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Abella Italian Kitchen
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Classy
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
38 reviews for Abella Italian Kitchen
Review Highlights
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"Great wine selection, very reasonable prices and..." In 3 reviews -
"Gluten free noodles available." In 2 reviews -
"And a top notch olive oil can do wonders." In 3 reviews
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38 reviews in English
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Review from Heather K.
Portland, OR
1/7/2012
I've been thinking about this review for the past thirty minutes and am still unsure whether this should be a 3- or 4-star review. I went to Abella for the first time with a friend after work today. I was excited to sit in the bar and enjoy some of their happy hour offerings (daily 4-6:30 and then late night from 9 or 10 til close depending on the night). The HH menu includes several food items ranging from $2.95 - $6.95 and great prices on house wine, beers on tap, and well drinks. Can't complain when you can get a large glass of the house Montepulciano for $4.50!
Since it was my first time in, I wanted to sample as much as possible which is why I stuck with the happy hour menu. I ordered the garlic bread & fresh mozzarella. The prices were too hard to pass up. But like some of the other reviewers, I thought the portions were on the small side. Especially for the fresh mozzarella. It was four small, bite-sized pieces of fried mozzarella which were not cooked long enough. The cheese was room temp on the inside and was never fully melted before serving.
My friend ordered the tomato bruschetta which looked great and came in at just $3.95. She also ordered the grilled marinated chicken sandwich which she said was delicious - and looked huge when compared to my tiny appetizers.
I was also a bit disappointed that we were never served bread. This is probably one of the big reasons I am waffling between giving this 3 & 4 stars. Normally I wouldn't expect a bread basket to be served when dining in the bar area since that's usually reserved for dinner patrons. But our table was set with two bread plates along with olive oil & vinegar which led me to believe we would receive a bread basket. Don't tease me like that! Had I known this wouldn't be the case and that my two food items were going to be on the small side, I would have ordered something else to fill the gap since the contents of my meal fell short.
In the end, I give Abella 4 stars because my overall experience was great - bread basket or not. Large menu with a variety of options and everything I saw coming out of the kitchen looked good. I definitely want to come back to try their pizzas and their ground sirloin burger at some point. I just wish Wilsonville was a little easier to get to with my normal daily activities... -
Review from Kathleen D.
Roseburg, OR
5/5/2012
My second visit. Wonderful and can not wait to have a third visit. I had the calamari and enjoyed it. Nicole was our server and you could not ask for a nicer wait person. Absolutely nothing to complain about ! Thanks Abella !
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Review from Adrienne H.
Roseburg, OR
4/27/2012
This was a first time for me and I loved it! My calzone was wonderful, I got the Prosciutto de Parma and it was simply delightful. I also had a cup of coffee and a piece of amaretto cake which I fell in love with. Abella's atmosphere is warm and friendly, and I will be returning back there. Our waitress was Nicole and she was an excellent waitress.
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Review from Teri S.
West Linn, OR
5/1/2012 1 Check-in Here
Awesome! Great staff. Hands down the best chicken parmesan that I have ever had!
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Review from Hali O.
Wilsonville, OR
3/11/2012
Excellent, food, service and wine list!! Beautiful ambiance. Many of my friends suggested it!!! They were right. Great Place!
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Review from Graziano C.
Hoboken, NJ
2/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
Wow! I'm Italian, ended up here kind of random, but this place is simply great! Food, wine , service...double thumbs up :)
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Review from Jennifer L.
Vancouver, WA
12/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
It was my mom's birtheday and she wanted Italian food. We just so happen to be driving by and thought lets try it!!! I CAN NOT describe to you just how WONDERFUL it really is!!!! It was orgasimic!
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Review from Heathyr N.
West Linn, OR
3/29/2012
Great spot in Wilsonville. I took my mom here for lunch for her birthday with our Sharing Spree certificate. Awesome food....lots to choose from. We loved the pesto tortellini, fresh salads and hot bread. The prices were great also. For 3 of us for lunch it was $25.
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Review from Tony H.
Wilsonville, OR
7/7/2011
Went to this place based on my co-worker's recommendation.
I just did a simple to-go with Spaghetti with meatballs, seafood Ravioli, and Cesar salad.
Took it home and it was very good. I was especially impressed with the seafood ravioli but really could use a little more inside.
So overall, a great find in Wilsonville and I will definitely go back.
The location is off of Wilsonville Road but not really visible from the main road. Look carefully and you will find this great place.
OH, and they have outdoor seating which is perfect on a nice day. -
Review from Sandra W.
4/17/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Oh Abella, what can I say? I began dating you in 2007, and you've fed me at least a dozen times, but I keep holding off on my review because I can't decide if you're a good place, a great place or a place that's getting just a mercy visit.
To qualify for five stars, in my personal rating system, you've got to blow my socks and a few other articles of my clothing off every single time. And to be fair, I almost always order the exact same dish, the Chicken Marsala, because a properly done CM is the perfect bellwether for gauging everything else.
But herein lies the quandry. On our first date, you gave me an addictive CM with tons of garlic and mushrooms, ample sauce, and tasty chicken. The next time I came to you, you gave me almost no mushrooms. The next time, it was almost no sauce. The time after that, it was almost no garlic. Sometimes it seems like you're using a dry marsala, and other times it's a sweet.
I mean, I dig that you might want to try to keep me guessing by constantly changing things around, but here's the thing. It's just not good when you're consistently inconsistent, and I'm a girl that wants a steady guy who will present me with the same excellent lovin' every single time.
Will there come a day when I finally break up with you for good? Will I leave you when I find that perfect Italiano that makes my heart a-flutter with anticipation? Or will you someday rise to your excellent location and be my forever lover? I'll let you decide. -
Review from Lisa C.
12/20/2010
Here is the deal with Italian food: If the ingredients suck, the end result will not be good. And a top notch olive oil can do wonders.
We were seated and then waited about 4-5 minutes to place our drink order. Not good. We had already decided on an appetizer of Calamari, so when the waitress (who turned out to be the expediter) finally showed up we went ahead and ordered that as well. Not too sure why our server could not stop and introduce herself right away, but I am sure there was a reason. (hmmm)
So our real server brought out the drinks and said she would be back with bread and the calamari. It came out pretty quickly after that and the bread had a really nice texture and crumb, but the dipping oil was sorely lacking in flavor. I reached for the salt shaker to sprinkle some on the oil in the plate, only to realize that it was empty! Huh? We were dining at around 6:00, so we must have been one of the first tables! How do you open a restaurant and the salt shakers are empty. This was also a problem because the clalmari was severly underseasoned. I got up and grabbed the salt form the next table.
We ordered 2 chicken dishes- marsala and piccata- and a house salad to split. I asked our server if the chicken was pretty thin on the piccata and she told me it was pounded to a 1/4 inch so that sounded good to me.
The salad was very good- fresh greens with toasted pistachios and gorgonzola. We opted for the pesto cream dressing, but next time I think I will try the lemon thyme vinaigrette. Delish. And she split it for us which was nice.
The best thing abut my picatta was the grilled zucchini slices that came on the side. The meat was not pounded one bit. It also was not breaded. I like my chicken picatta to beaten senseless and then dredged in delicious crumbs of some sort before being seared and crispified. This was just chicken. They took chicken and threw it in the pan with the garlic and capers and whatnot and cooked it. Not impressed.
BF's Marsala was exactly the same as mine, but with a different sauce and some mushrooms. Other than that they were identical.
I might try this place again since there is not much to choose form in the SW burbs, but honestly I do not see how it has gotten as many good reviews as it has. Next time I wil probably get a huge salad and something vegetarian to see if they do that a little better than the poultry options. -
Review from Ann B.
Gilbert, AZ
11/20/2011
Excellent food and great service. Gluten free noodles available. Also the house salad dressing is gluten free.
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Review from Lily J.
11/29/2009
I was told that this place was really good so I had high hopes.
2 stars of the service:
We had a lager party so we had a private room, our waiter a little slow and wasn't very warm; but it could be because seemed a little over whelmed.
2 Stars for the food:
I ordered one of their specials, the seafood pasta which was in butter sauce which was too creamy and my date ordered the steak which was too salty. I was told my another guest that the butternut squash ravioli was good. It was one of the cheapest things in the menu but looking at the portion, you get what you pay for.
3 Stars for the Venue, reminds me of a nicer darker version of olive Garden. -
Review from Jen K.
Updated - 10/5/2009 2 Check-ins Here
Unfortunately this is no longer one of my local favorites. There are a few other places in town that knock it out of the park on a regular basis and are quicker and less expensive. Abella still scores points for originality, since they are the only Italian place and wine bar in town and occasionally offer live music. They also have a semi-private space that we've used for group gatherings.
Lately the prices seem inflated and the food no longer wows me. Currently they offer a 10% discount if you pay in cash (don't know how long that will last), but most lunch offerings are $10 and up.
Addio per ora, Abella.Listed in: When Pigs Fly.... yep, you're…
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/12/2008
This is one of my Wilsonville favorites. And while it probably doesn't stack up comparably to some… Read more »
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Review from Sharon S.
Norfolk, MA
10/13/2011
Went to lunch there. Very pleased with the service and the selection. Had the meatball sandwich. Very good. A little heavy on the uber-dry parmesean cheese but otherwise, two thumbs up.
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Review from Tam F.
10/6/2007
This is a cumulative vote- I would have said 3 stars. 2 in our party said 5, so I am giving it a 4 star.
Nice atmosphere. Decent menu. Good bread to begin with. Did not order appetizers, but several tables around us did and they looked good. Salads just okay. I still cannot for the life of me understand why restaurant prep cooks do not take the stem connector out of the tomato. You know, that yucky round part that is not supposed to be consumed. Anyway, I ordered mine without Gorgonzola (I don't eat stinky cheese) or pine nuts (boyfriend doesn't like nuts) and the salad came with both of these. Luckily, my daughter likes both so she ate our salad.
The boyfriend and I shared the Abella Margherite pizza (5 stars for this pizza). Nice flavor combination-fresh and good crust. My daughter had the penne bolagnese (nice but too creamy). Ravioli and lasagna both got rave reviews from my man's parents, and his Grandmother LOVED her salmon, though she said the polenta didn't taste like much. All plates were beautifully presented.
The service is slow. It took about 2 hours to be seated, served and out the door. This is the downside. Our waiter, though nice, did not have good follow through. Had it been a little faster service, we would have ordered dessert which all looked fantastic.
If I lived near here, I would definitely come back and try this place again. There is also a full bar for those of you who might be interested. -
Review from Katio C.
Wilsonville, OR
3/6/2008
Real Italian food with good prices and wonderful service.
We have had a birthday party here, and done some dinners here. We have always been happy with the service and pricing. I like that it is not heat and serve but made fresh to order.
Appetizers are great! Meal and salad was even more delicious. The atmosphere was welcoming and cozy. And I have heard from several friends that they have a great happy hour.
I also love that they do the dessert tray so you can get a visual of the dessert menu... not just a pretty description.
Parking is a bit of a challenge. But it is well worth it. -
Review from Charles S.
Salt Lake, UT
8/10/2009 1 photo
Food: 3.5 stars for taste/quality. 2.5 stars for value.
Service: zero stars. Have you ever heard the phrase, would you like another drink?" Neither have I!! At least not from our particular waitress. We had a large group, so the 18% gratuity was automatic. Apparently this removed any incentive the waitress may have had to at least be civil to us! She was rude. She slammed things down on the table and not one of us got a drink refill or an offer for another glass of wine/beer until we practically demanded it. Then my son's Sprite was "refilled" with water, instead of his drink of choice.
The waitress assured us that she was having an "off-night" with some "issues" outside of work affecting her mood/deameanor/service. That's little consolation. -
Review from Jessica C.
Fremont, CA
4/20/2009
Ate here today for a client lunch. While my food was good, service was subpar. Our server got 3 of the 5 orders correct at our table. She did, however, save herself by taking care of the two people that had issues with their order. They start the table off with bread when you are seated but they were pretty slim on the bread. Five pieces of bread for five people so once the plate made the go around it was empty and had to be refilled.
Taste and cost of food was very good. I had the large house salad with salmon.
I'd give this place another shot. Hopefully our server was just having an off day. -
Review from Rex S.
Newberg, OR
12/8/2008
4 stars because of the slightly inflated prices. If the prices were to come down say 15%, this place would easily be worth 5 stars.
That being said, I really liked Abella. Came in on a Sunday night with the wife and daughter. It wasn't very busy, we were seated immediately. My wife noticed every other patron had their coats removed and hung but for some reason not us, perhaps we looked cold?
We ordered the Antipasto appetizers, two orders of Chicken Marsala and the 4 year old had cheese pizza. We were served the customary pre-dinner bread. The antipasto dish was superb! Absolutely top-notch! It came with two types of bruschetta, watermelon, smoked Gruyere cheese, mozzarella, roasted garlic, roasted red peppers, olives, artichoke hearts, carrots, mushrooms. Amazing, and it was all good. We ate every bite.
The chicken marsala dishes were good, not amazing like the antipasto but they were good. The daughter's cheese pizza however was some of the best pizza I've ever had.
At one point we had a water, coffee and coke that needed refilled, and our waitress promptly got all three in one fell swoop - great service!
Excellent place for some really good Italian. Expect to pay slightly more and you won't be disappointed. -
Review from Sung L.
Portland, OR
Updated - 8/11/2011 2 photos
Had our first really disappointing lunch today at Abella's. We ordered the Risotto which was way too al dente and the Chicken Parmesan which was surprisingly greasy. We've had enough nice meals at Abella's to write this off as a bad day at the office, but I'd say I'm a bit concerned.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/15/2011
We've been eating at this little restaurant since it opened. It was somewhat average when it first… Read more »
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Review from jeff d.
7/18/2010
I am generally in Wilsonville once a year and a stop at Abella is always on my "to do" list. The food is fresh and well prepared but service is slow. During my recent visit we waited and waited for our server to come by and even take our orders. We then waited for over 20 more minutes for the first course. To be fair they did apologize for the wait and comped them for us.
The main courses were all great. No one at the table (there were 6 of us) had a scrap of food left over. That does bring up another point. The portions are a bit small and a bit pricey but you will love every bite.
Desserts ranged from great to just ok.
If you are in town and like a nice Italian dinner, Abella is a solid choice. -
Review from Amber S.
Wilsonville, OR
4/17/2011
This place was just so-so. The restaurant is very cute and the dining room is quite comfortable. We were seated quickly but then waited at least 7 or 8 minutes before our server made her first appearance with water. A few minutes later she took our order. When I asked if they had wheat pasta I was told they don't but they do have a gluten-free rice pasta. I'm surprised that they don't carry a wheat pasta. I ordered spaghetti and meatballs with regular pasta, gf got pasta pomodoro with prawns.
The bread they serve is excellent, warm and soft on the inside but crispy on the crust. It is served with a garlic infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar-super yummy! The food arrived very quickly after we ordered (probably only 10 minutes out). The meatballs were good but I thought the sauce was just ok. Gf's pomodoro came with a generous amount of prawns but again, the sauce was just ok. This dish came smothered in parmesan cheese, even though there was no mention of this on the menu. Gf is allergic to dairy and she ordered this item specifically because it did not come with any. It is impossible to scrape every last crumb of cheese off so gf didn't feel good for the rest of the night. I understand that we probably should have double-checked to make sure that it was not served with cheese, but again, the menu made no mention of it, so we assumed we were clear to order that item (my spaghetti also came smothered in parmesan, but the menu clearly stated that it would).
Again, this place is ok, not great, but ok. But when you factor in the price, it becomes less and less ok. My spaghetti was $14 and the serving was fairly small. In my opinion, overpriced. We probably won't be back. -
Review from Brian C.
Wilsonville, OR
7/9/2011
I really give this 3.5 stars. The food is always great, not knock your socks off amazing but a nice stand by. I do like their pizza and their pesto gnocchi.
The bar area is cozy and they do offer a happy hour menu. -
Review from Scott L.
Portland, OR
2/12/2010
A group of us went from work. The setting is excellent. The service was also very nice. The presentation of the food was well done. However, the food needed some work. I had the eggplant parmigiana and while it was very good, the eggplant portion was a bit small, placed on top of a small serving of angel hair pasta. No salad included and it was $14. I left hungry. My co-workers had similar reactions. One commented that the chicken was on the dry side. Another indicated that she was also hungry at the end of the meal. When I pointed out that she still had some food on her plate, she commented "I'm just not hungry for this." Two other co-workers enjoyed their meal, but didn't love it.
Overall, the place has a lot of potential, but more focus needs to be on the food and the prices need to be lower or at least include a salad. -
Review from Eric P.
Wilsonville, OR
4/17/2011 2 Check-ins Here
We love Abella. They have a great wine selection and the food is always really good. I've never had anything there that wasn't great.
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Review from Faith E.
Oregon City, OR
10/4/2011
this place was awesome!! I bought this deal through sharingspree, and the food was amazing and you could tell it was made from scratch. The servers were awesome :)
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Review from Amora W.
Wilsonville, OR
10/17/2010
Amazing. Abella Italian Kitchen gets a J&S double guns! I had driven by this restaurant and it looked so inviting. Friday evening J and I decided to stop in and see if we needed a reservation. We were welcomed with open arms by the nicest staff and sincere owners. Most importantly the food and the wine hit the spot. J thinks the lasagna is better than I make at home and I think the four-cheese raviolis are my new favorite dish of all time. Fresh. Robust. Yummy! Double-guns!
Listed in: Double Guns Favorites
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Review from Debra B.
8/10/2010
Being new to the area we are on the hunt for great restaurants. We have dined at Abella's twice - once for dinner and also for lunch. We ate dinner on the patio because they are "pet friendly" and our friends had their dog with them and didn't want to leave her in the hotel alone. We enjoyed two nice bottles of local wine, salads and entrees. The portions were both generous and tasty. I had Chicken Paremesan for dinner and it was huge; I could have easily been satisfied by half the meat and would have preferred it pounded thinner because the sauce was so good. I think the price is a little steep, perhaps due to high overhead in the location. I would prefer smaller portions and prices. When we went back for lunch, my hubby & I shared a sandwich and side salad. We'll be going back, but will continue to share entrees.
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Review from Madras M.
West Linn, OR
8/6/2008
I have eaten here several times and found the food and the service fantastic! We had several office dinner/lunch here and the service we received was top class. Their wine selection is great and they have plenty of vegetarian options. Appetizers are great, especially the bread they serve at the beginning is so good that you want to be careful not to fill your stomach with just bread!
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Review from laura h.
10/1/2009 6 Check-ins Here
Really good! And in Wilsonville...Surprise! I was very impressed by how thorough the wine list is and menu has so many great items, it is so hard to choose. The food is wonderful and not boring (like chain places). Service is good and friendly. Really nice cozy atmosphere. I really love this place. SO much better than the chain Italian restaurants. Must try!
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Review from Captain G.
New York, NY
10/1/2009
Best restaurant south of Beaverton! Excellent place to have lunch. It's usually quiet as well. Servers are extremely nice. We used to go there once a week for lunch or for an early dinner.
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Review from Li M.
Portland, OR
11/11/2010
I've eaten at Abella's twice- once for lunch, and once for dinner. I ordered a salad for lunch, and was fairly satisfied with the food and service. It seemed reasonably priced, and the atmosphere was inviting. Based upon my experience at lunch, I decided to return another day for dinner. Unfortunately, I was not as impressed. The portions seemed rather small for the price. When a restaurant serves smaller portions, I assume the dish will be more flavorful and memorable... Sadly, the dinner was just average. Overall, Lunch: yes. Dinner: not so much.
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Review from Beth W.
Nampa, ID
6/23/2011
Had a late lunch here today and it was wonderful. I like checking with "Yelp" for help in deciding where to eat in unfamiliar areas. Again, I was not disappointed. Our waitress was Kimberly and you could tell she loved her job. She was very busy, but she didn't let that get in the way of taking care of the customers. The bread was wonderful and she kept bringing more to us. My husband had their spaghetti and wanted to lick his plate, but I didn't want him embarassing me "again". I had the tortellini, but had to take most of it home because I ate too much bread. Now my husband says I have to share my leftovers "NOT"! Great ambiance and nice feel to the restaurant. We will go back again and take our adult kids with us.
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Review from Ed F.
Asheville, NC
7/29/2011
We were pleased with both the service and the food. Our party had 6 and we ordered various plates from the menu. All dishes were very good. And our waitress was pleasing and helpful.
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Review from Louie D.
Beverly Hills, CA
5/5/2009
Good place to have lunch. They do have wine pairings in the evening but I have never been. Owner is extremely friendly. Servers are attentive to your needs.
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Review from Michael P.
Lake Oswego, OR
10/7/2009
Never a bad meal in the nine months coming here. Great wine selection, very reasonable prices and outstanding quality. Service is friendly, prompt, timely and not obnoxious/ obsequious. Clean - washrooms spotless. Owner always around managing service & quality. Very highly recommend, try once & you will come back as we did. Can have late lunch & still get served. Nice outdoor patio. Food is outstanding!!!!
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Review from Tim L.
Kennewick, WA
4/3/2009
We loved this place! Excelllent service, yummy food, very nice atmosphere. Pizza, penne bolognase, chicken parm. all very good. Loved the Willamette Vally Pinot Noir. It'll be on our "must stop again"!
