Portabello's

Thanks Elizabeth for a nice, relaxing evening. I'm still in a Peanut butter pie coma!

Our dinner was excellent, just seemed a little overpriced.

We've been a few times and my In-laws come here at least once a month between April and October. Our last visit was a bit of a disappointment which is out of the ordinary for Portobello's. For a Friday night, the place was nearly empty.  We were seated  promptly and drink orders were taken by our friendly waitress. She recommended the Mojitos.  My brother-law ordered a Martini. After ages they arrived all decked out in paper umbrellas piercing a cherry. The drink tasted just like a penny candy "mint julip"  meanwhile we watched as the martini warmed up on the bar across the room.
The menu is Mediterranean / italian  ? And felt a little out of season.  I know from past experience here, the menu seems more geared for cooler weather.   Our group tried several of the pasta dishes ranging from alfredo fettuccine  to a bowl of cheese  ravioli and all were enjoyed.   I had a pork chop with a cilantro citrus sauce that seemed almost too sweet and had me wishing it was October.   The
Desserts were great and I'd recommend the S'more or the flourless chocolate cake.  
On the whole, the experience involved slow service,and  a lack luster menu out of touch with the season.  Still,  I'll come back because I know they usually get it all right.

Before I go into what I wasn't impressed with, I will start with what I was impressed with...

Staff was very accommodating and friendly. Didn't seem to be any vegetarian dishes on the menu so we inquired about removing the meat on some dished was possible. They didn't even hesitate to prepare something any way we liked it. Nothing was a problem and our waiter was extremely nice.

The atmosphere...
Very small town restaurant feel, but conducted theirselves as a high end Italian bistro? It was very interesting. I couldn't quite grasp it. Seems like they are suffering a bit of an identity crisis.

The food...
Well the food seems to match the small town restaurant rather then the high end bistro vibe. Problem is, they seem to put a bit of the hi end prices on the meals.

Seems like they have good intentions here, but I feel like the chef needs to go out and explore some other restaurants that might meet the same criteria of what they are trying to achieve. Just seems like they have an idea of what they want to portray theirselves as but oblivious to their almost diner caliber meals. Go and explore the world of dining a bit and you might be able to step it up a notch and become a well known spot in that area.