There is a certain kind of Oregon evening that calls for pizza, a table big enough for the people you love, and very little fuss. Maybe the rain has returned after a stretch of sunshine, or family is visiting and everybody has a different idea of what sounds good for dinner. Along Northeast Fremont Street in Portland, Amalfi’s offers a place to start that conversation. The restaurant opened in 1959, giving it more than six decades of history on Portland’s dining scene. Its story has grown around the family that kept it going.
That history gives a first visit a little more weight than the usual search for somewhere to eat. You can come for a pie and a glass of wine, but you are also stepping into a business whose roots reach across generations of Portland life. The menu moves comfortably between pizza, pasta, and the kinds of baked Italian-American dishes that make choosing dinner feel pleasantly familiar. For Oregonians who enjoy finding the stories behind their favorite places, there is plenty here to keep the conversation going between bites.
Amalfi’s sits at 4703 NE Fremont Street, on a stretch of Northeast Portland where an evening out can stay close to the neighborhood. Its appeal is easy to understand from the way the restaurant presents itself: food for a family table, space for celebrations, and options for taking dinner home. Those different uses give you several ways to get acquainted with the place. Start with a meal in the dining room, and you may find yourself thinking about it again when a birthday, a visiting relative, or an especially busy week comes around.
A Portland pizza story with a family at its center
Before it was Amalfi’s, the business was called The Pizza House. In a 2021 interview with Comcast, Kiauna Floyd traced its beginnings to her grandfather, who founded the restaurant in 1959. The eventual change of name had a wonderfully practical side: Amalfi’s would appear earlier in the Yellow Pages. It also carried a personal connection to his travels on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, giving the Portland restaurant a name that mixed a family memory with a bit of business sense…