Portofino - Hanley in Stoke-on-Trent

Lovely authentic Italian restaurant with lovely food and great customer service.

Brilliant work's Christmas lunch - there were 50 of us upstairs - fabulous food, excellent service, lovely decor', super customer service (Erica, Myra, Marko)

Spent £25.00 on Steak and Chips on a delivery. The chips were cremated and inedible. Meal ruined and the restaurant were uninterested in putting this right 😡

Friday night out, 14 work colleagues, what a superb night, Marko food was amazing, Mira, Anetta thank you for the warm welcome and excellent service, five star plus

Amazing Restaurant with lovely helpful staff. This was my first time visiting and I can safely say I will be back again. The service is quick and the food is delicious! I had Linguini alla pescatore and my partner had the Spaghetti con polpette and chorizo which has my mouth watering, honestly can’t recommend this place enough

Great food, amazing atmosphere and the service . We had romantic dinner with my partner for our anniversary. Glad we chose this restaurant .Thank you so much, I will definitely be back !

Amazing Restaurant with lovely helpful staff. This was my first time visiting and I can safely say I will be back again. The service is quick and the food is delicious! I had Linguini alla pescatore and my partner had the Spaghetti con polpette and chorizo which has my mouth watering, honestly can’t recommend this place enough

Amazing dinner ! They never disappoint! The food was delicious, the server was very attentive- loved it ! I will definitely be back

We booked the pre theatre dinner 3 months prior and wrote on our online booking that we were watching a performance that started at 7.30 so we arrived at 6. At 7.10 we walked out hungry having only had a slice of bruschetta.....apparently if you want spaghetti bolognaise and a margarita pizza from the set menu then you should book at 5 because sitting there for an hour is our fault. Our waitress had long dark hair and was so lovely but the shorter women with a non uk accent was rude and had no people or managerial skills what so ever. They didn't have our table ready and had even said when they sat us they wanted our table back at 7.15pm .....it ruined a very rare night out we had looked forward to for a long time

Had table cancelled 2 hours before arrival as they had a power cut due to road works outside, walked past at the time we should have been eating and it was open and no road works.

We just managed to get a table for a pre theatre lunch, we were also lucky that there was the New Christmas lunch menu. Absolutely exellent choice of high quality food at very competitive prices. All the staff extremely friendly and helpful especially the young lady that took our order. The restaurant is ideally situated just around the corner from the theatre and I think the next time we would pre book. Thanks to everyone at Portofino for a wonderful experience

Went to dinner with my family and had one of the creamiest ravioli ever. It was really nice. I must add that the cocktails were fantastic.

Updated review from November 2024- Once again….. Amazing!!!!!! Thank you so much Portifino 🫶🏻👏🏻 From the start made to feel so welcome, extremely friendly and attentive staff. Food was fresh and of brilliant quality. 100% recommended! Thank you to everyone who made a Birthday memory for us ❤️ Absolutely brilliant 👏🏻 I was a little apprehensive after reading recent reviews however I was not disappointed. Staff were extremely friendly, professional and attentive. The food quality was excellent, good portion size and great choice. Great atmosphere....Definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting a great night out with top quality food 👌🏻 Thank you Portifino 😊

just amazing, booked for a birthday meal food was excellent, but staff and customer service made the evening, Marko impeccable host, thank you for the absolute best evening, 100% will be back, rare these days you get such fantastic customer service

At the very least expected fresh pasta not packet pasta, sauce was bland with a deep fried breaded chicken schnitzel type thing chucked on top, pizza was ok, husbands seabass was ok but mash was microwave mash, toilets were horrendous!!! Staff were lovely that’s the only reason we paid and didn’t do a runner, also left a tip only for the friendly staff, won’t go back !

13 people for a 60th birthday party at this great restaurant. We're here for the 50th and had such a great time we went back 10 years later. The food was great and service impeccable. We pre ordered our meals and the result was a smooth delivery and perfect timing.

Used several times, but have now cancelled my last 3 Uber orders. I won't be ordering again.

After being recommended Portofino we booked a table for 7:30. Our table wasn't ready but it was very busy. After 15 mins we were sat down and given our menus. Another 15 mins passed before we eventually got someone attention so we could actually order food and some more drinks. While waiting for the food to come out we wanted to order some more drinks but nor server's near so my partner went to the bar to order. He did this twice. The food eventually arrived which was fresh and hot. I had the seafood linguine which was delicious, my partner had the beef stroganoff but was disappointed at how chewy the beef was but found it tasty and we had a side of garlic bread with cheese. Dave's description "best garlic bread I've ever had". I would agree, it was delightful. Meal finished, we, again, tried to get someone's attention as I was desperate to try a pudding. We were given dessert menus and ordered some more drinks. The drinks arrived maybe 10 minutes later and we thought we'd be able to order the desserts at the same time. The server slammed our drinks on the table and stormed off without even making eye contact. About 15 mins later they came to take our dessert order. We didn't order dessert but did ask to see the manager. She was very understanding and actually took our last drinks off our bill but we won't return unfortunately.

Very disappointed. Heard good things about this place. Although I was a bit dubious when I saw it only had 4.4 stars...considering what I'd heard 🤔. I also noticed the menu was quite compact, which for me generally is usually good as it's less confusing and normally better quality food served. But when we got there it just seemed utter chaos! Every time we ordered the waiter or waitress's had to keep coming back because they weren't sure about something. Some of the meals were slow to arrive. Every single round of drinks we ordered they forgot drinks that we had to remind them about. They also tried to double charge us on one round of drinks that we had already paid for. (There were double figures of us so not a cheap round!). And the food itself was just really average. Not one of us had a stand out meal. The type of food you'd usually pay around £7-£10 for...yet we were paying £13-£20 for! Criminal value! Alot of negatives there...but the staff were really kind and trying their best. But like I said earlier it was just complete chaos. Highly unlikely I'll ever return, not for them prices. It's was top end prices for beefeater quality food. 😬👎

Having found something in the food reported it not rea)y concerd that my freind bit in to jet food to find the plastic chef waited until we had finished before coming over and then whas grinning saying whobfound plastic in food shocking be havier staff behind bar were swearing really seam s to have gone down bank will never return to this place

I have been to many Italian restaurants where the food is far better than here. The starters were nice, but the main courses left quite a bit to be desired. My stroganoff was over salted and the strips of steak were a little tough. My granddaughter, who loves lasagne, would not eat more than a couple of forkfuls of the one that was brought saying it wasn't as nice as the one mummy makes! Over half of the number in our party did not finish their meals, and not because of the size of the portions. In fairness the waitress did ask if everything was OK but that was really just after the first couple of bites, before a proper assessment could be made. Sadly we will not be rushing back for another visit.

perfect pre theatre meal with subsidised menu. friendly and efficient staff. Good choice of food with some veggie options. do a good cocktail!

Excellent Italian food and service. The wine list had good wines as well. Really pleased we went there as the food was excellent.

Visited the venue prior to going to the theatre. I cannot fault the quality of the food or the level of service. Both excellent

Fabulous food.Best bruschetta ever.Waitress was lovely.Always good here.

Couldnt love this place or the food anymore ! Lunch time menu is an absolute bargain, delicious food and staff are really friendly, All tables should be full !

Food was good. Surpringly not crowded for a Friday night. Service also good. Reasonable prices.

Nice chicken and pepperoni pizza pre-theatre. Not the most appealing restaurant inside. Service ok.

Food , staff and service superb, Marko you are a legend, will certainly be back.

Fantastic food and great service, wont hesitate to return

Not Italian - visited briefly, food is NOT authentic Italian. Carbonara made with bacon not pancetta and cream not egg yolk? No seasoning at all. Chips soggy and pizza below average. Staff not very welcoming. Could do better at home

Really tasty food and reasonably price. Downstairs looks great too

Love the food, the staff and the atmosphere in there.

Simple menu choice due to short time available. Good food excellent service and acceptable pricing

Been in Stoke on Trent for a couple days and decided to eat out. This place is an embarrassment to call themselves an Italian restaurant. To start, we ordered the stuffed mushrooms, which came as 3 small mushrooms buried in tomato source and god knows what type of cheese and was definitely not stuffed at all. We also ordered the meatballs to start which arrived as only 2 meatballs served in sauce. For the main, my Sea Bass was overcooked, but the worst was the seafood pasta which had a few prawns, salmon and chewy calamari. To conclude, we ordered an Espresso which was like a short black americano. Small portions, overpriced.

We went for a meal on Saturday night (4th May). The 4 of us opted for the pre-theatre menu. The first disappointment was the wait and the restaurant was extremely busy. We waited a while for the waitress to take our order food and drink. After a while the waitress chased our order which then arrived at the table. The starter's were edible but not too normal standards. The main courses came and the size of the pasta dish and Stroganoff dish were tiny! The two pizza's we ordered were really good and a nice size. I was two slices into my pizza and I felt something hard and sharp in my mouth. I wasn't sure if I'd broken a tooth but it was a large piece of plastic which was in my pizza dough. Upon complaining the chef came to me with a huge smirk on his face. He said "these little things happen, don't worry about it". His attitude and watching the chef's through the cooking window has opened my eyes up to the overall unhygienic and don't care attitude as really upset me! I will be taking this a lot further! If I'd of received an sincere apology and not a rude smirking chef then the situation may have got resolved!

We went for a meal on Saturday night (4th May). The 4 of us opted for the pre-theatre menu. The first disappointment was the wait and the restaurant was extremely busy. We waited a while for the waitress to take our order food and drink. After a while the waitress chased our order which then arrived at the table. The starter's were edible but not too normal standards. The main courses came and the size of the pasta dish and Stroganoff dish were tiny! The two pizza's we ordered were really good and a nice size. I was two slices into my pizza and I felt something hard and sharp in my mouth. I wasn't sure if I'd broken a tooth but it was a large piece of plastic which was in my pizza dough. Upon complaining the chef came to me with a huge smirk on his face. He said "these little things happen, don't worry about it". His attitude and watching the chef's through the cooking window has opened my eyes up to the overall unhygienic and don't care attitude as really upset me! I will be taking this a lot further! If I'd of received an sincere apology and not a rude smirking chef then the situation may have got resolved!

Visited Monday it was very busy, we did wonder if we would get a table but the staff were very helpful and found a table within minutes, ordered food and drinks and didn't have to wait too long, food was piping hot and delicious. Highly recommend.

Food was fantastic, handled a mix up with the order so smoothly and kindly, tiramisu was lovely.

We were at Stoke for a business trip and asked around about a nice restaurant to dine in and so happy with the suggestion! The food was simply delicious, portions were decent size and quite tasty. We were served by Maryam, she was very friendly with a nice smile and made us feel welcomed. I would highly recommend this place.

Day of booking,to the day of a family birthday excellent service. Food Customer service Hospitality Thank you.

You can see from the photo just how much care was taken preparing this by the chef.....you can't taste it but trust me it tasted as good as it looks.... also had the duck on another evenìng that was equally as good.

I'm on a business trip in Stoke and the second time at the Portofino. Really friendly stuff and awesome food. Idol be back.

Haven't been here for over 8 years, been here with my family, food was beautifully done well, the food was done beautifully, very kind and entertained our little boy whilst he was playing up. Highly recommended, looking forward to going back again.

Excellent food and service. Really enjoyed this restaurant. The steak and pizza were excellent. Highly recommend the Bistecca Piccante Sirloin Steak with a glass of Merlot. 👌 The Tiramisu was also very nice. Will definitely return when we are in the area again.

Fantastic food service was with a smile and very informative when asked about the different dishes

Smashing place, steak was immense, garlic bread side dish could feed a family of 4 🙏

Had table upstairs, was colder compared to lower floor, looked more basic, inital server was very friendly, but also looked like some new staff as well, food was nice.

Very good time, staff are very welcoming and friendly. The food was excellent and reasonably priced. Highly recommended Portofino restaurant

We dined here for the first time in a very long time before the theatre this weekend. Both food and service were very good, but the toilets were honestly disgusting, filthy, broken toilet seat, no hand wash. Appalling and really marred my experience of the venue sadly. Won’t be returning based on that.

"Italian restaurant " with pizza frozen !!..no menu for dessert . I have same vine wich give me impression that the bottle was opened long time.

Starter calamari was great Main steak lots of grissle I couldn't eat it

Beautiful cosy relaxed place. Staff so helpful and friendly and for once piping hot food and I mean piping hot. Would highly recommend

We had my wife’s 50th birthday party here tonight. Food was amazing atmosphere was perfect and the staff went above and beyond. I can’t recommend this restaurant enough. Thank you for making us so welcome and looking after us

Ordered for delivery. The order was wrong . Wrong calzone sent . Fair enough mistakes happen. But staff refused to accept responsibility and were rude . Avoid. Garlic bread Cold and cremated chips aswell

Absolutely brilliant 👏🏻 An amazing atmosphere from the moment you walk through the door. Staff are world class. The atmosphere is lovely, definitely recommend. The food was brilliant, Staff accomodating with my request to change menu ingredients. Spotlessly clean and tidy. Would 100% recommend Portifino to anyone, absolutely brilliant family night out. See you soon 😊

👍🏿, great portions for fine dining

Very good food and service especially if you have kids. This restaurant is amazing. I've been there many many times and will keep going. A bit of Italy in Stoke on Trent. The service in the restaurant is amazing, but the service in delivery apps is disgusting. Third time I order in Uber eats and have my order cancelled by the restaurant. If they are not delivering why they leave Uber eats available to order? Very good restaurant with very bad service when it comes to delivery apps.

Went for Xmas day,£65 pp.food was lovely. Starters and dessert portions were OK but mains were inadequate. Tiny portion of veg and I mean Tiny. Some of us were still hungry after 3 courses .that should never happen especially on Xmas day.how much would it cost the kitchen to put veg on your Xmas lunch plate ? We all said we will be dining elsewhere next year.

Charged us a fortune as we went there on Christmas Day, service was incredibly slow, the main was supposed to be a mushroom risotto - it wasn’t made of risotto rice and there was no mushroom in it. My dessert should have been a vegan chocolate cake and they brought chocolate cupcakes.

Everything was fine and the food was absolutely delicious.

My favourite restaurant in stoke. The food and service is just brilliant

What a great night with amazing service and food a real gem for a special night. A big thank you to Marco for the great food a personal service all the staff were superb. Highly recommend this restaurant best in the area.

Squeezed in when calling with no booking. As always very accommodating even at this busy time of year when someone turns up wanting a table for one! The lasagne was to die for and the garlic bread and beer accompanied it perfectly. Thank you

Great to try. Active, clean staff and cuisine similar to Italian cuisine

We visited for my daughter’s 21st birthday and Portofino made it very special for us! It was great, fantastic food, service and very friendly indeed. We would definitely recommend.

Super quick service, amazing flavours for each course ordered.

Fantastic environment, friendly staff and management - Tasty Food!!

Amazing place ! Great to go for dinner or lunch. The food gets to you quickly and tastes great. The service is very friendly and helpful. They've got the best coffee in England by far!

Food was absolutely beautiful. Definitely will be going again soon

Staff is friendly. Price is reasonable. Food is great.

A Good Italian, a little overpriced the food is good, the service is good, I just come away feeling it was lacking, a meal no better than many other Italian restaurants and even a chain I can think of.

Great place for Italian food in a city of limited options.... The staff were very friendly and catered well for Gluten Free, although the menu itself is limited, upon mentioning celiac, the waitress and the chef put together a gluten free vegetarian risotto "off menu" which was greatly appreciated and very tasty! Would recommend!

This restaurant has a lovely layout and lovely decor. The staff are friendly. However, the food was not good. First of all the lasagna was definitely warmed up and was not made fresh. The deep fried mozzarella was cold in the middle. Also on top of that, there were pest control plugs that were placed on top of the booths. Clearly this place has problems with rats or mice. Not good. Pity.

Excellent food and customer service great atmosphere. Travelled from Sheffield great restaurant

Wonderful lunch experience Classic atmosphere with excellent and friendly wait staff

I booked this for 20 people as a surprise for my sister in laws 40th, we are not from the area and the restaurant was extremely helpful. They asked us to pre order our food as there was lots of us, I explained that I couldn't ask my sister in law and family as it was a surprise they were fine and said they could order theirs on the night. We had to change the time as we were running late, again nothing was an issue. Staff very friendly and helpful. Would definitely recommend this restaurant.

Unfortunately I could not recommend this restaurant. We waited almost an hour for our food and when it arrived it was average at best. The menu is unclear and makes beers appear to be sold in pints. Unfortunately they only come in overpriced bottles. The restaurant was clearly understaffed and overbooked, leading to an experience that was not worth it at all. The atmosphere upstairs felt like a cheap buffet restaurant compared to the high class downstairs environment.

We sat and waited for 45 minutes for the mains to arrive. No apology, no checking in on the table, no real service. When the food arrived it was cold and bland. Never again! Terrible

I have been to many an Italian restaurant but this clearly is one to avoid. Crazy long waiting time, staff who were slow to serve or check in with the table and served a half pint when I asked for a pint - unaware of their own menu pricing or what a pint measure was versus a small bottle. Risotto was rather bland and needed seasoning and further focus on presentation. Having waited 45 minutes, rather unacceptable. Very dark on the first floor - - we had to light our own table candle from another table! - do request a ground floor table and the pizzas looked much better. I hope this was just a problem in staffing and in future, customers get prioritised or at least updated.

This restaurant could not be faulted. The staff and in particular Erika were great. Nothing was too much trouble. The food was pretty good as well!

Lovely ambience but food was disappointing. Ordered kids pizza with pepperoni so they put spicy pepper pepperoni as they didn’t have normal pepperoni but when informed they made a fresh kids pizza. I ordered spinach ravioli from the set menu and it was so- so. A big plate with lots of sauce and only few pieces of ravioli. It wasn’t even hot. I think my husband liked his steak. The desert was tiramisu which was nice. Starters we ordered were calamari and bruschetta and were just basic. All in all very average food. The restaurant wasn’t busy and for the price would have expected better food. Service was good. Don’t know if I will return.

Went for dinner with my boyfriend for my birthday, lovely service by Erika - recommended a nice main dish as well as a bottle of wine which went together very well. Will return

We enjoyed a meal here prior to going to the Theatre. We shared a Bruschetta starter and both had risotto main course. The service was timely and the food excellent. Portions were great and the food really tasty. We will definitely be back as it was very good value for money. We went mainly because it was close to the theatre, but we will definitely return.

Visited for our wedding anniversary. Food was delicious and staff very attentive

Went there this evening for a family celebration. The staff were very kind and accomodating, and it was a lovely atmosphere for 5.30 on a Saturday afternoon/evening. Only fractional negative was that the food was a tiny bit spicy for one or two of our guests even with a request to hold the chilli. The rest of us loved it. Kids portions very generous too. All in all a lovely evening. Thankyou

Excellent food and service. Lovely environment and atmosphere. Will visit again soon. Would recommend without a doubt.

Fantastic food and service all served with delightful charm by the staff. Had a really excellent meal. Prices very reasonable.

As a family of 4 we had a 3 course meal each and it was simply amazing. The steaks were cooked to perfection, the beef stroganoff was so rich and tastful and the carbonara was demolished in 5 minutes. We also had the garlic mushrooms to start, the parma ham dish and the mozzarella which was so good. We decided to have 4 of the desserts so we could all try it...the salted caramel cheesecake, limencello ice cream, chocolate fudge cake and the chocolate profiteroles....😍😍 We're just gutted we live 2.5hrs away. The service was amazing and the food was on point!

Great restaurant, friendly staff, and good food. Feeling an italian vibe as it's nicely decorated, the music was the only thing that didn't match the atmosphere.

Zack was the perfect host. We were the first to be sat upstairs as we hadn't reserved a seat downstairs, which was quite full. We were accommodated with music and attended to attentively so that we were never made to feel like an afterthought. Zack had a warm, friendly but professional manner which really enhanced the experience. The upstairs soon filled with people after 8PM and the atmosphere was classy and contemporary.

Good choice for an Italian in Handley. We went mid week and it was pretty quiet. Nice surroundings, good service. Enjoyed the meatball calzone pizza, unusual and super tasty.

Absolutely fantastic we all loved it and will go back again. Lovely food and our waitress was great 👍 thanks guys

Fantastic service and food. We had 3 courses each and everything tasted Fantastic so fresh and full of favour. Staff and attentive and polite. Restaurant is beautifully decorated and has a nice relaxing environment to enjoy family time. Would definitely recommend this Restaurant. Thank you guys for a pleasant evening.

This place is amazing great food lovely atmosphere I would recommend this place to anyone 😊

The food was simply mouth watering and delicious. And the service was fabulous, well catered for we were.

What a fantastic night ,its a must visit restaurant ,thanks to all the staff for a wonderful experience 10/10

on friday night at 7pm 8 of us went to the restaurant - what a great night Marco the owner advised personally on all dishes the service was quick plentiful and wide range if drinks available. we had some nice ripasso red wine and had...

I tell you what! What a welcoming, friendly, vibrant atmosphere! The service was brilliant. The food was tasty and cooked to perfection. Perfect timing from ordering to the table. Just exceptional. Well done Portofino team. X

Visited Thursday night with group work colleagues, thank you Marko and team for an outstanding night, we will back very soon , Harry F.