Porto Bello, an Astoria institution serving traditional Italian dishes for the past 26 years, will close its doors for good this Sunday, Aug. 17.
The restaurant, which opened its doors at 43-18 Ditmars Blvd. in 1999, has been a community gathering place for the past two-and-a-half decades, with its large party room providing space for all sorts of functions, from baby showers to graduations.
The family-run establishment, opened by Maria and Pietro Maniaci in the late 1990s before passing into the hands of their son Salvatore, has also been a trusted haunt for a significant number of regular customers, who spoke of weekly trips to Porto Bello to order their “usuals.”
But business has been slower for Porto Bello since the COVID-19 pandemic, while Salvatore Maniaci is now running the business by himself after the death of his parents.
“It (running the business by himself) is a lot,” Maniaci said. “Mentally, physically, financially, it’s a little bit of everything,”
He also attributed the closure to the rising cost of running a business in New York City, including rising costs of wages, produce and insurance.
The decision to close the business his parents built has not been an easy one for Maniaci, who described the last month as a “crazy, emotional ride.”
“This week has been really tough,” he said. “Monday was our last Monday. I put my last orders in with the vendors, most of whom I’ve had since day one.”
Maniaci said a number of old workers have paid emotional visits to the restaurant since news broke of the closure, adding that many were in tears when he met them.
He said his father built Porto Bello with his own hands and added that he can see his family’s DNA everywhere he looks in the restaurant.
“I see my parents here. Their presence is here,” Maniaci said. “I watched my kids grow up here.”
Maniaci said he also views a lot of long-term customers like family and noted that Porto Bello has helped forge close relationships between neighbors.
Regular customers share a similar sentiment.
Ilena Robbins, who has lived in Astoria for 15 years, said Porto Bello has been a mainstay in her weekly routine ever since she first moved to the neighborhood.
“I used to joke with my husband that Porto Bello was one of my longest stable relationships,” Robbins said. “I have been going there at least once a week, sometimes three times a week.”
Robbins added that she has been getting her final fill of Porto Bello before the restaurant shutters on Sunday, adding that she is planning at least one more visit before Sunday’s last hurrah.
“I think I’ve gone there like four or five times since I heard the news, I’ve got to get my fill in before I can’t anymore,” she said.
She described herself as a Porto Bello “addict” and pointed to the restaurant’s high quality and low price point, adding that she will fondly remember Porto Bello’s eggplant parm and its vodka sauce.
“I was never disappointed with anything I got. They had really good prices and really good variety,” Robbins said, adding that she is unsure where she will go when Porto Bello closes.
“I don’t think anything in the neighborhood could totally fill the void,” Robbins said.
Rivya Sodhi, who has lived in Astoria since 2008, told a similar story, stating that she instantly fell in love with the food and the service at Porto Bello.
“For a go-to quality meal, I think it’s one of the best in the area,” Sodhi said.
Sodhi said Porto Bello was “part of the fabric” of the Astoria small business scene, noting that the family-run business felt like a home away from home.
“Everyone has an order. They’ll put in your name and ask ‘do you want the usual?'” Sodhi said. “It was kind of a community staple for things happening. You would run into people because they were hosting an event in the party space.”
Not only did Porto Bello feel like a family hangout, but it also helped Sodhi locate her diamond ring that she had lost while she was moving into the building across the street from the restaurant.
“I don’t know but, but somehow they figured out that it was mine and two weeks later, I got it back,” she said.
Sodhi said she has been searching for a new regular haunt since hearing the news that Porto Bello would be closing its doors but said she has been unable to find another joint that fits its niche.
“At their price point to get such tasty, fresh, good Italian food. I don’t think that there’s a match in the neighborhood anymore. We’ve lost too many gems,” Sodhi said.
She said she will especially miss Porto Bello’s spinach and mushroom calzone as well as the restaurant’s rigatoni Fiorentina.
Sodhi commented that Porto Bello’s loss, coupled with the recent losses of other neighborhood institutions such as Trattoria L’incontro and Pizza Palace, have deprived Astoria of some of its best local eateries.
“It’s definitely a huge loss,” she said. “Each restaurant had a place in a lot of people’s memories.”
Maniaci had hoped that someone would take over the business and keep the Porto Bello name alive, but he was unable to find anyone willing to take over the business on a short-term lease with the LaGuardia Shopping Center complex that the restaurant is located in set to be transformed into an apartment complex.
“I had a few people that wanted to buy it just for the name alone,” he said. “And they hear the same thing (that the shopping center is closing), and they say, ‘No, we can’t – it’s not worth it if we’re not going to get a 15 or 20-year lease’.”
