Alba Osteria

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6440 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland, OR 97239

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(503) 977-3045
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Restaurants

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Italian Restaurants

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Food & Dining

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European Restaurants

Reviews
( 9 )
( 9 )
( 3 )
( 2 )
( 5 )

Best

I can understand where some of the negative reviews are coming from: you are paying a lot of money for somewhat small portions of, essentially, peasant food, and the service is d...

Worst

I'll start by saying that, overall, the food was good and the service was impeccable. However, I find that spending $7 for an undressed salad with uncut sections of red lettuce is...

Dont waste your time and $$$$$$$$$$ 2/25/2010

Pretty Awful I don't understand all of the good reviews for this restaurant! My wife took me here Tuesday night for my birthday dinner. We were both looking forward to a wonderful experience. I ordered the rabbit salad, lamb shank and cream puffs for desert. The rabbit salad was recommended by the waiter. The rabbit was was dry and flavorless- tasted like pieces of boiled meat. The lamb was OK as were the cream puffs. My wife ordered the green salad, gnocchi and pork chop. The salad was nice, but nothing special. The gnocchi was actually quite good. The pork chop was awful. She took most of it home and plans on givinig it to the dogs. it was cooked with a hazelnut sauce with all of the subtly of a greyhound bus. ugh. I had to break out the rolaids when we got home Given the prices the qualitiy of the food and service there are too many good places in Portland to enjoy to waste an evening and A LOT of money on this restaurant. Pros: Crostini was good Cons: Most everything else more
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Disappointing to say the least 1/22/2010

Fancy looking place w/ fancy menu but c'mon folks!!! my wife & I were astonished by the food quality. Pastini or even New Season Deli deliver much better quality, taste & service. My fish was not well cooked inside & the salad was overpriced w/ SUPER low quantity. The wine was selection was great though. Pros: Wine selection Cons: Service lacking, Food to be much desired!!! more
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I'd Skip This Place If I Were You 5/10/2009

The portions are small for the price, and the quality is average at best. You will spend $16+ on pasta that comes with nothing. The atmosphere is bland, and the servers don't tend to pace themselves or give enough privacy for diners to carry on a conversation. Cons: Over-rated, over-priced more
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One of our very favorites. 6/5/2008

I can understand where some of the negative reviews are coming from: you are paying a lot of money for somewhat small portions of, essentially, peasant food, and the service is definitely of a relaxed nature. However, those portions are of superbly cooked fresh ingredients--treated with respect, not over sauced or contrived. The Agnolotti is a good example of where differences in taste could come into play: to our mind it is a perfect portion of superb delicate hand made stuffed pasta with a beautiful subtle Sage butter, but to others it could be a tiny bowl of miniature ravioli with no tomato sauce. \r The service is as we like it--allowing us to mull over our food without any pressure to turn the table. The knowledge of Italian wine is superb and the various house made Strega's are fantastic\r .It's understandably not everyone's cup of tea but we count it amongst our top 3 restaurants in town. Pros: Simple, superb food Cons: Streetcar doesn't run to Hillsdale more
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Great 2/26/2008

Everything was super yummy. The service was excellent, a perfect evening. (And that is really important to us as new parents; we dont get a lot of opportunities to go out.) I cant wait to go back! Pros: Food was great, service was very attentive Cons: Pricey, small space more
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Way too expensive for the quality and quantity! 12/21/2007

I'll start by saying that, overall, the food was good and the service was impeccable. However, I find that spending $7 for an undressed salad with uncut sections of red lettuce is silly! The wine was incredible, but at $50 a bottle, it better be!!! I had the sausage and tajarin -- not worth the money, though. I don't mind paying good money for great food, but this was a slight miss for me. They really need to re-evaluate the cost to the customer. I've reveiwed other semi-expensive restaurants and felt that i was getting what I paid for. Somehow, Alba falls short for me. I don't know what happened to the salad dressing, but when I'm paying as much as I paid for that meal, I shouldn't even have to wonder about it! Pros: Ambience and service Cons: Too much money and no salad dressing more
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Food did not do it for us 8/15/2007

We kept hearing much about this place and decided to check it out . We went with another couple and their teenager. Sorry to say the food was disappointing, the portions were small and no one really cared much for their meal. We may give it another try becuase of all the great reviews we got from friends--but I agree with the previous review and I like Olive Garden better too. Pros: liked the location more
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I've had better meals at an Olive Garden.... 7/25/2007

A friend and I tried Alba after reading favorable reviews here and in the local newspaper. The interior is relatively large and the dining area rather cozy with simple decor. Service was good but not great, you DO NOT put an opened bottle of wine to your nose before serving the customer. The entrees also arrived moments after the antipasti with little room on the small tables.\r \r Antipasti was absolutely terrible, salty and oily. One in particular, the tar tar, is suspected of causing later nausea from I'm assuming improper storage.\r \r Entrees were again salty and oily (pasta dishes) with very little real flavor or anything one would expect from this price range. I've had better meals at an Olive Garden....\r \r Overall, we will never go back and will not recommend this restaurant to anyone. In fact, we rate this as one of our worst dining experiences ever. Way overpriced and falls way below many, many better places to spend your dining dollar.\r \r I hope the management is reading this and spends some time overseeing the complete lack of focus by the cook staff. more
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Gem of an Italian Restaurant 7/13/2007

This restaurant is tucked away on Capitol Highway. It is easy to miss, but it would be your loss. It is one of the pricier restaurants, but I love the food here. I'm craving it right now. Enough said. more
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Expensive and noisy, sorry - this is not 5/24/2007

The food here - from attractive but rather bland salads and other antipasti, to the ""primi,"" pasta first courses, and the main courses - is reasonably well-prepared (tho there's an awful lot of cheese sauce) . An arugula salad with shrimp ($11) was bland. Fried potatoes with sage ($7) were delicious tho a bit too oily. Desserts are good. The least expensive glass of (utterly quotidian) wine is $8. I will probably not return for dinner. It's expensive! The wines especially so. The small wooden chairs are more suitable for a place to grab a quick bite, and on the night we were there the noise level (in the room farthest from the bar) was nearly intolerably high.I wondered, as the child at the table behind us was allowed to shriek while his table was finishing up, if his parents know that in Italy, children do go out to eat but are taught right off not to scream in restaurants. Pros: tasty pasta, good Italian wines, great desserts Cons: noisy, uncomfortable seating, totally unromantic, expensive more
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Way over hyped & over priced 8/19/2006

The atmosphere is spare and lovely, although the room closest to the kitchen has a warmer feeling to it (and not just because of proximity to the ovens). The menu is small, but that shouldn't matter if the items are all of high quality. Unfortunately, that turned out not to be the case. The risotto was overcooked and mushy. When I mentioned it to the waitress, she looked at me like I couldn't possibly know what I'm talking about (you know, being italian and a cook). The asparagus were coated in this coagulating cheese sauce that didn't enhance, but covered up the sweet flavor. And the pasta was too salty (and I like salty usually). The dessert was divine, however, a lemon ricotta cake that wasn't overly sweet or overly adorned. True Italian. The service is not very attentive and ultimately the prices don't support the experience. Pros: Atmosphere, dessert Cons: poorly executed menu, bad service. more
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Most Underrated Food In Portland 6/9/2006

The food here is fabulous - the dishes are always innovative, the ingredients are fresh & local and the menu is sensitive to the seasons. We've always found the service to be nothing but attentive and expert. My only complaint is the atmosphere. The owner(s) could, without question, benefit from the involvement of a professional designer. There's no soul to the interior and it feels amateurish, which is a detriment to the unmatched quality of the food. Pros: food Cons: atmoshpere more
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Excellent Food, Laughable Service 12/19/2005

I made a reservation for a romantic dinner at Alba. The ambience wasn't conducive to romance, as it was very loud. The food was absolutely divine, with one of the best steaks I've ever tasted. My biggest complaint was the service. It was very much in the McMenamins' school of thought: overally casual and not very attentive. At one point, both my partners' and my glass of water was empty. A server filled one glass and left the other empty (it was nearly touching the full glass). The wine pour was also very disappointing. A $9 glass was more like a sip from a wine tasting. Pros: Well prepared food Cons: Cheap wine pours, Poor service, Loud more
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Tutto Bene! 12/18/2005

I dined by myself and enjoyed the Carne Crudo as an appetizer. It was prepared very simply and beautifully. I had the duck breast with the olive sauce as my entree and my plate was polished with a few pieces of bread. I enjoyed the 1998 Produttori del Barbaresco for a very reasonable price. I am quite satisfied with this restaurant and recommend it to all. Pros: Italian wine list, clean and comfortable, great menu Cons: hard to find, cold ambiance more
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High quality, good taste, reasonable price. 8/28/2005

My husband and I are trying all the restaurants in portland, we found this restaurant from citysearch. We had Mozzarella cheese as appetizer, the flavour of the herbs and fresh tomato was very good in the dish. You can tell the chief picked vegetable carefully. All the vegetables look beautiful and fresh. I had duck, my husband had lamb. We both enjoy our food, the duck cooked perfectly, the vege in the dish works very well with the duck, they bring out the flavour from each other. This restaurant defintely has a really good chief. It is a rare find in the portland city. Especialy for under $20 per person. We had dessert after the meal, it has nice flavour of fruit and chocolate, unlike other places either too sweet or too rich. We think this one is the best italian restaurant in portland. Pros: Nice quality, Good portion, Good service Cons: Building appearance more
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Tasty! 5/14/2005

Alba was a great treat - the wait staff was incredible, and our food was awesome! Portions were perfect. This is a place we will definitely visit again! The only thing slightly lacking was the decor of the dining room - it seemed a little drab, and could have a warmer atmosphere Pros: FOOD, SERVICE Cons: Ambiance more
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Exquisite! 10/16/2004

We're so happy to have such a high quality restaurant as Alba in our neighborhood. We have eaten there on numerous occasions and have always been delighted with the food, service and wine. The pasta is the best in town -- the tajarin melts in your mouth. My wife always goes for the agnolotti --tiny pasta pillows stuffed with cheese or meat and spinach. The gratins of jerusalem artichoke or cardoon are two of the most memorable dishes we've had anywhere. The sweetbreads are unsurpassed and the chef does wonderful things with duck and fish. The dessert chef has hit his stride with some of the finest gelati and sorbets in town. My favorite is the caramel gelato. The menu changes frequently so that we always look forward to new taste adventures. Pros: superb food, reasonable prices, wide variety of wines more
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Bland 8/30/2004

~We are a dinner group of women exploring Portland in a culinary fashion~ We explored this restaurant on a beautiful summer night. The atmosphere here was bland, the food had inspiring prospect in writing but did not deliver it too was bland, and over priced. One shining perk: The service was outstanding!! If you want great service but boring food this place is for you. Sorry to the lovely folks at Alba, we cannot reccomend this restaurant. ~RR Pros: inspired ingredients Cons: , flavor, atmosphere more
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Dining room needs punch 3/31/2004

Went here with some friends - good crab appetizer and loved my hanger steak (even though the waiter told us it was close to a NY Strip - he was wrong, it was a flank steak) and potatoes. The dining room is kind of cold, sparse and boring though. If they made it a bit more cozy, you'd want to stay longer. more
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A Tale of Two Cities 12/16/2003

Taveling from PDX was quite easy and well worth the trip (I'm from Orlando, FL). The food was excellent and well presented. The service was unpretentious and discreet, ""there when it was needed""! The experience was well worth the price of admission. I highly recommed Alba Osteria. more
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Menu for Alba Osteria


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Editorial

  • In Short
    Careful details abound in the two dining rooms and bar, including subtle wall tones, simple place settings and medieval-meets-modern light fixtures. Simple Piedmont cuisine is...

  • 6/2/2006 Provided by Citysearch
Additional information
  • Neighborhoods: Hillsdale, Southwest Neighborhoods Incorporated
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