Al Porto Ristorante

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#100 of 2,543 Restaurants in VancouverItalian, Seafood, $$ - $$$

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Al Porto Ristorante

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+1 604-683-8376Improve this listing

About

Gastown's popular Water Street is alive with the taste of another era. Meander down the cobbled sidewalk and stumble across a true find, the uniquely situated Al Porto Ristorante. Spacious yet cozy, the room is as distinct as the cuisine that defines the rich flavour and culture of Italy. Candlelight and a warm welcome await you as you cross through the iron-gate.

Features

CUISINES

Italian, Seafood, Contemporary

Meal types

Lunch, Dinner

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

FEATURES

Accepts Credit Cards

American Express

Full Bar

Highchairs Available

Mastercard

Private Dining

Reservations

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Table Service

Takeout

Visa

Wheelchair Accessible

Location

321 Water St, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 1B8 Canada

Downtown

Can a gluten free person get a good meal at this restaurant?

Yes

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Hours

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Closed now

• Opens at 4:30 PM

Sunday

4:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Monday

11:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday

11:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Wednesday

11:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Thursday

11:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Friday

11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Saturday

4:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

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4.1

671 reviews

Excellent

305

Very good

216

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Yes

Navigate10553192874

9 contributions

Good Italian in Gastown

Apr 2024 • business

It's located very close to the Steam Clock, and is in a good location for a stroll around Gas Town. The atmosphere inside the restaurant is nice, but don't expect a great view from the window as it's a cargo terminal. The staff are friendly and provide adequate service. They choose topics to entertain the customers, which is very good. In addition to seafood, they also serve aged beef, which our guests were very happy with.

Written April 27, 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Boris M

Edmonton137 contributions

Nice Spot with Good Food and Service

Mar 2022 • none

Couple ate dinner here recently and were not disappointed. Started off with the calamari which were cooked perfectly, nice and tender. Had the chicken parmigiana and the seafood risotto. Had an eye out for the veal marsala, but sadly no veal available this night. Chicken was large, fresh and juicy, right amount of sauce and cheese with a light breading. Served with a pasta in a light, fresh tomato sauce. Yes they use dried pasta as they should depending on the dish and the sauce. Risotto was perfectly cooked, creamy and seafood was also cooked properly - nice flavour to the risotto and the perfect portion size. Finished with one of the best tiramisu around. Nice bottle of wine, 2 cocktails, shared appetizer, 2 entrees and shared dessert came to $200 inclusive of tax & exclusive of tip. Service on this night was perfect - waiter struck the perfect balance, not trying to be my best friend, witty, professional and efficient. Overall a wonderful meal.

Written March 7, 2022

MJC

15 contributions

Glad to have come back

Nov 2024 • couples

We hadn’t been to Al Porto in ages (retirement) and were delighted to be reminded how much we enjoy the ambience, the food and most particularly, on this visit, the service. Our server, Sixto was knowledgeable, attentive and made our leisurely lunch a real treat. We will soon be back.

Written November 28, 2024

Tony P

1 contribution

Quite good food but some negatives

Jun 2024 • couples

Pleasant ambience, relatively easy to get a table on a Saturday around 7pm. Pizza was fine with good ingredients and very large. Most pizzas are around 30 CAD$. Marked down because the menu advertised pilsner on tap but it wasn't available. Also, the pale ale was shown as 473ml but a 330 ml can was opened and served. Where I come from (UK) short measure is a major sin. A take away box was available for the leftover pizza but it was left for me to prepare the box and then pack it. I would have thought that doing this by a staff member would fall under the heading of service, for which the minimum suggestion was 18%. Service is not just writing down your order, telling you what the specials are and asking if everything is OK.

Written June 15, 2024

Tatу

Venice22 contributions

Negative

Aug 2023 • couples

Nice restaurant, friendly staff, good fish, I paid a very high price for it....... The decision was the prawns which were very disgusting, no matter how hungry we were, but they were still cold, without any sauce, or at least lemon, it cost €40 but wasn't even worth €5. They cheated us because we were tourists...... But anyway I was willing to pay and I paid dearly for what I ate, it's not right to pay 40 euros for a plate of expired stuff, at least they could have given some sauce, I have lemon, or brought them a little lukewarm..... I don't recommend......also because the prices are disproportionate.......30€50 ml of a liqueur

Written August 13, 2023

mushbigdog

Camas306 contributions

Italian gone wrong

Aug 2024 • couples

Dropped in here for lunch. First impression was that service was very slow. Our first course was a Caprese salad which we asked to share however they didn’t bring us two plates. I order ed a beer and they forgot it and I had to ask again for it. The pizza we ordered I thought was good but my wife felt that the tomato sauce needed more flavor and that there were not enough toppings. My wife also didn’t appreciate the bug that was crawling on a ledge next to the top of our table.

Written August 21, 2024

Jo-Anne S

24 contributions

So disappointed

Dec 2021 • none

I chose Al Porto as the place to celebrate my huband's 60th birthday. We were so disappointed. There were very view dishes available and the ' special' was a bland over-cooked bowl of gnocchi in pesto sauce for $29.00. No sides and no garnish. We had to send it back. Nothing seemed fresh. It felt like the chef had not shown up for work that day. Our some what rude waiter was also making our drinks and they were terrible. We've had nice meals there in the past but this time it was dismal and we won't be back.

Written December 4, 2021

onembh

Sheffield63 contributions

Wood burned pizza oven ???

May 2022 • couples

Just been in this place expecting a nice wood fired pizza . The first pizza arrived with char burnt edges totally inedible. They arranged for a replacement which arrived 15 minutes later at which point my wife had almost finished her meal . Guess what ,the second one was overcooked around the edges again but in fairness not quite as bad so I decided to eat it ( well some of it !) Now comes the crunch ! There is a prominent sign outside ( I have a photo) stating a wood burning pizza oven . when we asked the waitress if it was wood fired she replied don’t know !! come on you work in the restaurant and not knowing if there is a wood fire !! we insisted she check and guess what they haven’t got one! Total misrepresentation! My wife enjoyed her meal except the mussels were gritty. They did knock something off our bill (check ) but that wasn’t the point, our last night in Canada was ruined.

Written May 30, 2022

Denis I

1 contribution

Al Porto is a Gem of an Italian Restaurant in Vancouver

Mar 2023 • business

Al Porto is a fantastic Italian restaurant located in a busy and nice area of Vancouver. Even the entrance down a cobble stone street makes you feel like you're travelling in Italy. Food was excellent. Service was beyond expectations, Our server was a gentleman named Sixto that was top notch and took care of us.

Written April 5, 2023

Tatyana R

1 contribution

Not the place I would go

Oct 2020 • none

I invited my sister to celebrate her birthday and the first thing that we were given were the dirty plates with dry food stuck on them. If we didn't have a gift certificate, we would have gotten up and left but we decided to stay and experience "fine" dining (it was lunchtime). We ordered seafood dishes and a salad. The prawns didn't seem very fresh and tasted weird. To finish off the meal, we ordered tiramisu cake which was old and dry. The place didn't look clean and as we were sitting beside the window I noticed a thick layer of dust on the blinds. A few days after I emailed them and described my experience. I said that I would not write a bad review because I understand that many businesses were affected by COVID. I got a reply a few days later with the apology and an offer to send me a$50 gift certificate. I sent them my address on October 28. Today is November 27 and I have not heard from them. This is very bad management and I would not recommend this place.

Written November 27, 2020

paulfromnfld

16 contributions

Why is so hard to cook Italian food? 6 people and 5 bad meals served.

Sep 2021 • none

Pasta has to be such a simple meal to prepare. Why is it that this place can't do a simple sauce? Any sauce? Why do they not make fresh pasta? Dry pasta in an alleged Italian Restaurant. Bad Bolognese. Horrible Carbonara. How can you not make a decent Gnocchi Its the only fresh past on the menu? It was do disappointing to learn from the waiter that the owners are the chefs and are very proud of the food. Clearly not our table. 1 person out of 6 enjoyed the meal. 1 didn't even eat it , dry tasteless horrible food. The bartender, who was also the sever, had no clue how to make a gin martini, or a Whiskey sour. Absolutely ridiculous. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE TO EAT!!

Written September 23, 2021

david d

Langley City117 contributions

Where did you special dinner go?

Nov 2022 • couples

My wife and I visited this restaurant last night, after seeing the king tut display. I had remembered this place and we thought we would return. It was 5pm so they had just opened. We were seated at table 49, our waiter was excellent, except for putting our order in. We ordered the special, but we did not get any soup or dessert. We had the beef carpaccio as an appetizer, along with some wine. I ordered the scallops and prawns,which was delectable. My wife ordered the tenderloin, which was devine. We did not mention to our waiter that we were missing the soup. The meals were supposed to come with dessert, we were given dessert menus, again, we did not want to cause a scene. Our check number is 91519. We were in disbelief when the check came, but I paid it, with a nice tip, in cash. I don't know if we will be back, maybe it was a cause of miscommunication. The service was impeccable as was the food. We just feel we did not get what we had asked for.

Written November 6, 2022

Sean S

1 contribution

Not what it used to be

Feb 2024 • family

Food was okay. Service was absolutely terrible. Our server complained to us during the meal about his co-workers, then made fun of the food other tables were ordering in his section. We wrote an email directly to the restaurant afterwards, thinking that anyone could have a bad day, and to try to keep it off of social media. They never even bothered to respond. Either they are okay and condone this, or they simply don't care anymore. As lifelong Vancouverites, it is disappointing to see this once great restaurant not keep up. There are better Italian choices downtown.

Written March 13, 2024

JFBell

London417 contributions

Good Italian food

Sep 2022 • none

The Restaurant was quiet when we arrived, but we sat in a section near the window with most of the tables full, so there was a pleasant buzz of dining conversation around us. Service was prompt and helpful. We shared a pizza, which was well cooked (one pizza was enough for both of us). The other food we saw coming out looked great as well. A nice meal.

Written September 30, 2022

eprVancouver

British Columbia184 contributions

Downhill Turn

Feb 2020 • friends

This was always our go to place when downtown. However I think this last time will unfortunately be our last. We waited at least 90 minutes for our meal. Prices had increased and food quality has decreased over our last visit. My cannelloni was barely warm and undercooked and my husbands meal was cold. However the worst thing was the disgraceful bathroom. Dirty unkempt, dilapidated doors, soapless, doors that don’t lock and nonfunctional toilet. There was paper towel but it was on the floor with other garbage. If this has been my first time it would have been a one star review.

Written February 15, 2020

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AL PORTO RISTORANTE, Vancouver - Downtown - Restaurant Reviews, Photos & Reservations - Tripadvisor