La Porchetta

A very average, chain-​like Italian restaurant.
It’s totally, totally fine. Just nothing more or nothing less. The food is fine, the wine is fine, the place is all fine.
I felt a bit tricked by their clever signage! The outlines of lovely meats hanging from a butcher rack had me feeling like this was more of an indie, but I should’ve consulted Unilocal first. The rating is true, folks. I had a «just fallen asleep» child and wanted some wine and lunch so we ducked into the first place we saw, and again — it was fine.
I had the chicken with mushrooms and potatoes — my husband had the spaghetti and meatballs. Everything gets 3 stars. (are you catching my drift here!?) I was full when I left.
The service was good. The guys are nice and everything came out quickly.
Point of improvement: they literally can fit one buggy in this place at a time (meaning they have one table where a buggy can sit next to it) — this is Angel, EVERYONE has a buggy, they should have a plan. I was lucky enough to be the first through the door so ours fit fine but every subsequent pram that rolled in was dealt with in a stressful manner, not good. I felt bad for those people and it seems avoidable.
So there you have it – my best review of a chain, I probably won’t be back but I didn’t hate it at all. However, if you are after gluten free pizza or pasta, this would be your jam, they seem to specialize in it!

Very good customer service, the waiters and servers were really friendly and charming. The pizza, pasta and starters were excellent. The house red was also delicious. The calzone we ordered was a bit doughy, and though not bad, I might not order it again. However, we had a great dinner and I would definitely visit La Porchetta again!

This place deserves two grades. One is 4 star for their gluten free pizza, these are amazing. My daughter who is a pizza fanatic but was discovered gluten intolerant has been struggling to find a good pizza. She loved it!
And the second grade is 1 star. I was charged 6 pounds for a tiny portion of pasta for my 14 months old granddaughter. Apauling!

Came here with a group and we all had a lovely evening. The food was great, Was seated downstairs which was nice and spacious.

Only been here once but I was really happy with the service and the meal. Definitely worth a visit if you sent something less chain-​y than Pizza Express but more fulfilling than a place that also happens to be an expert in kebabs, burgers and pies too!

This is a complete chain restaurant experience. Nothing is really bad, but nothing is really memorable. Service was swift and impersonal. Food turned up very quickly, portions were huge, bill was reasonable and we were in and out within an hour. Guess that’s what they want.
Will not be returning, so many more interesting and tastier places to go.

We enjoyed our pizzas here.
Large size, bigger than the plate. Yup.
Good base and toppings with good tomato sauce and generous topping.
Comparing to a benchmark of Pizza express it was as good and a bit cheaper.
Service was good and the venue has a subway tile utility kind of vibe that works well.

I ate here over a decade ago, I don’t even really remember what I ordered, but it was one of the best Italian meals of my life. When I make it back to London, I definitely want to eat here again!

The pizzas and food are good. However the service can be patchy and they play thumping house music, sometimes, in an effort to get you to scoff your food and get out. Also, whats lost a star is i recently got a take out and opened my £4 salad to find no dressing half a tomato and a little pile of iceberg leaf: that’s no good man…

The pizzas here are top-​notch: thin, crispy, and crucially, not smothered with cheese. Even better, they happily accommodated my request that I have half the pizza covered with one topping and the other half with a different topping! Fantastic.
The service was prompt and helpful. The only slight downer was that they were out of tiramisu, meaning I had to opt for their self-​described ‘gelato’. I’m no Italian, but even I know that it wasn’t gelato, more a slightly disappointing quality of ice-​cream. Perhaps that’s why the waitress twice tried to steer me to the profiteroles.
Like your pizza thin, crispy, sparing with the cheese and the option of having two different toppings? Come here! But you may want to avoid the ice-​cream.

Overall the food was good (had the chicken Milanese) but the service was incredibly slow. Our server disappeared quite often and did not check on us once after serving our food. In addition, we tried to order dessert only to be told that several of the options on the menu were unavailable. We made another choice but our server returned to say they were out of that too.

The pizzas are enormous and the meat dishes huge too.
We went in on Christmas Eve and were made very welcome.
I lived in Italy for a while and this experience was not too different.
It is not Locanda Locatelli, but if you want that, go there and pay 3 times the price!

Pizza is good but the tables are crammed into this restaurant so don’t think about going here for a date or to discuss something private.
All in all though, it’s reasonably cheap, filling and usually has a free table when I want one so it’s A-​OK with me.

It is what it is, and we like this place. If you’re after gourmet pizza, then look elsewhere. However, if you’re in the mood for cheap, fast filler pizza with friendly service, then Porchetta fits the bill.
We also like the Camden and Clerkenwell locations, which both serve better pasta than the Islington branch. The pizzas tend to be about the same from branch to branch.

Porchetta used to be quite good but it has fallen slowly behind on the british high street. My pasta had so much chilli I couldn’t taste the spicy italian sausage and a friend of mine had her tortellini swimming grudginly in a pool of oil and butter. Not pretty.

I disagree with the previous statements — as a local; I got there because its a relaxed atmosphere, service was good (based on my experience) and the pizzas large and tasty. If you go this pizzaria, order a pizza!
Big queue might be daunting, but worth asking for waiting time, as may only be 5−10mins.
Similar alternative further down upper st towards angel is La Forchetta for budget italian.

I was told La Porchetta, Stroud Green Road, Stroud Green was definitely worth a visit, but not having had the chance to visit, we stumbled across their Islington branch. Bad is an under statement for this particular Italian eaterie (I avoid using restaurant as I think most connect this with a good time and quality food — La Porchetta, Islington isn’t either).
It’s obvious from going inside that the place hasn’t had any investment in either the décor or staff in a very long time. The staff looked bored and unmotivated, the atmosphere was bland and the food below average. I ordered Tagliatelle Al Salmone which is was highly salted and swimming in oil. The tomato topping on my partner’s Romana pizza was tastless and didn’t rate any higher than a supermarket bought pizza. If you’re looking for a good italian experience, don’t go here, go to Pizzeria Pappagone on Stroud Green Rd or save your money for a more enjoyable night out. Like Macaroon, I don’t know why this place always looks busy. Possibly a case of Emperors New Clothes?

Busy and informal italian cuisine, the standard but London taste catered pizza and pasta is pretty alright. This chain on Upper Street are competing with exclusive and unique restaurants in the area. Its a quick way of getting your meal, paying the bill and getting on with your schedule.
I had a dinner work meeting, the informal setting eased the discussion and the food and wine was pretty alright too. They have a boxed type seating in a dull silver grey tone but with the wooden floor and high ceiling its does make the restaurant look spacious and clean. I’ve never like the idea of eating facing a busy street, and with their large clear windows I personally feel they could have used a privacy window display to create a style to the place. Instead to me its quiet industrial and impersonal a place perfect for an informal business meeting.

I had lunch today at La Porchetta, enticed by the view of lovely thin pizzas from the window. As expected, my Calzone was in a great light fluffy crust, and filled with Italian salami, ham and cheese. It was a very large portion, and I eventually had to leave the breaded portion. My friend had the gnocchi which was great, but she had to get a takeaway portion to go as well.
It was really good value for a filling meal at under ten pounds each. The service was fine, but perhaps it gets busier in the evenings. I loved the large starter of a bowl of olives marinated in a garlic and herb sauce. Simple and good.

La Porchetta is a small London chain of restaurants, which started here in Upper Street. The philosophy of this family owned business was always to create authentic Italian cuisine, and while this remains true, you probably wont be bowled over by it and in my experience the painfully slow service can dilute your enthusiasm for the food anyway. Having asked for the bill 4 times we weren’t sure whether they were bothered about our custom, after all the restaurant does appear to be busy most evenings of the week.
On the whole it is reasonably priced decent food but the lack of attention to the tables leaves you reluctant to part with the smallest of pennies. If you decide to brave it I’d recommend going early or last thing — last orders should be placed by half 10 — I’m sure the staff would be more attentive if they were waiting to go home.