Portland's Best New Italian Restaurants

"In the early twentieth century, a community of Italian immigrants started selling fruits, vegetables, and other fare in Portland's Central Eastside, earning it the moniker Produce Row. These Italian American fruit markets and groceries planted the seeds of what would eventually become the city's farm-to-table ethos. Despite the outsize impact of the Italian community on our food scene, however, Portland isn't exactly a Little Italy town, lacking a dense concentration of ristorantes and trattorias."

"Then, in 2022, Gabbiano's opened on NE Killingsworth Street, soon drawing crowds and media buzz for its playful, inventive take on East Coast pasta spots. Since then, the city's Italian scene has expanded, and in 2025, it grew in several directions. There's fresh bronze-extruded pasta from a food cart, Roman-style pizza and focaccia sandwiches from a slim counter bakery, a deli-market with a supper club, a steakhouse running surf-and-turf over open flame."

"And while nostalgia appears in the form of a family recipe or vintage heirloom stand mixer, the work stays contemporary. There's no singular, unifying thread-just chefs and bakers reworking Italian food on their own terms. Some cook from lineage, others from instinct. Some take cues from Italian American staples, others from Roman street food or Las Vegas fine dining. Join us as we take a giro through the city's newest Italian restaurants and carts, with an eye toward some of the standout dishes."

In the early twentieth century, Italian immigrants established fruit and vegetable markets in Portland's Central Eastside known as Produce Row, laying groundwork for a farm-to-table ethos. The city never developed a concentrated Little Italy; Italian restaurants remained scattered, often focusing on traditional ingredients and twentieth-century Italian American staples. Gabbiano's opened in 2022 with an inventive East Coast pasta approach, and by 2025 the Italian scene diversified further. Offerings now include bronze-extruded pasta from a food cart, Roman-style pizza and focaccia sandwiches from a counter bakery, a deli-market with a supper club, and a steakhouse serving surf-and-turf over open flame. Chefs and bakers reinterpret Italian cuisine through lineage, instinct, and varied influences.

Read at Portland Monthly