Il Porto

Returned to Il Porto in Gaithersburg after several years absence. Our family used to enjoy dinners there with our parents and I remember the meals we shared there. So we stopped by yesterday at around 4 pm Saturday for a meal filled with carefully prepared entrees, flavors and a dining experience that brought back fond memories of a good time in our lives. I had the Osso Buco, risotto and asparagus, and my sibling had the Chilean Sea Bass with Broccolini. Both were delicious, flavorful, and familiar - in the best way possible. We were reminded why we used to love this establishment and it was one of our family's favorite places to go. Thank you, Il Porto. Keep on doing what you are doing and keep the tradition going.

Good Italian food with great service and ambiance. We loved all the entres that we ordered. I also liked the entrance with flower decorations as it gives a welcoming feeling as we enter the place. I recommend this restaurant for good dining experience.

Shrimp fra diavolo tasted great and had a good portion for the price. I also liked their bread. Staff was very friendly.

Excelent restaurant! I've been coming here for many years and the food is always fresh and delicious. Highly recommended

IL Porto did a fantastic job hosting our 50th Anniversary Party. All 50 guest raved all night about the great food and the excellent service!

My husband and I celebrated our wedding reception at Il Porto on 06/07/2025! What a memorable evening & night! I only have positive words to say about Mr. Alberto, Mayra and staff. Mr. Alberto and Mayra were so accommodating and worked with my vision. The staff members were very friendly and attentive, and the food was so delicious! We received many compliments from family members on how delicious the Italian cuisine was at Il Porto. A huge thank you from my husband and I for giving us the opportunity to celebrate our special day at Il Porto! We will be back for dinner dates soon.

Solid food, on the expensive side but a nice upscale atmosphere. It was a member of our party's birthday so they brought out a free tiramisu, which was very nice.

I only had drinks. The service was great, prices reasonable. The Italian Mule cocktail was great!

It is a very special place for lovely special occasions or ordinary dining. The cream of crab soup is to die for! The service is excellent and the choices for wine pairings are numerous. If you like Italian, this is the place for you

We like going to Il Porto because it's your local neighborhood restaurant. We know all the servers and have been going there for years. We came for a family birthday celebration and they are very easy to accommodate . the fried zucchini is very good with red sauce. the white pizza is to die for with red sauce And the chicken Parmesan with linguine noodles. A dente is perfect. Our family who was with us ordered a veal chop. It looked like something out of the Flintstones very generous portions. The veal piccata was noted to be very good as well as the fried fish. The tartufo is excellent overall great fun night

I had the Eggplant Parmigiano and calamari. They were both excellent. Other items our group ordered were pizza, lasagna, the ribeye, and fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. All of the meals were fantastic and the service was great. It's a nicely decorated restaurant that gives you the feel of being in Italy. I will certainly return.

Came here randomly one night with my husband because we were craving Italian. And it's safe to say that this is our new favorite Italian spot in Gaithersburg! Out server was soo nice and knowledgeable with the menu! For the food, first off I just wanna compliment the chef because their calamari's are cooked perfectly. They're soft and airy and NOT super chewy (over cooked). My husband got a seafood trio pasta which he really enjoyed cause he wanted a lot of seafood. And I got a shrimp pasta with a couple scallops. The marinara sauce was delicious. For drinks my husband got an imported beer, and I got a very nice red wine. Highly recommend if you want some good Italian food AND service!

Review #598 None Elite Squad Porto.. when I think of Porto I think of Portos Bakery in Downey which is a home staple for Downey..it's Cuban right ? but wait .. were talking about Porto Restaurant in Maryland.. Italian Restaurant to be exact .. so let's do a 110% honest review. let's start off with today's secret number ..which is 110 1st the food is ok, not great tasting full of flavor but if your hungry it'll taste delicious but it's really just ok. The Scenery and Atmosphere of the restaurant is nice and pleasant ..doesn't feel italianish but it's has a fancy touch to it. The Customer Service is a 110% .. the waiters and staff are Amazing and give Great Customer Service. but here's my problem.. Whey the Hell do they add their own Tip to your Bill? This is Horrible.. I understand they give you great service and they feel that they're entitled to a great Tip.. but adding their own Tip to the bill is 110% Bull.. now, we got separate Bills..now check this out... it was 5 separate bills.. my Tip for example the waiter decided to add $15.. the next Bill and you have to remember..were sitting together.. they added $10.. the next Bill added $16. the next Bill added $13 and the final bill $11.. that's $65 Tip..are you Serious? look, these guys took advantage.. I mean they abused the system to get a $65 tip..and the tipa were coming from 3 15-16 year olds.. and the other 2 were 2 adults with 2 aditional 15 year olds.. i mean.. either the owner is in on this and loves for these guys to Rip off t their community which by the way..the restaurant was empty and I could see why.. here's another thing for kicks ..the restaurant didn't close for another 3 hours ..and these guys locked the front door to prevent new customers from coming in..oh my goodness..wow!!!! yes, 100% true. no .. 110% true. Look, I wouldn't be caught dead coming to this place ever again .. and I wouldn't 110% recommend this place to anyone ..

I had dinner for a seminar at Il Porto. The food was good but didn't knock my socks off. I had the salmon and pasta dish which may not be on the main menu as we were in the group room. The service was good and everyone was friendly. Parking is plentiful at the shopping center which is always a plus. #yelpMDburbs

This restaurant has been around a long time and I never got around to paying it a visit until last night. Decent Italian food with a good variety of pasta, pizza, meat and seafood choices. Many classic Italian standbys. We ordered fried zucchini, a butterflied whole branzino, a sphaghetti carbonara and finished with a salted caramel gelato with biscotti liqueur. Food was of good quality and quantity. Place is really big. Our server is young and a bit inexperienced. But overall we are still pleased and will likely visit again when we crave some pasta.

This was a last minute decision to try out this restaurant. We waited too long for anyone to acknowledge us waiting for a table at another place and called Il Porto to see if they had any seating without a reservation. The person on the phone kindly said no problem, just come. We arrived less than 10 minutes after making the call and we were greeted and seated right away. This was such a contrast to what we experienced earlier at the other place. We chose a table outside on this lovely May evening. Even though we were right across from the parking lot and next to a gym, the outside dining area of Il Porto was serene with potted flowers all around. The furniture and seating were comfortable with umbrellas at every table. We started with fried calamari and the passionfruit spritz from the weekly specials menu. My first sip of the spritz was pretty strong but delicious. The calamari was not spectacular but at least the breading did not fall off as another place I reviewed last week. The dipping sauce had little taste. I rather liked the sauce at the other place which was a sweet chili sauce. Our entrees were sausage with linguine and salmon fillet with veggies and linguine. Substitutions are allowed with a $1 upcharge. We did not get substitutions. The sausage with linguine was also not spectacular. The links were small and the meal itself could have been prepared at home and not a chef-prepared restaurant quality. The salmon was perfectly cooked at medium with a nice searing on the bottom. The vegetables were carrots and broccoli which could have been cut smaller and cooked slightly longer because they were hard to cut down into bite size pieces. Almost all the dishes come with linguine. I feel like that's just a filler food. We ended our long week and meal with desserts of mango mousse cake and tiramisu. The mango mousse cake was from the weekly specials menu and was fine. The tiramisu was the classic cake you're familiar with but the exception of cinnamon sprinkled in with the cocoa powder. I didn't have a problem with the cinnamon but would have preferred it without. Service overall was phenomenal. Every server was kind, attentive, and knowledgeable about the menu. There was a person who came by our table several times to fill our water glasses. Perhaps he came by too many times because our glasses didn't need filling to the top every time but it was nice to see him come by. My overall rating should have been a 3.5 because the food was just okay but because of the excellent service that I observed and experienced, I didn't have a problem giving it a 4. I sat right by the hostess stand outside and saw that every customer that walked up to the restaurant received a friendly greeting. This is how you welcome your customers.

Fantastic food. Nice ambiance and clientele. Reasonably priced. Superior service. I have been eating here since I gave up on the other Italian restaurant I reviewed a year ago. I have been here a handful of times and it's my "go to" for great Italian food. Management is super friendly.

Not a great place at all. Bottom tier Italian. We go there a lot with some friends who go there for tradition so I've tried a ton of different menu items. Everything is bland and overpriced. I ordered a steak last time just to try something new and ordered it medium. It was a well done hockey puck. Staff is great so they get two stars but food is definitely not anything special.

Been a loyal fan of this place for years. Always consistently delivers, great food, service. About specials nightly, Roast veal and white pizza with fontina are staples. Highly recommend.

My first time at this restaurant was an enjoyable experience. The dining room was full of happily chatting tables and the food going past my table looked delicious. My meal of fettuccine Alfredo was superb, as were the shared appetizers of sautéed mushrooms and fried zucchini. All delicious with a nice presentation. It was interesting to watch the well trained servers opening corked wine bottles for the diners. A nice evening meal and I hope to return.

My family recently held my late MIL's memorial luncheon at the iLPorto restaurant in Gaithersburg. EVERYONE agreed that the food was amazing, and the service was spectacular! The menu they prepared for us included eggplant parmigiana, veal marsala, grilled salmon, and chicken parmigiana. Dessert options included tiramisu and cannoli. The service staff was extremely attentive, and the manager added a special touch by providing an easel to display my MIL's photograph. In addition, I had requested that after our dessert and toast to my MIL, that the manager play Dean Martin's "That's Amore!" as that was her favorite song. The manager played it, right on cue, and most of our gathered friends and family members were both surprised and were swaying back and forth. We could not have asked for a better send-off for my MIL, and we will definitely, definitely will return!

The wait staff was great. I got the dish Spaghetti Carbonara. The dish was overcooked and the pancetta was burnt. I was with 2 other friends and they got the same dish. I reached out to manager and left my name and number without a response.

The food quality was good and there was a very simplistic presentation. The taste were very good and I enjoyed their specialty (Fillet de Pesce).

I really enjoyed Il Porto. We had clams with linguine and a pepperoni pizza. The clams were delicious and the portion generous. The pizza was good. But the bread was the best. A nice portion of tasty and crispy bread with optional butter. I could go back for the bread only. Although it was quite busy, the staff was always attentive and helpful. If you like Italian food, I recommend Il Porto.

I absolutely love this place and have celebrated many special occasions. The owners are kind and always super attentive. Ambiance is great and super family friendly. The food is super tasty and they have many great options. One of my favorite dishes is Cioppino lobster tail.

Not my favorite for Italian food. There are more authentic options available in the area. That said, I hear that it has a number of repeat customers. Ambiance and service are "ok". Depends on one's expectations. Could be great for other clients.

Greeted right away and food is always delicious but I had this to go this time and was only given 2 meatballs with my spaghetti for $20! Insanely expensive for pasta and 2 small meatballs. Next time I'm going to Giant supermarket I was just craving Italian so bad and didn't want to cook smh

Had a craving for some white pizza and chicken cacciatore. Both didn't disappoint! Fried calamari after being air fried to reheat was good too! I only wish they cut the white pizza their old regular way, aka Pines of Rome style. Maybe because this was a carryout order. The side of spaghetti that came with the main dishes was quite good and large portion too! I really enjoyed my cacciatore dish. My brother really liked the chicken doratti dish (reminds me Buca's chicken limone dish). Two winners. The one dish that was flat with no taste was their linguine with clams white sauce. No trace of garlic or white wine taste. Baronessa has the best linguine and clams white sauce over homemade noodles. It's tough writing reviews based on carryout, as all dishes, no matter where, tastes better at the restaurant. For the price and the food that I ate, thumbs up for Il Porto!

We came here for a family dinner for Easter evening. Some of my family lives in Gaithersburg and comes here often. They are big fans. I thought the place and food was good, but not amazing. We ordered some apps and entrees. The lasagna was quite good, and other pasta dishes were enjoyed. My spouse ordered their rockfish entree, and it was covered in much too heavy cream sauce and was subpar for the price. The pork chop that was also ordered came out overdone and black on the edges. Their creamy crab bisque was excellent, and the chocolate mouse cake was decadent and delicious. The staff was friendly, although a little less attentive than desired. The tables are spaced a little too close together for my liking, as I felt like our conversations were heard by all our neighbors.

My daughter and were looking for a new restaurant to try. Il Porto on Friday evening was lovely. Tables with table cloths and glasses, made it seem like an upscale restaurant. The service was friendly and timely. The food was very good. I had the cheese ravioli and my daughter had the stuffed manicotti. Both of us had marinara sauce which was very good.

We very much enjoyed our dinner! The waiters are professional, the hand crafted pasta delicious, the ambiance cozy!

I wish I liked this place but it was underwhelming. We came on a Friday night and ordered calamari, large white pizza, and clams with white sauce. The calamari was undercooked and bland, as well as the clams with white sauce. Both dishes came out cold, so I'm super disappointed. The portion of the calamari was extremely small and the sizes of the pieces were tiny as well. The clams with white sauce felt like the pasta was boiled in water and topped with garlic pieces. We had to ask for salt and pepper. The white pizza came out sliced up so don't expected an actual pie to come out. Hoping to give this place another chance and catch them on a better day.

We discovered Il Porto at their location in Frederick. Later we found out that they had a location in Gaithersburg and that's become our new go to for authentic Italian cuisine. There is outdoor seating as well as indoor. There are so many delicious appetizers and entrees that we have never been able to order a dessert, but if the desserts are as good as the rest of the menu then you are in for a special meal. My husband ordered an Osso Bucco that was not just well prepared, but served with vey fresh, crisp asparagus and roasted potatoes. Truly an authentic version of this dish. I had the Ciopino with lobster and shrimp. It was perfectly prepared. The light cream sauce was peppery and so complimented the seafood. I had the house Pignot Rigió which paired nicely with the Ciopino. My husband had a glass of the house red which was also a good pairing with the Oso Bucco Other entrees we've enjoyed have been been the sweet Potato Gnocci, Eggplant Parmigiana, Fettuccine Alfredo and a few others. We have NEVER left Il Porto without generous leftovers for the next day. We highly recommend Il Porto. You won't be disappointed.

I don't know what happened to this place but it's gone down hill. With a half full restaurant, we got seated in the back room, kinda like a banquet area. We were the only customers in there all night. We even had a reservation and when we finished our dinner, the main 2 room in the restaurant were still only half full. The service and food were not good. We had to send the carbonara back is was so bad. Definitely not returning.

Place is packed on a Saturday. Very loud and festive. Food is meh. Tomatoes and mozzarella had no flavor. Bread is good. White pizza is meh. Got shrimp and scallop Fra diavola. Sauce had decent spice. Portion is small for the price of $25. Chicken and eggplant parm looked good. Flavors were a little bland. Portions in general looked small.

My desperate search for a mid-day espresso, while my husband took our little to party it up at the playspace nearby, ended in triumph. Full-on triumph. The espresso was Italian and strong. The coconut sorbet, complete with halfa' coconut shell, was heaven. Best I've ever had, and coupled with the espresso . . . well, that's a marriage that must last forever. Well done, Gaithersburg. Well done.

I came here for a wedding rehersal dinner and they had a whole room separated out for us which was perfect. They were handing out wine carafes which was great for such a large party. They did give us homemade bread which was warm and yummy. While they took our orders quickly, they did not get us our food for over an hour. While the gnocchi I got was fine, I wasn't really impressed with it, since it was just gnocchi and tomato sauce and I had waited the hour for it.

Great place! The food was wonderful! Friendly staff/ excellent service, also a nice outdoor dining area as well.

We have been wanting to try this place and did last night. We had their crab bisque soup and it was very good. They also provided free bread and it was awesome. That is the only good part. I ordered a pizza and it was not good at all. The onions weren't cooked and the flavor was disappointing. Any of the chain restaurants make better pizza. My wife ordered the lasagna and she mentioned it was very bland. The service was horrible. After we got our food, we never saw our waiter again until we were done. I asked for the check and a box to take the pizza and he gave us a standard to go container. Another server walked by and we asked for a box and nobody came back. We then asked a third time to another sever and got one. 15 minutes had gone by and no check. My wife angrily flagged down the manager who was very upset and got us squared away. He took a small percentage off and we appreciated that. We will not go back. Much better places in the area.

My group (30+ people) had our fundraising event at this restaurant on January 13th. The restaurant was fully prepared for our arrival, and their food & service were all done well. Our group had a great time! (I personally had fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp, and it was beautifully cooked.)

Came here spontaneously because this Filipino restaurant we had planned to go to happen to close easily since It was Sunday. I'm very glad we picked this spot instead! The free table bread is delicious and fresh, we could not get enough of it. All the dishes were wonderful as well. We got gnocchi with pesto, spaghetti carbonara, garlic bread, tomato and mozzarella, muscles with white sauce. Everything was really good! The kind of good where you take that first bite and you're like "oh wow, i really like this!" The only thing that was underwhelming was the white sauce they used for the muscles, there was not much flavor, but regardless, the muscles were still good and we finished it all! Its a nice Italian restaurant and i would surely come here again if i was craving Italian. Service was great and we sat outside, which was lovely.

This used to be a favorite restaurant of mine. Last night it was disappointing. We sat outside and that part was lovely. The food we had chicken parm and eggplant parm were very plain tasting. The sauce lacked flavor. I had ordered the chicken parm with caesar salad instead of linguini. The waiter brought a house salad and when I asked it to be exchanged for the caesar, he said "You ordered a house salad, not a caesar salad but I will change it." My friend eating with me was sure I said "caesar" but even if I did mistakenly order a house side, I didn't appreciate the waiter saying that. Finally, I ordered a decaf coffee at the end of the meal and I am pretty sure, despite the waiter's reassurance, that it was full caffeine coffee because I was up all night, which is unusual for me.

Normally everything is great. The other day we were there and a friend ordered a veal chop. Normally awesome. When it was served it was dry and said friend was not happy at all. Simply couldn't understand. The owner came over, he told him. The owner realized ge was served roast veal and not what was ordered veal chop. The owner did a crazy and unexpected thing: He didn't offer to fix it AND still charged $40 for something tge customer truly hated. Love this place but not an enjoyable evening to watch a friend just be upset.

Visited today, food was okay, service was horrendous, our waitress Sandra had a horrible attitude with us. Our visit was not pleasant, I would not recommend this place.

2nd time to this restaurant. Order the clams casino and lunch special Osso Buuco with risotto and asparagus. Overall great food, service and ambiance . Will go again.

Just had the loveliest dinner at Il Porto with my grandparents. We all loved our homemade pasta dishes and agreed that this was one of the best meals (and restaurant ambiances) that we've ever experienced. Jesús was an excellent server, so enthusiastic, attentive, and cheerful. 10/10 service.

Service was great food was good no complaints. They have delicious moscato. Loved the bread with olive oil & cheese. My fave was the buratta!

The complimentary bread here is AMAZING we could not stop eating them they were so soft fresh and hot and doughyyyy. They were served with the typical olive oil and black pepper, but also grated parmesan cheese!!!! I came here for lunch and ordered the chicken parmagiana, which was bigger than my face! It was breaded very nicely and not that thick. It wasn't dry but also wasn't juicy, I think if it had been thicker it would have been a bit better. It comes with a side of pasta marinara but I asked for alfredo, which was a mistake. The alfredo was extremely mild I had to dump parmesan and peppers on it to get some flavor My friend ordered the Pollo Italiano which had this pink sauce with a very unique flavor that was better than the marinara and alfredo. If I came back here I would order that :) The tiramisu was phenomenal - super moist and flavored while not being too sweet :) Nice atmosphere, most of the other diners we saw were elders. The staff are super friendly and attentive!

I strongly recommend anyone to try their crunchy grilled fish with apricot glaze. That was simply out of this world. They have a nice collection of cocktails as well. The linguini pasta was Al dente with considersble amount of parmigiana very yummi. It was a good experience.

Some old world Italian in Gaithersburg!!! It was amazing walking out of the gym, right into a restaurant with a lot of personality. I was standing outside when the manager literally walked out and greeted me!!! I wanted to give them five stars just for that world class door to door service. I ordered exactly what was on the sidewalk sign and I was pleased with the food, for the most part. I ordered the cream of crab bisque and it was slightly watery, but the lump crab meat they sprinkled on top saved the day. The clams casino was exceptionally well prepared. The flavor was out of this world and I could have literally eaten another plate of them. The one star was lost on the bread. Bread in Italy is important and the bread was just blah, it tasted like the bread was a day or two old. Even if they threw the bread in the oven for a few minutes it would have been better! So the one star subtracted is for the bread and watery soup. Other than that everything was amazing. I will be back when I have business in the area.

I worked with Alberto and Myra to cater an adult birthday party on a Saturday night. They were fabulous. Friendly, responsive, helpful, kept in touch. The food delivery and pickup were seamless and the food was delicious! We ordered eggplant parmigiana, chicken Marsala, baked ziti, vegetarian lasagna, and caprese salad for 36 people, and they brought enough bread and butter to feed an army! Only negatives: the sternos under the chafing dishes went out after an hour, and I think they overestimated the amount of food we needed. That's only a partial negative to me because I'd rather have too much than not enough, and we had leftovers and froze the rest. The price was very reasonable too! I would highly recommend their catering and will definitely use them again.

The chicken parm goes insane. Really good drinks as well. Nice owner and staff are great and fun to talk to.

This food was sooo nasty it made my stomach hurt. I was so disappointed For starters i paid $36 for the lobster and shrimp pasta and added peppers and broccoli just to not eat it. It didn't have a taste to it at all like absolutely no seasoning I had to add salt and pepper and the lobster and shrimp taste like the damn sea. It was my first time eating here and i will not go back again. I took about 3 bites and was done with it. Just A waste of money.

Walked in on Sunday Night for a later dinner with my sister about 30 minutes before closing time. As we entered, we could see the decor was so Italian, and we saw at least 3 different Italian families sitting to have dinner. Their conversations were animated and passionate :) and made for great dinner room banter! :) I had a glass of the house Merlot, which was great. We started off with the Calamari app - I was ok with it (I am just usually not a fan of calamari), but my sister loved it, and I think the marinara was pretty good. For my entree, I had the sea bass with a side of spaghetti and marinara and some grilled veggies. The fish was very well done, and perfectly seasoned. My sister had the gnocchi and she liked it. I had a bite from her plate, and though I do believe it could be fluffier in texture, I am not complaining - it was pretty alright! The highlight of the visit was their dessert menu, in addition to the traditional Italian desserts like the tiramisu, they had a tarffuto on their menu. Think of 2 melded flavors of ice cream in a scoop, with chopped up cherries in between, all nestled in an amazingly tasty chocolate shell. I think it was VERY homey, delicious, different and VERY very Italian at the same time! Will love to be back!

Food is super bland. Service was attentive. I had Chicken Parmigiana, which was dying for seasoning, esp salt. That's usually my issue with Italian cuisine which is why I seldom order it when dining out. Blandness. Even the Arnold Palmer I ordered lacked any appreciable punch. Boring tea meets boring lemonade. How do you mess up an Arnold Palmer?? Surprisingly, the broccoli veg medley side I ordered WAS seasoned. Best thing on the plate. Go figure. Lunch time. Lots of people in here. Multiple groups. Wow. Networking Group leadership chose this place - not me. It's deceptively large inside with TWO large dining/meeting rooms + the main dining area so maybe that played a role. I didn't see my group initially since I saw a large group occupying the room that I peered into. Thinking I was in the wrong restaurant, I pivoted to exit until one of the managers escorted me to the room BEHIND THAT ROOM. This place was chosen as a sub since we were booted from our normal spot cuz it was pre-booked by another group. Looking forward to eating from the normal spot in two weeks since this one is a lemon. One they should have used in my drink.

Bland food. Cute atmosphere tucked away in a low key location in the muddy branch shopping center in Gaithersburg. Their pastas all have the same watery red sauce. Their drinks were very weak and overpriced. I ordered the shrimp parmigiana which was super cheesy, but the sauce was too watery and plain. Service was meh... the server never checked on us until it was time to get the check. Probably won't be back anytime soon.

I was having a craving for Fettuccini Alfredo. So I ordered a pick up for fettuccini Alfredo with chicken and meat lasagna. They have two locations make sure which location you call and pick up. I ordered from the Gaithersburg location. The fettuccine Alfredo was very liquidy but it was huge quantity. The price is expensive but is justified for the amount of food they provide. I couldn't eat the entire pasta and I ate the next day after I warmed in the microwave and for some weird reasons the fettuccine Alfredo a day after tasted amazingly better than the previous day, but sadly the meat lasagna was flavorless irrespective of which day I ate fresh or refrigerated. I didn't like it very much. The meat wasn't seasoned well and there was just too much tomato sauce to taste anything else. The pasta also didn't seem freshly made. The order came with complimentary bread. It was nice and fresh.