Porta

Reviews 5

JA

Jason Ganz

The snawzeech (sp?) pizza, no sausage, was nice. Everything else just went utterly wrong. The initial sit down and motif went well, but the ordering went to hell. Our server (who was a nice guy and was possibly either new or simply overwhelmed by how busy Porta can get) stated that the cheese was vegan and soy-free, only to then come back and tell us the vegan mozzarella and / or vegan parmigiana was soy-based. (G/f is vegan; Im violently allergic to soy). Im allergic to soy, so this is a nogo for me. We ultimately went with the fried artichoke and a no-faux sausage snawzeech pizza. This is where the problems really began. First, my g/f ordered a rose wine and got a red wine; we had to rationalize the redness to the cherries, although it did have a bit of a champagne like fizz to it. Second though, and more egregious, was that the artichoke had a white residue on the bottom, which turned out to be pecorino romano. Now this was partially our fault as it should have dawned on one of us that romano is a cheese, but the waiter repeatedly ensured us that the artichoke was vegan (perhaps because an artichoke is a vegetable, and he did not account for the cheese (which is NOT vegan). We returned the artichoke back due to it not being vegan, and waited almost another half hour to get a replacement artichoke. (I began to wonder if these artichokes were fresh grown in "Portas National Park...) Our waiter was very nice and understood the issues and waived the cost of the 2nd artichoke. It was a nice gesture, but other than the pizza, Portas is a disaster for the food-allergy and vegan demographics that may travel to Asbury Park. It was not the waiters fault beyond misinforming us that the fried artichoke in its natural state is not vegan due to the cheese put on it. Moreover, Porta needs to have the ability to make fully custom pies and not just stick to the menu. Our waiter stated this was because it was easier for the cooks to just stick to the script. TO me, this reads as a copout and that either the chefs dont like a creative challenge to work with those with food allergies, or worse that the pies are pre-frozen food types that can be easily bought in the right supermarket. Shame too, because if thats the case, these were excellent store-bought pies... or the chefs dont care about a good cooking challenge that could have potentially brought out the best in their culinary skills.

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MA

Marcello Chi

So we heard the big hype about this location. And to be honest, we were not thrilled about it with the service and food. First, we were told that we had a 2-hour wait, so we left our names and went on walking around. Once we returned about an hour later, we found a location by the bar that was opened. We decided to sit on it rather than having to wait another hour. To our surprise the moment we sat down, a text comes saying that we have the table ready. I politely asked the girl to move us to the table from the bar and, she said it was company policy that they couldnt move the check once we ordered the food. Thats fine, we ordered the summer risotto and bootzin for as appetizers and 3 pizzas. It was the 141/2, hot soppressata and Margherita. The drink service was pretty slow as the girl was working takeout and behind the bar on her own. So the appetizers arrived and immediately went into sharing between ourselves. Although it seemed that the flavors were good, the amount of salt in those two first dishes overpowered everything else. And I mean extremely salty. So we said, lets see what the pizzas are about. One note, this is my personal taste but Im not a particular fan of soggy dough. We all like our pizzas to have that crunch on the bottom and what we got was a real chewy dough who got soggy because of its thin layers and not enough time in the oven. Overall, not a favorite to go back to and probably wont return on our trips to Asbury Park. Between the 3 pizzas we ordered, the Margherita was the best seasoned and cooked. Also, may I add that the pizzas again were extremely salty.

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JA

Jason Patel

Nightlife atmosphere is great, however the bartenders and bouncers are extremely rude. Walked in just beginning of the night, place wasnt crowded at all and asked a couple of my friends what they want to drink. The female bartender then proceeded to motion her hand as in to "hurry up" and was extremely rude about it, then when she saw my startled expression she said "you have to hurry up, I dont have all night, you and your friends should know what you want before you come up here." That really threw me off because first off, the night had barely started and second off, no one else was waiting. She rushed us, proceeded to give us drinks we didnt request and then said "I cant do anything about it now." Her male co-worker approached us and also stated "you have to hurry up man, we dont have all night" reiterating her female co-worker. Asking my friends what they wanted to drink took no more than a minute and half, but I was thrown back at the lack of service and blatant rude remarks. Owning several different businesses in various industries, customers are key to any organization and especially in a service business, being kind goes a long way. They need to train their employees to be less rude.

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KA

Kate Ryan

I visited Porta with a few friends last Saturday and it will be the last time. Someone in our party was told to "throw out" his baseball hat because they have a no hat policy. When he asked if he could put his hat in my purse, the bouncer started yelling at him. Were all very reasonable people.... The way we were treated was terrible. Were not all drunken idiots, no need to treat us that way. In addition, my coat was stolen right of the coat rack. The bouncer was trying to force me out of the bar while I tried to explain that my coat was missing. He said it happens all the time and "its gone." The fact that the management knows this is an issue yet continues to rely on a small sign in a dark room saying theyre not responsible for personal items is insulting. Based on other reviews and the bouncers comment, this is a common problem. My advice is dont spend your money at an establishment that cares so little about its customers that they cant be bothered to set up a coat check or even attempt to solve their security issues.

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J

J Real

Me and a friend went here last summer for the first time. Ive lived in the area all my life but this was my first time at Porta since they opened. We thought we would brave the crowds and long wait to see what this place was all about. Well once we finally found a spot at the bar and ordered a few watered down drinks. We tried our best to choke down the worse pizza either of us had ever had. The pizza was actually my second selection. It was a replacement for the pasta I originally ordered. As bad as the pizza was it still wasnt as bad as that pasta. I couldnt get past the first fork full. We ended up closing out the check and going elsewhere. That was my first and last visit to Porta. Certainly not worth the wait or the price. Its no surprise this place is full of tourist. There are so many great places to eat in Asbury. Any one of which would be a better choice. If you care about taste over pretense, do yourself a favor and keep walking past those colorful doors.

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