Porta Bella Italian - Madison

My review is not much different from others recently. This was our go-to date night a few times a year and this time the service and atmosphere was so poor and slow it was hard to enjoy the evening. The food was fine, but like others have said, I don 't need to drop $100 for 2 plates of pasta. So sad to see this Madison establishment has fallen so far. Disappointing.

Stopped by for lunch. I had the short ribs ravioli. It was very filling and tasty.

I’ve been a Porta Bella fan for years. Not sure I will go back anytime soon. 140 bucks (incl 15% tip) didn’t give me a price/value worm and fuzzy feeling. 3 people had cheese bread, small pitcher of Sangria, Porta salads, scallops pasta, fettuccine Alfredo with chicken, and pasta with vodka sauce. All the food was good. Specifically, the scallops were very tender (difficult to do), the sangria was definitely good for 2 people, but the chicken in the fettuccine was soggy. But the overall high price still didnt match the standard quality of the food. I was disappointed in the reduced menu offerings. I loved coming here in the past for their chicken tetrazzini over spinach noodles then baked to make crispy tops on the cheese. None of that is offered any more. Service was disappointing. Mike greeted us right away. There were very few tables in the restaurant that night, and it was obvious everyone was training a new person. Still, tables remained cluttered with dirty dishes, we saw no wait staff in our area for 10 min or more, and wait staff went to and from the kitchen with empty hands a cardinal sin in serving staff etiquette. We sat without refills on water, waited a long time between Mike’s table visits, and generally felt like service to all the tables could have been more frequent and attentive. In our experience, wait staff should spend 90% of their time on the floor being unobtrusive observers of things that need to be done. We usually tip 20% or even higher now. We left Mike a note expressing paining why we tipped 15% because we wanted to justify our lower tip amount. For 140 bucks, we would have expected a very high quality of service and food. Neither was the case on this visit. We might be back to try it again. Parking: Ramp across the street can be busy depending on time. Wheelchair accessibility: Very easy access to the door. Wheelchair seating would not be possible in the main room except at the end of a table.

I have been going to this restaurant since the 70's and I'm so glad it is still there. This trip we introduced some friends to this wonderful restaurant. Parking: There is public parking garage right across the street.

Porta Bella has a great atmosphere for a date night since it is dark with cozy dining nooks. There is a parking garage directly infront of the restaurant with plenty of parking! The food was delicious with great size portions. Would highly recommend the lasagna and the calamari!