This St. Johns pop-up turned restaurant from Chase Dopson and Maggie Irwin isn’t the place for heavily sauced pastas and a lengthy menu of secondi. Here, the couple focuses intently on pastas, truly made by hand using rolling pins, knives, and little else. Menus change often and the team only offers a few pastas any given night: Some days, that might be super-fine tajarin with a rich ragu; on others, it might be pappardelle earthy with porcini mushrooms. Come with friends and order them all.

Hidden up in the Woodlawn neighborhood, Campana began as on offshoot pasta night for the whole-hog butchery focused restaurant Grand Army Tavern. However, the homey pasta dishes and ample entrees proved so popular the restaurant fully converted. There’s plenty to like in this bright, open industrial space, but it’s usually smart to opt for a pasta or risotto, with meatballs marinara to start. The simple-yet-delicious plate of happy hour puttanesca is hard to beat, especially with a crimson glass of Italian wine in hand.

This Killingsworth food cart specializes in a beloved Italian street food, panzerotti — those unfamiliar can think of it as a God-tier Hot Pocket. Little mini-calzone-shaped turnovers, stuffed with things like fresh mozzarella or Italian sausage are popped in the fryer, emerging crispy on the outside and melty-gooey on the inside. Order a variety, plus a few handmade cannoli.

This self-identified Italian American restaurant churns out all the greatest hits — spaghetti and pork-and-beef meatballs; hubcap-sized chicken Parm, fried crispy and topped with mozz; piles of fried calamari with a briny caper aioli. The restaurant is particularly shrewd in where it strays from the original, however, adding pistachio chile crisp to Dungeness crab “alla vodka” or infusing Campari with sun-dried tomatoes for a Negroni. The fried mozzarella here is a marvel in engineering, sort of a cheesy shot glass filled with marinara.

Previously Portland’s best Italian food cart, Gumba has moved inside, taking over the space previously home to Aviary. Gumba’s take on Italian food is intentionally loose, happily incorporating menu items like fry bread or pairing charred calamari with marinated chickpeas. Menus regularly change, but visitors will often find thick strips of al dente pappardelle topped with aromatic beef sugo on the menu — it’s a must-order. For dessert, opt for inventive treats like eggplant caramel olive oil cake.

The romantic vibes of this Mississippi Italian restaurant fit the menu, where meals begin with oysters on the half shell and end with amaro. Menus change frequently here, but they always involve some lovely pastas — radiatori trapping a layered Bolognese between its folds, twists of gemelli bolstered with wild mushrooms. Pizzas arrive with ribbons of prosciutto or the sour tang of pickled scapes, available gluten-free for those in need. Salads often incorporate produce from the Pacific Northwest.

It’s hard to classify Cafe Olli as one singular thing — it’s part breakfast cafe, part bakery, part pizzeria, part wood-fired restaurant — but there’s certainly an Italian lilt to the dinner menu, even as it shifts season by season. Visitors pop marinated olives between sips of wine, while others lift up slices of sausage-topped pizza punctuated with dollops of cheesy grits. Visitors should order at least one pizza and one pasta, depending on the size of the group; if there’s room for panna cotta at the end, even better.

In a house tucked away from NW 23rd Avenue, Fillmore Trattoria remains a Portland destination for Italian American homestyle cooking. Start with the crowd-pleasing fried goat cheese balls and ask about the chef’s special; the kitchen turns out dishes like crab ravioli, seared scallops, and homemade gnocchi coated in pesto. A shortlist of wines by the glass is available, but it’s wise to select a bottle from the list of reds hailing from Piedmont, Tuscany, and southern Italy.

Montelupo was part of a welcome trend when it opened as a two-in-one market and restaurant. Since its inception, it has continued to expand, opening a focaccia shop in Sellwood-Moreland; however, dinner at the casual Italian cafe and bistro remains a favorite for neighborhood locals. While the restaurant does offer seasonally rotating pastas, go for the classics: delicate tajarin with truffle butter and piles of Parmesan, radiatori alla vodka bolstered with hot Italian sausage, mafaldine Bolognese, with beef and pork catching itself in the ridges of the pasta. Additionally, the market sells fresh pasta dishes to prepare at home, wine, pantry staples, and everything else needed to turn home kitchens into fine Italian dining.

Black and white tiled floor and racks of olive oil, canned tomatoes, and wine give Luce’s intimate space the feeling of a small shop in an Italian village. The illusion is made complete with Luce’s selection of fresh pasta dishes — cappelletti float in an elegant, profound broth, hearty and meaty baked pasta dishes pair with the robust Italian wines served in familiar bistro glasses, and spiced shrimp nestle within swirled piles of linguini. Beyond the pasta, Luce’s antipasti are often worth an order, a range of flavorful marinated vegetables and crostini. The pro move is to go with a few friends and split every pasta on the menu, plus a few larger dishes, and a bottle or two of rustic Italian wine.

At Sesame Collective’s downtown Portland Italian restaurant, couples clink Peronis and zero-proof Negronis while awaiting slabs of focaccia or arancini filled with braised short rib. Sure, pastas like the decadent tagliatelle al burro, cheesy and rich with butter and cheese, are going to please the table. However, what sets the restaurant apart are its grilled entrees, like the prawns with a nutty almond romesco or the heirloom carrots diners drag through bearnaise. Brunch is also an option, involving things like breakfast panini or pesto polenta with poached egg.

The lauded and incredibly influential Italian destination from Portland luminary Cathy Whims remains as relevant as it was when it opened in 2005. Menus change daily, but most nights see diners crowded under the lanterns hanging from vaulted ceilings as plate after plate of buttery tomato sauce-coated pasta, bubbling gnocchi al forno, and hearty entrees like overnight roasted Anderson Ranch lamb head to the tables. Couples on dates slice the uncut pizzas with the provided scissors, and down glasses of bold Italian wines and bittersweet Negroni variations. Nostrana is inherently celebratory, a fixture in Portland’s upscale dining scene for its atmosphere, its service, and its food.

Pulling off vegan Italian food is exceptionally tricky; so many dishes lean on a snowy pile of cheese, a binding egg yolk, luscious rendered pork fat. That’s what makes this tiny Italian restaurant on Southeast Madison so special — all of its pizzas, handmade pastas, meatballs, and risotto are animal product free. Skip the pizzas in favor of the restaurant’s pastas, which range from tagliolini coated in pesto to carbonara with smoky vegan bacon. For dessert, a mind-boggling panna cotta is the move.

Gino’s is some Old Portland realness. This Sellwood restaurant, almost always packed with neighborhood locals, delivers heaping piles of pasta and other red sauce standards to tables in its dining room and wood-lined bar. Grandma Jean’s, the restaurant’s version of a Sunday gravy, is absolutely teeming with pork ribs, stewed beef, and pepperoni, tossed with penne. Gino’s is one of the only spots in town serving penne alla vodka, given a Portland twist with Mama Lil’s peppers. And outside the world of pasta, seafood-packed cioppino is a favorite among the restaurant’s decades-loyal regulars.

While the vast majority of Italian restaurants in Portland define themselves by their pastas, Sebastiano’s takes a different approach. This cafe and deli is all about Italian baked goods, especially its sandwiches — served on a focaccia baked in-house, options include a muffuletta with local meats or a vegetarian eggplant version, as well as sandwiches layered with oil-poached tuna or Sweetheart ham. It also offers salads, the city’s best cannoli, cakes, and pantry items including arborio rice, salami, cheeses, and wines.