Papi Portland

As a Puerto Rican visiting Portland, I did not expect to eat at a Puerto Rican restaurant. But I’m so glad I did! I walked in and immediately smelled the sofrito. It smelled like my grandmothers kitchen. It’s such a warm and nostalgic feeling when you immediately walk in. The atmosphere was incredible, it was upscale yet cozy. Like I was eating at a cool Tia’s house. The food was INSANE. SO GOOD OMG! We got the Pernil dish, it was authentic, delicious and worthy of a good review. The empanadas were stupid good. We got the tostones and Maduros, they were perfection. This place was so good I would bring my judgmental Puerto Rican grandmother here and I know she would sing it’s praises. On top of the amazing atmosphere and food, we had the best service! Kyla was amazing! I wanted to order the whole menu, and she kept offering me food options like a Tia who just wants to feed you. I felt at home being here and Papi has easily become a new staple now whenever I visit Portland. Truly an exceptional experience 10/10, well done!!!

The very best meal we had during our trip to Maine. Everything was a 10/10. We ordered all the appetizers on the menu to share as our main meal and it was perfect for sampling as much as possible. We could not choose a favorite. The cocktails were dangerously delicious, and don’t skip on the chocoflan. You won’t regret it.

Came in on a Tuesday night, just prior to 5 and were lucky enough to snag 4 bar seats. The place is absolutely beautiful and creates an upscale, hip vibe. Mind you we had dinner plans at 7;45, but everything looked so good, we decided to do apps here. Started with cocktails and as you can see from the pics, you can’t go wrong no matter what you order. We had a vegan dish, with plantain which was truly remarkable along with an order of ribs and 3 taco’s. All were excellent and did a great job holding our appetites at bay until dinner. I will 100% be back for dinner, what a great find.

Firstly the restaurant is super cute and great for a photo op. The food was good and the drinks were delicious. Our waitress Keila was super attentive and had an amazing personality she really put our experience over the top. We will be back!

Celebrated my birthday here with my family and it was excellent. The food was so good. I had the Penil and it melted in my mouth and was complimented well with their arroz con gandules. Everyone raved about their meals and my daughter said it was better than any food she had on our family trip to Puerto Rico last year. Who knew you could get such excellent PR food in Portland! Finally, shout out to Monica for her excellent service and making it a special birthday celebration!

We came on Thanksgiving weekend without a reservation knowing it would be busy and we got lucky that the window area had seats. Our server was very attentive, the view out the window and of the full restaurant/bar area was great, the drinks were fun, and we really enjoyed the Poblano Caesar. Those Guineo Chips 🤌

Filling and delicious plates. The oxtail croquettes were incredible and the fried sweet corn fries were unlike anything I’ve had before! The taco dish came with 3 mini tacos and the jackfruit totally fooled us. Also the boriken gold cocktail is a classic and always hits the spot!

Tonight was the second time I came to Papi. This place was absolutely amazing the first time when I sat at the bar, but this time it felt rushed and the waitress was not pleasant at all. After we were sat, she came over after about 2 minutes, looked at us with her notepad out and then said, I’ll come back, you don’t look ready. When she came back we ordered everything, she asked “do you want everything at once” and we thought by saying yes this would happen. 5 minutes passed and before we even got our drinks my moms empanada was out. When I mentioned we had asked for our food together she brushed it off and said “everything will be out”. Drinks then come. We ordered a drink that was supposed to be literally on fire. And she says “sorry it went out before I got to the table”. When we pulled her aside to mention that the whole purpose of ordering that drink was to see it on fire, she said I’m not comfortable bringing the torch over. Then said “I’m doing my best” and acted like it was out of the norm we would expect this..but did try. My food then comes out and 15 minutes later my boyfriends food as well. We ordered everything together. I’ve been a waitress and a bartender. So I tipped well but this was not the experience I expected to give my mom. The waitress was fake, pretty sure she gave some guy at the bar her number during shift and was clearly not interested in actually interacting with us. She mentioned to the young table next to us her friends were in the back so trying hard, was interacting with friends and not selling patrons on items. We spent 180, I tipped 40, and quite frankly I expected better service. What a disappointment the second time around compared to the first.