Portofino

Just ran into Sal today. Was renovating the spot. He wanted to freshen it up. Should be back in the beginning of the month. He was in Italy and told me he has some new menu items that he will be serving. Yummy! Can’t wait. Love me some Bronzini!

The owners, wait staff, and host make you feel like you are part of the family. They go out of there way to make you feel at home! The food is true Italian, it’s like you are eating in Italy. The eggplant app special is phenomenal as well as any of the seafood specials I have had there. They also make their own pasta which is unbelievable! This is place where you can bring the whole family or just go out with your spouse.

We went to Potofino’s with the family for Father’s Day based upon the wonderful reviews. It was awful! We waited 10 minutes to get water and menus. The service never did get better and it was not crowded at all. The sauce was bland, the food just okay and it was expensive. I definitely would not recommend and will never go back. It was not worth the money. Very disappointed.

The kitchen is incredibly slow, and the food is overpriced. Coming from a large Italian family, nothing that I had was worth it. Every dish from veal to penne vodka was mediocre. The waiters were rude, and the coffee was cold. Not dining here again.

The best Italian in N.J. The owners Sal and Lina Scotto are amazing hosts. The maitre ‘d George goes out of his way to pick the right table and our server Rose Anna is beyond the best we have ever had. Great food, great drink, great people.

I come here with my grandparents and it is my favorite place. The food is to die for. I have never had a bad meal here ever. Besides the menu there are a ton of specials every night. Listen closely and make a mental note of something you like as they go along. But of course the service is great and they will repeat all of the specials for you as many times as you need. Everything is fresh and delicious. The pastas are homemade and perfect. The seafood is always fresh and all of the food is so authentic and flavorful.
The drinks are always good as well and the desserts… heaven. My favorite is the limoncello, I basically get it every time because it is so good and then have my grandparents order any other desserts I want to try :)

First, let me tell you that my hubby is very picky having been a chef in NYC. We have been coming to Portofino for years and have always loved absolutely everything they make. We order from the lengthy Specials menu every time. The restaurant is like a small European eatery and reminds us of our trip to France. The food is not doused with sauce, as Chef Scotto leaves the original flavors intact, and the fresh preparation does the rest! Highly recommend.

Great true Italian food with wonderful service!
The building has been an Italian restaurant forever. I used to come here for lunch but somehow it had changed without my knowledge to what it is now.
Fine dining at its best.
Our waiter even gave us lessons in the correct pronunciation of our order and also wonderful suggestions considering we had 3 generations in the family.
Best meal we’ve all had in a long time
Deserves a rating higher then 5 stars!

Very good. Drove by for years finally went in. Full bar. Several specials to pick from. Had the black in linguini and shellfish — cooked perfect. Great wine list as well. Definitely recommend.

Came to the restaurant tonight. Very nice ambiance and wait staff. However, both of our means were completely bland with no seasoning. When I mentioned this to the server she did nothing other than laugh and apologize. Something along the lines they never heard that before. My dinner was chicken with basically chicken broth over the chicken with no seasoning. Absolutely awful. Then the server did nothing to correct offer another mean or any adjustment to the bill
I would not recommend this restaurant.

Came here on a Saturday night in January, in search of good Italian food. I was not disappointed! They have a lot of specials to choose from besides the regular menu. Everything tasted fresh. Service was very good. It would be best to have a reservation though, because the bar is extremely tiny and not a good place to wait around at!

It’s not your ordinary boring italian menu which I LOVE… however I do think there should be some flexibility with that. Most «creative» italian menus will at least offer a parmigiana meal upon request. I know it’s hard to please everyone but I usually dine with a large party and some people prefer simple. It’s just how it is. Other than that the food was great. Homemade pastas were wonderful. Need to work on making more house-​made desserts. Nothing worse than finishing a nice meal with a mediocre dessert.

The best Italian in NJ!!! We are originally from Brooklyn and come from a long line of great cooks so we know and appreciate great Italian. Dishes are freshly prepared. Its like having Grandma in the Kitchen (although i think as much credit goes to Grandpa). Family owned and managed. Seriously I cannot say enough. Service is wonderful, attentive and friendly. The Bolognese is amazing!

The food was good Best lasagna from a restaurant ever. A wide variety of specials but too many to choose from. A lot of fresh pasta dishes. Considering the amount of specials and big menu there wasn’t a great choice for proteins. Happy there was a bar.

We enjoyed this restaurant immensely! Favorite part of the meal was the wine from Napa Valley-​Conn Creek 2008. We highly recommend it! We asked if we could cork it and take it home, but there was no need because we emptied the bottle!
Being from a landlocked state, we took the opportunity to enjoy the fresh seafood here. I had a terrific Red Snapper in a light, though slightly salty, red sauce. Hubby declared my dish the best of the night, but he ordered a delicious pasta with clams.
Ambiance 3
Wine 5+
Food 4

Best Italian food in the area and, quite possibly this side of the Atlantic. All dishes, especially the seafood are worthy of high praise. Try the Linguini con Vongole and you will be hooked. Every item on the menu is thoughtfully prepared and thought out. Sal Scotto is a genius.

It was good nice flavors. Presentation poor. Waiter was not on his game this evening. Nice choices on the menu. Nice romantic spot if they would dim the lights… Better places to go… Due Amici, Daniel’s and Teresa’s South for the same money and much better experience. They are in Bay Head and Point Pleasant Beach. Its worth the drive…

I passed by this place all the time for the past 10 or so years, and never actually went in. It’s kind of small and next to a gas station, and looks like a little house, so you really don’t know what to think of it from the outside. I finally ate dinner here with my girlfriend, and I’m glad we went.
The menu is rather big, and there were a lot of add-​on specials for the night (we were impressed that the waiter remembered all of it). The food is terrific, homemade, and delicious. I had a nice, fresh grouper with fried zucchini. She had lobster ravioli in a vodka sauce that was, honestly, incredible. It wasn’t some lobster purée filling in a shell, it was big chunks of lobster in a homemade pasta pocket. The vodka sauce was light and creamy.
Staff was attentive and prompt. The mood inside is very pleasant, too. Even thought it’s small, it’s well lit, with a nice little bar and some old-​fashioned Italian décor. The atmosphere is quiet, but not too reserved. Only about 25 or so tables. Everyone was relaxed and seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Great place for nice, local, fresh Italian food. It’s a bit pricey but not so bad compared to other places that aren’t half as good. Will definitely visit again.

My husband and I came here for an anniversary a few years ago and had a truly amazing meal (a $ 120 meal to be exact lol) however it was worth every cent — the wine was delicious — seafood appetizer (especially the clams casino) was great and the veal chop special was cooked perfectly and very tasty. Dessert was lovely too. This is a very small, quaint and romantic restaurant.

This is definitely one of the best Italian restaurants in Monmouth County, NJ. It is only open for dinner except for Sunday when it opens for lunch at 1PM. However, it seems that it only really is focused on preparing for Sunday late lunch or dinner at 1PM. Anyway, the food is good. The service is friendly, and the dining area is clean. I tried a pasta dish with sausage and mushrooms. The menu stated portobello mushrooms, however, shitake mushrooms were substituted without informing first. The dish was very tasty though… the sauce was great. The salad that proceeded my entrée was good, however, the arugula was a little past. I think that the restaurant could perhaps get a four for food depending on what you order. I definitely recommend it though… try for dinner.