A super cute spot in walking distant from our Air BB! Nice space, family friendly, and good picks on wine. Service was a tad spotty, and I think a party of four should be asked about splitting bills-- but, overall it was okay! read more

Tipo - Italian Near Me - Portland, Maine

I can't stop thinking about the Mafaldini Bolognese. I had a wonderful dinner here with some friends the other night. Where else can you order a pitcher of Aperol Spritz? Everything was excellent. Highly recommended. Thank you, Tipo! read more

Tipo is a great (relatively) new addition to the Portland food scene. I didn't realize that this restaurant is owned by the same group who runs Central Provisions and found them refreshingly different. Tipo has a heavy Mediterranean influence like Central Provisions and they certainly focus on small plates like their sister establishment but I found the dishes at Tipo to be generally more adventurous and creative. That might be because I've been to Central Provisions so many times (and continue to do so) that I know their menu well but I really enjoyed the food at Tipo. After several of their dishes, even though I wanted to keep going back everything was so intensely flavored and rich that I did find myself wishing for something light to break things up. read more

I came here with a party of 8. We didn't have a reservation, but received a table within 20 minutes. Inside, the restaurant is clean and nicely decorated. Our waitress was distinctly affable and answered many of our questions. She even gave us advice on what to do in Portland during our visit. The food is very tasty, but some of the portions are pretty small, especially the pastas. My favorite dishes were the Caramelized Onion Focaccia, Mozzarella Arancini, Chicken Liver Crostini (I don't usually like chicken Liver, but this dish is great), Roasted Peach Crostini, Supreme Pizza, and the Squid Ink Pasta. The meatballs were good, but the sauce it came with tasted slightly funky. This is an appreciable restaurant that serves palatable food. read more

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I enjoy Tipo a lot, especially since it's right down the road from my house. The pizzas are so good and the pasta is great. They also accommodate gluten free pretty week, especially since it's an Italian restaurant. My girlfriend loves that. Also happy hour! 4-6 I believe and it's great prices! read more

Found this restaurant by accident. Definitely not in an area where there's much going on besides residential homes. However it's a fantastic dinner night romantic restaurant, with good wines, cocktails and food. The outside tables are perfect, since the roads surrounding the place are not busy at all! read more

We tried several pizzas, the spaghetti and meatballs, and the cavatelli. All of them were spectacular!! The service was also great!

About a year ago I went to Tipo, and found the food to be good, atmosphere good, service good, but came away thinking it was over-priced. Very recently I returned, to give it another try, as it's in my neighborhood. It was for Sunday brunch, and the food, service, and atmosphere were still good. But. Each separate cup of coffee was $3.00. I was not dismayed, but insulted. What? What nerve. I'm not returning. Done. Over. read more

Great place in Portland for a brunch. Chef Chris and server Christopher served a perfect brunch. Each appetizer had its own strengths, with the white anchovies getting top raves. The carpaccio was wonderful. The pizza was as good as anything in NYC. The service was outstanding- not pretentious, simply spot on. The ambiance was great for a gray day! The cocktails were over the top, especially the martini cocktails. This is a must visit if you are in the Portland area. Bravo! read more

Tipo - Hash and egg - Italian Near Me - Portland, Maine

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I'm a big fan of this neighborhood joint. After all it has a surprising array of my favorite things. From Crudo to zeppoli everything is just so darn good! Each dish just comes together to be greater than the sum of its parts. For example the carpaccio, is not only art on a plate, but it also manages to meld the beautiful flavors of the beef fat with bright flavor of greens to perfection.I've had it twice and both times were fantastic! Although, I must add that the optional black truffle shavings on the second occasion really made it soar! Also on a meaty note, on our latest visit we tried the Northstar Farm lamb ribs. They were made with a cherry mustard and were like meat candy. Just a perfect blend of rich fat paired with just the right amount of sweetness Feel like warm love in a bowl? Try any one of the fantastic house made pastas. I'm a huge fan of the rye cavatelli, so very rich with its pork and mascarpone. The pasta alone , is almost meaty in its satisfaction! Soooo gooood! Or try one of the wood fired pizzas!I love the thin crisp crust that, magically also manages to be chewy and airy! Finally if you leave without trying the warm zeppoli (donut holes) you are absolutely out of your mind! read more

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Tipo is a great addition to the every expanding foodie experience in Portland... great service, AMAZING cocktails, and great company. A friend and I went to try out this new spot, which I used to live down the street from and, incidentally, dumpster dive for loaves of bread. Upon arrival we were greeted by a host who quickly seated us, in much less time than stated. Our sever, Ari, was hilarious and knowledgeable. She helped us pick two vegetarian appetizers (there weren't many) and two pizzas. She recommended an egg on top of the pizzas which was a great idea, because the pizza was a bit dry. I loved the pulled mozerella appetizer, and the small plate of fried polenta. Also, the meal was prefaced with incredible focaccia bread, which I could've eaten all night. As stated before, the cocktails were out of this world. Each one we tried was worthy of a repeat session. The il Moto, I think it was called, was awesome, but I have a feeling, summer cocktails on the porch are going to be the thing to do in the Back Bay neighborhood. The biggest downfall of this place, especially in the winter, is the parking. With snowbanks that overflow into the road, it makes it difficult to find a safe place to exit your car on the road. Summer melt should fix this problem. Definitely a place to try for cocktails and small plates! read more

I'll Tipo my hat to the chef. Food is flavorful and unique. However, please be advised the portions are tiny. Check out $16 piece of lasagna--2 bites. read more

Tipo - $16 lasagna entree--just 2 bites. Don't expect a meal to fill you up. - Italian Near Me - Portland, Maine

Tipo had a table at carnaval ME. The lady there was not friendly at all. She appeared to have zero interest at being at the event. This was disappointing to me as I was really excited to sample from Tipo. I had plans to go for dinner later this weekend. Well after meeting her and tasting a mediocre app we changed our minds. read more

Some of the best handmade pasta and pizza in town! The staff is the friendliest in any restaurant in Portland!

Came here on a beautiful night and enjoyed the outdoor patio looking forward to taking advantage of those awesome happy hour specials. Sadly, we were told that the Happy Hour was only available at the bar, but that was fine, I was okay still picking things off of the normal menu. To keep it short, the hostess and the staff were awesome, friendly, and always smiling. They were the shining point of the evening. The food however was either bland or very off putting. The meatballs tasted like they had cumin in them which completely turned me off, the peach crostini is proof that you can actually take the sweetness away from a peach, and the ribeye tartar that was raved about by our server had more grain in it (barley I think?) than actual steak. The mozzarella and foccacia were tasty, but everything else we had missed the mark. To me, this food would have just been standard at most other Portland joints, but I had such higher expectations coming from the Central Provisions team and honestly I just didn't find the drive to the outskirts of Portland to be worth it. read more

Woah. Tipo is awesome. Start to finish the food is incredibly cooked, presented and tastes delicious. The heirloom salad and peach crostini are great to start. I had the lobster rigatoni and Tracey had the halibut. Really really fabulous. read more

Great atmosphere, food and prices! I haven't been let down by a single menu item here. A solid place for a budget meal of pizza and salad, or go for all of the appetizers and specialty items. We really enjoy all of their hand made pastas and cocktails. It's a nice change of pace from the old port (and easier to find parking) read more

Great Italian food, great ambiance, very personable owner! We found this restaurant completely by accident and was well worth it!

Disclaimer: this place has only been open for less than 2 weeks. Will update later on once they have been open longer and work out the tweaks. Showed up at 515 on a Saturday, they open at 4 and it was pretty busy. Was surprised to hear we had to wait 45 min for a table, but could be seated immediately at a communal table or wait for a spot at the bar. We opted for the communal table but quickly changed our mind and I'm glad we did because shortly after we decided to wait at the bar a large group of about 6 sat down, which would have been a bit awkward as a couple. Standing at the bar was ok. There was a large group taking up a majority of the bar that seemed to just linger. We started ordering food and finally some spots opened up around after an hour of waiting. Kept eating. Scallop crudo had a basil that really made the dish. Octupus was my favorite. Mushroom ragu had the best mushrooms. Pizza was great- I know they took a trip to Naples and while it was very good they have a ways to go before it compares to Naples. Cocktail/wine menu doesn't seem as extensive as Central Provisions. Staff was extremely friendly. I would give Tipo 5* just based on the food, however I'm giving it 3 based on experience. Don't love the idea of a communal table for walks in because its especially strange if you are two people with a large party. I ordered a margarita when I sat down, which never came. Will be returning with a larger party in a couple weeks and looking forward to that experience. UPDATED: have been back multiple times, much better than the first! read more

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I would like to start off by saying I would give this place a 5 star review for the food. Only two stars for the service. I love the neighborhood feel of this place and the pizza and carrpachio for starters was amazing. However, I was really let down by the service. I found it a little rude how I was asked to close out at the bar before sitting down for the table I was waiting for. Also, if you are looking for more than a 1 by 4 inch slice of house bread, which I do admit was delicious, they make you pay extra for it!!! Also, their pizza is served with tiny appetizer sized plates. I had to ask the server for bigger ones, which I found a little weird! Overall great food. read more

From the outside, Tipo looks like a cozy Mom-and-Pop cafe. Inside, it is a gourmet bistro and wine bar with prices to match. If you just want to take the kids for pizza, don't come here. There are only four varieties, and one of them is cauliflower. However, if you're looking for a unique dining experience away from the crowds in Old Port--and you don't care how much you pay--and you're not real hungry--you might try this place. Once. No complaints about the service. Our party of five arrived early on a Saturday evening. We had no reservations, but the hostess kindly seated us with the assurance that we'd be out by 7. After puzzling over the eclectic menu, my parents, sister and I decided to share several dishes. Our waitress graciously accommodated our request, providing extra forks and clean plates when needed. We started off with the complimentary house focaccia. It was sprinkled with lemon zest--a nice touch. The bread was followed by a salad of fresh greens with Parmesan and a light, tangy dressing. Then we shared a small plate of luscious lamb ribs with a cherry-chili glaze. Our main course was a pizza Margherita with a side of meatballs, served in a little pot of ragu and topped with creamy ricotta cheese. For dessert, we split a hazelnut chocolate tart and a little plate of zippoli. Everything was delicious, especially the lamb ribs. So why am I not giving five stars? The portions were tiny! Everything except the pizza and salad was the size of an appetizer, and a pretty small appetizer at that. My husband--who was holding out for a lobster roll--ordered ceviche and a plate of pasta. The scraps of fish in the ceviche were invisible, and the pasta was barely enough to feed a toddler. The lamb ribs, meatballs, and chocolate tart also came in miniature portions. I felt like I was at a doll's tea party! Yet we were charged as much as if we were eating regular plates of food. In Old Port. With a couple of sodas, the meal averaged out to $30 per person. My advice to Tipo: if you want to survive, become that Mom-and-Pop place and quit trying to be cute. read more

Open restaurant with a lot of room for diners. We had a large party taking up the showcase table. Waitstaff was on point working as a team. We took their suggestion and ordered several small plates to start and a few large pasta dishes to finish. I'm not sure how many times I've had goat, but the dish we had was very unique and good. The rest of the menu had options and pairings that were all very new and unusual. Brussels, meatballs, oysters, roasted potatoes, plus several main dishes. The roasted pesto potatoes were great. $40 a person and we left satisfied and planning on coming back. read more

One of the better brunches in Portland. The menu was amazing. Everything we got knocked it out of the park and the service was on point. Highly recommend the breakfast sandwich and the cornbread. read more

Love the outdoor seating! Staff is beyond friendly, knowledgeable & gracious! Our first trip here we dined-in for dinner on a Friday in the early stages of their opening and the meal was decent. A very long wait between placing our order and food arriving (but somewhat expected within the first month or two of service as things get ironed out) Price reasonable. I was happy to have not cooked that evening. My partner admired their steak knives! Ha. Simple as that. Ordered takeout pizza another night in the summer of 2018. Bad flavor! Wayyy too much garlic. Cardboard-y. Just not up to standard at all! Big disappointment as CP has AMAZING food and offerings. read more

Our First time dining in a new neighborhood eatery, Tipo , was excellent ! We were seated quickly , the server was helpful and attentive. Over the typical restaurant clatter and good rock music playing on the sound system I could still hear my husband talk. We look forward to returning soon. We loved our light meal. We ordered beef carpaccio , a starter plate of a pasta special with ricotta , peas in a broth , so light and tasty, then a tasty plain pizza with tomato & basil. We finished off sharing an Italian fried donut plate stuffed in a light ricotta lemony custard - We loved it. Please keep taking reservations. Thanks for a yummy meal. We'll be back. Good martini! read more

I felt the need to finally create a Yelp! account to share just how terrible an experience my wife and I had two weeks ago at Tipo. As huge fans of Central Provisions, this has been on our list for a while to support the owners. When we found a rare Sunday evening with the kids being watched, on the day after my wife's birthday, we decided to head out for an early dinner and a movie. We had just missed the patio seating, which looked nice but filled up with the first round of diners. No biggie, we went inside, and were awkwardly sat in the large dining space which only had two other diners at the time... right next to those diners. Okay weird, but whatever. We had to soon move as we were right below the AC which was attempting to keep our drinks cool. Except we didn't have drinks, I'll get to that later. After moving, the hostess came back around after maybe 15 minutes with waters, but couldn't take any drink orders. This set the Spidey Senses tingling, as it's usually not a good sign as to how prompt the service would be. At around the 25 minute mark, my wife finally got up and went to the hostess again and asked when we'd be served. She apologized and said she'd send someone over. A few minutes later a young gentleman came to our table and apologized and offered to take our drink orders. The drinks, a beer and a cocktail, came in at around the 35 minute mark (I'm not exaggerating). Being in good spirits because of a lovely day leading up to dinner, we were laughing it off and joking as to whether anyone knew we were there, and in fact had already seen other parties come in (one party of 6 young ladies were sat after us, had already received a round of drinks and were enjoying Oysters, while we had just finally received a drink and hadn't yet placed a food order). Since we were keeping time at this point, it was about the 45 minute mark when we flagged down the server again (turns out there were just 3 in the whole restaurant, and our guy seemed to be putting the patio as priority). He took our order of 4 small plates to share, we requested they come out as ready since we were quite hungry at this point and still had hopes of catching the movie. At 1 hour in, I took a photo of my near empty beer glass which hadn't been offered to be refilled and tagged Tipo on Instagram, asking to send help and food. They have yet to respond. I'll skip ahead, because at this point we were insulted at being ignored, and angry that this terrible service had robbed us of our rare night out to catch dinner and a movie. The Beef Carpaccio finally showed up well after an hour of being in our seats, and while good, it wasn't good enough to make us forget how long we'd been made to wait. At one hour and 45 minutes, when our 3rd plate was being delivered, I asked for the check immediately. Apologies were given. The check arrived a short while later and we were asked if our last plate had showed up (it hadn't), which finally landed just shy of the 2 hour mark. He apologized that the service was slow and that we had had an unpleasant meal, and "hoped they could make it up to us next time." The bill came in at about $100 and nothing was adjusted off, despite having to apologize 3 times throughout the meal for the slow service. I'd normally give a place another shot, but the fact that they knew they were understaffed, knew they had messed up, knew we had been upset and trapped there for way too long, but still didn't make a gesture to lower the tab a bit or even have a manager apologize tells me that they just didn't care (that or the whole place is just clueless). As we looked outside at the patio, we saw most of the same people that had also sat down just before us, still there waiting for their food or checks. Everyone looked stranded and miserable. When we finally were freed and got to the parking lot, another frustrated diner was there and we commiserated together. A decent place should have a floor manager or someone checking in on diners and making sure the dinner flow is moving. I don't get many free nights anymore, and I'll never be back to Tipo. It's not worth the risk to have another night wasted. read more

Excellent service. Arancini and sardines are the best. Rye pasta was good but lobster agnolotti was a bit too salty. We enjoyed our pizza and found a Sangiovese bottle for &40 to be fine. Cauliflower was terrific. read more

Great service, very attentive We got sat right away The food was very good and came in cute cast iron pans The inside is nicely decorated and has a cool atmosphere The food is "fancy" but you definitely don't have to dress up to eat here Not the best place for picky eaters read more

If I could rate this restaurant a zero, I would. The food was just ok but the service was terrible!!! It took almost an hour to get our food and the atmosphere was unpleasant- music was too loud and it was too cold. read more

I am extremely disappointed with our experience with this restaurant & the rudeness that we encounter by the hostess / manager. It started when we needed to add one more to our reservation two days prior and was told they could no longer accommodate us. So we decided to do two tables of five for outdoors (done on open table) We were celebrating something special and wanted to be seated next to each other. so when the restaurant open we called and they told us that would NOT be a problem. If they told us otherwise we would have gone somewhere else. When we arrived at the restaurant Victoria who off the bat was extremely rude to us when we questioned it, told us that was never said (said she was standing right there) basically saying we were lying. Only place she could seat us was with a table in between which ppl were sitting at. The other side of the outdoor patio was empty besides one couple, and no one seated there the entire time we were there. She could have easily sat us on that side together. For the remainder of the night we continued to get dirty looks from her, it was so unprofessional. read more

Some of the best pizza I've ever had. The homemade crust dipping sauces... just wow!!

Great cocktails. Delish meatballs, calamari, salad, pastas and desserts. Will definitely go back. My only suggestion is to be more thoughtful about the music. The Total Eclipse of the Heart Mix did not enhance our experience, but everything else was superb. Let me start by saying that salt is probably my favorite food. The last two times I had Tipo the fishes were salty to the point of being inedible. Mushroom with polenta and little neck clams w pasta were ridiculously salty. Husband's rye pasta was the same. It's too. As because the food st sister restaurant Central Provisions is superb. Someone's not watching the store at Tipo. read more

Tasty! The appetizer portions were small and easy to share. We got the fried squid, arancini, and meatballs. The arancini was amazing - definitely my favorite! I got the papparadelle and my husband got the cavatelli. Both were divine and so good. read more

Well executed and delicious. The flavors popped, presentation excellent and ingredients thoughtfully sourced. The chef de cuisine has his kitchen firing on cylinders with the style and panache of a vintage Italian sports car. Eat here if you appreciate delicious food and drink. I'll be heading back soon! read more

Delicious, and a welcome addition to the neighborhood. My husband and I have come here on two separate occasions: once for a relaxed dinner at the bar, just the two of us, at once for an early dinner with our two small children out on the patio. We experienced the same warm welcome both times. The food was uniformly great on both occasions. We particularly enjoyed the pizza, which has great fresh ingredients and is super reasonably priced, and the salads (which rotate). Tasty, fun cocktails, too! We really enjoyed our conversation with the bartender, and the waitress that we had on the patio didn't even blink an eye at our two kids :-) read more

Incredible italian food in a great spot away from the craziness of downtown Portland!! We were here on a beautiful summer Friday night and the service was impeccable. Coco made us feel like family and everything was delicious- highlights were the housemade foccaccia, crispy zucchini fritters, awesome cocktails (thanks to Jaren), and "chic" atmosphere. Can't wait to return for brunch! read more

Honestly the best Italian I've ever had. I was in town visiting for a long weekend and considered going back every night for dinner. If you are anywhere near Portland, make a reservation and go!! Worth the uber. read more

I have to admit, I'm a bit disappointed with my first visit to Tipo. We sat at the bar, as it was almost full at 5pm on a Friday. The bar and overall decor was trendy. I liked the color scheme, and the funky wood grained tile flooring. Nice clean, young look. I didn't order a cocktail, but read the numerous craft drink options. It looked great, and I'm sure that many young people are very attracted to this aspect of the restaurant. The wine menu has various predominantly Italian options by the glass and bottle. I'm a collector, but didn't recognize any of the producers. The Chianti and the Barbera that I tried were both decent, mildly fruity, low tannins and matched what we are for food. I did have a problem, however, with the price to value aspect of the wine scene. The wine pours here are modest at best, clearly at the very bottom range of a min 4 oz wine pour...for any wine regular, it's a clear under pour. The food was a bit mixed. The oysters were good, served with a nice prosecco, red wine vinegar, and shallot condiment. They were clean, fresh, plump, and tasty. The prosecco dipping was a good paring. The small plate roasted root veggies were also decent, Beets, turnip, carrots, sweet potato, and red onions, all nicely roasted in an olive oil and fresh herb mix. The small plate meatballs were interesting, clearly a nice ground beef and veal mixture, it had a very defined nutmeg accent. It had a nice ricotta or mascarpone cream side dip, which was nice. I liked the taste, but it wasn't universal with my guests. The spice rub chicken small plate was ok.....it had a real vinegar front forward taste, that didn't mesh with the nice creamy polenta it was served on...this was a bit of a miss in my eyes. The clear miss was the squid ink, sea urchin pasta dish, which I personally ordered. It was way over the top in both the uni factor, and I'm a big sushi and uni fan. It had Bottarga added to it, a spicy, salty fish row. The combination of the two was just an uni overload, highly rich and urchin tasting. This, coupled with a distinct Meyer lemon accent, just didn't do it for me. This was the most expensive dish on the menu, and was just over engineered in my eyes. Subtle uni on fresh squid pasta is an Italian delicacy....this just didn't do it. The table also ordered brick oven roasted little necks, with pancetta....but alas, the server forgot to place the order with the kitchen, and we got them comped, but in a take out container. No big deal there. All in all, some ok things, but definitely some misses. Three stars, no more from this semi tough foodie. I'll try it again and give an update. read more

Last night my wife and I decided on a whim to go out to eat. Whenever we do this it results in at least an hour of discussing where to go. We both like to try previously untried places but rarely agree on which one. This time however, we settled on Tipo within just a couple of minutes. We arrived just before 6 o'clock on a beautiful Saturday evening to find a surprisingly full restaurant to be informed that the next available table would be around 8 o'clock.... or we could ask the bar how long to wait to sit there. Thankfully it was only a few minutes before we took our spot at the bar (just enough time to order and receive our drinks). The menu had many interesting options so we decided to try a few of the small plates. We had marinated sardines, beef carpaccio, snapper cervice, meat balls, and crispy pesto potatoes, all of which were delicious and would order them all again... especially the sardines! The service was friendly and attentive without being overbearing (which I find extremely off putting). The restaurant itself is fresh and modern looking and I am happy we sat at the bar with a view of the chefs making the pizzas in the wood fired oven (we will try one of their interestingly topped pizzas on our next visit). read more

My husband is obsessed with Central Provisions, so we had high expectations for Tipo (pronounced tee-poe, FYI). The wait wasn't long and the open concept was inviting. The service was phenomenal. Everyone was informative and helped each other out. They seemed to genuinely love their jobs. The concept is the same as Central, in that they excel at small plates. We had the beef carpaccio, hand-pulled mozarella, meatballs with gravy, mushroom ragu, and crispy local potatoes. We enjoyed everything, some more than others. The ragu was out of this world. I'm not even sure how they made the gravy, but it blended perfectly with the truffle egg yolks and polenta. The potatoes were crispy as promised, but we weren't fans of the combination of pesto with lemon on top. The flavors did not blend- but the goat cheese had a perfect consistency. And you have to appreciate chefs who think outside the box. Overall a pleasant experience. I think Tipo would be great for lunch, so we're planning on going back in a few weeks. read more

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