Cafe Allegro

If I could give zero stars I would. We bought a Groupon for this place, We’ve had good experiences with Groupon in the past and we live near by so we decided to try it.
I must say that it was quite possibly the worst dining experience I’ve ever had!
oh where to start…
We went on a Friday night aroun 7:00. The first bad sign was that no one was dining there it was practically empty.
The dining room was old outdated and cold. No ambiance or music, awkward silence.
Staff greeted us appropriately and service was timely but the chaos going on behind the scene was embarrassing and disrespectful to the owner, to the say the least. They acted so unprofessional and with no regard for the guests. They were carrying on so loudly in the kitchen that we could hear them out in the dining room laughing and joking. We heard cuss words… ef this ef that, roaring loud laughter and jokes about «funky monkey butt loving.»??? hmmmm
My boyfriend actually had to go back there and ask them to be quiet. He asked if they were running a frat house or a restaurant. The conversation was very inappropriate and there were children in the dining room.
The menu seemed to have all the same ingredients in every dish. I couldn’t find anything sounded very good to me. The server was unable to make a recommendation. After being asked what he would recommend, he said «UMMMMMMM WELLLLLLLLL… our most popular dish is the chicken artichoke thing… Oh and the meatballs.» I was given the impression that he was not fond of the food.
We ordered a bottle of pinot noir, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken cannelloni and the caprese.
Food tasted canned or like it came from a jar. Anything but fresh.!! TASTELESS bland …bread stale, cannelloni tasted like pasty glue smothered in an enormous amount of cheese, meatballs bland and tasted freezer burned, pasta mushy and way overcooked. I took 2 bites and was unable to stomach anymore.
The caprese was the only edible thing and thank goodness we ordered a decent bottle of wine
Ordered tiramisu and they were out of it at 7:00 on a Friday night?
We asked for to go boxes but ended up just leaving it
We were very unhappy, I can understand occasional bad service if the food is good but It was absolutely terrible. ruined my night. I hope the owner sees this review. They should send in undercover diners to observe the staff and quality control the food… so disappointing especially for such the cute area of Tigard it is located in. It could have so much potential. This area is screaming for some authentic Italian with flavor… they should take some tips from Decarli or Mingo west

This place took me by surprise. Quaint and small but I thought the food was great! I had the cumin gulf shrimp ravioli and my husband had the cannelloni, both wonderful! The sourdough bread was delicious, warm soft inside with just enough crunch to the crust. I thought the service way great and we didn’t wait for a table despite arriving around 6:15 on a Friday evening. Great job Café Allegro!

Boyfriend and I were both starving and decided to try this place.
The dining space is very «cozy». I felt like I was staring at the other customers when I was looking straight ahead during my meal, so that was a bit awkward. The dining space is tight enough that if you use your inside voice, that still might be too loud for other diners.
We came in around 2:00 on Saturday, and it looked like a one-​man-​waiter show. That alone, my boyfriend and I found impressive. He was friendly and didn’t seem to make any of the other tables wait too long before waiting on them. He had a good attitude, and jokingly laughed at me for getting excited about being able to get strawberry lemonade. To be fair to him, the little girl at another table ordered it and he probably heard me get excited haha.
I got the special which was a Cajun shrimp and vegetables dish with linguine, and my boyfriend got the catteloni (sp?). Both tasty, we both cleared our plates. My dish came with a good amount of shrimp. The vegetables I didn’t care for (mushrooms and bell peppers), but they tasted good in the sauce. I think I liked the dishes better than Olive Garden, where all the dishes almost feel the same.
For our first time dining there, we both enjoyed our food. Maybe a little too intimate, but the food was good.

My friend and I enjoyed a late lunch with the use of a Groupon. What a great deal! I had the cilantro scallop pasta dish. The portion was very generous and it tasted delicious. My friend was very happy with her Italian chicken pasta We also enjoyed focacia bread that was wonderful. The service was very prompt, the atmosphere is very comfortable. I love the setting in an old downtown area. We easily found street parking on a business day.

There were a lot of positives of Café Allegro, but overall, the experience was ok. The pluses: 1) nice to have a decent restaurant in Tigard; 2) great sourdough bread; 3) caprese salad with balsamic vinegar was visually appealing and very tasty; 4) the service was very good; we were seated immediately and waited on attentively by our server and bidder; 5) portion sizes are enormous. Now some minuses: 1) the menu was also enormous; there didn’t appear to be a direction; 2) the entrees were very mediocre; I had the Dijon chicken w/​risotto; it was covered in a gluey cheese and the veggies looked like they were frozen prior to our arrival; 3) the men’s restroom was dark and tiny and sounds like it is in the kitchen.
All in all, I will probably go back, but I will not be in a rush.

I really wanted to like this place however we will never come back. The service was apathetic at best. The main problem was the food was completely bland. I will give you an example. I ordered the scallops and cilantro thinking that the combination of sun dried tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, red pepper flakes, onion, with mizithra cheese would be amazing. Sounds amazing right? I was shocked that this dish came out just as bland as plain pasta. Literally zero flavor! I even asked my husband to try a piece of sun dried tomato to see if he could identify the flavor. He was amazed that he had no idea what he just ate. I’m shocked to see the chef has some how striped all and I mean all of the flavor out of these typically robust ingredients. My hope is that the owner can see this as constructive criticism and improve the flavors. I suspect all the ingredients are frozen and out of cans.

On my second visit I opted for the meatball panini. What I got was most definitely NOT a panini, but was AMAZING nonetheless (See photo). It was close to a calzone, but round and had decidedly mediterreanean favors. I highly recommend ordering any «panini» offering they have!
You probably can’t go wrong with any of their pasta options; we’ve tried the spicy Cajun chicken, the jalapeño shrimp and the prosciutto carbonara. All had a creative bent while still being perfectly seasoned and prepared.
The service was prompt and courteous on both occasions.
The only reason I don’t give them five stars is that they have a hard to describe outdated 90’s quality. It’s not a kitschy Italian joint with red and white checkered tablecloths, nor is it a hip fusion retro-​chic restaurant. It’s an in between sort of uncool and awkward adolescent.
The food is solid, the menu is thoughtful and the service is excellent. With a little re-​branding and reduction in kitty cat themed décor this place could be stellar.

perfectly acceptable suburban place in old town with character.
in their defense we did come between the early bird and normal dinner shift so the timing was a little funky. when there wasn’t a table they found it hard to make the shift from ordering drinks and food as we waited to moving those onto our dinner bill.
once seated it was again the end of their early rush so we didn’t get service or our order in very quickly despite vocalizing to the wait staff when waiting for a table that we’d prefer to even order while waiting since we were quite famished.
then the food came. i will certainly come back to try some other options as i support any place trying to make it in old town tigard but for this meal everything was perfectly acceptable. not stellar by any means. between the three of us we tried the cajun special, the chicken tort and the chicken marsala ravioli. the winner of those was the cajun. but i did have a perfect caprese that was a delightful presentation.
they were very sweet and tried very hard. i’ll give them more chances and find some favorites to write about.

Parking: Street parking on the cute old main street
Ambiance: Feels old, dated.
Service: So-​so.
Food: I ordered the risotto, it was dry. I’ve never had dry risotto. It needed a cup of heavy cream and some cheese to save it. I think my hubby had the jalapeño shrimp — I can’t remember — it wasn’t a memorable dish good or bad. They had huge portions, just sad that it didn’t taste better.
Follow-​up: Tummy hurt after eating here.
Recommendation: I’d probably go elsewhere.

My husband and I decided to try a new restaurant for our 5 year anniversary and we stopped into Café Allegro. The lobby was filled with a few other groups waiting. As we continued to wait the lobby quickly filled up with more people willing to wait it out. We waited about 15 minutes for a table to open up and it was well worth the wait. The food was delicious and the server was great. If you like Italian food and enjoy a low-​key atmosphere, Café Allegro is worth it.

My wife and I ordered take out from Café Allegro on December 5^th. When I arrived, the staff was having a friendly conversation with a couple that was completing a takeout order. Now next in line, I proceeded to wait 10 minutes before anyone so much as took my order. I watched at least three people ring into the register (I was directly in front of the register) and at least two more Café Allegra staff walk into the area. During my wait, no one acknowledged my presence outside of a busboy during those 10 minutes. Busy, I can understand, rudeness is something else entirely.
Café Allegro will not be receiving business from me or from any of my friends going forward.

We have been wanting to try this place for some time and I wish I had checked Unilocal first. The service from our waiter (tall guy with dark thinning hair) was awful! After bringing our wine he did not return to our table once except to bring the check (he promised to «be right back» with balsamic vinegar but that didn’t happen). Food was mediocre at best, we ordered pizza and after the first bite I was wishing we had just gone to Round Table. The only positive was the young man who seated us and brought our bread. The rest of the wait staff (and probably management) could learn from him.

I have been here twice and each time I have left disappointed. The food tastes pre-​packaged and not fresh. I can buy better artichoke dip at Costco and Olive Garden has better Alfredo– hands-​down. What amazes me is that it’s always busy and I can only conclude its because of two things: their buy one/​get one coupons and the small town ambiance of Tigard Main Street. If they would actually invest in homemade, authentic, Italian food; they’d never keep me away.

We have been meaning to try them for awhile now since they are pretty close to us. Now I get why no one really goes here. I ordered a Caesar and minestrone. Neither were bad but they also were not great. The chicken picata was a complete letdown with next to no flavor. The risotto and veggies were also a complete letdown. Insanely huge portions do not make up for food with no flavor.

This is our GO TO Italian restaurant. We pretty much ONLY go during lunch time and we haven’t had any problems at all. If anything, it is constantly the same. We come in, order our food with Italian sodas, my fiancé usually gets the special, whatever it is, and I get spaghetti mariana. I absolutely love the sourdough bread. I always leave full and I am able to get there and back to work within an hour lunch time. The ONLY downside, is that they decided to not be open for lunch on Mondays, which is the only day that I can have lunch with my fiancé. So we have gone here for dinner before, like right after I was off of work, 4:30 and had a great time too.
I do believe there is dirt/​dust on the window sills, but they just had construction in front of their front for a while. As for the bathroom, never gone while here, so I don’t have an opinion.
This isn’t a five star fancy restaurant, it is just a little quaint restaurant. I went last week and I hope to go in the next month!

It saddens me to write this.
I haven’t been here in 15 years. I was hoping for the same quality I remember.
I guess the only thing I can say is I agree with the other reviews… So not ok. I was really hoping to be able to write something amazing.
Paid for my meal, tipped 25%, advised them of my experience.
Grace & Dignity

I know it’s Tigard — what to expect but this place is bland and reeks of pre made food and not fresh. Fettucine Alfredo was just cream and garlic. No taste of cheese whatso ever — And the caesar salad — totally store bought dressing — should of went to the Olive Garden — would of been better if I wanted to go this route.
Service is very nice and quick — a matter of fact things come of the kitchen really quick — makes you wonder. Not going back EVER!

Do NOT go here… Not even with a groupon. First of all the atmosphere is dirty and outdated, no music, you can hear the kitchen staff yelling at each other and complaining. Our table was dirty, the window sill next to the table was worse than dirty, probably never cleaned. The bread that comes at the beginning is pretty good. Once we ordered our food took forever to get to us. People who ordered after us were served before us. The food came and looked awesome… But the flavor was not… Anything. There was no flavor. We ordered scallop cilantro pasta and there was ZERO cilantro in the dish. We ended up asking for a different dish (spicy alfredo). The Alfredo was not creamy (isn’t that the point of Alfredo?) also no spice only a large amount of Italian seasoning and the chicken was dry and shriveled. We also ordered chicken parmesan. It was ok, but served with vegetables and they were hard as rocks and tasted worse. I love veggies, but these shouldn’t even be called that. To top it all off we decided to order desert because it was our anniversary… BIG MISTAKE. We got Tiramisu. Or should i call it liquid goo. It semi tasted like coffee and melted whip cream with hard bits of lady fingers. When we asked why it was all melted we were told they make it the «authentic bread pudding» way… What!!! We will never go here again. Waste of money and time.
Oh also stay clear of the restroom. The floor near the toilet is falling in.

I really want to give this restaurant a better rating since I have eaten here a long time ago and it was pretty popular then. (20 years ago). Unfortunately, this is just a tired place to come.
The entrance is not special and the restaurant very outdated. Same old artwork in the wall that was current 20 years ago.
The serving portions were large but very mediocre. We went there for the convenience of the location and hoping for a quiet place to catch up. That was accomplished. Very few people were there. It was the day after Thanksgiving but…
I hope the owners take this review to heart. Infusing $$ to remodel and hiring a new chef with a flair for a lighter menu would be favorable. I ordered a caprese salad and the tomato very dull and hard. Should have know better to order out of season but then it should not be on the menu this time of year.

Food quality is average, flavours are good (not outstanding), service is excellent, atmosphere is cafeteria-​esque.
Overall, a ³⁄₅ («A-​OK») — I would come back here next time I visit Oregon, especially if I had a deal.
Came here 2 times, 2 nights in a row — had a Groupon for the 1^st visit and we were VERY happy with the deal we got (50% off). We were so pleased with the 1^st visit we went again the next night with ANOTHER purchased Groupon and we were happy that the staff didn’t treat us any differently and were quite nice.
Bread — if you like sourdough, you’ll like this bread. I think it may be a bit too sour for some people, but hubby and I liked that. Their bread can come out completely smushed, so that wasn’t particularly pleasing, but we didn’t have very high expectations for the price we were paying.
Smoked Salmon — see picture. Pretty good. I don’t think the sauce tastes like it is canned, but cooked with average cooking skills. Cheese+cream+everything else mixed in a pan together.
Calzone — hubby ordered this and I can’t remember which one it was — maybe the spicy italian. The filling was excellent but the dough was undercooked. The size of 3 regular sized Calzones!
Next night we ordered:
Spicy Chicken Alfredo — kind of disappointing and bland. Basically Alfredo with some chili flakes mixed in. Definitely needed to add table salt. Also disappointed because while the portion itself was still large, mine was smaller than the guy next to me for the same item. Granted, dude was 3 times my size and I was still full, but still!
Ravioli — hubby ordered the Ravioli I think. He didn’t finish it and was quiet about it so I don’t think it was that great.
Overall, if we’re back in the area and feeling super hungry and cheap, we’ll come here. Otherwise, after the 2^nd visit, I think it rounded out to be another average pasta joint, but with excellent service!