a Cena Ristorante

Excellent food. Can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. Excellent service. Highly recommended. The veal chop cut like butter!

This is really a gem in the neighborhood.
We first heard about it from folks at a winery in the valley. We were surprised they were such fans of something so far away, so we finally made it out there a month ago. Very nice!
There were a few slight quirks in the service, but this was more than made up for by the excellent quality and care that went into the food, the charm and consideration of the wait staff, and the atmosphere.
Highly recommended!

One of my favorites in Portland. The lobster ravioli is something you will never forget. Servers are great, wine selection is perfect. Also don’t forget to get the bruschetta… Best in Portland!

We dined at Acena tonight with friends we’ve not seen in too long. The food was excellent, our waiter was great. From there I’ve got to say I wouldn’t go back in a hurry though the location is good for meeting east side friends. EXTREME noise level making conversation virtually impossible. Then, to top that off, we had seven o’clock reservations — the bar and the kitchen were a wee slow which was fine. What was not fine was that as soon as we had taken the last bite the owner was hovering around letting us know he needed the table. We still had wine in our glasses! We had been seated for an hour and fifteen minutes. He was nice enough but with all due respect sir, manage your reservations a bit better.

Excellent food and service. The food does take a awhile to come out, but that is likely because each dish is prepared impeccably. The downside for me was the chairs. I am short, 5’2 and I have never been so uncomfortable in my life during a dinner. My legs could not reach the floor.

This is really lovely place, 4 ½ stars! The ambiance is cozy and warm. When we first entered, our table wasn’t quite ready so we waited a short time at the bar. I love Italian food and rarely do I go out for it. This place was charming and inviting.
We had the fried calami which was a little soggy but I think I’m just used to a more crispy style. We also ordered the mussels & clam in white wine sauce. That could have been my entire meal! The seafood was so tender and broth was full of delicious flavor, I just wanted to dunk an entire loaf of bread and slurp it. Yum!
My husband tried a couple of pastas, the lamb bacon ragu with a red sauce which was ok but too saucy for my taste. The second one was homemade pasta that with sausage and cream sauce? Another dish I would like to be on my last meal list! The pasta was so tender and sauce with bits of sausage was unctuous! (Order this people.) I had the small spaghetti and meatballs which was good but not spectacular. For my main course I ordered the branzino, a light flaky fish cooked in parchment! So delicate and delicious. It also came with a light crunchy fennel, celery salad and a finishing sale for the fish.
As you can tell, we ordered way too much and no room for dessert. Next time, I would order just the seafood appetizer and sausage pasta and call it a day. But I also want to go back and try their other items.

Man, this place was really really good the first time I tried it. It’s gone down hill since … My pasta was okay way over cooked… My moms meal was SUPER bland and the service was awkward. I won’t be going back.

Amazing italian spot. Server was really helpful with our orders and questions. Food came out pretty rapidly. We shared a bit of everything. Began with salad and calamari. Subsequently the pizzas, followed by our entrees. Everything was done perfectly and tasted as well as it was made! Oh, the desserts were just as great as the remaining part of the food we ate.

Tried a cena for the first time last night. Five stars all around. We sat down at 9, the place was packed but we got excellent and very attentive and friendly service. For starters we had the lobster ravioletti. Wow! I highly recommend this as a small portion starter to share unless you’re starving. It’s a little filling but who’s it is amazing. We ordered the grilled romaine, delicious salad. The Halibut entrée with risotto was perfectly cooked and a very generous portion. I highly recommend this restaurant, and that you bring your appetite.

I ate here in September and posted a rave review. We were very excited to return, this time with my parents from out of town. We live in the neighborhood and so we were so happy to have one of the city’s best restaurants (or so we thought) close by.
We made a reservation and we were seated promptly. Their chairs are somewhat uncomfortable, but I guess I can live with it. We ordered drinks, salads (the house salad) and entrees. The salads were somewhat flavorless, but ok. The issue was with the entrees. We waited an hour to receive our entrees (that’s an hour from when the salads were served), which is totally unacceptable, particularly considering my parents are quite a bit older (70s) and had traveled most of the day. The waitress brought out a «free» entrée with my pasta and my husband’s pasta. My parents split a pizza, which we had to wait another 5 minutes for after we received the first entrees.
I ordered the agnoletti. Both the pasta and the lobster were overcooked. My parents had a pizza, which was soupy and just so-​so. The «free» entrée was fine but in cases like this (both myself and my husband have worked in the restaurant business) the waitress should have offered to take an entrée off the bill or buy us a round of drinks or dessert.
The restaurant was clearly overwhelmed. I was totally disappointed and frankly a bit embarrassed to take my parents there after raving about how wonderful it was.

Pasta is homemade, service is incredible and the ambiance is fantastic. Truly a phenomenal find in this cute area of Portland.
A little pricier than originally thought it would be, but it is well worth it! Cute date spot, simply an overall great experience. Highly recommend it!

This restaurant is excellent.
It has a very cozy nature and the staff is very friendly. If you take anything from this review go with the Pasta!
We had the salad with Casa salad with field greens, very light and fresh tasting.
Then we we decided on 3 of the ½ orders of pasta which were generous servings. These were all really, really good. The Carbonera with, egg thick small squares of smoked bacon and pecorino was delicious. The Agnolotti with corn, mascarpone, butter poached lobster in Raviolini was great. The Garganlli alla norcia, with home made fennel sausage, white wine cream almost prompted me to lick the plate. All the pastas were just wonderful. They are a true must.
The main we had, though we were stuffed at this point, was the Halibut on a bed of risotto. This was a very tasty dish as well. Overall a very good experience here and the corkage fee was only $ 15.
Highly recommend this restaurant!

5 stars and more! a Cena is definitely our favorite restaurant in Portland! They offer the best service, and most delicious and freshly made entrees and desserts. The ambiance is also wonderful. We went back last night and our waiter (Jason) actually remembered us from having met us just one other time. He knew which table we sat at last time and what we had ordered. That is exemplary service! He is so wonderful! Definitely try this place out… you will not be disappointed

Oh snap… the Unilocal hype is real! My pasta (Garganelli, hand-​rolled penne pasta, fennel sausage, cremini, in bianco) was to die for. We dined during lunchtime so my portion was WAY TOO SMALL! Complete torture!!! Seriously, it was only enough to fill a small child. We found out later the pasta came in two sizes and wished we knew that prior to ordering. Take my word for it, order the BIG plate of this amazing deliciousness because you won’t be satisfied with only 4 or 5 mouthfuls. I’m salivating now just thinking about it.
My hubs ordered the last of their fresh scallops that day (not on the menu) and it was cooked perfectly. The scallops were nestled on a bed of yummy seasoned greens drizzled with a good balsamic vinegar. You got’s to get your veggies in!
The wine recommendation (I posted a pic) from our waiter did not disappoint either. In fact, I also purchased a bottle ($ 38 bucks???) to go and enjoy later… double score!
The service was excellent and it’s apparent this place aims to please by using very fresh, high quality ingredients. We will definitely be going back when visiting Portland. It’s totally worth the 3 hour drive too!

Oh if I could only go 6 stars.
Service — excellent. Clearly they have tight communication from the front to the back between servers, etc. Classy service, knowledgeable servers, friendly bartenders, you know the drill.
Food — can I get a hell yeah? Seriously, nothing sucks here. There’s food for vegetarians, pescatarians (the lobster agnolotti!), carnivores (lotsa lamb), etc. All is high-​quality, fresh, and prepared with an expert touch.
My best advice: make a reservation. Don’t expect to just walk in on a Friday or Saturday and get seated quickly. They will do their best, but just make it easier on yourself — they’re on Open Table.

Another great perk was the ease of making and even modifying our reservations. I also didn’t mention the very swift yet intimate and professional nature of the staff.

Terrific place with a small but decidely well done menu. Here is my take:
Atmosphere: A small cozy space which makes you want to take your time having dinner. A
Service: Excellent. The bartender was doing double duty but seemed to handle it all in stride. A
Food: I made the mistake of sitting on the opposite corner from my wife so I was not able to attack her dinner. I had the sword fish which was outstanding. My wife had the scallops which look great but were outside my reach. The Romano salad was killer. A+
Parking: Pretty easy to find in this part of town A
Drinks: They pour a solid drink A
Prices: Fair A
Very nice restaurant. Trust the accuracy of the Unilocalers on this one.

Went last night. It was very crowded and we didn’t have a reservation. I do recommend making a reservation! We were seated immediately however! I had the baked special of the day, it was a lamb bolognese. It was good. My friend had the seafood pasta, he enjoyed it every much. (I can’t remember the names of the food dishes!) We also split the antipasto plate and it was wonderful. Service was excellent.

First time to this restaurant. Glad we made a reservation since the place was packed on a Friday night. Staff was very courteous and professional, ambiance was great, food was just ok in my opinion. My girlfriend ordered the grilled prawns, by recommendation from the waiter, which was pretty disappointing for the price. Although they were very large, 4 of them, by the time she got the shell off to eat, there wasn’t much meat. It was more the size of an appetizer than a dinner. I had the special steak dish and although the meat was pretty good, I’m not sure it was worth the $ 38 price tag, I should have asked the price before ordering. Drinks were great, dessert was good, but overall not sure if this place was worth the money. Between the 2 of us our dinner with a couple drinks each was over $ 120, plus tip. Not sure if we caught them on a bad night, but I doubt I will be back.

I think I usually only review restaurants I really like and this is one of them. It is pricey, but Italian food that is good usually is except in Italy. Staff is wonderful and every dish we have gotten is great. Good wine. Very pleasant and helpful with my dairy allergy. I feel at home there. I have been 4 times and sadly the last time we took guests we wanted to please was a little less good. For some reason their lovely vegan bread was hard and cold and we made a less good wine choice. The waitress seemed a little less interested. I keep this at a 5 for now, because I hate to downgrade based on one visit out of 5 being less superb. We are going again for sure. It has replaced Mingo as our regular date night.

Went here because the BBQ place 2 doors down was closed for lunch that day. It was more upscale than I was expecting, but WOW ! Amazing pasta… Friendly wait staff… A solid 5 star joint.

Probably the best restaurant in Selwood. This is a great Italian restaurant. The pasta with cream sauce is my favorite and always on the menu.

I love Portland. And all the amazing restaurants that they have available for our indulgence.
I’ve been before and I’ll keep going, even though I only get out to Portland 2x a year. With all the wonderful restaurants in Portland you’d think we would try to repeat restaurants when we’re there but somehow we always find ourselves back at a Cena. A few weeks ago we came for a date night and just had the best time.
The hostess convinced us to wait just a few minutes longer so that we could get what she considered the best table in the house a cute two seater right by the window. Needless to say everything we ate that night was divine. You just can’t beat homemade pastas.

We visited A Cena Ristorante for future dinner plans with our family, however we will continue to look around at other locations.
Our server was very courteous, and attentive. The veal was excellent, however we were not informed of the price, ($ 46.00 per order) we felt it was over priced. The Spaghetti was very good. My husband”s dish was way over cooked (burnt) we did tell the waiter, but there was not compensation for it. there again for the portion size it was also over priced.

Overall, a good experience, but the service was a bit strange at times. We went here with my partner’s family to celebrate both his and his sister’s birthdays. The atmosphere is very warm and cozy, which was nice. To start our meal, we had an olive plate and the fritto misto, which is basically fried calamari and prawns. The fritto misto was delicious, with a light, crispy batter and a tasty dipping sauce. I’m sure you know what olives taste like.
For dinner, I had the garganelli, which is a pasta with cream sauce and sausage. Naughty? Yes! Delicious? Also yes!
I didn’t really taste anyone else’s food, but everyone seemed quite pleased.
This is the point where things became a little odd. We asked about the desserts and the server said they had special birthday desserts for the birthday boy and girl. Since he said this, we assumed they had a house dessert they give for free to people on their birthdays. After a bit of time passed, we asked about it and the server said, «Oh no, you have to buy that.» We felt it was really bizarre that he made a big deal of it since it had to be paid for. He should have just listed off the desserts.
A couple of people at the table did order dessert, I tasted a lemon dessert, I usually have a great memory for food, but sorry, I have to claim Menu Alzheimer’s on this one. Whatever it was, it was quite tasty. Another person got affogato, which is gelato with a shot of espresso poured over it.
This was also part of the strange service. A friend of the person who got the affogato wanted to pour the espresso over the gelato. The server had a big freak out and insisted he had to pour the espresso over the gelato. Whatevs, dude.
Anyway, all in all, we had a fun time and some great food, I’d go again!

Absolutely wonderful atmosphere, food, and wine. I had to try their raved about lobster agnolotti and it was everything I had imagined it would be. The staff was very knowledgable and friendly as well. I look forward to trying more dishes here in the future.

Had the wonderful experience of dining at a Cena Ristorante last night (04-​Jan-​2016) for my birthday. Service provided by Mark was just excellent!
We made an OpenTable reservation that was honored as requested. From the seating to the timing of delivery for all the courses was simply perfect. Drinks came right away with ample time to then peruse the menu and decide our choices. We ordered the Antipasto appetizer followed by the Casa and Romano salads. All fresh and delicious. For entrees, I ordered the Tagliata which is a grilled NY strip and was cooked perfectly (hello, medium rare!). Hubby had the pasta special which was rigatoni with veal and he loved it.
We did have dessert and Mark was generous enough to comp me my order of Sea Salt and Caramel Gelato for my birthday Hubby had the Tiramisu. Both, like everything else were excellent.
Chris, you have a great thing going here with high quality food and an even better staff. Mark, perfect job and it was a true pleasure having you as our guide for the evening. Thank you! Although I’m at an age that birthdays are just another day, I was glad that I spent the evening at a Cena.
Mike

Excellent food, Staff is top notch. Went on a busy night, a little tight and loud. Otherwise 5 out of 5. Definitely will be going back!
Chris,
We started with the beet salad special, I had the corn and mascarpone raviolini. My wife had the special on Saturday (12−5−15).
The flavors were perfect!
Billy

So good! Wonderful food, service, and ambiance. Try this great little place in Sellwood.
You can’t find a better dish than the Agnolotti Lobster.

This was my first time here. I made reservations for my daughter and myself for her 20^th Birthday. We walked in and were greeted immediately by Alexander asking if we were the reservation for 2. We were seated at a window table and enjoyed the sunny afternoon. Water was brought out immediately and he took our drink order and described that days house special and a couple of changes to that days menu (which I appreciate instead of me ordering and him saying we are all out). My daughter wanted the Short Rib Bolognese but Alexander said they were out and the Bolognese was with Lamb. My daughter is not a fan of lamb so we ordered and shared the grilled Romain Salad with pancetta and gorganzola crumbles (fabulous)!!! My daughter devoured it! We both ordered the Prawns with Spaghetti. Amazing! The Prawns were huge and cooked perfectly. The spaghetti was also cooked perfectly aldente. The sauce was incredibly perfect with a slight sweetness and bite from the chili. Alexander knew it was my daughter’s birthday and brought her their house made Tiramisu with a candle.
My daughter and myself enjoyed our lunch so much we plan on making it a monthly «date».
Sidenote: We ordered the the Bolognese with Lamb to go for my husband since he wasn’t able to join us. I would normally give his review on this dish, but I ate it before he had a chance to try it :), «Heavenly»!! I’m sure he «woulda loved it»! :-)
Thank you Alexander for making our first visit so memorable. I have been raving to everyone to try A Cena Ristorante out. We will definitely be back!

On the suggestion of a friend, we chose a Cena to celebrate our anniversary. Arriving at our reserved time, we were promptly seated in a quiet corner.
The service throughout our meal was attentive but not overbearing. We began with a glass of wine and salads, romano salad for my husband with gorgonzola dressing and pancetta ($ 12), Casa for me, with field greens, pear, walnuts and lemon vinaigrette ($ 10). Both were delicious.
For our main course, we both chose the pasta of the day, lasagna ($ 23). The fresh pasta was light and tender, the edges toasty and yummy. The sauce was light and flavorful, filled with bits of meat and vegetables. Many lasagnas are filled with heavy sauce and cheese, but this was just the opposite, with the light sauce and layer of cheese on the top. I liked it so much I wanted to eat all of it, but the serving was generous, and there was enough for another meal to take home.
Dessert was tiramisu ($ 8) and salted caramel sorbet ($ 7). The tiramisu was perfect with light and airy mascarpone and tender coffee soaked lady fingers. The sorbet was saltier than any we had tried in the past and not quite to our liking. However, the texture and sweetness were just right.
All together a great meal and a definite repeat.

The food and service here is incredible! Not only did they happily accommodate my request for a gluten-​free meal (I have celiac disease), but their gluten-​free pasta is the best my gluten-​loving boyfriend and I have ever tasted.
We had the Bucatini alla Amatriciana and Spaghetti ai Frutti di Mare for our entrée, and the sea salt and caramel ice cream for dessert. It was all delicious and prepared beautifully. We look forward to our next visit!

So this is a different kind of review. I’ve never eaten here, but I have a story of gratitude. Last week I called a Cena from Austin, Tx with a special request. I asked Alex if I could pay ahead for my parent’s 50^th Anniversary dinner and to my relief he said it was no problem. A few days later I called to change the reservation to a few days earlier. Jesse said no problem even with the short notice so I told her MY STORY.
My parents were supposed to be in Italy on their 50^th, but my dad was diagnosed with cancer last year and went thru treatment and then a stem cell replacement. At 74, he’s a real fighter. Because of all this, they could not go to Italy so my brother and I wanted Italy brought to them and last night the a Cena team and Julie did just that!
Last night, my parents called to tell me what they ate, how incredible it was, and how great the service was. My dad was worried that the staff would make a production and draw attention to them… he was self conscious because of how he looks after his treatment. They said they were treated with class and dignity, and it was a memory they will hold in their hearts and minds forever. They want this to become a tradition.
Thank you so much. Words can’t say how much I appreciate this gift. Can’t wait to eat when I come to Portland next.

Every dish I ordered including the focaccia, bread sticks and olive oil were superbly delightful. There are photos…
The octopus is a generous portion with excellently prepared vegetables that are seasoned precisely for a synergistic overall flavor. The cannoli is as if I were in Little Italy, fresh, tasted just made for my plate. Fresh lobster agnolotti is creamy, buttery; I would have liked a little more lobster but it was priced fairly. The service is top notch, friendly, prompt, attentive and knowledgeable. The decoration, comfort and ambiance is right for friends family or a romantic elegant escape.
Why would I only give this place 4 stars you ask? The chef has a beautiful full beard that is not covered and my delicious octopus was season with one of his curly black hairs. The staff immediately returned the half-​eaten plate and replaced it with a new order. It’s disturbing and unfortunately quite common to see creative talented chefs with way too much loose hair preparing a magnificent menu to a wonderful place.
Yes, it is a lovely beard, It would be best, if you could cover-​up the sexiness for after work. My octopus did not sway with desire by the look of your full beard before you grilled it.

One of the best meals of my life.
The pasta is made fresh daily. You can tell that the chefs really take pride in their work.
The Agnolotti was to die for. Huge chunks of sweet lobster. Raviolinis burst in your mouth with flavor.
The Casarecce has generous amounts of seafood. The squid ink has a very nice but subtle flavor that complemented the fresh pasta brilliantly. Boxed Barilla comes nowhere near touching this.
Lastly, and definitely the piece de resistance, was the Branzino, or fresh Mediterranean Sea Bass. This beauty was at least 14−16″. Even the wait staff and everyone else who walked by our table had to stop and say «Wow!» because this was such a magnificent specimen. The flavor was out of this world, moist, flaky, smokey, and delicious.
Make reservations. They have a bar where you can wait if you like. This is in a small town outside of Portland, and definitely worth the drive. Skip the fancy meal downtown and come to this hidden gem of a restaurant.

The hands down favorite dish was the lobster agnolotti. The buttery sauce was light, lobster tasty, and agnolotti deliciously filled with mascapone and sweet corn filling which balanced the savory lobster perfectly. Go on, run to a Cena (pronounced a-​chay-​na) for this dish alone!
I felt that the value wasn’t quite there for all of the pasta dishes we ordered, and I wouldn’t return to have any other pasta than the lobster agnolotti, but would certainly give their pizzas a shot. Worth sharing their pastas are made daily in house. They also offer secondi dishes including beef and fish.
I visited this restaurant on a Thursday night for dinner. It seemed 75% full around 6:30pm. I didn’t notice the atmosphere inside too much since me and my dining partner requested seating outside. Seating outside in the quiet residential neighborhood was mostly quiet except for the motorist traffic here and there.
We ordered two appetizers: their house-​made burrata cheese caprese salad with grilled toast, and the casa summer salad with shaved zucchini and pecorino cheese. For entrees we split three small pastas; the lobster agnolotti, lamb rigatoni, and ravioli with mushrooms. Bread and two cheese sticks with olive oil were provided. The cheese sticks were tasty. The bread was moist and good, but I hesitated to eat much knowing the heavy pasta dishes on the horizon.
The best dishes were the lobster agnolotti (reiterating) and the burrata. The salad was good, but needed more citrus to break up the slightly too big irregular pieces of pecorino cheese. I think the cheese should have been grated or shaved, but not cubed. The lamb ragu pasta was in a tasty, but IMHO not amazing sauce, but made me feel a bit ripped off due to practically no lamb (more on this). The ravioli was good, but the dough was too thick and al dente and overwhelmed the delicate filling. I would only ever order the lobster agnolotti. This place stumbled upon gold with this dish and I agree with the other countless Unilocalers’ suggestions on this dish.
We shared the feedback about the seemingly sparse lamb ragu and the restaurant responded very generously to our feedback which we appreciated. They sent us home with a bowl of their lamb special. Wow — what fantastic treatment!
The check came to ~90 $ with two glasses of wine. I guess that’s not bad, but I feel that I should have been wowed about ALL of the dishes as much as I was wowed about only two of 5, 6 if you count the gratis bread. That isn’t a very stellar ratio considering more than half of the dishes were their primis.
We were very full from all of this and skipped dessert. Service was very responsive and positive from the bus staff who cleared our plates and filled our water, and our waitress. We really enjoyed the small chit chat with all of the staff and thought collectively they were a very helpful, team-​oriented bunch with great communication… an underrated PLUS. Thanks for the warm hospitality.