Portofino Ristorante Italiano   1002 Aspen Rd Clear Lake Shores TX 77565 281.538.9060 You might also be interested in these:     Italian Food Restaurants    Outdoor Dining    Waterfront Dining    ZIP 77565   Add Review       MY REVIEW: This is by far the best Italian restaurant I have been to in the Houston area. This is gourmet dining at its finest. Every bite of our food was succulent and worth savoring. The atmosphere is lovely (inside and out on the deck), the food is indescribably delicious, the wine list is impressive, and the service is great. Alex and Anne treated us like royalty. (It helps if you speak a little French!) We got to watch master chef Alex prepare Bananas Foster for another diner's birthday, complete with fire, music, lights out, etc. What a show! This is definitely on our top 5 list. We plan to take our out-of-town guests here. NAME: Scorpio Diner SUBMITTED: 8/20/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/08 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: *******SIMPLY THE BEST******** I love having dinner with my friends at this lovely place.We drive every time about 45 minutes to get to PORTOFINO.Why not if yo are getting more than what you want.Of course the food and the service is very good and the new decor is wonderful.GREAT JOB. See you soon ALEX and STAFF. NAME: JS SUBMITTED: 12/19/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 12/2007 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: We moved to the Kemah area two years ago and discovered Portofino's early on. We've been regulars ever since. We have seen times when the service was a bit slow but then again, you should never be in a hurry when you intend to enjoy good food. And "good food" doesn't quite do it justice - everything I have ever sampled, both from the main menu and the chalk board (BTW - the waitstaff all have the board memorized and will go down the quite formidable list in detail, item by item, without looking at the board) has been beyond expectations. I have referred many friends and acquaintances, all of whom have come back with rave reviews. My hat's off to Alex and his staff for provding us with the best Italian restaurant in the area! NAME: Cap'n Rick SUBMITTED: 1/12/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: January 2007 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: Being new to this area, I asked a local for a nice place to celebrate our anniversary. We now love this place. If you are in a hurry, go get fast food, but if you want to sit, relax and enjoy an outstanding meal, this is the place. Do not order from the "menu", order from the chalkboard, or just order the Osso Buco. OUTSTANDING!! It can get a little loud, depending on the people dinning around you, but what restaurant in Houston doesn't. We have been back a couple of times and have even taken friends. It is always enjoyable. NAME: Mike SUBMITTED: 8/18/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 6/2006 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times MY REVIEW: Portofino was recommended to us by a friend, with nothing but praise. Our experience goes as follows... Setting: Very lound, with the concrete walls and cielings we couldn't hear the waiter or each other. Also crowded, couldn't fit another table in there with a shoe horn. Food: Bread was stale and aged like their wine. If you eat from the middle of the slice of bread you might be okay. As for dinner, lasagna meat tasted like hamburger helper and the chicken parm tasted more like breading and parm. Tiramisu was alright, and the canoli was suprisingly excellent. Enjoy!!! NAME: mdpjep42 SUBMITTED: 8/6/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/2006 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: Went for a birthday celebration and was extremely pleased. Food was top notch. Good portions and quality ingredients. Service was slow, but the ambience and food made up for it. Other than being slow, the waitstaff is very helpful and competent (this means having total knowledge of the menu and not messing up the order). Our waiter also made excellent recommendations. WARNING: If you like C*arraba's or the O*live Garden, you don't really like or respect Italian food. NOT THE RESTAURANT FOR YOU. Alex, (the owner by the way) worked very hard to make it a special experience by coming out and having the birthday girl flambe her own dessert. Very unique. Not to mention champagne for the entire table. I have never felt so appreciated at any other establishment. Could not ask for more. Will definately think of this place first any time I think of Italian food. NAME: ACL SUBMITTED: 4/13/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 3/31/06 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: Recommended by a local, we (the sales team) had a great experience, from the presentation of the nightly specials, to the wine list. Nobody left disappointed, even the boss who got stuck with the bill. I've been to Italy a few times and this restaurante wouldn't take a back seat in Roma. ...sorry, didn't have much room for dessert, but we enjoyed the expresso. NAME: Yankee Bob SUBMITTED: 1/30/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 1/06 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: First visit based on good reviews we have read here. Service was prompt, food was very good, outside seating area was very nice. We will return and recommend this place to anyone looking for a good Italian restuarant that's not far from home. NAME: Turken& Monstre' SUBMITTED: 10/8/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 10/08/2005 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: This is absolutely our favorite restaurant in the entire city. Outstanding fresh food equisitely prepared, great atmosphere, reasonable prices, first-class service, lots of attention! I do not understand the reviews about poor service -- ours has always been first-classs. Owner Alex is a gracious host and will do everything possible to make this an excellent dining experience. Definitely a "must visit". NAME: Linda Sheets SUBMITTED: 9/28/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 6/2005 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: While having a drink at Kemah, we asked the bartender for a place where the locals go. He said his girlfriend was taking him to Portofino for his birthday. Good enough for us. It was great. The waiter knew everything about the menu and the food and service was great. We wish they did not allow smoking, but the food was so good, we overlooked the smoke of the locals at the bar. We recommended Portofino to a client on 9/2005 and they loved it. NAME: Craig SUBMITTED: 9/13/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 10/2004 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: Let's talk about my mini holiday in this Italian oasis. My wife and I love this place located on the water.First time we went to Portofino we were peasantly by the wonderful decor,the variety of food and the attention of the service.Birthday celebration with the flambee desert is something you will never forget.We opened the champagne with a knife.We love this place and thanks to Alex and his staff for this great adventure.I was going to forget something ....The home made ice cream make you feel like 5 years old again.. NAME: Thomas STAREK SUBMITTED: 10/19/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: 09/2004 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: I had heard good things about this restaurant and was pleased with the ambience.We were seated and provided with a chalkboard listing the specials and then we were ignored. No menu, no water. It tooks us half an hour and we got a different waiter to bring us the regular menu. I ordered a bottle of wine and after ten minutes were told that they were out of that wine and he promptly suggested a different bottle that was thirty dollars more.... right in front of my date. He seemed like a car salesman. To be fair, the food was good, but the service was very poor. On the way out, we told the owner about our experience and she smiled and offered an unsincere apology. There are just too many good Italian restaurants in the Clear Lake area with good food and service. We'll go to Frenchie's next time. NAME: Ed SUBMITTED: 9/17/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: 5/04 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: This is absolutely my favorite Italian Restaurant!!! The food is fabulous, the service is excellent and Alex and his staff are the best!!! My husband proposed to me there, we had our wedding reception there and have celebrated every subsequent anniversary there!!! NAME: Robin Douglass SUBMITTED: 8/30/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/29/04 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: After reading these reviews my husband and I eagerly headed to Portifino's for what we thought was going to be a great meal in a terrific atmosphere. Boy, were we disappointed. The service was terribly slow on a night when the restaurant was about 2/3 empty. It took 45 minutes from the time we sat down until our meal was served. When the food came it was lackluster at best. My husband's seafood dish had very little flavor and my chicken dish was completely unrecognizable from what was described on the menu. The chicken was stringy and dry and the potatoes were undercooked. The waitress offered to make me something else but I didn't feel like waiting another 45 minutes for dinner. In their defense, they did comp my meal but the manager should have come over and apologized instead of leaving it for the waitress to handle by herself. Needless to say, we won't go back. NAME: JMC SUBMITTED: 8/9/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: August/2004 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: Portofino Ristorante is by Far The finest Italian retaurant within 100 miles of Clear Lake. The food is absolutely to die for and the ambience is superb. Alex and his staff are the most professional and hospitable as I have ever seen. Extreme care is taken with the preparation and serving of each and every dish. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give them an 11! Treat your taste buds to a dining delite. You wont be sorry....... Alex, You do a fine job, and I love you and your staff NAME: Gary Goldman SUBMITTED: 1/12/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: 1/10/04 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: I must say that this is the best Italian dinning experiance I have ever encountered. Thumbs way up to alex, and his crew. Unique in its own, this is a place for undefining romance and enless hospltaity , with indoor and outdoor dinning this is a find to those who enjoy great food and fine wine. NAME: Lee Bouder SUBMITTED: 8/4/2003   LAST VISIT WAS: 0803 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: I can't believe that no one has rated this GEM. The food and service here are impecable. It's not easy to find but you will cherish this place once you have. His Osso Bucco is to die for, so are the Lamb Shanks. Alex and his staff do a great job. NAME: David SUBMITTED: 7/5/2003   LAST VISIT WAS: 6/03 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... ©Copyright 1991 - 2008 B4-U-EAT.COM. All rights reserved. Design and database by B4-U-BUY