Ports Of Italy Boothbay Harbor

We didn't know what to expect of an Italian restaurant on the Maine coast, but this place could easily have been somewhere in Italy. The staff were almost all from Italy, but spoke very serviceable English. The wait staff worked as a team and were very attentive and polite. We thought the service was awesome. We also thought the food was excellent. We had the Caprese Salad and it was to die for; we highly recommend it. We had an Italian red wine, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, that was excellent. One of us had the meat lasagna special, and the other had the rigatoni with eggplant; both were excellent, too. All in all, we had a very enjoyable, and flavorful, evening.

We weren't expecting fantastic from any restaurant in a tourist town like Boothbay Harbor, but Ports of Italy blew us away. Our server very kindly advised us to reduce the size of our order (despite our protests that we were STAHVING! but splitting appetizer, pasta, entree and dessert worked out perfectly. We loved the house made spinach ravioli with butter and sage as good as what we'd recently had in Bologna and the wild mushrooms on the veal made that dish sing. Panna cotta made a festive but not too heavy finish to the meal. We went to Boothbay for the Botanical Garden, and we'd definitely go back both for the Garden and to eat at Ports of Italy.

Expensive for an italian restaurant very small restaurant with limited parking enclosed deck with the plastic sheeting in place makes it Very noisy.

Whether a local or just passing through the area, you can't go wrong choosing Ports of Italy! The lamb shank porchetta entrees were so delicious the portions so generous, we took extra care to put our leftovers on ice for the 5 hour trip home- much to yummy to leave behind! Make reservations be prepared to wait a bit but it's totally worth it!

The food and service at Ports of Italy were outstanding. The extra touches in terms of presentation just added to enjoyment of the dishes. Our group ordered a varied menu, and we shared bites of each. Every dish was tasteful and interesting. The wait staff was professional and friendly, and the wine selection excellent. We will definitely keep this as a 'must visit ' location.