The Porch

My two sisters and I went here for dinner this evening. What a lovely place to enjoy dinner! The Porch is conveniently located on 6^th Ave. just south of Atlantic Ave. it is a charming, southern-​plantation «feel» of a home. There are six cozy tables inside, but far more space outside in a garden-​like setting. We sat outside. Very comfortable. We enjoyed wine and Tito vodka cosmos. Wonderful. The fresh baked warm rolls were delicious with the accompanying olive oil, herbs and tomatoes. We shared the Italian mozzarella, tomato and arugula salad, and it was plentiful for three. My entrée was fresh snapper with shrimp, mussels and calamari. Scrumptious!!! Our server was lovely! We never felt rushed or left waiting for anything. Perfect place for a romantic date night, or a midweek treat. I would encourage you to enjoy this lovely, unhurried delicious dinner experience.

Terrible place. Surprised they’re still in business. Waited over an hour and a half for food. My plate came out 20 minutes after everyone else was served. Waiter with an unapologetic attitude. Food mediocre

My fiancé and I have eaten at many nice restaurants and there is something special about the porch. The food is amazing and the service has a personal touch. This is the best kept secret in Delray Beach and I highly recommend it to anyone.

my husband and I have been by this places dozens of times and remarked how lovely and quant the place looks. We finally dined there last night and it was a terrible experience. The food was decent but the service was terrible from start to finish. We arrived 15 minutes early for our reservation. We were greeted by a young man, host, I guess? Who explained things were very disorganized. He seemed confused and very flustered. We were seated at a table that was unset. The waitress came over and without any introduction or even a hello asked «have you had a chance to look at the menu?» We said no, but would like settings. She looked up from her pad and said «oh sorry,» she ran off. I assumed she was getting our napkins, etc. the bus boy bought over bread but still no settings. After a time, I called our waitress over and asked again for settings. She said they were all out and someone was in the back rolling them up. What?! We ordered a drink, which I had to ask for twice. I excused my self to use the ladies room and heard staff screaming at each other from the kitchen with the f word dropped more then a few times. Finally ate our dinner, which was decent. Never saw our waitress again. We were delivered our check by another very frazzled looking young man who told me his name was John. I asked for the manager and was informed by John is was the manager, sort of (?) I told him about our experience and how disappointed we were with the service. He started making excuses «you know how chefs can be» unbelievable! After he realized I wasn’t buying that he began apologizing and promising to make it right if we gave the place another chance. Overall, the staff appeared to be disorganized and ill prepared to handle the patrons dining that evening. I have never experienced anything like this before. Our dinner check was over $ 130 for 2 people. I expect way more then what we got based on that.

food is good bad service — they need to get the act together staff needs to go.

Food good. Service mixed. Billing overwhelmed the staff this evening for us and around us.

Great atmosphere and food is good. Problem
Is if you have all night to wait for your food then I suggest it. Service is horrible took over and hour to get food.

Wow where to begin with the disappointment. After enjoying multiple wonderful dinners in Delray this is the most disappointing restaurant I’ve ever been to. We sat one hour before receiving a salad and a beat salad in fact only there were no beats and a horrible dressing and soggy lettuce. After waiting another 30 minutes we canceled our entrées and left the restaurant. How is this place still in business? With all the fabulous choices in Delray do yourself a service and do not waste your time going to the porch!

This place is a hidden gem! Great food, great service. Please try them you will not be disappointed

It was ok. Nothing special. They advertised piZza on their on line menu and the sign out front but apparently that is a weekday thing only. The service was just ok. Short ribs was very good. But all in all. Nothing special and not worth recommending

Went on a rainy night and had an excellent experience at The Porch. The restaurant has such a cozy feel being in a refurbished house from the early 1900s. My fiancé and I sat at a table by the fireplace, which was really fun since this isn’t usually an option as most restaurants. When we were seated, we ordered drinks, an appetizer and main courses. All came out correct, tasting yummy, and within a reasonable amount of time. Also, the servers were talkative and attentive. We ordered the beef carpaccio appetizer which came out tasting great. For our entrées, we ordered the butternut squash ravioli and linguini with clams. Both of them tasted amazing, fresh, and really flavorful. We’d definitely go back and order these items again. We both left feeling satisfied and mentioned we’d come back again and bring our family.

A group of 6 of us dined here– we were tired of the restaurants on Atlantic Avenue, and this restaurant looks so cute.
It was raining, so we had to sit inside versus outside. Inside, the décor is cute– but the lights were awfully bright for a nice dinner, and there wasn’t any music playing, and the tables are close together. So, you hear everyone in the restaurant’s conversations.
Not a single one of us had a good meal.
Horseradish crusted salmon– bland, and OH so dry. Salmon shouldn’t tear up the roof of your mouth.
Arugula salad– sounds so great on the menu. There were like 2 olives, 2 pieces of artichoke… The salad is 90% lettuce.
Lobster bisque– awful. «It was literally the worst I could imagine», said the guy who had it. There wasn’t any cream in the bisque. Imagine lobster broth, and that’s pretty spot on.
Beef carpaccio– no olive oil, no crustinis/​flatbread/​bread/​etc.
Our group ordered a bottle of prosecco ($ 42, according to the menu) and a bottle of wine. When the check came, we were charged $ 55 for the bottle of prosecco. We brought this to the waiters attention, and he came back and lowered the price to $ 45. Ok… Seriously? We were the largest party at the restaurant all night, and they were trying to up charge us? Tacky.
The women’s restroom does not have air conditioning.
All in all– AWFUL experience. Go to Dada, Sundy House, or 32 East of you want a nice dinner. Run, don’t walk, from The Porch.

I love the porch. The old house, outdoor, rustic, candlelit atmosphere makes it very comfortable. It’s a romantic place. It’s also very quiet so probably better for a seasoned couple not a first date where that kind of silence could be awkward. Not a good place for children, the menu does not accommodate a young palate and they would disturb the entire place if they were loud.
The food is consistently great. My boyfriend and I like to split the orecchiette with broccoli rabe and the under the brick chicken. Unfortunately they’re closed until November for renovations. Fingers crossed these dishes are still on the menu! They also have a full bar.
I’ve some of the best waiter service at this place. They’re very nice and attentive. Our waitress recognized us on our second visit and gave us a free key lime pie– which is now my favorite key lime pie and I’ve eaten key lime pie in a lot of places.
They have a parking lot directly north of the restaurant. No valet
Update: They’re re-​opening November 1^st 2015

Being from Manhattan, i have say finding great food in Florida has not been easy for me. Until my friend Sheryl“s birthday dinner. Seafood at its best, those Martini“s. Love that its away from the noisy Atlantic ave area. Will be taking my family there soon

Shame but they are only open Thurs Friday and Saturday. Who does this? Was recently staying in Delray and called wanting to go. Decided to go to Tryst instead. Better decision.

Visited The Porch once before with friends and had a delightful meal/​experience. So why one star you ask?
I hoping to get the owner/​managers attention.
My husband and I walked in last night at 6:45ish. At first a young bus boy told us to pick any table. As we looked around to choose we were then scooped up by a lovely young lady who asked if we had a reservation. We looked around at approximately 7 seated and 12 or more unseated tables, smiled and said no.
The hostess/​waitress asked us to have a seat at the bar. When asked why we couldn’t have a table but she replied that we would need to wait so «we can give you service.»
Well we stood at the bar for 20 mins or more as waiters and the lovely young lady who seemed ill prepared passed us with a term we would call eye avoidance. The waitress ran back and forth from bar to table and table to bar to kitchen over and over never seeming to have more than one or two items in her hand at a time. In between that she would chat a bit with her table. Two people came in after us who did have a reservation and where promptly seated. Oh and two male waiters and a bar tender also where busy but everyone looked frightened and understaffed as well. No one ever looked our way.
No one ever came back to talk to us, update us nor did the bartender even ask us if we were thirsty.
After being ignored for what seemed as 30 mins… We left feeling sorry that we couldn’t have had a little more respect and communications from the eye avoiding, seemingly overwhelming and underprepared staff.
As a local downtown Delray Resident who will support local restaurants in the summer when all visitors are long gone, I’m hoping someone that has control at The Porch will hear me.
Please train your staff to be respectful of all visitors seated or not, whether a table reserved or not. Also perhaps a dedicated hostess… a high school student @ minimum wage could make a big difference in the organization of welcoming and seating your patrons.
All eye avoiding waitstaff: You’ll never know who the big tippers are so don’t assume. You’re there to be ambassadors of the establishment. I’m sure you can figure out how to serve and respectfully communicate to all patrons even if it’s not your assigned position. Just speak to anyone who may choose to visit your establishment.
And hello owner/​manager we loved our first visit and perhaps too many people called out sick last night But on a street of lots of restaurants to choose from… If someone chooses yours and is willing to pay your prices… It is a complement that should be highly prized.
Waiter/​hostess make eye contact, even if your understaffed and overwhelmed. Come back and give someone a table and explain we are backed up so it may take a little bit.
It only takes a second to smile say hi and say we will be with you in a minute. Lovely waiter, we chose to come in to YOUR restaurant last night and wanted to enjoy the location, meal, leave a great tip and support your employer so that you can remain liquid and pay your bills.
Hello??? Hope you just had a bad night.

Outrageous prices, small portions and a waste of a nice venue.
Beef Carpaccio — $ 14.95, mostly greens with a dressing so rich with lemon it was downright sour, and not in a good way. (Had to ask, but thankfully got it taken off out bill since we stopped after 2 bites)
$ 28 for 4 small ravioli on the Ravioli Aragosta — tasted great, but expected more. Left down $ 75+ and went through 3 servings of bread just hoping to get $‘s worth and not leave starving.

The Porch was a pleasant surprise, mostly because we’re frequently disappointed with many overpriced-​but-​often-​mediocre restaurants on Atlantic Avenue, so it was good to find a restaurant with tasty food at decent prices. Oh, and you can have a conversation without yelling!
And as for the 1 or 2 scathing reviews — it just didn’t seem likely, when this restaurant is busy every night, even out of season. We were not disappointed and would definitely return.
We sat inside as it was hot and humid, and it was a lovely atmosphere — smart/​casual without being pretentious. Our group of 5 had a mixture of main courses, ranging from fish, to pasta, to flatbread pizza. Everyone was delighted with their choice. The pasta was home-​made and the sauces were prepared with fresh ingredients. Fresh seemed to be the theme of the evening, as even the mango in the salsa had been picked from the tree outside :-)
Good range of wines, friendly and professional staff and a gorgeous setting in a quaint little house on the corner, just off the Ave. We are looking forward to visiting again in the cooler months, when we can enjoy sitting outside.

I was really excited to try this place out. The menu looked great, the location is nice and the restaurant itself looks really cute and inviting.
With that being said, when we got there we couldn’t find ANY parking whatsoever, so my boyfriend dropped my mom and I off to go get our table and he would find a space. It literally took him 45 minutes to find a place to park. He ended up having to park way down the street in a sketchy little area and he was literally worried the entire time that either someone would break into his bmw or that he would get a ticket or towed. So that whole thing kind of started our night off on a sour note. If this place wants to succeed they really need to do something about the parking situation and most definitely should hire a valet stand. I don’t even understand why they wouldn’t have valet…
So then my mom and I wanted to order wine, first off their wine menu SUCKS, they have a terrible selection, my mom asked to sample the pinot grigio before she ordered it and our waitress (who clearly had a bad attitude and looked like she didn’t want to be there) said «I am not sure if we allow that i will be right back» (in regards to being able to sample it). We have never been to a restaurant where having a taste of wine would ever be an issue, so that just set a bad vibe and it didn’t make my mom happy, but the waitress ended up letting her have a sample, but only allowed her to take a sip instead of finishing the sample of wine, like all other restaurants let you do.
We ordered two appetizers: a shrimp cocktail and the prosciutto wrapped dates (that are apparently supposed to be amazing). I asked for extra cocktail sauce, and when they brought out the shrimp cocktail sauce there was no extra sauce so I had to ask again. The shrimp were really tough and over cooked and tasted like it had butter on it. We were not impressed. We realized we never got the prosciutto wrapped dates, so when we inquired about it to our waitress (whom took FOREVER to track down) she said she didn’t remember us ordering it. Which i distinctly remember ordering it because she said it was a very good appetizer. We re submitted our order for the other appetizer and surprisingly got them quickly, but nobody was impressed by them or liked them, they were actually gross.
Our waitress was literally MIA the entire time, and we could see from where we were sitting that all of the waiters and waitresses were in the back of the restaurant outside drinking beers and smoking, it was really upsetting and such a turn off that the owner would allow that when clearly diners have a perfect view of all that nonsense going on, its very trashy.
Finally after waiting so long we were able to order our entrée. Our entrees took FOREVER to get. I wasn’t impressed by the food at all. They have things on their menu with truffle oil… however in some of the dishes we ordered that specifically state they are truffle oil dishes, we could not taste ANY truffle oil. So maybe on their menu they shouldn’t state that there is truffle oil if you can’t taste it. I got a salad that was supposed to have white truffle oil on top and there was absolutely NONE.
Someone in our group ordered this seafood risotto type of thing and they just didn’t like it at all but didn’t complain because they felt bad because of the face that every little thing was going wrong. But the risotto was just overcooked, too rich, and it was too sticky. The only thing people actually liked during this meal was the desserts we ordered which was a key lime pie and a chocolate mousse.
We all ordered another round of wine and cocktails… everyone else got their wine except for my boyfriend and I… I had to ask twice to get my wine and I finally got it but they still did not bring out my boyfriends drink… It took 3 times asking 3 different people and he finally got his drink.
The service was just over all really bad and our butts were all very sore from sitting so long on the extremely UNCOMFORTABLE chairs that they have outside. Has the owner even sat down in those chairs to see how uncomfortable they are? In what world does he think that is acceptable?
I was really disappointed with this overall experience, I really wanted to like this place but I will most definitely not be back till they fix some things, and I definitely would NOT recommend anybody coming to this place, there are far better restaurants in Delray with way better service.
They could have so much potential if they fix these things: Fix the parking situation, get cushions on all the patio furniture because the seats are so uncomfortable, make sure the waitresses have a nice attitude and wipe their sour puss faces off (especially the blonde with black glasses that has like a wisconsin type of accent), don’t allow smoking on the porch, don’t allow your staff to drink and smoke in the back where we can see it, and overall have better service, and use truffle oil as well!

cute place with tons of outdoor seating on ‘The Porch’ of course, very friendly staff and they were being as accommodating as they could. We made a reservation for two and they had set up a table right by the door. I asked if we could sit away from the door and they shuffled some things around to make room for us in the main seating area, which was really nice.
We wondered why this was even necessary, since there were loads of empty tables surrounding us. Those empty tables did fill up by the time we left, so we understood better then. Yet… i do feel that if the food had come out quicker, we would’ve easily finished our meal and left before the other reserved tables filled up.
the mussels were AMAAAAZING, loved every bite! the bruschetta was also very tasty. the beef carpaccio was a miss… nothing memorable and overpriced.
Our waitress was very nice, but the food coming out was a bit on the slow side so if they could work on that I feel that this would be a top notch place that I would love to return to!