Caiola’s

I’ve been a fan of Caiola’s since they opened the doors five years ago. While the dinner menu, and execution of it, definitely harkens back to the owner/chef’s previous gig. There are so many not to miss items on the dinner menu:
Polenta Fries with Smoked Paprika, Cheddar Cheese and a Tomato and Red Pepper Relish
Caesar with Fried Spicy Oysters
Smoked Salmon and Rye Toast with Dill, Pickled Red Onion and Egg
Crispy Maine Crab Cakes with Lime Mayo, Pickled Red Onions and Market Greens
Paella with Grilled Chicken, Chorizo, Mussels, Clams, Shrimp, Saffron Rice, and Peas
Hanger Steak with Potato Galette, Creamed Spinach Gratin and Pinot Shallots
Caiola’s Burger with Bacon, Cheddar Cheese, Homemade Tater Tots and Sautéed Onions
However – it’s the brunch that makes us return again and again. The bloody mary is one of the best, spiciest and well executed in the area. The staff is knowledgeable, passionate and just outright nice people. But, again, it’s the food:
Warm Lost Bread
Homemade Pop-​tart
West Side
Any eggs benny (particularly if they have a special one)
Tostadas
Fish Tacos
Po’ Boy
And the pancakes are the size of a small child.

The wait for brunch was crazy the food was okay but not good enough for having to wait a half hour! My husband had the steak and asked for medium but it came out rare. The waitstaff wasn’t too friendly either.

Ate here for the first time this week and loved it. The Chicken Marsala with a red sauce was unique — red sauce?- and delicious. Served with just a small amount of pasta, it was perfectly prepared and presented. My friends had the cannelloni and raved. Dessert: definitely save room because they are terrific. The butterscotch pudding was fabulous. Chocolate mousse dessert was so-​so; very rich but not one I’m anxious to try again. Caiola’s is moderately expensive: we spent about $ 45./pp for a glass of wine and entrée (and shared desserts) but parking is available and it’s free! The night we were there was busy and our service was kind of «spotty». — it started out well but kind of disintegrated over the evening. I will definitely go back. It’s just that good! Reservations are a must.

It’s been a while since my feelings have been torn by a place, but here I am again! If you’re a fan of sweets, I IMPLORE YOU to come try the Lost Bread during Sunday brunch. Also, don’t make my mistake of trying to get brunch on a Saturday, it simply does not exist here! :P
Anyways, +++ for the lost bread which is a mix of french toast and bread pudding with layers of cream cheese (which I usually despise but I promise it works here). It’s topped with fresh fruit and I honestly should’ve stopped eating after this. Are there such things as breakfast appetizers? I can never tell if pastries can count as breakfast entrees!
Unfortunately, — for the rest of my meal. Please note that it’s not a —, just one little itty bitty -. I’ve been in a strange meat funk lately, so I went for the vegetarian benedict. Not much fun, and I really do love my veggies. Home fries are pretty boring, they’re lightly salted, don’t expect anything grand. Sides of fruit were $ 6 on the menu, but we were charged $ 4 which was fantastic because I really didn’t enjoy the black-​tipped starfruit that came with pretty much everything last weekend. Are starfruit even remotely local or more importantly, in season?
Anyhow, YES on the LOST BREAD; probably yes on the cool brunch specials (I arrived at 1pm so most specials were sold out) and I’ve got to say nay on veggie benedicts.

Very disappointed.
Tried to go in for brunch a couple weekends ago, they were busy but a couple tables were open. Three or four staff members walked by without so much as a smile or «someone will be right with you.» After about 5 minutes of being completely ignored, the hostess came out and acted surprised to see people who wanted to dine there. When we were told there was a 30 minute wait even though there were many empty tables, we left and figured we’d give it another shot some other time.
And another shot we did… Tonight for dinner. The beer menu was honestly probably the worst in the city. We decided to stick with water. The dinner menu is extremely limited for vegetarians. The vegetarian entrée was cauliflower with hummus and pita essentially. Are you kidding me?
We went instead with a couple of salads and appetizers to split. Bread came to the table; a single sliver each. At least it came with very good scallion butter.
The Caesar salad with fried mussels tastes like it was dressed with water. The mussels however, were pretty tasty. The house salad was just a spring mix. No onions or any accoutrement.
The fish and chips was the worst I’ve ever had. It was not at all light and crispy, quite the opposite in fact… It was extremely salty also.
The potatas bravas were mushy potato wedges with a thick tomato sauce and cilantro. Also, worst patatas bravas I’ve ever had. Italian meets Mexican? No thanks.
The Brussels sprouts were alright but the blue cheese on top was not a good complement. Again, worst Brussels sprouts I’ve had in the city. (And I love blue cheese).
Polenta fries were the highlight of the meal for me, although my company did not enjoy them.
For dessert, the coconut cake was very good. It came out warm but didn’t taste old and nuked in a microwave. It tasted fresh and well thought out with cream cheese ice cream and lime curd.
The $ 3 cookies were much bigger than expected. Each one could have been a dessert in itself. The shortbread with salt was your classic shortbread although a bit dry. The walnut biscotti was burned on the bottom and hard as a rock. I will probably eat the rest for breakfast tomorrow with coffee.
Their ice cream flavors, although creative, were terrible. I like a weird, not-​too-​sweet ice cream, but the bitter orange was grainy and inedible. The guava sorbet was better, but I wouldn’t really call it good.
Service was alright although she seemed inexperienced and aloof. Atmosphere pretty nice and cozy. Prices reasonable. I think the place has potential and have heard that they do great baked goods for brunch. I think that would be the only reason I would go back.

Great little place in the west end! Had both brunch and dinner, I would say dinner was amazing and brunch average. I was there for brunch however on Easter and they were very busy so that probably played a part. Dinner was very good, they squeezed us in, the waiter was incredibly knowledgable about the menu and answered lots of questions!

This review is for Sunday brunch, which is a Caiola’s staple. Parking is available in their lot, but it’s hit or miss when they are crowded for brunch. Sunday at 10:30 am was a palatable 30 min wait. They have a nice cocktail menu for brunch, I had the stoli bloody… which was very flavorful with a nice heat balance and three olives and a lime… well done. The warm coffee cake was a table hit, deliciously creamy and flavorful. I’d say it’s a must have.
My poached eggs over hash was well done… not a special hash, but solid, served with home fries, and homemade bread.
Everyone enjoyed their meals, 2 drinks, 4 breakfasts, the coffeecake, 20% tip…$ 65 which is reasonable for the food quality.
Solid 4 stars

I wish I could give it no stars. Made reservations and was told we could sit at the bar. Why make reservations if you’re not going to reserve a table? Horrible service!

PERFECT IN PORTLAND
My oh my this was a TREAT SUPERB DINING — go do not pass this up — service lovely, meal was so delicious, ambiance, wine, was just well… PERFECT IN PORTLAND!
Menu changes daily so check out the website, but the
Polenta Fries with Smoked Paprika, Cheddar Cheese and a Tomato and Red Pepper Relish, don’t miss cause they’re PERFECT IN PORTLAND!
Caesar with Fried Spicy Oysters don’t miss cause they’re PERFECT IN PORTLAND!
Eggplant Parmesan with Spinach Salad and Grilled Olive Breaddon’t miss cause they’re PERFECT IN PORTLAND!

Great dinner. The menu changes often. and the food is well prepared and seasoned. Atmosphere is casual (but we also sat near the kitchen door). There is a second dining room beyond the kitchen (and when you pass through you can see them cooking!) and a deck beyond. Looking forward to going back and see what’s on the updated menu (constantly changing).

Brunch was very nice. Call to make a reservation, though, to save yourself a wait.
Not having a reservation, we waited 40 minutes, but ended up at one of the window seats. Very good coffee (though they didn’t have a non dairy creamer option), and one in our party had a mimosa.
I had a grilled muffin (the special — strawberry, ricotta, and rhubarb — very good!) and the West Side (their version of the basic, two egg breakfast). Perfect, crispy bacon, and great, fried hash browns. My over medium eggs were a little over done (it’s hard to tell where a restaurant is going to functionally fall on the done-​ness of over easy/​over medium eggs).
The wife had an omelette with goat cheese and bacon, and they subbed out toast for the house grits! Our friends loved the Eggs Benedict (very good, light hollandaise!) and the Eggs Tostata.
It was a lovely way to spend a rainy, Sunday morning.

To be fair, I would say this is a tale of two restaurants. Caiolas weekend brunch is pretty spectacular with some very delicious dishes including the warm lost bread and a consistent collection of eclectic egg dishes. On the other hand, the brunch scene has exploded in this town and they have some tremendous competition for the money. Other places that are knocking it out of the park every single weekend.
The three times I have had dinner at Caiolas, I have been consistently disappointed. It is a high price point restaurant with good food, but is being left I’m the dust by the array of amazing restaurants opening all over town. To be fair, I think they were a part of the first wave of restaurants to elevate the dining scene around here, I would urge them to rethink their menu and price point. Bottom line; yes for brunch, no for dinner.

Sunday Brunch:
Deviled eggs
Brunch coffee cake
Fried rice with fiddleheads in soy ginger
Dark and stormy
Beet and Basil Martini

The Good: Brunch. All of it. 5 stars.
The Bad: Dinner. 1 star.
Very disappointed by dinner.
I’d heard so much good about the burger, especially. It was a tiny, absurdly overcooked hockey puck presented on crispy white toast.
Rissotto was ok, lobster bisque was puréed and grainy. Might as well have been butternut squash shop. None of the expected briny goodness.
The vibe is nice, but only worth the spendy ticket for brunch.

Great little neighborhood Italian restaurant. Limited parking, but street parking available within 2 blocks.
I ordered the Caesar salad with spicy fried oysters. The salad was nice and crisp with 5 really spicy oysters.
For the entrée, I ordered the eggplant Parmesan. It was wonderful with thin layers stacked about 3 inches tall.
Nice, reasonably priced Italian wines.
I would make early reservations to get a parking place behind the restaurant.

A cute little place with great service.
We stopped here for brunch one Sunday afternoon, never having been there before but we’d driven by often. Brunch was pretty packed, we had to wait a little for a table and then it felt like perhaps the waitress forgot about us once we were seated. I quickly warmed up once our waitress did come over to introduce herself, she was incredibly polite and very welcoming!
I ordered the veggie benedict, which was good, but not a zinger. They used sliced baked bread instead of english muffins, it was a nice change and the bread was toasted and crunchy which I loved. The home fries were a little on the ‘meh’ side, small and slightly chewy. Overall I was sorta bummed about how unexciting brunch was. I would love to stop back in and try something else on the menu, but for now, Caiola’s has not stolen my brunch heart.

Another fabulous brunch. Veggie benedict, coffee cake, Bloody Mary and really good coffee. Our waitress (Emma) was spot on good. I love the neighborhood feel of this restaurant. Makes me want to move to the west end!

We ended up at Caiola’s at the last minute without knowing much about the restaurant, but we had a great meal that we were able to take our time and enjoy.
We ordered the cheese board and oysters to start. Not that cheese boards ever disappoint, but the selection and accompaniments paired nicely. The oysters tasted fresh and briny.
For our mains, we ordered the mussels and corn risotto and shared. The corn flavor of the risotto was prominent, but I couldn’t take more than a couple of bites because it was so rich. The mussels were tender and were rich with the flavor of the garlic broth. The bread served as a starter was perfect for dunking into the broth, so I recommend saving some!
For dessert we finished with a honey tart that was sweet and custardy. The portion is probably too big for one person (if you’ve already eaten a full meal), but it’s great to split.
If we’re ever in Portland again, we’ll most likely return to Caiola’s…but this time, we’ll try brunch!

I’ll start out by saying, this is a GREAT Portland gem. The only thing that I didn’t enjoy is having to walk through the kitchen to get to the outside deck.
On another note, my uncle and I arrived prior to the rest of the group and we grabbed a drink at their bar that seats about 6 people. My uncle, particular about his drinks, asked if the bartender knew how to make a «real» manhattan — and he did! Despite his fruitful age (a ripe 26 or so), he knew his mixology, both traditional and contemporary. I settled for a glass of sauv blanc, my go to.
The 8 of us were seated comfortably in a back corner, close to the kitchen. There was a massive AC unit above our heads, but surprisingly enough, it was just enough air circulation so we didn’t get cold or have a kitchen smell surrounding us.
Due to time constrictions, we each just ordered an entrée and skipped the appetizers. I (obv) had the mussels, which were delicous. They had a spicey tomato broth and capers which was a great blend of flavors. Most of the group had fresh pasta dishes, all which were equisite. My cousin had a tenderloin and was cooked to perfection, I believe he ordered his med-​rare. We topped everything off with crème brûlée and probably my favorite in all the city.
The service was very gracious and helpful, despite the busy dinner hour. The restaurant itself is more pricey than some in the city, but well worth the extra bit. I can’t wait to return!

I’m going to be so bold as to give Caiola’s a five star review, simply because this is probably the best brunch I’ve had in Portland since we moved here two years ago. I don’t know why it took me so long to go to Caiola’s but last Sunday it just felt right. We got there pretty early around ⁹⁄₉₃₀ so we were ahead of the brunch curb, but still got the perks of the brunch menu. The waiter and the gentlemen who served us drinks were both very similar looking so we were sort of confused at first. Both great guys, just dopplegangers with almost the same job. I asked our waiter for recommendations and went with everything he suggested.
We started off sharing a plate of the fried fiddleheads with a small rich cream sauce, capers, with parmasean and lemon included in the breading too. I highly recommend them. The waiter also suggested the Eggs Tostada which was a great dish with unique flavors. Each component had it’s own flavor from the black beans to the tomatoes, to the crisp tortillas. My veggie eggs benedict was pretty good but the veggies were a little too wet for my taste (maybe oil from the pan?). Good flavor though and the toast was crisp and delicious.
I’ll definitely be back here for brunch and maybe even dinner sometime!