My wife and I love going to Boston because it's easy to find real Italian food there. Living in Seattle... we don't get to Boston often. So you can appreciate how excited we were to discover a deliciously authentic option just a few hours south. The owner is not only authentic, but genuinely nice. They were slow with one of our appetizers so he brought us some wine on the house. Thanks for making our weekend in Portland that much better.
After traveling to Italy my wife and I struggled to find a similar dining experience here in Portland. With a gluten intolerance the task became even more challenging. Enter Cafe Allora. The owner is from Italy. There are gluten free pasta options and all pastas are hand made on site. The sauces are authentic and absolutely delicious. Can't find a single thing to complain about with Cafe Allora - every time we go we try new dishes and have never once been disappointed!
My husband, 2 small children and myself had lunch at Allora. The staff, including the owner, were kind and patient with my overly chatty kids. The food was delicious!
Thank you for making our night! Us gals (and guy) from Goodwill celebrated the end of our stay in Portland with good food, wine and the crazy antics of the Italian-born owner. We wouldn't have wanted it any other way. If you love good Italian food-THIS is the place to eat in the Pearl District.
Just because it is a 5 stelle porco dio I have been here so many time now (about 15 years) and I can say that !!!
Fabulous place for food and atmosphere! Service is top notch!
Spectacular, real northern Italian food. sauces braised all day, great bread, authentic salads. And wonderful people working there.
You can taste the handcrafted deliciousness of their food
What an amazing experience. My husband and I just loves this place. Shay was such a great host!!! The flavors were just amazing. Can't wait to go back!
Delicious food, great service. A real treat. We will return!
As authentic as I've found outside Italy...except that the salad comes early, American style.
Great food, cooked to order!
Wonderful atmosphere, like an European cafe!
Amazing food. So good, can't wait to come back!
Great things are said in simple ways. Pure excellence.
A cozy restaurant with amazing food. The bresaola & burrsta were amazing to start. Our table had a gluten free pasta - outstanding. The mushroom ravioli with brown butter sage sauce was fabulous and worthy of a return visit itself. All the food was delicious. The paper plane cocktail was refreshing, house red was great. Definitely have added it to our places to return to. Excellent ambiance & service.
Love this place. Our server was awesome and friendly. The food is great, the flavor was well balanced 👌. the desserts were all great and not too sweet.
In the stylish atmosphere, we had a relaxing time while sipping wine🍷 and cocktails🍸. We had Caprese, 1/2 Bread, Bongole and Lasagna, and for dessert, Tiramisu with Americano and espresso.☕ Even though the Bread was 1/2, it was bigger than we expected, each dish was delicious, and overall we were both very happy with our stomachs and our hearts.🥰
12/15/2023
This restaurant is divided into two sections, like two twin restaurants. We had our meal on the right side last time and on the left side this time. We ordered carbonara and zucchini spaghetti. Both dishes were good, but they were not particularly special. We had espresso and panna cotta after our meal because we enjoyed the espresso so much the last time. This time, the espresso was more bitter than rich.☕
Cute building inside. Pasta is homemade. Friendly staff. I ordered the ricotta gnocchi with 4 cheeses, pro tip, add pancetta, so delicious. My husband ordered meatball and spaghetti 🍝 so simple yet so delicious.
Do not skip dessert, we ordered the Nutella brownie with sweet cream gelato. They added sea salt to the brownie. Love the sweet and salty flavor 😋
Happened to find this place while staying in Portland. The food was outstanding! Everything was delicious and the service was awesome. Everyone in our party got something different and we were all impressed. A small place, so reservations would probably be a good idea. We rolled the dice without one and it wasn't an issue.
Went out to enjoy a nice Italian style dinner. Had a espresso martini which was very good. Followed up with a Prosciutto dish with a side of meatballs in marinara sauce.
Not very spacious but they make the most of it. Wish they opened the top of for more seating as we wanted more of a romantic dinner. Staff was good and the server brought our food out quickly. Nice spot and would go back again.
Great place for date night. I've been coming here for years now and each time they are fabulous. We always order a bottle of wine, last night it was a 2019 Chianti Riserva for $58. The wine was delicious and, as always, they served it properly. We shared a caeser and each had a pasta plate. Serving sizes were perfect and service was well-paced.
![4]( "Recensione")
We went here for our anniversary dinner with our two teenage kids and sat outside in the covered patio area. They do take reservations, but not for the patio. The inside space is on two levels, and great for date night or groups of 4 people. There's also a private dining space next door.
Overall, we enjoyed the food and wine. We weren't blown away by anything and some dishes stood out above the others, but it's definitely worth a visit.
Polenta Fries - nice and crispy on the outside, served with a spicy dipping sauce (which we think is the same as the calamari sauce).
Calamari - my daughter wasn't a fan (and she loves calamari) but I really liked how nicely the calamari was cooked and the slight sweet/salty combo of the seasoning in the breading.
Spaghetti Carbonara - my son loves carbonara and the one at Allora got two thumbs up. I had a taste and it was, indeed, delicious!
Rigatoni Pomodoro e Prosciutto - my husband ordered this and we loved it. The sauce was just right and while he didn't care for the way the prosciutto was sort of just torn by hand and thrown into the dish, it tasted amazing.
Spaghetti al Sugo di Carne - I was sadly disappointed in the dish I ordered. The spaghetti tasted old and stale (totally different than the spaghetti that came with my son's carbonara), and the sauce was very bland. I love sugo di carne at most Italian restaurants; this one was a miss.
The wine list is a solid list. My husband had a glass of Chianti and I had a glass of Nebbiolo; both were enjoyable.
You'll pay $3 for a half order or $6 for a full order of focaccia bread with olive oil. The bread has some red pepper flakes so some bites have a little kick, but the bread itself was fluffy and tasted fresh.
Overall, Allora is still a nice neighborhood Italian eatery and I look forward to visiting again. It's a great spot for a glass of wine with friends!
Great ambiance, service and food. What else could you ask for... Oh the sardines are amazing and if you're lucky they'll still have the dungeness crab pasta special.
We were able to get right in, just before the rush and tables began filling up right after we were seated. We were seated upstairs. It was cozy and a bit warm. The bench seating was comfy but the chairs were not comfortable for the others in our party. Great drinks and appetizers that got the palate ready for the next round.. For the food, YUM. The ricotta gnocchi is the winner for most at the table but the flank steak with a great chimichurri was a close second but all of the meals were worth it! We took desserts to go and would definitely go back for the Nutella tiramisu.
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes