to the area, and Portofino was one of our favorite places to go. So happy that management kept the high quality of the ingredients going in spite of all the recent hardships (Covid/tariffs/economy). All dishes are top notch - and I so look forward to becoming a regular again. Highest recommendation! read more

Went there last night chicken Marsala was tasteless and I ordered penne with is and got sticky overcooked angel hair pasta and instead of red sauce on it which month ugh would come with it they put a small amount of the brown sauce with mushrooms over it . Totally gross! I gave them 2 stars because my husband had the shrimp Parmesan which he said was good. read more

This is the second time we visited. First, Howdy, Howdy! Our friends are right, you are a great server. Service isn't the only great thing, the food is pretty great too. The tomato crab Bisque is excellent. The Zuppa de Pescal is good too. All the fish dishes we had last night were well prepared and well seasoned. Get the desserts, they are equally tasty. I am not impressed with the ambiance, it really reminds me of a dine in sub shop. Also, who would guess that an Italian restaurant that serves negronis do not serve Aperol Spritzers. That aside, I highly recommend a visit. read more

You will get the bang for your buck here! The food comes out plentiful! We ordered several dishes and were stuffed before our dinner came out but every dish was worth it! read more

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OMG - Whoever said that Charlotte, NC didn't have any good Italian Food or Pizza. I'm truly unsure / unclear what they were talking about. Service was incredible! - On point and our waitress was very attentive and efficient. The Baked Piping Hot Italian Bread was absolutely delicious! Pizza was amazing and unquestionably New York quality. OK - So having said that, we are incredibly less anxious about migrating to Charlotte. I suspect this will be our new "Go To" place for Italian Food. Plenty of Parking and easy to find! A+ We posted plenty of pictures already! read more

I wouldn't recommend this for a good Italian dinner. The chicken marsala was chewy and the chicken had little flavor. Using chicken cutlets rarely seems to work, in my experience. The olive oil served with bread for a starter was weak; olive oil may come in different strengths, but this was only somewhat different from vegetable oil. In it's favor, Portofino's does have a pretty good Caesar salad, and the angel hair is good, which says something as it's one of my least favorite kinds of pasta. With the food out of the way, consider the wonderful service! I was seated quickly, food was brought in a timely manner, and the server made sure to check on me occasionally, making sure everything was as it should have been. She even ran out into the rain to bring me the credit card I left at the table, so I'll give full marks for that. read more

Years ago, we always enjoyed Portofino's (Park Rd location). We ate at this same location this Fall after a 2 year break, and unfortunately we again will pass for a couple of years before returning. On the positive side, parking was easy, service was good, food arrived quickly, and entree portions were generous. But the past two times our family has eaten here, the food quality has been just okay -- salad & dressing mediocre, pasta & sauce lacking flavor, pizza decent but not great. If the food returns to its better days, we'll happily be there! read more

The food is amazing and affordable! My boyfriend ordered the shrimp scampi and loved it! I am celiac and the restaurant accommodated my gluten allergy. I ordered the seafood salad and it was delicious! Finally, we sat outside which was lovely. I would recommend this restaurant! read more

Portofino's - Seafood salad - Italian Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

For our last meal in Charlotte, we really wanted Italian. This place looked perfect because of their big menu and low prices. We were waited on by a man named Roberto, who is the nicest guy! Can't say enough good things about him. We started off with garlic bread. I didn't know we would also get complimentary bread too, so we loaded up on the carbs for this meal! The complimentary bread was really good! If they also use that bread as the pizza dough, boy, would that be tasty. The garlic bread was freaking delicious. The crunch was superb and the garlic was just right. We devoured it! My spaghetti bolognese hit the spot. Absolutely scrumptious. I scooped up every last bit. Between the incredible food and the friendly people, it felt so homey. It was the perfect last meal in NC. Highly recommend this place! You can't go wrong. read more

Portofino's - Garlic Bread - Italian Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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This was my first time at this spot and I was with two friends! The service staff were great and very attentive. Bread was served to us before our meal and it was warm and fresh. The food came in large portions and seemed to use fresh ingredients. This spot is definitely of your local family-style Italian restaurant vibe, where all the staple comfort dishes are present but you may not find that many truly authentic Italian dishes. It was really good though and I would definitely return! read more

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On the prowl for some slam banging eggplant parm... didn't find it here. It was meh, on bland side. No wow factor. Sauce was good tho. Had salad with house dressing which was bland also... I rarely add salt to my food but had to add it to the salad. Hubby had lasagna, he said it was good! Service was good, waitress friendly and helpful. I would rate 3.5 but hubby says change my 3 to a 4, so 4 it is. This place seems like it stays pretty busy. Wrong location, went to east way, don't know how to fix. read more

If you like eating frozen pastas soaked in red sauce with no flavor and BURNT then this is your place. I called to tell them how it was inedible and he refused to give me a refund, kept saying come by in the morning to get the refund...first of all how creepy is that and just make a customer happy and do what's right. We have been coming here for so long, or should I say "too" long. The food has definitely gone down hill. This was such a horrible experience and before he hung up on me he called me a bad name. I can't believe this place is still in business. They definitely will never have our business again that's for su read more

Portofino's - This is their amazing frozen manicotti - Italian Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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What a nice surprise this little local Italian restaurant! The restaurant was busy on a Friday rainy night and we had different dishes. I chose the Chicken Parmigiana and I loved it! The portion was biga and I had some for the next day and that made me happy! We also had the Seafood salad that was also served with a big portion of various sea creatures and for the seafood lovers that is a great choice. I was happy we didn't choose an appetizer as we wouldn't have been able to eat our dishes, but I want to go back for their Calamari appetizer because based on my experience I want to bet it will be as good as the dishes we tried. If you are in the area stop by and give it a try! read more

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I have only ordered takeout from Portofino's. It's nice that they have the option of ordering by the slice during lunch. I've had many of their pasta dishes, which are pretty good. Their white pizza is delicious. I am only giving it four stars because I think there are plenty of better options if you're looking for Italian in Charlotte. Lil Mama's in SouthPark! read more

Park Rd location- We ordered a large pizza with half cheese and other half supreme. The Surpreme pizza was really soggy, pickles all over it and the vegetables wasn't cooked. I would rather them say they couldn't make it instead of the sloppy pizza that they made. To make things worse the pizza had a hair in it!! This was unacceptable and disgusting. When we tried to take the pizza back the man yelled at my friend and was very rude. Once in the car the man and another worker laughed and taunted us as we drove off. I would not recommend this place after the crappy pizza and the disrespectful customer service!! read more

Portofino's restaurant has plenty of indoor seating, and a large patio where we gathered with a group of 16. The service is friendly, and the kitchen is pretty fast for such a large group. We all received our meals closely around the same time. I went for seafood, linguini with mussels, schroom, calamari, clams in a tangy marinara sauce. It comes with a salad and I had the Italian dressing. The food is good, I enjoyed every bite of it. Due to the portion I had plenty of bites. If you love seafood like me, I recommend this dish. Happy I was introduced to this restaurant during my short stay in NC. read more

Portofino's - Zuppa Di Pesce - Italian Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

Highly recommend!! We eat here often as a family and the food and atmosphere is great! Great restaurant for a date night or family dinner! read more

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Food was pretty good, semi decent wine list. The hostess though, was so INCREDIBLY MEAN AND UNPROFESSIONAL. we put our names, she calls us, then we walk in 6 minutes later, and she goes "you guys are slow, your table is gone" She said other mean shit, and her face seemed like a sad pancake throughout all of it. The server was cool. They should fire the shit out of that hostess tho. read more

Had the linguine and red clams, really good. Asked for it to be spicy (the best way) and it wasn't. Lots of clams and the linguine was cooked perfectly. Went a couple of nights later, got a take-out pizza. Sauce was good, the crust was average. Toppings and cheese , pretty good. Recommend. read more

I'm not sure why Portofinos is not in my "usual rotation", but it NEEDS to be. I also have a connection with Portifinos in that they opened their flagship store on Eastway in 1996 and I moved to Charlotte that year (so more of a coincidence). I love that it is family owned/operated and the family has grown/adapted with the many changes CHarlotte has seen in the years the restaurants have been operating. Called in a take out order on Friday: Primavera on Penne and stuffed eggplant. Both dishes came with bread and a side salad. Dressings are made in-house and delicious. I'm hoping as the pandemic becomes more of a thing in the rear-view mirror we can dine in again (I mean we can now.... I'm just still being cautious for now). During the past year, Portofinos is one of the restaurants that I really wanted to make it through- it has got to be tough with restrictions and trying to keep folks safe, but I will definitely be looking forward to more take out and hopefully dining in (soon). read more

Portofino's - Primavera Pasta (penne) (take out container) - Italian Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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Went to a dinner lecture and the food was 'subpar'. Their 'house' dressing tasted like 'mayo'. My dinner was 'warm'. I felt like we were begging for bread. Service was good! Ambiance was good as well for sitting outside. read more