The same night we went to Disney World we drove over to Downtown Disney to try Portobello's Italian Restaurant. I've seen this place numerous times and never ate there before now. Dinners start from $21.99 to $55.00 and they have the usual menu of an Italian restaurant. Selections are pizza, pasta, chicken, and seafood. They also have small and large Antipasti plates. I had black linguine with Florida Rock shrimp. My wife had a pasta plate and the kids ordered chicken fingers from the children's menu. The dinners were all good but not the gourmet special I expected. I would rate it somewhere between Olive Garden and Carrabba's, both good restaurants but not nearly as pricey.
We sat down at a table with dirty water glasses and dirty silverware. The tablecloth appeared clean but the glasses hadn't been changed out and some of the tableware was dirty. When I asked the waiter to change them out he appeared not the least bit bothered that I had to ask in the first place. The service was adequate but not the service you would like to get for $25.00 a plate. He brought us our bill while we still had food on our plates and didn't offer us any dessert or coffee which is standard at a place like this. Our waiter was conservative and polite but not at all engaging. It seemed as though he didn't have time to be pleasant or to up sell the menu since he was also busing his own tables.
It was a good dinner but my money would be better spent at Carrabba's. Overall, I give it a "B minus". Could have been a much better experience.
