Moroni's by the Rideau -  Portland,

Someone recommended the pizza from this place. They were right. The pizza was great. Thinner tasty crust. Very flavourful. Ordered the "Special" and it was cooked perfectly. Told them I would pick it up in 25 minutes and it was just out of the oven when I arrived. Good value for the money. Had read a couple negative reviews and was somewhat reluctant but as it turned out our experience was much better.

It is unfortunate that Moroni's sounds like a great Italian experience, the name beckons, however the food sucks for lack more apt description. Both the Portland location and the Gananoque location are far from good food.Gananoque is always a summer destination on our boat, we stay for a week every summer. My children and my niece and nephew visited the Gan location and everything we ordered was awful. Processed beyond MacDonald's and NOTHING home made, exactly like the Portland location. Service was mediocre, food worse...so unfortunate for such a great name like Moroni. Stay away until they clean up their restaurants and understand that home made fresh is best.

I've been to this restaurant twice in the last month, and both times were a disappointment. 'Disappointment' is probably a bit of an understatement - I'm annoyed to have spent my money here. Twice.The first occasion doesn't really count, I ordered two pizzas for pickup at a specific time. If you live in the country there is no such thing as pizza delivery, so you try to time things as well as you can. I arrived about 5m before the time I had asked for the pizzas, and after not recalling the order, the were found on top of the pizza oven. They had been there for some time, as was apparent from their condition. Perhaps made when I called in an hour or so before, rather than when asked for? And the not recalling the order part - I was the only customer in the place. I was charged $50 for the pizzas, which were terrible. Remember those cardboard freezer pizzas from the 70s? About that terrible. Still, the pizzas were for a couple of growing boys who will eat anything. There were two staff visible at the time, a young woman who was sweeping and tidying up and who made pleasant conversation about the weather, and a man who rang in my order, but who did not speak a single word to me while I was there.Assured by friends that my experience had been a one-off and not at all representative, we returned for eat-in pizzas. I drove in from Hwy 15, and was struck by the pile of junk outside the restaurant, including a huge torn banner and a lone white plastic chair. We met and ordered pizza. The server was pleasant enough, and the pizza was hot, but was still some of the worst pizza I've had. Gluey and stinging on cheese, and tasting primarily of tomato sauce. I see on the listing that this is listed as #2 of 2 places to eat in Portland. If there are so few options, there is really no incentive for anyone to step up their game. If people are hungry for pizza, they are either going to go here, or Elgin or Westport, or they are going to just carry on to Smiths Falls. All of those are 20 minute options. Complacency wins.

Best pizza around with great service. There is also a nice big deck to enjoy it on. It is close to the water and you can see it if you are sitting just right. Great historical small town.

I very rarely suggest avoiding a restaurant, but this one is not worth the effort. Following are the facts of my one-and-only visit.1. Given the absence of a sign informing me about the seating process, I stood in the entrance to the seating area for seven minutes, catching the eye of the sole waitress, but was neither invited to either seat myself nor escorted to a table. I had to ask the cashier if I should seat myself or not.2. They did not have sweet tea, unimaginable in Canada.3. I was dive-bombed by two mosquitoes and two flies during my stay.4. The potatoes were clearly from a bag in the freezer.5. The salad was swimming in a little bit of oil and an ocean of vinegar.6. I believe the rice was from a box. It was tasteless.7. The chicken souvlaki was tolerable but drier than the Sahara desert.8. I asked for a diet Coke and was brought a glass and a can. I had to ask for ice.9. The waitress never came back around to check on me or ask if everything was OK.10. I waited for a check for several minutes, with silver on the plate and the plate pushed away from me, but received neither a bill nor directions about how to pay.On top of that, a very drunk party of eight totally monopolized the aural environment.Finally, the bathroom doors were opened at some point, perhaps for cleaning, and the smell emanating therefrom was intolerable, despite the fact that I was as far away from those doors as the space would allow.Do yourself a favor...keep driving.Bruce Truitt