Genoa RestaurantSimply Excellent!Without doubt, Genoa is one of the very best restaurants Portland has to offer. It's not a NW or metro location but they certainly make up for anything they lose due to location.5/18/2013 12:00:00 AMfirst time since the reopening...Wonderful, first class all the way as usual...
the knowledge of the cooking process by the waiter, lee was fantastic
not a hitch anywhere, the cocktails were perfect too.5/4/2013 12:00:00 AMPortland landmarkWe had a table of five. When we first arrived I felt a little uncomfortable, but in just a few minutes the wait staff made us feel right at home. The wine list is mostly from Italy and I only know wines from the Northwest and California but the wine steward did a great job helping us to select the appropriate wines. We also had a round of Manhattan's that were very good. I think the prices are reasonable for the exceptional food and great service.. We will visit again and would gladly recommend to friends.
Eric Johnston
Troutdale Liquor5/3/2013 12:00:00 AMVery good food, well prepared.Very good food, well prepared. Nice atmosphere, with large curtains blocking the view and noise so you don't realize you're on a fairly busy street. Very romantic. Friendly, knowledgeable staff. Great for a special night out.4/27/2013 12:00:00 AMIncredible, amazing, phenomenal.Incredible, amazing, phenomenal. Possibly the finest meal I've had during my five years in Portland.4/21/2013 12:00:00 AMFantastic experience!Go to Genoa when you want to pamper yourself. It's extraordinary!4/20/2013 12:00:00 AMExcellent but lengthyGenoa offers two prix fixe menus: one for carnivores and one for pesceterians/vegetarians. On each menu, the diner has a choice of main course and dessert. On the whole, the food was excellent. An amuse bouche of warm garlic soup got the meal off to a fine start. A salad with "mushroom bacon" was imaginative and tasty. We thought the sablefish was a bit bland (and perhaps undercooked, at least to our taste). The morels were excellent.
Our major complaint was the length of the meal. Fifteen or twenty minutes between courses is excessive.4/20/2013 12:00:00 AMGreat Special Occasion ResaturantSuperb food preparation. Extremely knowledgable staff.4/18/2013 12:00:00 AMI love Accanto (next door)I love Accanto (next door) and so when my husband and I were looking for a restaurant to celebrate a special occasion, I thought of Genoa. The food was AMAZING--really delicious. I was a bit surprised because the website has a quote from Julia Child about uncomplicated food and deliciousness but the courses did have some "fussier" ingredients and a lot of them. Any time it takes the waiter longer than a breath to describe a dish...you're dealing with fussier in my book. The only other critique I would offer is that the portions were quite small. I'm very familiar with the Italian "prime/secondi/contorno" style of menu but I have to say I've never left a good restaurant in Italy still hungry and I was on Saturday4/13/2013 12:00:00 AMTremendous dinner in all regards;Tremendous dinner in all regards; beautiful room, phenomenal food preparations, fantastic service. Was all we could have hoped for and exceeded our expectations. This was our first time to Genoa, one of the best meals I have had in Portland, which is saying a lot. Thank you Genoa!!!4/13/2013 12:00:00 AMContinental dining pace coupledContinental dining pace coupled with creative (exotic, dare I say) food pairings made for an epic dining experience (3-1/2 hours). Our waiter was knowledgeable and engaging without being unctuous. The wine list had a large selection of excellent nebbiolos and barolos to satisfy most italian wine oenoligists. I particularly enjoyed the bison tatar appetizer. The only negative I can cite was being disturbed by a nearby fellow diner, a orange spray tanned Vanessa Williams wanna-be, going outside to smoke every 20 minutes. You can pick your restaurants but unfortunately you can't pick your fellow diners.4/10/2013 12:00:00 AMWonderful experience. FantasticWonderful experience. Fantastic food. Nicely balanced flavors and textures. Beautifully presented food. Portions just right. Excellent service.4/10/2013 12:00:00 AMSomething special in PortlandAfter many great meals at Accanto we decided it was time to take the leap and try Genoa. The April menu is wonderful and we were delighted from the first bite. Each course was a joy to taste. From the Bison Tartar (which my husband had prepared to taste and leave) to the cheese and desserts, every bite full was delicious. Since there were 4 of us dining we got to tree all three entrees and they are each marvelous. I think that the fish was our favorite, but the veal is also amazing. If you have the time and the budget to splurge on a wonderful evening out with special people in your life, this is the place to go. Plan ahead and think about bringing your own bottle of wine if you are worried about the budget.
Enjoy!4/6/2013 12:00:00 AMI loved the decor, feels likeI loved the decor, feels like you are dining in someone's lovely home. The food was outstanding, fit for the special occasion we were celebrating. Certainly not a place we can afford on a regular basis but what a lovely gem for a special occasion.4/6/2013 12:00:00 AMThe people I was entertainingThe people I was entertaining gave Genoa an overall EXCELLENT. I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to food but they LOVED it. The service was fantastic and they went out of their way (the chef replaced my antipasta without my asking as I did not care for buffalo tartare so they sent me the veggie instead.) Genoa would never be my first choice but it would be theirs.4/5/2013 12:00:00 AMvery nice dining experience,very nice dining experience, 5 course dinner to recommend, main dish and the mascarpone desert were a bit disappointing after a 3 very satisfying starters.4/5/2013 12:00:00 AMWhat a treat! Imagine - aWhat a treat! Imagine - a restaurant in Portland where you can get excellent food, with imaginative wine pairings, and you can actually hear what your dining partner says.3/28/2013 12:00:00 AMOver Hyped!!!Over hyped!!! It was nice, but very expensive for type of foods served. Corkage fee and cocktail extremely over priced for PDX. Dinner "pre fix" was OK. Our server, perfect! She was kind, polite.....SHE made the dining experience what it was. She was great, did not get her name.3/27/2013 12:00:00 AMService is first class. FoodService is first class. Food presentation is gorgeous. Love the service and the quiet. One can actually have a conversation! We chose this restaurant because we wanted a quiet environment where we could converse, and the food and service are excellent. Wonderful for a celebration or intimate occasion.3/27/2013 12:00:00 AMA great, true Italian restaurantA great, true Italian restaurant with a knowledgeable staff who clearly
love what they are doing. An excellent spot for a leisurely, laid back experience
perfect for that special occasion.
sjl3/27/2013 12:00:00 AMGreat restaurantThe food was awesome. Service perfect. This is the place that started the foodie experiment in Portland. It continues to stay cutting edge. Wine list different and superb. Great parings. A great experience3/24/2013 12:00:00 AMWe have celebrated our anniversaryWe have celebrated our anniversary here for over thirty years. It has always been a pleasant experience and with great service. However this time I didn't care that much for the menu. The food was artistically presented as always, but the portions have been reduced significantly. Where a dinner plate was used, a bread plate would have suited the size portion much better. I will check the menu carefully the next time we eat there and not just leave it to chance. Rather than have a variety of tastes, two of the five courses and one of the entrees were fish served rare. I was a disappointed.3/21/2013 12:00:00 AMThis month's menu was superbThis month's menu was superb and the first two apetizers were very good, which were rabbit sausage and shrimp pasta. We also enjoyed the salad and deserts. My family liked theri main course dishes, chicken and ram. Mine was albacore tuna which was good but I liked least among the dishes. I had byson tar-tar, too, and enjoyed it very much so I felt quite filled when the main course came and it might be the reason.
The wine suggestion was very good and the seating was very nice. It was our anniversary occasion and we all satisfied.3/16/2013 12:00:00 AMGenoa is a very special place,Genoa is a very special place, we really enjoyed ourselves. It was our 25th anniversary and my husband and I were both glad we chose it to celebrate this unique anniversary. Everything was cooked perfectly.3/14/2013 12:00:00 AMA perennial favorite, theA perennial favorite, the food was good but not great.3/14/2013 12:00:00 AMStepping into Genoa feelsStepping into Genoa feels like stepping into your local baron's dining hall, only they're all about you here. The lighting and ambiance of the dining room was superb, the waiters and servers were delightful and friendly but not pushy, and the five-course prix-fixe dinner was elegant and tasty. I could not have been more pleased with this restaurant! The food itself was inventive and yet still familiar. I think my favorite in terms of look was the beet salad, which was served in a beet puree with beet greens and beets beets beets. Even though I can't stand beets, the inventiveness and presentation was superb. I couldn't help but eat it just because of all the effort that went into it. Even though I didn't like it, the others were fantastic.1/16/2013 12:00:00 AMStill one of the best diningStill one of the best dining experiences in Portland. If you are a long time Genoa patron, the lack of connectivity to the menu traditions is a bit jarring, especially when the food being served now simply does not compare on a course-by-course basis. There is an apparent attempt to use more trendy ingredients even when they do not compliment the primary item. It will be interesting to see what the new chef changes after settling in a few months.12/31/2012 12:00:00 AMRomantic DinnerWhat a wonderful evening - I am not a big fan of set menus, but his was exceptional. The taste and complexity of the food was just right and a wonderful gastronomical experience. Very romantic atmosphere, but casual elegant. The remodel was definitely a success. The chef is quite genius. We will certainly be dining at Genoa again.12/22/2012 12:00:00 AM