Allora Reviews

It is small and cozy. The menu is limited to amazing pasta, along with Antipasti. The antipasto mista is like a mini trip to Italy. Italian meats, cheese and olives.The gnocchi is a treat, assuming you like cheese and potato pasta. I also recommend the Spaghetti al polpette, otherwise know and pasta and meatballs. In all candor all their paste is top notch, not the usual quasi Italian stuff served at many of Portland's Italian establishments.

Awesome. Go here and speak with some real Italians!

Loved this restaurant! Reminded us of an actual restaurant in Italy. Food was excellent! The spaghetti was fabulous as was the Italian wine!

Went there on the recommendation of a family member, were not disappointed. Place was very busy, but service was great! Food was very good.

Great local spot. The ambience is very 'Portland' featuring art, small tables, and a true caffe feel. I found my meal to be just average.

I love going here with Teresa and Holly for Capps in the afternoon!

good, simple italian food and an intimate atmosphere.

I visited Caffe Allora for a lunch with some coworkers. The food was wonderful, with fresh bread, and very zesty tomato sauce. I'll definitely visit again with my wife for dinner sometime.

Cafe Allora, I just love walking in and being recognized by staff and ownership. Being asked about my day before being asked to place an order. Service is always friendly, never rushed, and cares about you. Owners are always in the house and take a moment to chat. The menu changes with the season and maintains a few house favorites. The specials are always worth considering. I am addicted to their carbonara. I recently asked for a dinne menu item at lunch and was graciously provided a Carpaccio di Tonno. It was exactly what I hoped it would be. Full of flavor, just enough food for a light lunch, and quick. Thanks for never dissappointing.

An excellent small Italian restaurant with a creative menu. The decor is spartan, minimalist and clean. Halibut was cooked to perfection, with subtle and delightful spices. The pasta was cooked as it should be 'to the tooth" and the pesto sauce was very tasty. It would be easy to walk by this restaurant, but that would be a mistake. If you like Italian, with a creative flair, this is a good bet.

Very enjoyable casual but elegant Italian restaurant in the Pearl District of Portland, Oregon. Delicious food--small intimate dining. Lunch was very good. Sidewalk seating also is very nice on this quiet street in downtown Portland.

Tucked away in the Pearl District just a very short walk from downtown. This is a small friendly place with amazing food! Most tables were full and the staff was very busy but they were calm, had time for questions, and didn't stop smiling. Reasonable prices for a glass of wine; bottles were pricey. I ordered the hand-stuffed ravioli with brown butter sage sauce and was offered a choice of three or four different stuffings. I am sure the ravioli were handmade as each one varied a bit in size, shape, and amount of stuffing. This dish was very satisfying - delicious and filling without being heavy. My husband had an equally wonderful penne dish with prosciutto. We lived in Italy for some years and have high expectations for Italian food, and Allora did not disappoint! We will definitely return next time we are in Portland.

Fantastic atmosphere. Servings are smaller, but food and service was great! Perfect place for spinach ravioli and a glass of wine. A half a block from the Canopy by Hilton, so if you are staying there, you'd thoroughly enjoy Allora!

This is just like a "real" italian restaurant in a big norther italian city. It is small;run with few staff; BUT fantastic. pasta is ala dente;fish terrific;drinks reasonable;deserts great and given the small room with a nice upper level very pretty. A must go if in downtown Portland

Gazpacho with Crab and Tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Perfect on a hot day. I stop I here regularly on the way home from work and recommend the food and service highly

always simply fine

I was in Portland for a few days, traveling solo, and had Allora on my list based on seeing its exterior during a walk through the Pearl District and thinking, “that place looks cute!” I called to make a reservation for one, and the staff was super-accommodating. Very small, intimate interior and a few outdoor tables, too. I had a great experience. I enjoyed the intimate atmosphere. The service, while casual, was attentive. Nice crowd of locals stopping by. Classic Italian menu. A few appetizers, a nice variety of pastas, some meat and fish. The anchovy appetizer was simple and delicious. A Caesar salad was properly dressed and had nice bite in the dressing. Pasta was fresh and flavorful. And the bartender made a perfect Aperol Spritz. Really enjoyable evening. Would definitely return when back in Portland!

Pros: they make all their own pasta in house; the staff is friendly and accommodating; the dishes are simple and well-prepared. Cons: nothing was outstanding in flavor or particularly imaginative. None of the sauce-heavy dishes came with the bread needed to sop up sauces.

Fantastic Italian restaurant in the Pearl District. Outstanding food and wonderful service make this place a true gem. The cocktails are top notch and the vibe is cool and relaxed. Make a reservation so you get to sit upstairs. You will not be disappointed!

the best Italian outside of Rome.

5 of my girlfriends dined for my birthday. The gnocchi are the best I have ever had. And the butternut squash raviolis with the browned butter were divine. We love to dine family style so that we get to try many things. There just wasn't anything that we didn't all love. We tried 2 of the specials, yum! Our waitress was amazingly good. The only thing I can say negative is that it is a noisy restaurant so it was hard to hear and talk. They might consider adding some noise reduction items. They are out there and do help. Can't wait to go back!

yummy Italian food and mind-blowing espresso!

This restaurant is a gem. We absolutely loved their food. It is a small and quaint place that reminds us of Europe. The portions are not large but just right and it was delicious.

I did not dine in, but received a delivery order of spaghetti and meatballs, some watery soup, and mundane bread that I paid extra for. My total for the food was $31.00 not including delivery fees and tip. The food came in a tiny bag, I was surprised. The alleged entree was in a very small box, that normally would hold an appetizer. The included "polpette" were the tiniest little balls anyone could roll, even with wee tiny baby hands, and calling them "polpette" instead of meatballs is an insult to the nation of Italy and their beautiful language, and does not justify the outrageous price. The spaghetti came from a box, even though reviewers asked if they made their own pasta, and the answer was "yes". This wasn't even good boxed pasta, it was the cheapest you can find. The sauce was no better than the worst I've had from a jar, nothing at all interesting or exciting about it. The soup was probably some kind of asparagus and water concoction, it was hard to tell. I would describe it as green water. So, I thought I'd call to complain, me not really appreciating being ripped off and insulted by pretentious food at ridiculous, extortionary prices. I did ask to speak to a manager, chef or owner, but the adorable servers chose to make themselves responsible, so I expressed my complaints to one very sarcastic person who identified themselves as "Jill". I told Jill that I did not wish to speak to her, given that servers are not responsible for the food or the policies of their employers, but dear Jill insisted on hearing my complaints, which she instantly proceeded to mock and then dismiss me as a lunatic. Well, you ask for a lunatic, you got one, Jill! Great customer service, where did you take your training, in a Russian gulag? Based on the reviews here, one person was really at that hellish spot, and the rest are friends or were bribed. No one in their right mind would pay that kind of money for that sad and pretentious food, or put up with those smart mouthed servers with bad attitudes . Not recommended. What I do recommend is pretty much any other Italian restaurant in Portland, or even Chef Boyardee and Campbell's, which are about on par with the nonsense they served but better portions. Shame on them, they are what gives Portland a bad name. Pretentious crap and arrogant, incompetent, self-servers.

The spaghetti carbonara was perfect and heavy enough so that it was nicely complemented by the 2010 Allegrini La Grola. We've been here before, and we'll be back. There were eight of us.

Very tasty food, average price but most of the portions are too small - caprese salad very nice and good capuccino to end your meal. Worth trying it but don't go if you are hungry.

Went to this restaurant on our last night in Portland and wished we would have found it earlier as we would have gone back again and again. The arugula salad was super and our pasta dishes were a reminder of our last Italian vacation - fantastic. A slice of heaven in a small neighborhood place. Locals love it and it was packed. Wine list outstanding. The owner is super sweet and on site greeting people and making everyone feel welcome. Fantastic meal, great service and a fair price. Highly recommend this fun bustling eatery. Foodies paradise!

Very small restaurant with additional upstairs seating which was sooo hot. There was a fan which didn’t seem to help. Food and service was good but you might want to make a reservation and ask for main floor seating.

Went here for dinner before going to the theatre. My first visit and it will not be my last. The selections we made reminded me of some of the best food I have had in Italy. Excellent fresh ingredients presented beautifully. Not heavy like most “Americanized” Italian restaurants. The service was prompt and personalized. We felt welcomed and were treated as valued customers. Very good

Charming neighborhood place for lunch and dinner - small, romantic, friendly, large following of locals. We enjoyed our dinner outside.

Great little Italian restaurant tucked away on the edge of the Pearl district. Close to the post office so lots of truck traffic, but not overwhelming. My brother recommended this place as a place to meet him, and I'm glad we agreed. For appetizers we shared buschetta (tomato, basil & garlic), bread and olive oil, and a plate of olives. My daughter and I split an order of spaghetti and meat balls. My brother had the penne al puttanesca. Everything was quite good. They don't have much of a beer selection, but you don't go to an Italian restaurant for beer. I tried a Peroni, my first Italian beer and it was okay, a better than average lager. My daughter had a nice pinot grigio. My brother isn't a drinker, he had a San Pelligrino. The Italian wine selection is quite extensive.

Lovely atmosphere, small and intimate. Portions are small, service is slow and customers do not matter. Food was tasty but not incredible. I appreciate the local flair and the true Italian ownership. There are several very customer "un-friendly" policies at this restaurant that need to be reconsidered. Italian restaurants are a dime a dozen and you can easily find another restaurant with a better value where customers really feel like they are in someone's home. It is important to note that we went as part of a large group. For our specific bill of three people we told the server, who also happened to be the manager, that we felt the automatic gratuity was unwarranted and we would be paying less gratuity. The manager snatched the receipt from my hand and told me to never come back - and this was simply for explaining my disappointment! We discussed this same issue with the owner next and basically got the same response - "oh well, it is what it is. Customers don't matter and our policies wont change." This was our first visit with 20 of our best friends. We have shared our experience with them and more than just a few customers have been lost tonight.

Three of us gathered to discuss movies we love and I ordered a gluten free Vongole pasta. What a disappointment! The pasta was rigatoni, not linguini as with a normal Vongole. The sauce was tasteless. Their wine was over priced...a $12 Punot Grigio? I really expected this restaurant to get it right....thus I was even more disappointed. Service wasn't great either. We didn't see our waitress during the meal. My friends enjoyed their meals.

This little cafe is a great representation of authentic Italian in Portland. The owner and much of the kitchen staff do their country proud with a great menu that keeps it simple but good. A nice wine selection. This is a small, but charming place, so it can be crowded at times. My favorite is the penne puttanesca. Very well done.

What a gem! We stayed at the Hampton Inn in the Pearl District, and the staff recommended us walking to this great little restaurant! The food was delicious! Fresh pasta and seafood! The staff was friendly and helpful in making our choices! Would definitely come back again and recommend it to our friends!

I've eaten here five times in the past six months or so. My favorite higher end but simple Italian place. The Carbonara. The Caesar. The Puttanesca. The meatballs. Then last Friday. Every time I get seated upstairs I get the shaft. Ask me about Little Bird. Forgotten. Others seated much later get their drinks and entrees first. The minutes tick by. 40. 45. Oh thanks for the drinks. And then a Caesar that looks like it got run through the food processor. Puttanesca that had no finesse and thrown together. Something about the chef and his hand (don't blame the waitress but dang how long does it take to pour a glass of wine or remember to ask the bartender for it? I did notice the waitress I like a lot leaving as we entered). The daily wine by the glass was nice but I had to have two. I loved it. Now I'll go one more time. Hoping for a downstairs seat.

I do not enjoy this place

i love this place. small, cozy, delicious.

This is an intimate, neighborhood restaurant that makes you wish you lived in their neighborhood. I could tell that there are a lot of regulars on my first visit. The wait staff are attentive, friendly and knowledgeable. The menu was varied and inviting. Frankly, I can't remember what I ordered for my entrée--except that it was delicious! I chose bread (great!) and olives as accompaniments. For dessert I chose their sweet cream gelato smothered in amarena cherries. Oh my! I can't wait to return with my wife.

If you are downtown, especially around Glisan and 9th (NW), and are craving for Italian, this is a great place to go! Food is so good, pasta is excellent - got al dente right! Prices are very reasonable for the quality. Highly highly recommend - it was also recommended by our concierge

I used to go here frequently, enjoying the ambience and the food, though with increasing snse that customers don't really matter here. Today is my last visit. The service was at best haphazard...with interminable wait between my caprese and bowl of soup. And I was charged $2.00 for a tiny serving of bread. The attitude that seems to permeate this establishment is "so, what?" This is not the first time I have had substandard sevice at Caffe Allora. But it will be the last.

I have walked be this sweet spot so many times we finally popped in for dinner. It wasn't too busy so we were seated immediately. The wine was really good. On the high end expense wise, but delicious. They charge for bread. Is this normal? I had never paid for bread before. It was ok. The minestrone soup was not great. No flavor in the stock. I left most of it. We enjoyed our salads and pasta dishes, but really it was average. The service was average too, sadly. The coffee was good. I like the ambiance, however, for a small place-its noisy. I probably won't go back. There are so many terrific places in Portland.

Portland's Pearl District has become an upscale trendy part of the city with many art galleries, boutique style hotels, and very good restaurants. Allora was nearly across the street from where I was staying. The restaurant was crowded on a Friday evening and I did not have a reservation. So I opted for the bar and was immediately seated. It is a very small, but comfy bar, where there was seating for perhaps 6 or 7 guests. The house white and red wines are Italian, and superior ones at that. You cannot go wrong with a glass or bottle of their house wines. The menu was complete but not too large or overwhelming. Allora has a repertoire of Italian dishes which they prepare with skill, such as the pasta. The pasta is made in house, and so I absolutely planned to have a pasta dish. The zucchini-and-pasta did not disappoint. Not over-sized (which is so often the case in Italian restaurants), but just the right size. The starter was the soup of the day, which was a fresh and delicious gazpacho, which is clearly not Italian, but was completely Mediterranean in its in-house preparation.

This hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant is a small neighborhood gem in the eastern edge of the Peal district. It's a 5-minute walk from Portland Union Station, and my go-to place for dinner before boarding the evening train to Seattle. Allora serves reasonably priced Italian comfort food by friendly staff in an intimate setting. Highly recommended.

We met another couple here for dinner on a Friday evening. When we arrived (a little after 6), the place was empty but it filled up quickly. Small place and lively but not so noisy we couldn't hold a conversation. We started with antipasto, which was a nice selection of meats, cheese, and olives. I had tiny gnocchi with pesto, which was delicious. My husband had pasta with mushrooms. The other couple had ravioli and lasagne. Everyone enjoyed their meal very much. Good service.

The service started out OK, but the servers disappeared after we had been waiting for 45 minutes. After we had waited this extremely long time without an explanation, the food was delivered without a word; not that we could have heard anything because of the cacophony. The noise level was extraordinarily high - not at all intimate as advertised. The food was good and the price average for Portland, but the service was awful. Even though there was only six in our party, they added an automatic 20% tip.

We had a lovely meal at Cafe Allora. The owner was a riot. From the moment we arrived, we felt like we had stumbled upon the perfect local dining spot in Italy. We had two good friends recommend Cafe Allora in recent months. Finally, we had a night out and Paolo offered the perfect mix between rustic italian and fresh northwest cuisine. Our meal consisted of a spicy gazpacho with crab and avocado garnish, tasty tasty ceviche, two wonderful pasta dishes, and a lemon pasty dessert that truly sealed the deal. Paolo made sure our wine (and digestif) paired perfectly with the dish in hand. Can't wait to go back!

Found this gem of a restaurant while staying at the Canopy Hotel across the street. Cute little Italian restaurant.

I wouldn’t have expected a great fish dinner at an Italian restaurant, but it was one of their specials and I was in the mood for some fish so decided to give it a try. Boy, was I glad I did. It was probably the best halibut that I’ve had in my life and I’ve been eating fish for most of my 58 years. We started with the bruschetta and also had a salad. We had plenty of delicious food and didn’t leave hungry. You can choose to eat inside or out. It was a great day so we ate outside and enjoyed the neighborhood. However, I would go early to avoid any spillover from the downtown riots.

A visit to Portland with our Seattle based son and his wife is not a proper visit for them without eating at Allora. Simple Italian food served in pleasant surroundings away from the hustle of downtown Portland. My wife still hasn’t stopped drooling over their cauliflower and fennel soup (she has even produced her own version for dinner guests now we are back home). Her love of asparagus was answered with this accompanying her halibut main course. My love of seafood was met with spaghetti vongole all of which was. Finished off with a refreshing affogato. A nice way to spend Mother’s Day.

Some secrets are just too good to keep. Imagine a warm, friendly trattoria where as soon as you sit down you become a regular. Caffe Allora, or as some call it “Paolo’s Place” (after the exuberant chef-owner and host), in the Pearl District of food- crazy Portland is that place. Some people want fancy; Allora is simplicity at its best. At the first bite, you know the food is incredibly fresh. At the second bite, you slip into a haze of comfortable delight in the easy flavors of the best “home cooked” pasta dishes this side of Italia. Located on an anonymous stretch of 9th Avenue, the signage is discreet, and the street can sometimes feel like a truck route into Milan with the post office traffic rumbling by. Other times with the new moon rising above the trees and a refreshing spritz in hand, the sidewalk tables invite you to fall in love with your companion all over again. And during the quadrennial World Cup matches, everyone becomes a raving fan with standing room only. No matter what, the table is yours for a lifetime, which is good as you won’t want to leave. Recent specials have included amazing ricotta gnocchi. But don’t ever miss the Dungeness crab salad when it’s on offer; and for a just plain comfort fix, go for the spaghetti amatriciana. Traditional desserts are on the menu, but the gelato is special—usually imported but often from a local Italian born purveyor. Boun appetito!

The Vegetal was delicious. The grilled veggies and chimichurri were very good. My wife had the SPAGHETTI PESTO. Which was also very good. I had the SPAGHETTI VONGOLE. My wife’s first impression was to check to see if the noodles were even warm. They looked like cold noodles. They had the texture of noodles that had been precooked and rinsed. The dished did not come together. Very disappointing because the clams were cooked well. Sauce a bit lacking in flavor. The overall experience was good and the service was good but the food could be great if the pasta was better or even cooked per order. .

Stopped here for lunch. Our group included 2 adults and a 6 year old. Food was all artfully prepared, and quality was excellent. Pasta was cooked to a perfect al-dente, sauces were balanced and the fish (on my pasta dish) was well prepared and cooked. All 3 of us enjoyed our food.

I happened upon this small cafe with a friend and enjoyed a wonderful lunch. Nice atmosphere with simple, but classy art on the walls. Great menu of neo Italian dishes. I had butternut squash ravioli. Perfect. I love this dish and sometimes when I order at other places, the ravioli are swimming in butter. This was done exactly right. Not greasy. Literally melted in my mouth. My friend had the gnocchi. She thought it was very good, though she suggested it would have been better if the fresh mozzarella on top of it was not so chilled. I can't wait to go back for dinner.

Delicious, authentic Italian restaurant, the best in the region. A wide capability; I'll order puttanesca sometimes, not on the menu but they do an excellent job. Everything we've eaten is first rate. Small, sometimes loud, reservations strongly recommended.

Very nice people end very good italian food!Paolo the owner and the chef Edmundo from Rome is very nice people and they meke very good food!the service is also good!!

I have read reviews of this place and had certain expectations of quality of food, service etc... but my experience was not good. The menu they have is rather limited, so is the wine list. It is a small place that has a few tables at street level and a few more upstairs. We were a party of 4, ordered a couple of appetizers - so- so, nothing special - they were on the same type of bread as the bread on the table - a little effort to make things more varied would have been nice. The server recommended the Barbera wine - we asked to try it, and good things we were able to do so - it was way too sour. We ordered another wine - a bit better, but just OK. I ordered a grilled vegetables appetizer and mussels in wine sauce - asked the server beforehand if they were really fresh and she said "yes". Well, it turned out that the mussels were not fresh enough, there were several mussels that were not open and should not have been served; the wine sauce could not compensate for the lack of freshness of the seafood. The grilled vegetable appetizer was a disappointment, as well - there were on the plate several really tiny size olives with pits, a couple of slices of bread( yes, again the same one served as table bread), a couple of slices of cheese, a few paper thin sliced of grilled eggplant with a rather rubbery texture, a few pieces of canned baked peppers and a few mushrooms ... a bit of a stretch to call this "grilled vegetable appetizer". The pasta dishes my companions had were rather small and just OK. The service was slow, but I gave it " average" rating because we were able to try the wine. This place is not worth the money, I will not go back.

This is truly a local neighborhood haunt. It's actually difficult to spot and is on a street that doesn't appear to have much of anything on it (unlike the others in the Pearl that are teaming with life). The restaurant itself is super small inside - maybe 10 tables - but it's cute. I'm glad we had reservations. Anyway, the food is priced in the mid range and everything we had was quite delicious, but we were truly disappointed in the size of the portions across the board from the 2 appetizers we got to our main entrees. We all left hungry which for an italian restaurant is a crime! As a result, we were game for dessert, but they had 2 very weak offerings so we opted to take the bill and left to find someplace else for dessert. In summary....it was quite tasty, but I doubt we'll rush back any time soon because of the impression that we didn't get a lot for our money.

When things go right here, you love the place and vow to become a regular. But then there are nights when nothing works. Pastas are normally just perfect. The fish stew is reliably very good. Some salads are better than others and can be overdressed. They don't do meat well here but the fish special is often very tasty. One wishes they would use a better quality cheese. The wine list is good and the prices fair. Allora feels like the real thing, very italian, and that is its greatest asset and its greatest liability.

are you kidding me? This was so f-ing good, I can't even believe it. Had a ton of take-out these days and they all suck compared to this. I can't go back. This will be in my weekly repetoir.

I'm not saying that cooking good Italian food is easy. It may look like it but it isn't. But Allora claims authentic Italian origins and the menu certainly entices you with some classics and a nice choice of options. The first thing thing that struck me was a sense of panic. Not mine, the wait staff. Good servers have mastered the art of moving quickly without appearing to be panicked. Not here. The staff was almost running and it creates a sense of lack of control. Then the food came and it was downhill from there. My first dish - gnocchi - went back uneaten. Disgusting, dry lumps of something in an acidic tomato sauce that had the consistency of ketchup. They bore no resemblance to the light, tasty, partially browned morsels of delight that true Italian gnocchi are. My wife's first dish went back uneaten simply because it was not what she ordered. My replacement dish, I played safe and went with spaghetti carbonara, was at best amateurish. Undercooked pasta (remember this was a quickly produced replacement for a returned dish) with hardly any prosciutto and foul tasting, cheap cheese that was bitter. My wife's original order - fettuccini with salmon - finally arrived and the overwhelming taste was lemonier juice. Acid to a nasty degree with overcooked salmon and tasteless "house made" pasta. The overdose of lemon was an unwanted reminder of my appetizer, tuna carpaccio, that was equally overwhelmed with lemon to where the tuna contributed nothing to the dish. At one point I asked the server what the nationality of the chef was...and she would not tell me. I doubt he's Italian, I said, and she said probably not! The final confirmation that nobody in this restaurant knows what they are doing came when I order biscotti with Vin Santo for desert. Everyone...and I mean everyone...knows that this traditional Italian combination is enjoyed by dunking the biscotti in the Vin Santo. Not here. The wine was served in a narrow shot glass far too small for the biscotti - despite their own diminutive size - to reach the rather pale, cheap apology for Vin Santo. I had to ask for a wider glass before I could even enjoy the dish as it was meant to be. All in all a total failure. Well, the Verdicchio Reserva Classico was nice - but not nice enough to save a terrible, terrible meal.

I was in such disbelief that my $26.00 Chicken Piccata consisted of two boneless chicken thighs, that I asked the server to verify with the kitchen that I wasn’t imagining it. Adding to my disappointment were the skimpy sides of two small croquettes and less than a cup of sautéed spinach, no pasta and maybe $1.50 in ingredients. The $20.00 bowl of chicken pasta in garlic cream sauce was clearly small and then we discovered it was more chicken thigh! The only restaurants I’ve ever seen serve thighs are teriyaki joints and the occasional Mexican place. I’ve worked in all classes of restaurants and by the end of the meal, it was clear that someone is cutting food costs at the customer’s expense. Our meatballs were small and covered with sauce so I don’t know how many there were, but I ate one and we dissected one because they tasted either commercial or mostly filler. The restaurant still charged us $8.00 for them. There was olive oil on the table but no bread was included so that was just table decoration. The final blow was the $10.00 Tiramisu served in a small well drink glass but instead of using ladyfingers so the cake was light and fluffy, they used something that was heavy and grainy. Basically it was the consistency of biscotti soaked in coffee. Our service was excellent but our experience wasn’t a result of one bad night in the kitchen. There are plenty of better options for Italian in Portland.

We have been to Cafe Allora many times over the last year or more and it the food has always been reliably good and delicious! It's a nice go to restaurant with very friendly servers and good food. Paulo, the owner, is friendly and makes you feel welcome. The salmon tonight was excellent! We keep going back because it is just so good.

We love Italian food and also enjoy small casual places. The server was very friendly and the food was delicious.

Not a lot of tables, very intimate and quiet space for a nice Italian meal and conversation. Food was fantastic, good wine list. It was crowded when we dropped by on a rainy evening by chance and we got the last table in the corner. Probably would have been good to have a reservation. They are open "until close". We got there about 10 and were afraid they would be closing up but it was completely full! Friendly place, favorite meal of our visit. Hope to return.

Absolutely wonderful food, and this review is from someone who lived in Italy for some years, with a supply of ingredients obtained directly from Italy. A small place, so reservations are recommended, but service is really good (Erica, Shay) despite a very busy night. All dishes made to order. The menu is rather small, entrees mostly pasta, but more than sufficient to satisfy. Great wine list and mixed drinks. Gluten-free options. One of the best Italian restaurants I've ever encountered in my wide travels.

We had dinner in this small, but very good Italian restaurant on our visit to Portland. It was recommended by friends who live in Portland and we were not disappointed. Our waitperson was excellent and very pleasant. Great place to go with friends since it was quiet and we could visit as we enjoyed a good meal.

Fresh and lively neighborhood local hangout, especially if you're Italian.

Yummy crab penne with vodka sauce with prosecco.

I went here for the first time and was very impressed with not only the food but the service as well. The staff worked collectively as a team to ensure the best possible dining experience! The food was delicious. We tried a few things on the menu including the carpaccio, house made mushroom ravioli and lamb chops. All were prepared to perfection. I will definitely be back!

Relying on family members living in Portland who have experience in food service in Portland is always a treat when they bring you to a favorite of theirs. Allots is one of the favorites and we can see why. Attentive service, quality with portions to experience the talent behind the meal while enjoying casual conversation with your party. The complete package tucked on a side street. Just go and see for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Tucked in NW Portland where there is parking, Caffe Allora is a nice place to enjoy a glass of wine and a happy hour dinner. We ordered olives, bread, bruschetta, pasta, clams & mussels, and salad. All were tasty and quite filing.