Piccolo

As part 2 of my Marriage Proposal extravaganza, I went looking for a restaurant with a good reputation and will to work with me on a special evening. Piccolo’s jumped in feet first; window seat, flower arrangements, four courses of delicious Italian fare, custom menu’s as a keepsake, and excellent communication. All at a very fair price.
The atmosphere is cozy, with a limited number of seats. The owners personally check in on their tables (not just with us), the food is very light in the European tradition. A wonderful find, well deserving of the National mentions they have received.

I cannot speak highly enough about Piccolo. The staff goes out of their way to ensure your dining experience is nothing less than excellent. Our waitress was wonderful. She gave us wonderful recommendations for food and wine. Everything we tasted was absolutely delicious. Definitely a meal I won’t soon forget.

Enjoyed dinner here last weekend with another couple. Fun place, very small and intimate, yet never disruptive with noise from other tables. Food was excellent, but one note of caution to anyone who, like me, might have certain food items that don’t appeal to you. My wife thinks I’m fussier than I actually am, but I’ll admit that I’m not a fan of kale, monkfish, and a few other things, and I was a little concerned at first glance at the menu, which mirrors the restaurant’s diminutive size. But I did find something, it was delicious, the service was excellent, and the company was fun. Enjoyable evening. Go.

As always, Piccolo was a wonderful experience! Everything from the baby octopus and brussels sprouts to the cavatelli was perfectly prepared and delicious. Our server, Kelly, was attentive and paid attention to all of the details. This is a must dine at place in Portland!

This place is fantastic. The husband and wife team are a dynamic duo. Wines by the glass were excellent and unique. Apps, entrees and desserts were all exceptional. The restaurant is very small, so reservations are recommended.

Oh Piccolo.
My friends (including but not limited to Unilocalers) have raved about this place. I came with high hopes and expectations (and also a little late, sorry Simone!).
The food was great. I loved my breakfast and INHALED it. I also like that they have bottomless mimosas for brunch. HOWEVER…
…the execution of the above left a lot to be desired. Our server was PAINFULLY slow and not even apologetic about the pace. It was not busy and yet we waited and waited repeatedly for even a refill on our mimosas. I’m always one to cut the servers some slack. Having worked in the restaurant business, I understand having one server and maybe ten people can get a little hectic. If something is wrong, if the delay is for a reason, all I ask is that you let us know and pretend to be a little contrite. No wailing or lamenting, but a simple sorry would be nice.
Four stars for the food. Two stars for the service.
I might be back someday, but only if forced by friends.

Artisan Italian food supplied by the amazing chef at Piccolo.
Due to the limited menu and the artisanal nature of some of the offerings, Piccolo may not be for everyone. But, if you enjoy artisanal Italian food in a small intimate setting, Piccolo is right for you.
I never expected to find a place like this in Portland. In D.C., Piccolo would be a large hit.
Amazing!

Wonderful experience in this charmingly tiny Italian restaurant. Loved the foie gras appetizer, seared to perfection. Eclectic Italian wine list as well.

This was one of the best dining experiences I have had in a long time. It was the full package. From the small and quaint dining room to the excellent service and food. The different combinations of ingredients in their dishes were out of this world. I had a crispy kale salad with a type of cold cheese with citrus to start off with. It was perfect. For dinner I had the ink pasta with tuna. Wow. The pasta was cooked to perfection and the tuna was very flavorful. Our waitress was extremely knowledgeable and attentive to our table. My boyfriend and I found this great restaurant on Unilocal and read the reviews. It definitely lived up to it’s standards. Definitely plan accordingly by making a reservation. It is worth it.

I had the most amazing evening at Piccolo last night. The atmosphere, the menu, the WINE, the staff, the lighting, the smell, the taste, the company, all stunning and comes together for a perfect meal.
Imagine this:
2 bottles of delicious red.
Macrel TarTar, squid ink, fresh bread.
Hand made pasta. Lamb ragu. Cod. Aged sirloin.
Italian chocolate.
More Wine.
The staff here is PHENOMENAL. So talented, so knowledgeable. So friendly. So graceful. I will go here a million times more.

I went here for my husband’s birthday and we had a great experience. When we went it was a snowy evening, which just amplified the extreme coziness of this little place. They tucked us in a corner by the window, and it felt like we were the only people there (even though about 10 other people were having dinner at the same time).
The food was soul-​satisfying. I don’t know how they did it, but somehow you could feel the chef’s love of food in the dishes. I got the cavatelli pasta, which tasted like something an Italian grandmother would make. My husband got the wagyu beef, which he devoured embarrassingly quickly.
Also, I need to mention just how GREAT the service was. I forget her name, but the waitress was just the right level of accommodating: considerate without being nosy or pushy. In my online reservation I mentioned that it was my husband’s birthday, and she came out with a candle in his dessert. It was a small touch but very thoughtful.
My only warning would be that the entrees alone are not very large. With an appetizer and dessert, you get a filling meal. With an entrée alone, you may be left wishing for more food.

We went on a Sunday night for a 6 course tasting menu for $ 65. The food was amazing, as expected. I liked how they served my date and I different courses so we got to share– it was kind of like an extra course each time. The Chef came out multiple times to bring us our next course, clear our plates, or just talk to us in general about the food. That was so cool and made it feel so personal.
My only con is that we were there for close to five hours. Waaaay too long for a table of two to spend at a restaurant. We had to wait a very long time in between courses, and I think they should speed that up.

I had an amazing dining experience at Piccolo. I dined here on a snowy Wednesday night with a larger than average group of people. The space is small but it didn’t feel cramped. The service was fantastic. Our server really knew the components to each dish, was friendly, and patient with our many questions. The server let us know that they could accomodate any dietary restrictions and so I asked them to make me a pasta without mushrooms and without cheese. What I got was probably the best pasta dish I’ve had in Porland. I had a hazelnut pasta with olives, nuts, and squash and it was so flavorful. It really hit every note and I was beyond satisfied. I also tried my husband’s chickpea fries which were equally as delicious. For dessert, I tasted a bite of the chocolate budino. I’m not usually a chocolate dessert lover but this was delicious.
Everything about the night was spectacular. I tried the craft cider (Bantam) which was so good that I had two. I like a cider that is not too sweet and this one was perfect! I can not say enough about this place, they really do a great job all around!

Love love loved my experience at Piccolo! If I weren’t walking I may have missed it for it is a humble location with an intimate interior. Starting to sound like a perfect candidate for a future date night.
Next criterion: alcohol. The wine and beer list was impressive. It had a variety of drinks that would suit any preference and the hostesses were very knowledgable about all the offerings. I tried the Cesanese red wine and a cider and I would definitely get both again!
Third criterion: service. In addition to the servers being knowledgable (and fully capable of pronouncing all the fancy Italian names), they were friendly and attentive. I was never wanting for anything and every action was performed with a smile. =)
The chefs were so accommodating to the dietary preferences of the table! I was impressed with how each vegetarian order was handled. They didn’t each get a generic dish, but rather a dish tailored to their preferences. It looked tasty and they seemed pleased.
I had the lamb pasta dish (forgive me for not remembering the fancy name) and it was super tasty and hearty. So hearty that I couldn’t finish it (well the cheese platter and bread helped with that) but I was so happy to bring the rest into work the next day. I’m sure my coworkers were jealous.
Last criterion: dessert! They have dessert wines and coffees but I went for the good stuff – Italian funnel cake. It was fried with fennel seeds and covered with powdered sugar and honey. So so so tasty (that’s the word of the night). The dough was light and had the right amount of crisp on the outside. I also sampled a friend’s chocolate cake and it was super rich. Both desserts are winners.
Not gonna lie all of this added up, but it was worth every penny. The service, venue, food quality, and flavors are all worth the price and experience. I had a great night out with friends, but next time I hope to make it a night for two with my special someone.

Piccolo is charming… such a small building tucked next to the Police Department, you might miss it if you weren’t intentionally looking for it. The restaurant seats only twenty people and is full almost every single night of the year — I now know why!
My friends and I had the chance to check it out and were treated to a night of exceptional service and food:
The wine (beer, and even lone cider) selection (s) are just delightful and reasonably priced.
The cheese board was only $ 11 (like cocktails, cheese boards in this city are beginning to be irrationally expensive, so it’s a breath of fresh air that Piccolo has their’s set at such a low price) and featured three very unique cheeses (one tasted like a thick Greek yogurt, one had an ashy/​herby rind and was sort of blue cheese-​y in flavor, and the other was thick and would have made an exceptional, tangy grilled cheese), an orange mortada, and three wedges of a grilled fruit and nut type bread. I could have eaten one of those with a glass of wine and been perfectly satiated (doesn’t hurt that you get extra bread and olive oil to munch on as well).
The servers were attentive, humorous, engaging, gracious, and respectful of our space and time. Couldn’t have asked for a better flow of service!
The desserts we had that night were a lovely way to end the meal. One was (and this is my sad pedestrian explanation, so please forgive me) similar to a fried dough with honey; the other was a chocolate pudding with chocolate cake, rose water cream, nuts, and sea salt… it might sound chaotic, but the flavors all worked perfectly with each other. Paired with French pressed coffee, I had a difficult time sharing.
But what I REALLY want to impress upon you is the lengths in which Piccolo will go to please their customers. It’s above and beyond anything I’ve experienced in town…
There were three vegetarians at the table, and while there were no vegetarian options on the menu, the server made it VERY clear to us that this wasn’t an issue — all we had to do was tell her our dietary restrictions, likes and dislikes, and they’d customize a bowl of pasta for us specifically. Not the collective «us» who were vegetarians, but each individual who asked.
Vegetarian Bowl #1: Our friend couldn’t have cheese and didn’t want mushrooms. The server, mediating between kitchen and customer, checked in with her at least three times to see what she could eat/couldn’t eat before serving her some hearty looking bowl with olives and nuts and butternut squash that looked nothing short of amazing. I may have stared at her the entire time she was eating it.
Vegetarian Bowl #2: My significant other wanted cheese and no olives. In the end he got something similar to Bowl #1, but with big scoops of ricotta cheese (and, of course, no olives).
Vegetarian Bowl #3: I got something entirely different (again, after the server went back and forth between the kitchen and myself to essentially a coordinate a perfect-​for-​me meal) — angel hair pasta with broccoli rabe, and a copious amount of freshly grated parmesan with a soft boiled egg hiding underneath it all. I’ve never had anything like it! Warm and gooey and flavorful in just the ways you would think. SO GOOD.
Each vegetarian bowl was on the lower end of the spectrum at $ 21 a piece. And, apparently, according to our server you could come here every week as a vegetarian and they’d always make you something new. Seriously… who does this? Who in Portland does this?!
Piccolo. They do this.
This was by no means a cheap or fast meal. It was decadent and the perfect amount of leisurely. But it’s a luxury I can see myself doing on date nights or even «me» nights… which, let’s face it, we all need to have from time to time!

One of the most unique chef tastings I’ve experienced. Roasted bone marrow, chestnut pasta with poached eggs and caviar, probably the most flavorful pork belly I’d have in years, pasta with sauteed escargot, decadent desserts. Really great experience, fun/​knowledgeable wait staff. Just a real treat all around!

What a lovely, intimate restaurant. The food was sophisticated without being overly complicated, and the service was friendly and helpful. The menu is quite small (fitting the place) but it managed to be diverse nonetheless.
I had the Del Mar (the fish was lemon sole) and it was excellently prepared but not transcendent. My companion had cavatelli with a lamb neck ragu that she raved about. The desserts were spectacular.
I would say it’s an excellent choice.

An intimate restaurant in downtown. Based on the few number of reviews it seems to be overshadowed by its popular neighbors, but do not overlook this place. As I told a friend, the cheese course alone is worth going. They work with a small importer who brings in cheese from small family owned farms in Abruzzi. Truly fantastic! Had a soft pecorino which was amazing!
The entire menu was great. Prices are slightly high but you would expect that for the quality of ingredients. The wine list is small but very thoughtfully put together. Service was excellent and the pace of food from the kitchen flowed very well.

Top three Italian restaurants in Portland Maine! Menu is a little bit limited with four entrée options but everything looks wonderful and tasty especially their pasta with lamb neck ragu. The pasta was a little bit undercooked but the sauce was great. Service was spot on and both waitresses were very knowledgeable. A little bit pricier than some of the other Italian restaurants in Portland but I would give them another shot.

I was really looking forward to experiencing this restaurant. Let me start with the service, excellent! Very knowledgeable and friendly.
We both ordered 3 courses along with an excellent bottle of rose prosecco and a nice bottle of red. The cheese board was very good. Meat and pickled veggie board just ok… Next course, eggplant sautéed or grilled with cheese was not great. Soggy and crisp both at the same time. My second course was a big no. Soft egg with grilled asparagus. Needed toast or something to sop up the egg. Very hard to eat with a fork.
Final course, lamb shank with polenta. My husband loved this dish. In fact, he took his leftovers home, which he never does. My entrée was a slow roasted white fish with potatoes, capers, tomatoes and pinenuts. I did not care for it. It really had no taste. See picture, it did not look appetizing. I feel like I was comparing this restaurant to its predecessor (Bresca) and there was no comparison. That being said, our waitress was very very good and I will try again mainly because of her!