Portofino

I will start by saying that I had been to this place before, but only went back because of a Groupon. I bought a Groupon for an airbrush session for my wedding. The first time I tried to use it was 3 days before my wedding which was the amount of time that was recommended to me. It happened to be raining that day and when I called up to make sure it would still be ok to come in, the woman answering the phone advised against getting airbrush when it's raining because it could dry unevenly. I appreciated her honesty and decided against it, so as not to take any chances. . .

Fast forward a few months and I am in my friends wedding party so I decide to cash in on the Groupon - which to my surprise was recently expired (read the fine print!). The guy behind the desk would not honor the Groupon for the airbrush session (even though it was someone who worked there who told me not to use it). After I expressed my disappointment, he insisted he was giving me a deal by only making me pay the difference. I tried explaining to him that the actual value of the Groupon never expires so I was basically paying full price, just in two installments. He kept insisting that he was giving me a deal. . . he clearly either didn't get it or was trying to fool me, but fine I let it go and agreed to pay for the service. . . The straw that broke the camel's back was when he decided to try to shut me up by offering me another deal, saying that the next time I come in for airbrush he will give me a 2 for 1 deal. I appreciated the offer, accepted, and asked him to put a note in the system marking the 2 for 1 deal he offered in case he doesn't remember our conversation or someone else is working that day. . . to which he said "Oh, I will remember, I will be here for at least 6 months" . . .

Cool.

He never put in a note, which means the offer doesn't exist. He could have at least pretended to put a note on my account to restore the tiniest bit of faith in this place, but instead decided to shoot me down. . . again. What ever happened to "the customer is always right?" Clearly I will not be returning to redeem my fake 2 for 1 deal.

All in all the customer service was horrendous, but the actual service was decent. Monica was sweet and did a good job which is the only reason I gave it two stars. I took the 3 stars off for the customer service which I think makes or breaks a place like this. . . you can get a decent tan at any salon in NYC.

This restaurant not only serves good food at reasonable prices but I think the owners are good community oriented citizens too. They have been at the same location for more than a decade. During the blackout in the summer of 2004, I saw the owner shine his car headlight into the store so he can continue to make pizza and I witnessed him give it out free of charge to anyone that was hungry. It was a rare sight and I still remember his good hearted deed, while some stores raised prices to take advantage of the community.

A lovely restraunt with good food, and friendly staff.

The food and service have gone downhill since I used to come here as a child.
Pros: valet parking and across from OLQM Church. Cons: everything else.
It still amazes me to see how packed it gets for their weekday "specials" and Sunday brunch.
Skip this "Italian" restaurant and try out other (better) ones in the neighborhood!

The food is good but expensive. Try the brunch on Sunday early afternoon or the Tuesday night buffet. I went there a few nights ago for the Tuesday night buffet. I was very disappointed. On my previous visits, the food and service were really good. On this past Tuesday night, the food was dried out. The meatballs were hard, to a point of being inedible. The salmon was burnt on the bottom. The ribs tasted strange. The soup was completely gone, if not it was dried to the bottom of the pan. The mussels were good but were filled with tons on green olives. If you do not like olives, this is not the dish for you. I tried the potatoes but I could not cut them with a knife. The potatoes were inedible, as was a foccacia that looked great but was hard as a rock. Dessert was delicious. Both the tiramisu and the flan was delicious. The coffee was good. Our waiter was helpful and friendly. But he disappeared for most of our dinner. We had to wait more than 30 minutes for a check. The food off the menu is much better. I would skip the buffet.