Porcelli’s Bistro

This place was wonderful, it was alittle hard to find but I would definitely eat there again. The whole staff was very friendly and made us feel at home. They were even so nice to slim down the portion size of our meal so we didn’t have to carry it to the cavs game that night. Don’t be afraid that it’s hard to find because it’s worth the time looking for it but bring a coat because it was alittle chilly in there.

Staff is wonderful. I had the seafood mac with blackened grouper. The fish was charred so badly and had an awful overcooked smell. I would have sent it back if I weren’t in the company of clients. So to be fair, the restaurant did not get a chance to right this dish on their behalf. The other diners seemed happy with their meals.

Service is a bit slow and the place is tucked away, making it easy to miss.
HOWEVER, the food is good and the servers are nice and helpful — I just think they run very lean staffed making it a slower dining experience.
I especially appreciated being able to talk through my hunger level and taste preferences before ordering so I could get the right recommendation for me.

Terrific place! Lots of new items on the menu. Got dragged in off the street by little Spitfire of the server named Anna. She promised a terrific mail and the chef delivered!

Small intimate, hidden gem across from the parking garage on 6^th. Has a wall window and a large bar.
Stuffed banana pepper app had a little heat, and was very good. I really enjoy the lobster ravioli. Others enjoyed their pasta varieties and salads. Service was enjoyable. Definitely a must go to anytime. Park at the arenas, and walk through the arcade of shops to 6^th.

Great Service! Good food and atmosphere!!! Chicken Marsala was good and a large portion.

I really want to like this place but every time I go there I get more and more disappointed. The service has never been very good. It’s either you’re waiting to be seated, waiting to have a server come greet you or waiting for the bill… you are always waiting. It’s always a total miss on the service. Now the food, this is where things keep going down hill.
The first time I went there I thought the food was delicious, yeah the service sucked but the food was great. Then every time I stopped in the service was just as terrible but the food was also getting worse and worse. Today, was the worst of the worst. The service was beyond bad, waited forever for water, salad and main entrée. Then waited forever for the bill. The food was awful. I ordered the blacken salmon pasta, which is what I always get. The salmon was blackened alright… I mean it was burnt. And the pasta was beyond cooked, looked and tasted almost like shoelaces at this point.
So yeah, I want to like this place but I don’t know if I can keep trying anymore.

Left after one bite of the main entrée. Blackened grouper over linguine with a reduced lobster and clam sauce. Girlfriend had a salad with salmon. My pasta sauce looked like wax and cheese sauce and the fish was comparable to a soggy cracker. The spicy calamari and shrimp we’re was just buffalo sauce on rubber. Thankfully the waitress took our meals off the tab. I never walk out on a meal, that is how bad this one was.

In town for a conference and staying at the Westin, where dinner entrees at the hotel restaurant (Urban Farmers) are in the $ 50-​$ 80 range. My ideal find for dinner on a Friday night at 7:00 was somewhere not to pricey, not too busy, and not too far away… and I wasn’t holding my breath for any of them.
Fortunately, Porcelli’s won on all accounts. It’s definitely a bistro — one room with 15 or so tables and a bar — but the only people there were 6 or 8 jovial guys at the bar who came across as regulars. Service was super fast — I had my salad within a minute of ordering it and the entrée came out within 10 minutes of finishing my salad. The waitress was friendly and helpful and kept my glass full.
The entrée (a chicken penne dish in a tomato cream sauce) was large and tasty… the only thing keeping me from giving five stars was that it was a touch on the salty side. Very flavorful though! I had a caesar salad on the side; it and the bread were both delicious.
Overall, a great find for a conference-​goer who wants a nice meal at a decent price. I’ll be back next year!

Lunch was tasty but took forever. I got the gnocchi with marinara and it was delicious but I felt like it was kind of lacking for the additional cost of adding chicken — it wasn’t worth it. About $ 11 for pasta and a salad so very reasonably priced. I ate the second half the next day for lunch and can definitely see myself doing that again. If you work in the area and have clients in town and want somewhere low key and non-​pretentious, especially for lunch, try here!

Ate from here for the first time via take out. Wanted to test it before recommending to frieds for lunch. Had the Pesto Chicken sandwich serve on a thick piece of toasted Italian bread topped with a generous roasted red pepper slice and pesto spread. It was great. Chix cooked perfect and nicely trimmed so I didn’t bite into any of those funky tendons and fat and was juicy not dry as one often gets. Served with a small salad too. Portion perfect for lunch. $ 9.00 reasonable.
Will come again. .. With friends.

Overall, I would give this place a 3.5. This lunch visit was more of a 3, but all in all price, portion and value are pretty decent here. I’ve been here many times, can’t believe that I haven’t posted a review before now. I’ve never had dinner here, and according to other Unilocalers, I probably shouldn’t plan to. There is usually a pretty decent crowd at lunch. Today, I ordered the Angel Hair pasta with tomatoes, basil and chicken in garlic and olive oil ($ 12). The entrée included fresh italian bread with a side of garlic butter (nice touch) and a small side salad which I had with the house balsamic dressing. The entrée today, was just ok. It was a little bit murky in color and a bit clumpy in texture and taste. It was decent, just not as good as previous visits. My dining companion ordered the Chicken Piccatta and she was very pleased. Overall you can’t beat the portions and price. I will definitely return… for lunch:-)

Maybe this was a «miss» for us because we didn’t go during the lunch hour, but really – shouldn’t a restaurant be great for all meals of the day?
1) Overpriced. For the people who are talking about lunch prices, please explain to me why a difference of 4 – 5 hours increases the prices of the same dishes significantly. I really need to know. A meatball sandwich for my bf’s son (which only had 2 meatballs on it and was all bread otherwise) was $ 11. You can get a better version at Subway, which is pretty sad considering the fact… the value just isn’t there. If you get what you pay for, our dishes should have blown my mind.
2) Food taste/​quality vs. price: My gnocchi dish was overpriced and under-​seasoned. Gnocchi is supposed to be pillowy, light and glorious. These strange looking dumplings were chewy and starchy, so much so they were getting stuck in my teeth. The blush sauce they were in was underseasoned and bland. My bf’s dish was just about the only flavorful dish, but even he left feeling super-​cheated for the money we spent.
3) Update your website/​menu! We came here based on Unilocal reviews saying «it’s a great deal» and we looked at the online menu to confirm. Once we came in to sit down, most menu items were priced $ 4 – 7 higher than the online menu stated. And unlike other Unilocalers, I don’t think the portions were even close to meeting the price. Furthermore, think about how much it costs you to make pasta at home? Even making pasta from scratch wouldn’t be this grossly overpriced. Again, the value is just NOT there.
Just about the only thing that redeemed this place were the very sweet barmaids/​servers taking care of everyone. They could have used another server that was strictly just on the floor, not behind the bar. (This looks more professional, especially with their high prices) But even so, these two ladies busted their butts to serve everyone appropriately.
Overall, I wish I could have our money back, but we certainly won’t be coming back.

5 stars… yup!!! The way I look at things, you get what you pay for. I still can’t believe all their lunches are under $ 12. For the portion size and quality, this is a great value. Especially considering, the average lunch on this block is already $ 8. I’ll gladly shell out a few extra to come here anyday.
This is my #1 go to lunch spot in the city. I have had their chicken parm sandwich and meatball sandwich ($ 8 and yummy), the chicken picatta and chicken alfredo ($ 11, not bad) and my favorite is the linguine with shrimp and crab in a lobster reduction sauce ($ 11, salad and bread included). Punch yourself for not trying this dish yet, it is that good. This isn’t about the scenery people, this is about a fast, affordable, delicious lunch on the fly. For what you pay, this is 5 stars all day. Much better than a lot of italian restaurants I have tried and cheaper too.

I can’t believe Porcelli’s only has a 2 ½ star rating on Unilocal!I love this place! I did read some of the bad reviews, and I guess I can see those things happening (slow service at dinner, less than stellar seafood…)
However, I have to say: the lunch servers and cooks are AWESOME! I have been there for dinner a couple times, and it feels like an entirely different restaurant — my favorite dishes that I order for lunch are unrecognizable at dinner. Maybe there is a different kitchen staff at night?
Anyway, I go for lunch a couple times a month for the past 9 years (it was called something else when I first started going, before it became a Porcellis, I think) and I have never had a bad experience. I absolutely love the servers — very efficient and friendly and when that place is packed for lunch (pretty much every day) — they are busting their asses!
I think the food is delicious! The salads are humongous and fresh (try the spring salad!) and every pasta dish I’ve tried has been delicious. My favorite thing lately is a special they have every now and then — blackened tilapia over balsamic rice and beans. Love it! The eggplant parmesan is among the best (and hugest serving) I’ve ever had.
The prices are great, especially for downtown! Most entrees are $ 10 or less and pastas include a really nice little salad (try the raspberry or poppyseed dressings — yum!) and fresh, soft sliced Italian bread with super garlicky butter.

Sometimes I feel like brown rice and vegetables for lunch, and sometimes I feel like a large plate of pasta in rich sauce that makes me want to nap on my desk for the rest of the afternoon. When I want the latter, I come here. It’s definitely geared toward the office set who wants to get in and out in under an hour, and they do that very well. Service has never been lacking, in my experience. Pasta dishes are very competent and most are $ 10. My favorite is the penne with chicken, walnuts, and spinach in a sherry cream sauce. Entrees are sizable and come with a small salad.

There are not a ton of quick and affordable sit-​down lunch spots in this part of town. This is one of the better choices — the food is good, service is friendly, and the prices are reasonable. I can’t recall at this point which of the pasta dishes I’ve tried, but they were all good — not great but enjoyable. Antipasto starters were extremely good. Decent wine list and the per-​glass pricing is not too bad.
I was also lucky enough to try this place for a private catered event. Their staff was extremely attentive; we were given great options for food selections for our budget; and the size and ambiance of the restaurant are perfect for small business or family holiday parties.

It is hard to find a place in downtown CLE where you can sit down and enjoy lunch, and leave for under $ 20.00. Porcelli’s is that place! The menu is HUGE (which can be intimidating) — and they consistently have 10 — 12 specials as well. I tend to venture to whatever wheat pasta special they have, which is normally in a yummy white wine sauce and over packed with veggies galore. How can I complain?
Whether you’re looking for chicken parm, eggplant parm, spaghetti, ravs, tortellini, alfredo, cavatelli, gnocchi, lasagna and/​or everything in between — they have it! Don’t be scared to ask, because they welcome substitutions and additions. It’s a great little hole in the wall Italian spot!

I really enjoyed my experience at porcellis went there on a Monday night with two if my daughters and a friend. We had excellent service Sherry is amazing and Stacy who was not even our server was also quick to help.
They brought out fries for my youngest and I enjoyed a good bottle of wine thanks to the wine knowledge displayed by Sherry. I highly recommend it.
The food was very good as I expected Sergio is one of the best chefs in Cleveland.

Had lunch w/​meh boys at Porcelli’s the other day. I had the Fish n Chips. What was I thinking at an Italian restaurant? Evidently, it didn’t matter. My buddies had pasta. One had chicken pasta with a white sauce and capers and the other guy had some linguini in meat sauce.
After we finished our meal we all discussed how the food was. We all kind of shrugged and said, «it was just okay, not bad, not good, just okay». I think we were being polite.
The place was pretty packed and I think I know why. Despite the attractive, all female wait staff during lunch, the food was mediocre at best. Don’t get the Fish n Chips.