| rev:text
| - I think this place needs to figure out whether it wants to be a nightclub, sports bar, Chuck-E-Cheese, or Italian restaurant. The ambiance has been taken down a notch since it was Hammerheads. Pool tables and arcade machines, and pool toys hanging from ceiling in the dining area - yikes. There was one kid playing a shoot-em-up game and another playing with the pool balls. Soft Italian music over the audio would have been much better than listening to the kids play, and the racket of the drunks coming in from the adjacent bar.
We showed up around 5:30 on a Friday night and there was only one other table being served in the dining area despite the parking lot being full (everyone was in the lounge). There was only one waitress working the dining area, and she was also working in the lounge. She was trying hard, but it was only her second day on the job. Both her and the bus-boy were dressed as though they were working in a dive sports bar, not a nice restaurant. Kind of a turn-off. She told us all the food and drink items on the menu were $2 off for happy hour, but that was not the case when we received our bill. Turned out only bar food was $2 off. (we still got happy hour priced drinks, though)
As an appetizer we ordered Calamari, and I gotta tell you, it was fantastic! Large chunks of tender squid in a very light, flaky batter, served with a nice boat of thick marinara sauce. Best calamari we ever had, for sure. Just wish it was a more ample portion.
My husband (it was our anniversary, BTW) ordered veal scallopine sauteed in a lemon sauce with artichoke hearts, mushrooms and capers. He loved it, although according to him, you really have to love lemon. I tried both a bit of the veal, which I thought tasted a bit "gamey" (guess I'm not a veal person) and the sauce, which I didn't care for at all. I will definitely not ever order that dish.
I ordered the Linguine Portofino, which was huge butterflied shrimp, mussels, clams, scallops (or should I say scallop, since I only found one in the whole dish) and squid in a rich tomato sauce served over linguini. I think the noodles (a generous helping) were home-made and they were delicious, as was the sauce. Both our dishes were served piping hot.
Closer to 7:00 pm the dining room filled up more, and my husband and I definitely felt over-dressed compared to the other patrons and wait staff, who were all dressed as if they were in a sports bar.
Although our food was very good, the people at one table kept returning their food items (maybe it was because they couldn't stand to eat it after one of the millions of black flies that were milling about the dining room landed on their food). Portofino definitely needs to do something about the flies, which made the atmosphere even less enjoyable.
I'll give the authentic food a 4, the service a 3, value a 3.5 and the ambiance a 2. I'll go back, but probably to check out the bar entertainment and not for a nice special occasion dinner.
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