Il Piatto

Il Piatto is one of the first restaurants we went to when we moved to Portland back in 1995; back when Italian restaurants dominated the landscape. It has always been know as a romantic, cozy place with good food and wine. We had not been there for years, and unfortunately our return visit last Saturday night did not live up to the memories. We got off to a bad start, as our table was very small and way too close to our neighbors. The waitstaff also seemed a little disinterested. Another big disappointment was how well lit the place was, it had lost it's intimate charm and romance. It didn't help that we were sitting across from a door that led to their bar, where a live band was playing. Every time one of the waiters opened the door, we'd get blown out by the music (and for some reason they opened the door a lot).

So, most importantly how was the food? In short it was mixed. One of their old standby appetizers, the portobella con polenta, was still great. But the entree pastas were not. We both got the chicken linguine and it was ridiculously sweet, so much so that it was hard to eat. Luckily we got a fantastic sangiovese off the wine menu, where they were featuring five nice choices for $25 or less, to drown out the food.

Il Piatto
2348 SE Ankeny St
Portland, OR 97214-1627
(503) 236-4997