Lena's Italian Comfort - Portland

My partner and I had an incredible dinner at this restaurant. We started with a pottery class with our friends, followed by a delicious meal inspired by last year's Valentine's Day event. The entire staff was fantastic, and we had a lot of fun that night. Karen led the ceramic workshop and organized a great class for us, along with the help of the rest of the ceramic staff. In the café, we worked with Lisa, who was lovely and accommodating. She even brought us flowers from her garden to decorate our tables. The staff created a special menu for us, catering to gluten-free and dairy-free guests. The food was beautifully presented and plentiful. The staff did a great job following Covid protocol to keep everyone safe. The whole experience captured the essence of what we love about Maine and its charming little gems. Special thanks to Bob the baker for making our amazing cake. He created two cakes for us, one gluten-free and one regular. While I am gluten intolerant, I must say that everyone loved the regular cake, but the gluten-free cake blew me away. It was a vanilla cake with lemon curd, celestial jam, and lavender buttercream. The textures and flavors were incredible. We will definitely be coming back to support Lena and this restaurant in the future.

WOW! My husband and I just came back from Italy and the young chef (jack) made us the best shrimp scampi and carbonara we had anywhere! Lenas is one of those small comfort spots but you cannot beat walking up to the chef and having him walk you through the dish! He picked out our beer and wine as well and it was all so perfect! 10/10

The restaurant is now open for takeout from 1pm to 7pm. The regular operating hours for the cafe are from 8am to 3pm, Monday through Thursday, and until 8pm on Fridays.

Wonderful little restaurant with freshly prepared dishes made to order. The food and service were both outstanding.

It was an off day for the chef, I was disappointed.