Grassa

First-time customer alert!!📢⚠️ - This place everyone has raved about. Though, it was disappointing.👎👎 - The vibe inside looks nice with many seating areas/booths.🪑 - We paid first and then were seated. - I had the mac and cheese pork belly that everyone online talks about.🧀🍝 - I had a mac and cheese craving too, but the overall dish was too sweet. 🍬 - The pork belly was drenched in a caramelized sauce, which then made everything else sweet in the dish.🥩🐷🐖 - The mac and cheese did not even taste cheesy or have any flavor to it like it was missing Salt?🧂 - I had such high hopes for this place as the reviews were high. - As a Pasta Lover, this did not cut it for my expectations. - Additionally, the service was not that great. As we are Not Locals, we wanted to ask if the water was tap as we have sensitive stomachs, and the waitress was confused and had a judging look for this question.🍶💧 - My partner and I both ended up with upset stomachs and went to the washroom most of the night. - Partner Pesto was better but can taste tiring after eating a couple of bites. - Not worth the hype, in my opinion, that's on Google review about the Mac and Cheese...

Delicious food, best pasta I’ve ever had! Fresh ingredients and a lot of flavor, my pasta had just the right amount of meat, sauce and cheese. The portion sizes are very fair as well. Don’t get me started on the French bread, amazing! The cashier was very friendly and attentive, the atmosphere is very casual and hip. Restaurant was very clean ! I’d highly recommend this place to anyone looking for some pasta !😋

04/06/2022: 4.0 out of 5 - I've been to this location several times now. I've also been to the downtown and the NW locations, as well. Of the three locations, I like this location more due to not having to wait too long while getting the same quality of food, and a bit better service. Just my humble opinion of comparing the locations. Although, it's been awhile but it would seem Grassa shares a common dilemma that many Portland eateries have. Prices of menu items increased with a slight drop in quality and/or quantity. I get it, but Grassa (like many other eateries in the area) can and should do better by its patrons. I am hopeful of Grassa, as I do enjoy the fresh pasta and the flavors that they created. And, I still feel that the Frito Misto is not the only best item on its menu, but the best tasting Calamari dish in all of Portland. If you ever get a chance, do try it once and decide for yourself. Enjoy!

I have been to a Grassa many times and have ordered from pasta to the brussels sprouts and from salads to eggplant Parmesan. Most of these have been quite good. The last time I ordered the eggplant Parmesan I had food poisoning. I was sick from about three or four hours of consuming it for three days after that, with diarrhea and all the rest of it. I confirmed this when I went to the emergency room. The soft fresh cheese on top of the hot baked item was the culprit. So my view of this place is now rather mixed.

Was recommended to try this place, but the food quality could be better. The service was great, the server was able to make some recommendations about some pastas we can try and also were patient to give us time to make a decision. The way they serve is more like a cafeteria (you find your own seat and serve yourself water). I ordered the Pasta Alla Chitarra and my partner ordered the pork belly mac and cheese. The food came out looking really good for photos, but once we started eating, we felt quite sick after. The Pasta Alla Chitarra was really good for the first bite, but as you start eating a bit more, you’ll notice there’s a significant amount of oil in the food which is gross. My girlfriend loves mac and cheese, everywhere we go she always tries to order it, and when she had this one, she was quiet, and that’s when I knew, she wasn’t a fan of it. The pork belly was too oily and a lot of fat (more than expected), and they added a lot of syrup/caramelized it too much. The mac and cheese wasn’t savoury, and it was only sweet and she couldn’t really taste much of the cheese at all. The worst part was, we both got sick (food poisoning) right after this place (we haven’t had other meals the entire day other than this one) and since we live in Canada, it was a rough drive home. It’s tough that this place has a great vibe, atmosphere, and service but because of the food, I wouldn’t come back here again (unless you want good food pics, since their food presentation is good).