Espo’s Trattoria

I love coming here! The service is always fantastic, the food is great and they run awesome specials. Tonight my fiancé and I went in so I could get my lobster fix; they are currently running a twin 1 pound lobster special for $ 16.99…which is unheard of. My man not being so keen on things from the sea opted for penne vodka with chicken. We shared a bottle of prosecco and had a giant meatball for an appetizer. Everything was perfect. I’m so happy to live so close to such a great place.

This was my 4^th visit (Sunday, May 15^th) and it’s gone from really great to down right terrible. Fresh house made fried mozzarella came out as frozen cheese sticks with red sauce. Those, they had the nerve to charge $ 8
My guest and I ordered shrimp scampi, Gorgonzola linguini, house salad and a Caesar salad. Salads came out one at a time and at some time during that, the server came out with the cheese sticks she had forgotten. Salads were ok for coming with the meal I guess.
My friends Gorgonzola pasta said it tasted ok. My shrimp scampi was just wrong in every way. The cook came running out with our pasta, half tripped spilling scampi milk on floor before it landed on table. I ate most of the shrimp and left the rest. It was swimming in milk that didn’t spill on floor. Nobody came to us to see how we were doing or care that our experience is terrible. We started to wave cc until another server took it. We left wo any kind of interaction except giving our order. She didn’t ever come back, so our table had all its plates full of food on it. Only empty thing would be my dry drink glass.
I think she knew she was terrible and as we went to exit she actually darted into kitchen as if to avoid what would be an uncomfortable moment for her. I tipped reluctantly 10 on 60. As a person in the food industry I couldn’t give nothing which is what the entire experience was worth. I’ve told so many people about this.
Mgmt, if you see this, the next lesson would be to take a look at your restaurant before you have the nerve to open patio adding more seating with no service.

Very nice dinner at this small and intimate out of the way location in Portland. The wait staff was very welcoming the second I came in the door. I had a meatball appetizer, really good, the ceasars salad — with a house made dressing, loaded with anchovies (as it should be!), and the baked stuffed haddock with an Alfredo sauce. An abundance of food, lots of leftovers, I will return!

Great spot for Italian food. Friendly atmosphere. Not fancy, but the food is great. The Eggplant Parm is my friend’s favorite — he never gets anything else. Thick, rich, delicious! I go for the Shrimp Scampi (only $ 12.99!) and always have to take half home. It’s creamy, with wonderfully sweet tiny chips of garlic and lemony cheesy sauce. The shrimp are cooked just right. Along with a nice glass of wine or beer, it is a very satisfying meal. Before ordering they bring out home-​made Italian herb bread and small plates so you can create your own dipping sauce from choices of Olive Oil, grated Parmesan cheese with rosemary, salt and pepper. Desserts are absolutely enticing, but for me, at least, I would have to return and have JUST dessert and coffee. I cannot possibly fit all this great food into my belly in one visit!

The food came out REALLY fast– alarmingly fast. The calamari came out in literally 60 seconds. Our entrees took roughly 3 minutes, so it was obvious they didn’t even cook the food. The waiter was nice enough to offer to take the calamari off the bill without us even asking (because we had barely touched it). I got the chicken alfredo and it wasn’t good at all. Watery tasteless alfredo sauce, and the chicken was rubbery and low quality. Not impressed!

Small, homey, old timey Italian place. We had bolognese, chicken gorgonzola and penne a la vodka. All cooked to order came out piping hot and delicious. The favorite of the three was the bolognese, the ragu was a tasty combination of beef and pork in a tomato vegetable base. Probably the best bolognese I’ve had in a long time. And the bread is obviously made in house — a nice thick foccacia. This is old time Italian food — simple, well executed and delicious.

Good was stale, 10 sodas flat, and the waitress was rude. Returned our appetizers and asked for our money back and they stalled 30 minutes to say our food was done but literally was putting raw food into to go boxes as we tried to leave. They then demanded payment. If I could give this place a negative 10 I would, worst restaurant experience of my life! Thanks Emilia!

Good food and huge portions. Prices are reasonable. Our waitress was excellent. Definitely a family owned place. If you’re in the area and hungry, stop by!

My family and I went to this restaurant for my birthday and the food was absolutely delicious. I have a few dietary restrictions (gluten free and milk allergy), which I explained to the waitress. Not only did the chef modify his recipe but the waitress, Debbie, went out of her way to make sure that my meal was perfect. I ordered the steak Marsala, which came with gluten free pasta. The marinara sauce was savory, thick, with fresh tomatoes, clinging to the pasta without becoming watery. The steak was pink, soft, juicy, and tender– melting like butter in my mouth. The Marsala sauce beautifully complemented the steak. Both of my parents ordered fish and enjoyed their meals immensely. I cannot recommend this place enough. We will be back!

Hands-​down the best Italian American food in Maine. OK I said Italian-​American. Not traditional Italian, not high-​end Italian, not authentically local grown organic Italian. This is a casual dining restaurant. No high-​class micro portions. Large portions, flavorful food done in a traditional Italian American manner. If you want I am, handmade authentic Italian food I would stick to Trattoria Athena. If you’re looking for meatballs the size of a softball then this is the place for you.

Ate here for the first time after passing the location for years. It’s a classic red sauce place. Good Italian dressing on the salad, nicely done chicken parmigiana with spaghetti. Nothing fancy. Not hittin it out of the ballpark but I’d happily eat here again.

My husband and I went here for dinner last night. We wanted to try it because on the sign it says Homemade Pasta. We always love the chance to try fresh pastas and restaurants that make their own. Just a warning: When I asked if all the pastas were homemade the server informed us, «No just the sauces are homemade.» So the sign and the menu are VERY misleading.
However with that said the food was really good. The foccaccia bread was so good and tasted really fresh. My husband ordered the spaghetti and meatballs. It was very good and the 2 meatballs you get are the size of a baby’s head!!! They were huge! I got the stuffed shells. They were the best I have had.
The service started out rough as we were sat and then ignored. However, when someone came over she said we weren’t supposed to be her table but she would help since the other girl «seemed busy.» I appreciated her taking the initiative to come over.
Nice meal… Decently priced… decent service… very misleading signage and menu.

Small restaurant. Food comes out in a reasonable time. Food tastes pretty good. Service is usually good as well.

favoloso–
This place doesn’t look like much from the outside. Even when you walk in they have old benches stored in the entrance hallway. Don’t be fooled by the shabby appearance, the food in outstanding. This place is a true definition of hole in the wall.
I came here for lunch and was so pleasantly surprised. I only wish I lived closer.
We started off with the stuffed mushrooms. They were huge, filling, great pieces of shrimp in there. A wonderful portion of stuffing and seafood.
For our entrees with had shrimp scampi and chicken marsala both served over spinach. I love they have the option of spinach instead of pasta. We could have easily licked out plates clean.
This place is worth the drive. A+++

This place is a traditional Italian American restaurant: friendly service and big portions of traditional, carb-​heavy, red sauce heavy Italian classics. This place isn’t at the cutting edge of the gastronomic world, but its tasty and filling. If you really like this style of food, you’ll love this place. I found it good, although I tend to prefer other more innovative Italian restaurants in town.
The highlights of the meal were: friendly, helpful wait staff, good eggplant parmesan, good baked chicken, and nice fresh salads. We got a second meal out of our leftovers. The tab was $ 50 including an appetizer, 2 entrees, and drinks.
The only complaint was that the calamari was a bit greasy and soggy.

Went here with a group of 6 before the Portland Marathon. My friend had called and made reservations. We arrived on time and they claimed to NOT have gotten a reservation…
After a short wait we were sat at a table with no lighting in front of a strange wall air conditioner with a sign on it that said do not touch. We asked our server to turn it off as it was FREEZING which he did. After getting served 4 flat sodas we were starting to wonder what was going on. Dirty plates were left on a ledge near our table. We ordered and got some salads first. We sat around and waited for the server to come back so we could ask for silverware. He didn’t and someone got up and asked for some. Terrible…
We were all really regretting our decision before the food came out. I wish I had left at that point. The chicken parm I ordered was hands down the worst I’ve ever had. Tasted like deep fried chicken with jar sauce. Horribly dry and the pasta was watery. I used the water to re-​hydrate the chicken. Had I not been starving I would have sent it back. I ate half and let them throw the rest out. Same with the rest of my party.
Nobody liked their meal. My GFs salmon was horrible. Suddenly the AC went back on again. With our server nowhere in sight we shut it off since having AC blow on you while you are freezing trying to eat bad food is inexcusable. A manager quickly ran over and very unprofessionally yelled at my friend’s wife who was too dumbfounded at the berating to even object. Wow…
We left feeling like we got robbed. On the way out the Open sign was pieced together with duct tape… Pretty much summed this place up. I am not sure how this place has eeked out a positive review from anyone. All around an epic failure, I saw a bartender put a rack of glassware right in front of an eating patron…
Espos, I hereby proclaim, you are the all time worst restaurant I have ever been to in my 33 years of life. I wish you a swift and painless bankruptcy. There is no need for businesses this bad to exist.

Boyfriend and I went to Espo’s last night… we were looking for Italian, but did not want to go to downtown nor pay downtown prices.
The Unilocalers have it right with this hidden jewel on Congress Street, away from downtown.
We first walked in and could smell good cooking! The service was great, I asked for a recommendation and we placed our order for Vodka Penne w/​shrimp and Chix Parm — but I had the sauce fra diavolo style.
Not only were the entrees delicious and good portions for the price, but the tossed salad and the homemade dressing needs to mentioned as well.
I didn’t give 5 stars b/​c I wasn’t impressed w/​the bread that was served and the level of cleanliness could use some attention — but make no mistake, I am looking forward to coming back! Next time I will give that caesar salad (with homemade dressing) a try!
Ciao!
I would still love to give this place 5 stars… But the bread is lacking… Cmon Espos, fix the bread offering! Everything else is on point!

Reading all of the reviews on here I was a little skeptical but I have to tell you, I was absolutely pleasantly surprised by this italian family style restaurant. We showed up for a team outing here and ordered a few bottles of wine and some delicious food.
Service — Waitstaff was very attentive and super friendly having fun with all of the people in our party of 8. She was attentive to refill our glasses of Merlot and glasses of water.
Food — First of all, there is a reason why the kitchen staff wear t-​shirts that say the largest meatballs around. We ordered some fried calamari that was both tender and light, some steamed mussels to pick from in a savory and delicious broth and also a meatball. You ask, A meatball? I can literally say that this meatball we had was one that was the size of a softball packed tight with flavor and punch. It was so tasty dipped in a tasty marinara sauce.
I ordered a portobello mushroom ravioli dish that was rich and flavorful and probably one of the best mushroom style raviolis I have every had (and I have eaten a few). The cream sauce really complimented the pasta and also went really well with the red wine that we were partaking in.
I tried some of my fellow patrons dishes in the lasagna and the spaghetti carbonara. These dishes just tasted like they really care about what they are putting on the plates. Now, i know that there are many italian style restaurants in the great foodie town of Portland, ME but this one is away from downtown and I think is under the radar.
Give this place a try if you like an authentic italian meal and it is ok to bring your family here without worrying about being bombarded with hipsters and beatniks.

I have to admit… I wasn’t expecting much. I am pleased to announce that I was thoroughly satisfied with my meal.
I had the spaghetti and meatballs and they were fantastic (even though I was served angle hair and not spaghetti). I very much enjoyed the bread (rosemary focaccia?) and the cheese+herb+oil that came with it for dipping. The peppermill on each table was a very classy touch and accentuated my meal nicely.
The prices at Espo’s are a little high… which makes sense considering the massive portion sizes. No one at my table was able to finish their meal. It makes me wonder… why not make the portions ²⁄₃ what they currently are and cut the prices by ¹⁄₃. I feel like I would go much more often if prices were a little bit more reasonable.
Either way, I’m sure I will be back. The food was super tasty and the atmosphere quaint.

Large sized portions & good food at reasonable prices. I like the oil + cheese + herbs they provide to dip bread in, and I really like the pepper mill on each table. I like pepper: so many other places provide pre ground pepper in shakers that are so overfilled they don’t shake. How nice it is to be able to gring your own and not have to summon a server or unscrew a shaker top.
I frequently get either the meatball or the eggplant parmigiana. Most of the times they are very good.
Unfortunately, Espo’s is sometimes inconsistent. There have been times when the bread is either stale or has just been taken from the refrigerator. Twice I’ve opted to just eat the entrée and leave the pasta due to once being cooked into mush and once having a funky flavor that I couldn’t identify.
Overall it is good. I keep going back.