Portobello Vegan Trattoria

Went here with a bunch of friends (12) and we all swapped seats mid-​way. The waitress, understandably, was stressed, but she accommodated us and was very nice.
Food is delicious, and they have a good selection of vegan AND gluten free burgers (although their regular burger is not gluten free, but can be made gluten free using a portobello cap rather than their beet patty).
Kind of small inside, fills up very quickly, but good atmosphere. Definitely on the pricey side, but what do you expect when you’re eating at a vegan restaurant? I’m definitely coming back.

They open at 5:30pm. We arrived at 5:25, and I believe they opened the door until 5:35, which is fine. We were starving. Started with cheese from Vtopia and some cashew cheese stuffed peppers as appetizers which were very good. We got the pesto spaghetti and the cheese ravioli with corn. For dessert we tried both the cheesecake and the chocolate mousse. Personally I enjoyed the appetizers and desserts more than the dinner plates.

Why can’t there be Negative Stars for a rating? It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been to Portobello and we thought we’d give them another chance. Once again nothing but a disappointment. What a waste of our time and money. The staff continues to treat customers as second class people. This will be our last visit here. Blossoming Lotus still rocks surpassing portobello by miles.

The problem for restaurants like Portobello is that simply having inspired food isn’t enough if you’re going to play games with your clientele.
I’ve tried to make reservations to come here three weekends in a row. First of all, it impossible to get anyone on the phone. Like, I mean, they don’t answer the phone. We got someone to pick up once and they just took the phone off the hook. No hello, nothing.
In order to make a reservation over the phone you have to leave a message and they call you back. The first time I called, I got a call back 2 days later, the second two times I called they didn’t even bother to call back at all. The website has a make a reservation tab that leads to the abyss of the internet– not working. Poor service all around, but ok, maybe it was all just an oversight.
So we decided to just head over one night and sit through the wait time. We get there and they tell us it’s an hour plus wait. Ok, fine. We were prepared to wait but annoyed that we couldn’t make a reservation. The place is literally half empty, with the first three tables on the right totally open for our party of two. After a half hour we asked about some of the empty tables and were told that they are being held for reservations. Yeah, reservations that never showed up the entire night.
By the time we got a seat (in between 2 tables that were empty the whole time we were there) we were kinda fuming.
The food was ok. If I had walked in, sat down and ordered and had food in front of me with a smile from my server I would have given it 3 maaaaaybe 4 stars, but the taste of disappointment was still too fresh. Great food forces me to forgive all kinds of sins, but this was no better than average. Poor service is inexcusable, but average food is salt on the wound.
There are too many vegan options in Portland for me to waste an hour just waiting to eat mediocre food. Sorry guys, you lost a loyal customer that eats out at the same places 2 – 3 times a week. Get your act together.

Not a vegan. But the reviews compelled me to give this place a shot… How do they make vegan cheese that tastes so awesome! Anyways, beet tartare good. We dint get blown away but really good. For main course we have the ravioli, gnocchi, linguine and pizza. Ravioli is amazing! So creamy and flavorful. Gnocchi could have used some more flavoring. Linguine was like instant noodles. Pizza was pretty good! Let’s get to the desserts!!! Tiramisu — wow! Wow! Wow! The chocolate bombe too heavy unless you are chocolate crazy!

This was a big occasion for us because with my dietary restrictions I almost never eat out. The chestnut Cream of mushroom soup was to die for. The ginger soft drink was unique. Very yummy too. the butternut squash with pasta was unusual and exceptional. My husband had the mushroom steak. I had to restrain myself from helping him with it. The deserts were interesting but the servings were very tiny for he price. The service was attentive and helpful.

I’m hoping this was just a one-​time bad experience at Portobello. Our service, cocktails, and the beet tartare we all great. They were sadly out of a couple options on the menu, and the menu seemed to lack the same quantity of choices as prior visits. We went with the linguine dish (being out of the delicious gnocchi) and a potato pie. The linguine was in a white-​wine lemon sauce, and when it came out it looked like ramen there was so much oily broth. The sauce was super salty and the linguine was overcooked. My pizza fared better on the flavor-​side, loaded with caramelized onions, but it too was oily on bottom. I’m sure the chef was probably having an off night but I’ve definitely had better at Portobello.

upscale vibe, decent quality food, parking lot was full and on street took us a few passes to find a legal spot. we had the beet tartare and it was interesting, i also had a pizza that was pretty good. great to have a solid italian veg option like portobello, hope to be back soon.

The BEET TARTARE!!!
Get the beet tartare, you won’t regret it. It’s so good it was one of the best things I ate in portland during my stay there.
For my main meal I ordered the gnocchi and had such high hopes for it. The gnocchi was too soft, possibly as a result of over cooking? And the sauce wasn’t particularly special. It was ok, but not necessarily an enjoyable dish.
Bf ordered ther portobello steak. It was fantastic. The flavors were powerful (in a good way) and the ingredients they used all meshed together perfectly. It was pretty light, but filling at the same time. Totally reccomend this one.
I’d come back for the beet tartare

The food was amazing! We had the Beet burger and the Ravioli. Great drink selection as well. You know how exciting it is for a vegan when you can choose ANYTHING on the menu.

It’s true, the beet tartare is amazing, I would have eaten 2 – 3 orders of it if I could have done so! It’s made with a tasty cashew cheese at the bottom and flavorful beets on top — DELICIOUS! Portobello was one of the few restaurants I found in Portland with healthier vegan options, so this was a win-​win overall. Highly recommended.

The service is good. The food is good. The cheeses are GREAT! The cheeses are completely vegan, creamy on the palette, and full of flavor. An absolute must order item is the cheese plate. The desserts left me wanting, but the entrees were delectable. The ambiance of the restaurant feels contemporary with some rustic flare and is great for traveling friends to enjoy an evening dinner before exploring the city.

sure it taste good but $ 15 for FOUR small ravioli? it wasn’t that impressive. I hope you’re not going for dinner, just a snack. At least serve some bread on the side jeez
tip: go to blossoming lotus instead

We made reservations with Seat Me which was very convenient. The atmosphere of the restaurant was perfect for our anniversary dinner. We started with house pickles which I didn’t like that much, but our main dishes were good, although I didn’t leave completely satisfied. It would’ve been nice to have some bread possibly with dipping oil like some other Italian restaurants do. Our service was good, on the other hand.

One of my best meals in Portland! My boyfriend isn’t a vegan, but even he was blown away!
Being from out of town, we did some damage and made the most out of our dinner here, literally wanted to try everything! Both the hostess and server were very knowledgable and gave wonderful recommendations.
We ended up ordering the cheese plate (you can choose between 3 or 5), lobster potato cakes, gnocchi, and spicy arrabiata pizza — all were amazing! Portions were well-​sized, especially the pizza (12 inches!), perfect for sharing.
I would definitely recommend trying to get an earlier dinner reservation as they do run out of certain ingredients/​dishes later in the evening. Also, while some items are staples on the menu, they do offer a rotating/​seasonal menu… Meaning more awesome things cooking in the kitchen next time!

Okay, I am from San Diego and I have been waiting a year to try this place since I last visited Portland. It was definitely worth the wait, if you’ve had vegan cheese before you know it usually tastes like cardboard/​rubber. I had a piece of the smoked cheese on a recommendation from our server Sarah, it tastes exactly like Gouda. You wouldn’t know it wasn’t vegan at all
I also had the cashew ravioli, it is hands down the best vegan food I’ve ever had. I also tried the portobello steak and a pizza that had corn on it but the ravioli was by far my favorite. I took two friends that aren’t vegan and they also loved it. This place is a must!

I have eaten here twice– both in the last 2 weeks. The food here is something you think about the next day. I mean… even if I wasn’t vegan I would still be blown away.
So far I’ve had the kale Caesar (both times), bruschetta with fresh heirlooms and sweet corn, a portobello pasta dish, risotto balls, the beet royale burger and the vegan cheese plate.
The cheese plate deserves it’s own paragraph. It was unbelievable. The texture, the flavor. They’ve cracked the code on vegan cheese. Bravo. While I’m at it– the kale Caesar… it’s not like I crave anchovies or any kind of dairy from my past… but it tasted just like traditional Caesar dressing.
They kill it with desserts too. Deep fried apple pie? Chocolate lava cake with salted caramel «ice cream»?
If there was ever a place to bring hard core carnists, this is it. If people knew how good they could have it without using animals, I think we would have more vegans in the world.

This place kept popping up on must-​try vegan places and since we happened to be on vacation in Portland we put in the effort to get over here.
We didn’t rent a car so we took an Über car over from downtown. It was a pretty quick trip.
I used Unilocal to make my reservation and received a text about an hour before to confirm that I was still going to make it. Love how easy this process was. We even showed up a little early and were sat almost immediately.
We kicked things off with a delicious bruschetta topped with fresh corn and tomatoes. Corn speaks to my Midwest soul so this dish easily won me over.
For our main courses my husband selected the BBQ Pizza and I had the Cheese Ravioli. Both were great but the clear winner was the ravioli. I’d be willing to bet a cheese lover would not be able to tell this was not dairy cheese. It was amazing and I savored every single bite.
To close out our meal I ordered the Deep Fried Apple Pie with Bourbon Pecan Ice Cream. The pie was amazing and the ice cream was nice. I’m not a huge coconut fan and the coconut flavor was pretty strong.
If we lived in Portland we would be here every week.

Our current fav restaurant.
The most recent week we stayed in our fav city we actually went here three times! We just could not get enough.
I will say that sometimes it’s hard to get ahold of the place when you call. I have tried to call a few times concerning our reservation and it takes a few calls to get the hostess. She is busy that is the reason.
The service is slow and extremely laid back so don’t expect to rush or be rushed.
Being a huge fan of Vtopian cheese I was excited to see a cheese plate offered here.
The beet tartare is yummy, and we always get the risotto balls. Those things are wicked good!!!
I love the salad with the blood oranges and beets and hubby gets a caesar or something (can’t remember).
Hubby’s favorite is the gnocchi and I like to try different dishes each time. Pizza, burger, trumpet scallops… you see it on the menu, we have tried it.
Some people are calling this fine dining and while pleasant in there, it’s small and the reclaimed wood barn décor is def not fine dining. Nor are the prices.
Want to go to a gluten friendly non tofu pushing vegan restaurant? Go to Portobello and don’t forget to eat an extra risotto ball for me!

How I heard of this place: When in Portland, do what the locals do and take their advice when it comes to food. We did.
Type of cuisine: Italian-​inspired vegan cuisine, including pizzas, pastas, and steak… with cashew cheeses, beet burgers, seitan, and portobello mushrooms!
Ambiance: Unassuming industrial exterior immediately adjacent to a tattoo parlor next to a hair salon, one would hardly expect the cozy, dim-​lit interior. Uneven wooden planks against the wall, set with miniature intricate ornaments, golden chandeliers overhead, matching, streamlined chairs and tables, edging up to the bar, with minimally decorated walls and intimate wooden booth seating.
What I ordered: A first visit for the five of us, we opted to sample two appetizers, including a house favorite, Beet Tartare ($ 9): diced, roasted beets with carrot aioli, fines herbes, & capers atop cashew purée with olive oil, sea salt, & toast, in addition to the Sweety Pepes ($ 8): cashew cheese stuffed sweety pep peppers.
Our main entrées included two orders of an establishment staple, the Beet Burger Royale ($ 14 each): our housemade beet burger, cashew cheddar, caramelized onions, smoked portobello, carrot aioli, catsup, lettuce, onions, and tomato on a focaccia bun, served with pommes frites and housemade curry catsup, one Winter Mushroom Risotto ($ 16): a creamy risotto with black garlic, black trumpet and pioppini mushrooms finished with truffle butter, and a 12″ Neapolitan inspired Pepperoni pie ($ 13): marinara, cashew cream, garlic, & seitan pepperoni sausage.
What I loved: Sweety peps immediately became a table favorite, followed closely by the curry catsup. Beets galore = win!
Why I loved it: For the vegan craving Italian food. Vegan fare. Done right.
Cost: Average ($ 11 — $ 17 per entrée)