Kim G.
Yelp
The staff here are so much friendlier than the flagship NE location. Five stars for them!
While I intended to pick up the Salumi sandwich starring mortadella, salami and cheese, all of the focaccia pizza looked so good that I decided to get a square. Wish I could say that it tasted as good as it looked. Maybe I chose wrong. I got the Mama Lila's pepper with goat cheese not realizing they would add so much softenened goat cheese in top, with the consistency of sour cream rather than chunks of goat cheese cooked with the pizza. It was too tangy and completely over powered the pizza.
I'll definitely give Montelupos another try and will stick to a classic, the pepperoni. At $8 a square, it's expensive, even for Portland, but one square is all you need. The focaccia has a crust bottom and the inside and top super fluffy. Not Rome style, but still good.
Inside is small, they have a few tables that seat about four or five people each. If you go between 12-1:00, it will be a challenge finding a seat. There are also a few smaller tables outside.
In addition to focaccia and sandwiches, they sell fresh pasta (bucatini, cavatelli, malfadine), prepared meals (penne a la vodka), their jarred sauces and dry pasta, olives, and cured meats. Surprisingly they have a robust wine collection.
Malfadine is one of my favorite pastas so I picked up a pound for $8 to go. Typically fresh pasta takes just 2 minutes to cook for that perfect al dente bite. The malfadine took about 4.5 minutes. Make sure to start checking at the 2 minute mark and recheck every 30 seconds. To get the restaurant quality, take the pasta out before it's done and finish cooking it for the last minute in the sauce with a little pasta water. Dinner came out fab and I'll definitely buy their fresh pasta again.
Great addition to this part of town. Love that they are open all day as I don't typically eat lunch at noon so having an option to grab a square of pizza late afternoon works for me.