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Tue-Thu. 4:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 4:30 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
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I received a gift card, so I saved it for my birthday and went with my fiance. The food is good, especially the espresso braised ribs he had and their much-adored polenta fries.
I pretty much just return for happy hour. Its a good place to go for me because I can walk there (yay, no drunk taxi or MAX rides!). Honestly, people who complain that there's better in Portland, I wouldn't disagree. But I don't drive, so that limits my options when i don't feel like making a huge trip out for a drink. So in the neighborhood, this is the best.
That being said, I give it a four because I love the ambiance (sophisticated without being bougie) and the cocktails are very good. Go with the signature decarli or caldoce and you're set. If you're not a cocktail person, they have an okay beer selection and I had a good syrah last time I went.
This indeed is one of my favorite places here in Beaverton. I stumbled onto the restaurant on a Tuesday night. Alas, it is closed.
Should I have checked their operating hours, I would have not wasted gas.
So now while I'm bit surpjlrised by their prices. I can say, it is worth it. And that us me. You should try it for yourself.
I wasn't expecting a happy hour but there is and their menu is quite small. Small but terrible. Terribly good if I may say.
I've had the Caldoce for drinks. It has raspberry, so that alone is already a winner in my book. There's also an added heat infused in the drink which makes it somewhat controversial to an untrained or unsophisticated drinker.
I've ordered their decarli burger which is very tasty. It comes with fries that are on the salty side.
Then one of the neatest and probably a better Caesar's Salad was served. It is light but tasty enough. Worthy of being written here.
The place is easy to spot. Along Watson Ave., look for the hippie looking spot. Once you've passed by the Korean establishments, you need to look for parking as you've already passed by the brick building. No, Decarli is not hippie nor trying to be hip. Decarli is Decarli.
It looks like it gets populated as the night progresses. I left at around 6 and people are flocking in.
And yes, THIS is in BEAVERTON.
Decarli is now one of my favorite restaurants in Beaverton. It's good to know there is a Pearl style restaurant hiding only minutes away. The interior is very nice with an open view of the kitchen area from the bar which reminded me somewhat of Le Pigeon.
I came for happy hour, which is from 4:30 to 6:30 everyday. There were only 5 of us at the bar from 4:30 to 6PM, which allowed for some good stories with the bartender Robert who mixed up some nice drinks and was very professional. Around 7PM, the place got busier with plenty of people coming in for dinner.
The drink list consists of around 20 mixes, all around the $8 range. At HH all the drinks are lowered to $5 each. I had three of these, with the highlight being a habanero infused drink with raspberry puree. Each sip contained just enough heat to keep you on edge with the raspberry keeping you from going over.
The polenta fries created a flavor explosion in my mouth with the fried polenta tossed with salt combining nicely with the melted butter and gorgonzola dipping sauce.
I also tried the mushroom pizza that was larger than I expected at around 10-12 inches. I managed to eat every last delicious bite.
Next time, I want to try the mussels for dinner that everyone talks about. Their brunch also sounds like it's worth checking out.
Everyone on the westside should give Decarli a try, you won't be disappointed, and you will only need 5-10 minutes to get there.
Finally got around to going here with my wife.
We had a wonderful meal. Polenta Fries with the Gorgonzola butter sauce, and the house olives to start. The fries came out piping hot, and I burnt my mouth trying to eat them too quickly. I am impatient, what can I say! Let them drop a bit in temp, and then we enjoyed the rest of them.
She also enjoyed a nice Tempranillo that she said was fantastic. This is her favorite wine, so that says something to me.
She had the gnocchi, and I enjoyed the Halibut. The Halibut was light, and cooked perfect, and the plate fit well together.
The Gnocchi was rich (as we expected) when truffle and fontina cream are involved. I would have opted for it to be a bit more al dente, but that is just personal opinion.
We switched mid meal and both enjoyed each plate for what it was meant to be.
It was very nice to enjoy an excellent meal in a great upscale setting in the burbs.
we will be back!
We went back twice in as many weeks. Some friends visited town and we had a wonderful meal. We also went in for happy hour drinks and small plates and we had another satisfying experience.
This is one of my two favorites that I have tried in the PDX area, the other being Andina. Both… Read more »
I went here a couple years ago; it must have been less popular then because there were no lines at all at 7pm on a Friday night. Weird?
Anyway, the food was phenomenal. I can't even begin to describe how good it was - the truffle spaghetti was one of the best meals of my life. I think there are a few things on the menu that are worthy of five stars; everything else I tasted was more like a four. But if you know what to order, this place is worth it.
Decarli is a bright spot in the fast food desert that is downtown...err...central Beaverton. Solid overall but not dazzling.
What I tried:
- Polenta Fries
- Penne with caramelized pork and sun-dried tomatoes
- Tagliatelle with chicken in a leek cream sauce
- Caramel and salt cheesecake
Definitely loved their Polenta Fries appetizer, a corny take on Park Kitchen's chickpea fries (PK's fries still win hands down).
Both the pastas were tasty but not quite perfect. The roasted chicken was tender & delicious and the leek cream sauce was an interesting variation. The pork was a tough disappointment but the sauce was yummy.
The cheesecake was a necessary indulgence, and a good finish to the meal, after a pair of disappointing cocktails.
Next time I may stick to salad and appetizers, but I'm willing to give the entrees another chance.
Just a note to the staff at Yelp, the advertising is working! I'll admit, I would have never gone to this restaurant without a little research on Yelp.
I only chose to take my girlfriends Dad here on his birthday because of "Ryan H"'s review. I trust that CAT in his words of wisdom. He was dead on, again.
THIS HAS TO BE THE BEST RESTAURANT IN THE TRON.
This is the most Portland restaurant in Beaverton. A real diamond in the suburb.
Decarli- the owner's last name.
1 Great bottle of Oregon wine. I am glad I decided to spend $10 extra.
Most awesomeous Mussle APP ever. SIMPLY AMAZING.
Whole leaf Caesar salad like Apizza Scholls.
Bruschetta trio. The chicken liver pate' is the best.
Crispy chicken stuffed with cheese and pig.
Fall off the bone espresso braised short ribs.
Cheese cake, home made caramel sauce, with SALT? Oh ya.
The service was ok. The price was perfect. The food was freak-out worthy. The location was right in the Pearl, of Beaverton.
This place is Wowtastic.
I could write the entire review in two words: Polenta fries.
I went to Decarli for happy hour with a friend who recommended the place. We shared a salad, pizza and **insert angelic harmony here** these lovely salty and savory polenta fries. All three items were great, the server was very personable, and the ambiance was unlike anything else in Beaverton, which is a GOOD thing, by the way.
We each had a pint , too. The total bill was only $20. We were both quite satisfied and I had a little slice of pizza to take home to my son, although I had to split it with him because I couldn't quite let it go...
I'm giving four stars because I didn't have the full-meal-deal yet. It looks a bit pricey, so I'm going to wait for an occasion.
I will, however, drop in at happy hour again soon.
I'm not one to mince words nor do I bestow a five-star rating lightly. But tonight, I was absolutely blown away by this little neighborhood gem. Who knew a restaurant this good was in my own unfortunately suburban (read bland) backyard??
If you consume nothing there at all have the mussels. I am still reminiscing about the buttery saffron-fennel sauce that accompanied these fat locally-grown morsels. Mmmm, I can already speculate on how many hours I'll spend trying to replicate this incredible sauce. Enjoy it with a nice crisp glass of Prosecco and I assure you that you'll feel transported to a street-side cafe in Italy.
But don't stop there; the rest of the food we had was also delightful right down to the well-executed classic pizza.
Whoever said this place wasn't good for kids probably doesn't have them. We took our 7 year old who loved the orange Italian soda & the kids pizza (nicely priced at $7). Cafe Mingo doesn't have a kids menu, I can tell you that.
The service was phenomenal. Our waiter Paul (french accent) was both personable and warm. He was shaking hands with other diners and cracking jokes and saying "Sweet!" in a fun accent that made both my son and me giggle a little.
As someone who loathes the culinary wasteland that typically is Beaverton, I am thrilled to find my new favorite restaurant. I'll be back. Often. And I'm bringing friends.
I don't usually go to italian restaurants, but i had a coupon and thought i'd try it out. I was not really disappointed. I ordered the baked chicken over palenta and it was really good. The chicken was not dry and the polenta was great.
The service was a little slow although i was there on a saturday night. It took about 45 minutes to get the food, however they fed us bread while we waited. I also tried the potato fritta which was also very good.
Price of the food was up there, service lacking, but good food.
I will probably go back.
We finally got to Decarli on a night where it was open and didn't already have a mile long waiting list. We have tried three times and once were turned away because there was just no way we were getting in and two other times where we came on the wrong day of the week. You think we'd learn...
So, we made reservations and got in. The evening started off nicely, and the waiter was attentive we ordered drinks and an AMAZING appetizer with mussels. However, once our friends arrived we were overlooked (we think this was partly due to the large table of people seated in the same section with us). It took a while to get the server back for our friends to even order their drinks, while we guiltily continued to eat our appetizer (we tried to share they just aren't seafood people). Anyway, we all finally ordered our entrees and it took quite a while to get those as well. All of the food was incredible and lives up to the hype, for sure! The ambiance was lovely, but the acoustics made small talk virtually impossible (again possibly due to the party of about 20 seated near us).
So, overall super food in taste and presentation, but really underwhelmed with the service. Perhaps we'll go again sometime in the future for another try. Until then...I'm sayin' three stars.
I've eaten here maybe 6 times over the last year. It's pretty much in the "nosedive" state now, going from 4* food and 5* service to the fiasco of last night--cold oversalted food and service so bad we sat for 45 minutes waiting for the waitress to return (I cornered her at the hostess station, otherwise we might never have been served). This was the worst meal I've had in 2-3 years, and was doubly embarassing as I made the reservation for a large party. I was shocked we weren't comped anything after speaking with the hostess about our lack of service. I won't ever be going back to this mockery of a restaurant. Clearly others have gotten the same impression as of late, as the dining room wasn't even that crowded at 7:30. Total thumbs down.
If I could give 3.5 start i would. it was pretty good food but nothing amazing.
There isn't much to compare it to in beaverton, but if you are really in the mood for food like this, drive the extra ten minutes to one of the dozens of places in portland that do it better.
not a bad experience, just A-OK
Decarli has trumped clarklewis, bluehour, and the many Pearl fusion Mediterranean influenced restaurants.
The first thing that you notice is the incredible ambiance. The industrial style incandescent light bulbs strung from long cords and the doors leaned up against the exposed brick walls lends to the deconstruction vibe that runs through the menu. It is rustic Italian through and through.
When Robert is at the bar, he's amazing to watch, and fun to talk to. It is great to sit at the zebra wood bar and look into the open kitchen, with pizzettas flying in the air, and the myriad of smells wafting through from the back kitchen.
Decarli is all about supporting the local growers, and you can taste the difference. My husband swears that their steak is the best in town, but I love the short ribs, or whatever pasta is being made that evening ...the morel tagliatella was out of this world, as is the pork ragu fettucine when it's on the menu . The pork chop is second to none, and the bricked chicken is equally delicious.
We usually get the beet salad, which is wonderful, but they have an incredible ceasar, with large fronds of romaine, and a perfect balance of anchovies to lemon.
The wine list is varied, but not extensive. I see this as a plus, because I hate it when the wine list is as thick as a phone book. The service is usually pretty good, but the food is the reason I keep coming back.
Wow. Just.... wow.
The sous chef at decarli is a good friend of one of my friends, so we went to go check it out, and it was absolutely AMAZING. The food was great, the service was great, and the atmosphere was great, though I would like to see some sort of decoration on the big, blank brick wall.
We started with the endive salad, beet salad, and carrot soup, which were all glorious (well, I didn't eat the beet salad because I don't like beets, but my friend said it was great). The hazelnuts and apricot in the endive salad were awesome.
For the main course, my friend had the hanger steak, and I had the balsamic glazed pork chop. I think pork chops have been ruined forever for me... I've never had a pork chop this fantastic. It was, in a nutshell, epic. The balsamic roasted cherries were a nice touch. I had a taste of my friends hanger steak, and it was also fabulous.
For dessert.. we kind of had a lot of dessert. The bourbon gelato was amazing, both the flavor and the texture. The chocolate mousse was really, really good, but also really, really rich. I could only have a couple of bites otherwise I may have suffered death by chocolate, but man it would have been a good way to go. My favorite though, was the financier with apricots. It was the best dessert I've ever had. The hazelnuts and apricots made another appearance and were once again fabulous. The brown butter whipped cream was good. The caramel was perfect.
So yeah, it was a GREAT meal that made my terrible day just not even matter anymore, because I had a (very) full, happy belly. I think everybody needs to go have dinner here.
Definitely the best restaurant in Beaverton by far. On par with anything in PDX proper. Excellent food, drinks and service. And priced VERY well. Last time I went with a group and we split the bruschetta trio, polenta fries, olive tapenade with bread and the margherita pizza. All were great!
I hate to be the first person NOT to give this restaurant five stars. For the price of the food, I have to do 4.5. I wasn't blown away - but it was very good.
Dined here last night for a Birthday dinner with my family. I'll say that for a restaurant in the middle of the suburbs, it's excellent. Service was fantastic and we had a great table next to the window.
I was fortunate enough to dine with people who like to share - so I got to try a ltitle bit of everything.
Starters:
Bread at the table was decent. Standard bread and butter. I should have asked for some olive oil. Whatever.
We ordered the pan fried calamari with pickled onion, and a sun dried tomato pizzetta with whole garlic cloves broiled on top. The calamari paired with the onion was excellent. The pizzetta was extremely thin crust, light sauce, and flavorful enough. If I had to order starters again, I'd pass on the pizzetta.
Entrees, we ordered the hangar steak broiled in a 30 year vinaigrette (medium and rare), the Risotto with prawns, and the Penne with ground pork cream sauce and shaved parmigiana.
The steak was excellent - much more flavorful cooked at medium than at rare. The risotto was OK. In large forkfuls it had a decent flavor - but overall seemed rather bland. The Penne was good - I'm glad I personally ordered the steak.
Desserts were the ricotta lemon cheesecake with huckleberry topping, almond cake with vanilla gelato, vanilla creme brulee, and profitoroles with espresso ice cream.
So I thought the best of the four was the creme brulee. Very creamy, perfect shell on top, cracked very nicely. The lemon cheesecake was my least favorite - the huckleberry was excellent - but the cake itself was somewhat dull (I thought it tasted better with a little bit of the chocolate sauce from the profitoroles). The rest of the desserts were good.
It could be my reviewed is biased by the fact that the night before I had just experienced Pix Patisserie for the first time. THAT PLACE IS AMAZING - sorry side tracked. :-)
For the price and location this restaurant is very very good. The reviewer who said you won't go home full or with food on your plate was telling the truth. With two glasses of wine, a cup of coffee, and one margarita added to the above food - it came to about $40/person after tip.
I'd make this a place to go to on special occasions, but I would never come here regularly. I'm willing to travel downtown or to other neighborhoods to find equally as good food for a little less money.
Like others here have mentioned before me, Decarli is a nice restaurant to go to when you want a Pearl-type feel without actually having to go to the Pearl. With its brick walls, open floor plan, and exquisitely lit dining room, you will be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't appreciate its ambience. If you're looking for a good place to take a date out in Beaverton, Decarli is your spot.
As for the food, it's pretty good. I've never had anything that I would describe as objectively bad. In fact, I would say that most of their food is succulent, flavorful, and refined. My only real gripe with this place is its menu and the choices (or lack thereof) it offers. That's not to say that their selection is sparse; it's just not exactly robust. On a related note, I think they might try too hard at times to keep their menu items exciting and unique. While it's great to stand out from the crowd, sometimes you gotta offer something simple and traditional so that you can appease everyone (and not just the foodies).
3.5 stars for Decarli.
I've had the opportunity to eat here twice and for the adventurousness of the restaurant, I would definetely give it a five. The menu changes everyday (you can see the date on the corner of every menu) and many of the items incorporate seafoods/veggies in season. Even though it's located in a nondescript area of Beaverton surrounded by gas stations, car dealers, and fast food restaurants, it manages to give off a Pearl district atmosphere.
I've never tried their cocktails but their wine list is decent. Wish they had more wines by the glass though...The food though, was hit or miss. The chicory salad had a lot of fresh local ingredients in it and was perfect. The bruschetta trio had a yummy assortment of toppings but the bread was past the point of crunchy and was borderline burnt. The fritto misto had way too much batter on it but the accompanying olive aioli was awesome. The pizzetta was perfect one day and I declared it was the best pizza I've had in Portland (the very best pizza has to go to Pizza Mozza in LA) but then, the last time I went, the bottom was burnt and hard. The pastas are housemade and I love how they are served al dente, but the lamb ragu fettuccine was way too salty. Maybe the restaurant is still working out the kinks, but I hate it when restaurants aren't consistent with their food.
But what really brought down this restaurant from a 4 to a 3 was the service. First of all, the restaurant is LARGE and there are not enough servers. Second of all, our waiter tried to take away our plates without asking first. That is unprofessional and it made us feel rushed. The thing is, both times we went to the restaurant, this happened. Are waiters told to do this??
So even though I have a lot of critiques for this restaurant, I think it's still worth a try. If you go on a good day, I think you'll love it and it will definitely be up to par with other italian restaurants downtown. I think I'll go back just one more time to see if service/food has improved, and maybe to try the desserts.
I'm going to keep this short:
Food: excellent, served at proper temperature and without super long wait, even on Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
Ambiance: great decor, nice space, but a bit loud with nothing to absorb the sound of a full dining room plus the overly loud background music.
Service: prompt, attentive, friendly
Location: it's great to have a good fine dining restaurant (which also isn't stuffy or intimidating) located on the west side of the metro area.
decarli is definitely a pleasant urban surprise in an uber suburban environment. Located among a hodgepodge of shops near Beaverton's library and farmer's market, stepping into decarli (all lower case, so Portland of them!) is truly like transporting yourself out of the burbs and into downtown, NW23rd, or even -dare I say it?- the Pearl. The difference? decarli is much more spacious than most restaurants in any of those urban areas.
The decor sets the tone for the atmosphere: brick walls and wood floors with heavy wood tables and large windows facing the street open up the space and make it seem casual and comfy yet upscale. I like that there's room to move in this place; no elbowing your neighboring diners or worrying about your seat back hitting theirs. The high ceilings add extra breathing room. Unfortunately, on the night I went for a girls' night out/birthday dinner, even with all of this space it started out extremely stuffy and hot. After they opened the doors, we were able to breathe better. Here's hoping there is air conditioning once the sun decides to stay.
The service is good, but odd. Our waitress was very kind, extremely helpful, and made pleasant small talk and jokes, but she was like The Sidler on Seinfeld: suddenly she would appear out of nowhere and speak into our ears. I jumped in my seat more than a few times, not realizing she was suddenly right next to me. Our waters were filled constantly throughout the night, which was so appreciated. Drinks, salads and entrees all arrived with precision timing.
The food?Absolutely delicious. I had the butter salad to start, the short ribs for my main course, and the profiteroles for dessert. All were divine. The salad was just the right size, although the ratio of butter lettuce to raddichio seemed heavier on the raddichio side. The ribs...they were tender and tasty, and such a bargain at $18. The profiteroles were presented beautifully and tasted even better. Everyone's dishes at the table looked amazing, and I think every person walked away well satisfied.
The wine selection was good. Nothing experimental, very safe but satisfying.
We will definitely be back to decarli. In fact, I want to go right now and try their risotto dish of the day! Too bad it's only 8:30 am...
Decarli posed quite the conundrum...
I mean...Beaverton's known for a lot of great things...like...well...um...
... ... ... ... ... ...
So when I kept hearing rave reviews for this so-called "cozy" Italian joint in the Beav - I thought I would be living out a craigslisting nightmare where quaint and rustic ACTUALLY translate to small and old. Let's just say I was a bit skeptical.
And I was blown away.
The beautiful warm decor instantly won me over - think open kitchen, exposed brick walls, low hanging lights, grandiose chandelier, and high wooden beamed ceilings...I felt like I was in the Pearl...except I didn't have to deal with "the Pearl".
And oh...the food was delicious. This would not only be a fantastic date spot - but a great place for a group function as well.
Things to watch out for:
It's spendy. Granted - the food was delicious, fresh, and WELL worth the price we paid. Just a word for the wise...leave your Hamiltons at home. You'll need to break out the big boys for this one.
Hummingbird servers. While I'm not complaining that the bread basket was constantly full nor that the wine glasses topped off - our amusing server with an on-again-off again accent seemed to have a permanent spot at the end of our table.
I had the good fortune to spot this new eatery on Yelp. I was meeting a girlfriend for dinner, and last minute changes redirected us from our usual Portland locations. I offered to do a quick look-up on Yelp to see whay I could find. I am so glad I came across this new and well-recommended restaurant.
So it was rainy and cold. Stepping in to this visually arresting space was like stepping in to another world. Two large spaces are adjoined by an open archway. A vast swath of exposed brick with suspended spot lighting and then a huge chandelier in the back make the dining room sparkle.
The main attraction in the bar is the bar itself. Take a closer look and you'll see that it mimics the material in the exposed support beams high up on the ceiling.
The bar was presided over by a gregarious host. We were very early, the place was empty. It could have seemed echoing and unappealing, but he immediately engaged us with stories about the restaurant, the proprietors and the shared excitement of the staff in making this a happening and successful spot.
The bar was well stocked. My companion enjoyed the Basket Case 05 Syrah ($8/glass) while I quickly examined the gin selection, proclaiming Decarli a hit when confirming Hendricks was on the list.
After cocktails, we moved into the large dining area ... which was sparsely populated. We were seated at a tiny 2 person table, smack up against the wall and directly under an air vent with cool air coming down. We elected to move ourselves to a center table for 4, and the staff handled it graciously.
We shared the house cured duck prosciutto starter with manchego cheese, sun-dried cherry compote and crostini. Very tasty and a bargain at $9. Perfect size for us 2 girls and beautifully presented.
Next, pappardelle with boar ragu ($14) for me and spinach & ricotta ravioli with white wine, roasted garlic and tomato ($15) for my friend. Fresh was the key word here ... the flavors were so bright and well paired on the ravioli, I wouldn't change a thing. The papardelle was cooked perfectly, the savory sauce mouthwatering. I had a Hedges CMS from Washington ($8.5/glass) and the big wine accompanied the boar perfectly.
Well, by this time we were edging on full ... but the tempting dessert menu convinced us to share a chocolate pot de creme. It was good, but served too coldly refrigerated which diminished the creaminess of the dessert.
We left (after dawdling for over 3 hours!) gleaming from the great evening and the discovery of a little gem in downtown Beaverton.
Treat yourself soon and check it out!
How nice to discover a restaurant in the burbs that is absolutely fabulous. Reservations recommended on a Friday night. We started with a Declari signature cocktail at the bar. We shared onion/goat cheese crostini, pear and beet salad, mushroom risotto and scallops on a bed of celery root. Wine selection was reasonable. We chose a bottle of Sokol Blosser Pinot Gris that paired nicely with our food. Sharing helps save room for dessert and we had the profiteroles.
I can't wait to return to try other selections on the menu!
The decor was awesome, but the food here was OK for the price. We had two entrees and the total came to $42. Ouch. We also missed some more traditional Italian fare. There wasn't too much of an extensive menu. Don't think we will be back.
"decarli" was very good over all.
We always love trying new places, and never heard of decarli until it appeared on our passport card. It's always a great way to try a new place and we always get one entree gratis!
It was a great night. We were in no rush, but made reservations for a Saturday night, which we were glad we did. The restaurant, when we arrived (7:30pm), was 3/4 full of happy patrons. We started with a bottle of wine (italian Blend). Unfortunately (here's the reason they are not 4.5 stars), the wine list falls a bit short. Too many California wines, not enough local (OR/WA) wines. We will never buy California wines when dining in OR/Wa, Support local!! And they offer only a handful of Italian/old world wines. Moreover, there were only a few wines at a reasonable price (under $50 per bottle is reasonable price for a restaurant of this caliber ). Their wine list on their website is out dated, as they had nearly replaced every one of those wines and their mark up which was 50% is NOW150-200%. Which is ashame, as that would be the reason for many repeat visits with or without the free meal.
So, now on to the good parts: the food.......
We started with beet salad, which was not Italian inspired, but Middle Eastern perhaps, with yoguart, chick peas, cumin...it was innovative and divine! The polenta fries, which my husband calls placenta, were different, and the gorgonzola sauce was excellent. Another creative idea, and we both loved them. Finally, something to convince him polenta is awesome when done right! For our mains, I had the pork dish, it was amazing, local ingredients, lot of flavor and tender. My husband had the NY steak and loved it. It was a tad over cooked, but he ate every bite. It was very tasty, smattering of gorgonzola and balsalmic reduction sauce, excellent.
Service was very, very good. Our sever never let our table run out of bread, water and checked in appropriately. He seemed to know we were in no hurry and respected that.
Dessert, we should have chosen something else, as the English pudding, was not English pud, it was ok. My husband, hated it (he's English). It didn't have a lot of taste, was similar to a pumpkin spice type pie.
Solid 4 stars for this innovative, use of fresh ingredients, so tasty eatery! We would return often if they go back to their old wine list model (price reduction, more PNW wines). But as it stands, this would be for special occasions mostly.
PS, this place is not suitable for babies, or mis-behaved children. It's an adult restaurant and no screaming children would be welcome!
Food and Drink: In general, the food and drink are very good and reasonably consistent. In detail, the crostini appetizer, Blockheadia Zinfandel and pork chop entrée were very good; the orecchiette entrée and peach crostata were merely good; and the Spanish coffee was superb. In addition, the prices usually were justified by the quality of the food and drink. Only the orecchiette was overpriced. (Pasta is cheap, so a $16.00 pasta entrée must be superb, not merely good.) The Spanish coffee, at $8.50, seemed overpriced - until I tasted it and wondered if I could drink another and still drive home. (Alas, I decided I could not.) The wine, at $32.00, was a good value. In most restaurants, $32.00 will get you a bottle that sells for $8.00 to $16.00 at any grocery; but Blockheadia sells for $20-30.00, so it appears that Decarli's markup is (by American restaurant standards) a very modest 50% over retail, not the usual 200-300%.
Question: Decarli is, without doubt, the finest Italian restaurant in Portland's western suburbs. It may be the finest restaurant overall, especially in light of its reasonable prices. Why, then, despite repeated excellent reviews, was it standing ninety percent empty at 6:30 PM on a Friday evening? Why was it doing such an excellent imitation of a restaurant that will not survive its first anniversary? Which, by the way, comes up this November.
Answer #1? Our dinner with tip was well over $100.00. At that price, we demand a quiet dinner in pleasant surroundings where we can converse, relax and enjoy ourselves. We suspect most other people do, too. Yet, when we walked in, the music (?) blaring over the speakers sounded as if someone was being kicked to death in front of a microphone. I asked, "Will this screaming continue?" Oblivious at first, our waitress soon got the point and not only reduced the volume but changed the recording to soft jazz. It's not my favorite but neither was it a gut-churning accompaniment to a meal and a bar to conversation. Most restaurants provide their patrons with noise, lots of noise, and most get away with it. Hard, echoing surfaces? Of course: they're easy to clean. Loud, fast, obnoxious music? Absolutely: it keeps the employees' guts wound up and their feet moving.
But not when dinner is over $100.00. At $100.00, you're not selling hamburgers to four-year olds. At $100.00, you have to consider your patrons.
Answer #2? Speaking of four-year olds, when we walked in, the only other patrons in the restaurant were a young couple with a four- or five-year old girl. (Another four or five people were hanging out in the bar.) I looked askance at the family but soon realized that the child was well-trained and well-behaved. (I confess I hadn't realized that there was a well-trained, well-behaved child in Beaverton.) She was aware of her surroundings, sitting up ramrod straight and having a great time playing the dignified young lady. At that age, an hour is an eternity, but I guessed she would last through the meal. She did. Toward the end, she was beginning to play at other things, sliding off her chair and ducking under the table; but she did so quietly and, when her parents saw the corner coming, they actually cared. They didn't linger.
However, as they left, a second couple walked in with a child, this one about three, obviously unaware of her surroundings and playing with a cell phone as a sort of twenty-first century sugar tit. This one, I knew, would not last, but we were into dessert, so we kept our fingers crossed that the atmosphere would remain pleasant for another fifteen minutes. Shortly thereafter, a third couple walked in, carrying an infant, to join the second couple with the child. We had, at most, another ten minutes. We got out before the situation deteriorated into the squalls and screams that the uncaring parents would pretend not to hear.
On the way home, Lana asked me what a restaurant could do about that. I responded that it is not within management's purview to decide what negligent parents should do with their children, only to decide what they cannot do with them. When children blow up in a public place, as they must when nailed to a chair for an hour or more, management must explain to those at fault -- the parents, not the children - that they cannot create a disturbance that annoys other patrons. What the parents do about their problem remains their problem; it's not the restaurant's problem.
Is Decarli prepared to challenge that kind of rude behavior? In my opinion -- and in the opinion of other Yelpers, who rate Decarli "good for kids" -- Decarli is not prepared to do any such thing. I'd guess that Decarli's management thinks it needs every patron it can get. That's why this fine restaurant stands ninety percent empty at 6:30 PM on a Friday night. Silly adult, Decarli is for kids.
I had a wonderful experience at Decarli. I live in Beaverton and was very surprised to hear of a new restaurant (opened 4 months ago) in the area that I had not yet heard of, especially one of such caliber. The service was wonderful. Within the first minute of walking in the door we were seated, brought water and bread. The servers were top notch and very knowledgeable about the menu and cooking techniques. The menu is shorter than most - which was a much-welcomed change for me - every entre sounded like a masterpiece! I had the black tagliatelle and my boyfriend had the short ribs. Both dishes were full of flavor and perfectly portioned (you will not be bring home any doggie bags, but you will not be unsatisfied at the end of your meal either). I did not get a drink, but the menu was equally as impressive as the food menu with offbeat classics such as the negroni available. The only marginal note about my experience, and the only apparent newness of the establishment, were the two over-anxious hovering hostesses. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone; especially the people of Beaverton like myself who desperately need more upstanding places to eat close to home.
Neighborhood: Southwest Portland
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Southwest Portland
Category: American (New)
Beaverton, OR
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Southwest Portland
Category: American (Traditional)
Neighborhood: Southwest Portland
Category: Restaurants
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