As I walked into Porta Bella on the restaurant\u2019s last day of service, a woman rushed in to get her pickup order. \u201cI\u2019m illegally parked!\u201d she said as the host shuffled to get her food.<\/p>\n
Friendly but frantic, the woman said she had to get one last Porta salad, one of the restaurant\u2019s signature dishes \u2014 iceberg lettuce topped with chickpeas, ham, salami, mozzarella and cheddar cheese.<\/p>\n
Porta Bella has been serving Italian American classics since 1968. Its menu has changed very little during that time, carrying over many recipes from the original owners, Roy and Rose McCormick (specifically Rose, who was a member of the Troia family, an Italian family that resided in the Greenbush neighborhood).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One of the most unique features at Porta Bella are the handful of round booths.<\/p>\n
ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ<\/p>\n
The couple also opened Paisan\u2019s, a popular spot for University of Wisconsin-Madison students \u2014 and a young Dave Zweifel\u2019s introduction to pizza \u2014 with Rose\u2019s brother and sister-in-law, Joe and Bette Troia, in 1949.<\/p>\n
Some 40 years ago, Roy sold the restaurants to his son, Michael, and a trio of restaurant employees \u2014 Walter (Wally) Borowski, Jerry Meier and Ed Shinnick. Michael sold his stake in the business a few years later, and Meier retired from restaurants over a decade ago. Paisan\u2019s closed in 2023.<\/p>\n
Now, after 58 years at 425 N. Frances St., Porta Bella, the spot known for its ornate decor, which has played host to thousands of romantic dinners and meals with visiting university parents alike, has also closed.<\/p>\n
The land on which Porta Bella sits is tentatively slated to become a 16-story mixed-use student housing building with 188 units, developed by Texas-based Villas Student Housing.<\/p>\n
Porta Bella announced on Feb. 14 that its last day of service would be Feb. 28, and reservations filled up quickly. Tables were full throughout the day, from opening at 11 a.m. to closing at 9 p.m. Julie, wife of one of the owners, answered phone calls and walk-in requests throughout the week from people seeking a last-minute reservation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The dining room of Porta Bella from a 2011 file photo. Porta Bella was one of Madison’s most iconic restaurants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Michael P. King<\/p>\n
Yet on that very last day, reservations were more spaced out, and folks willing to wait could walk in and nab a table. Although Porta Bella was packed with well-wishers seeking one last glass of the restaurant\u2019s famous sangria, a final piece of lasagna or a farewell Garibaldi sandwich, the restaurant graciously made space for walk-ins and folks who weren\u2019t able to grab one of the final reservations.<\/p>\n
I put in my name for a table for two at 6 p.m. My partner and I were in one of the restaurant\u2019s wood-carved booths 45 minutes later.<\/p>\n
Pizza under your nose<\/p>\n
I tried to make a reservation at Porta Bella earlier in the week and was very kindly told that all tables were booked. I watched at least five couples walk in and be told the same thing.<\/p>\n
But I knew to show up on Saturday thanks to Brynn Mancusi, Meier\u2019s granddaughter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kelly, left, and Dave Enders point out the unique features of Porta Bella, like the stained glass chandeliers, while having one last drink at the bar on the restaurant\u2019s final day of service.<\/p>\n
ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you haven\u2019t made it out to Porta yet now is a good time,\u201d she texted me. She was sitting at the bar with Borowski, the former employee who became an owner.<\/p>\n
Mancusi is currently a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her grandparents met while working at Porta Bella.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandpa started working there when he was, I think, 14. I think he started as a dishwasher. He worked his way up to being an owner,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then my grandma went to UW\u2013Madison and got a job there, and they worked together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heidi Mancusi, Meier\u2019s daughter and Brynn\u2019s mom, remembers her father bringing home pizza after a long day at work. \u201cAll of a sudden, he\u2019d come home and put pizza under our noses to wake us up so that we could spend time, family time together over a Porta Bella pizza.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although she said her family spent more time at Paisan\u2019s, in a way, Porta Bella is Brynn\u2019s \u201corigin story,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
One of the special things about the restaurants, she said, was the familial ties that kept the restaurant going. She said Borowski would hire people\u2019s siblings and cousins; customers would bring in their children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople start working at Paisan\u2019s and Porto Bella, and they tend to stick around. You\u2019ll find staff who\u2019ve been there for decades,\u201d Brynn said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Staff at Porta Bella prepare to close the restaurant for the last time.<\/p>\n
ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ<\/p>\n
Her mom agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cPorta Bella has stood the test of time … I think that really is because there is just so much heart and soul poured into it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Porta Bella: \u2018Beautiful gate\u2019<\/p>\n
After rushing to the restaurant, per Brynn Mancusi\u2019s tip, I sat first at the bar to admire the intricate, ornate interior.<\/p>\n
Porta Bella means \u201cbeautiful gate\u201d in Italian, which may have inspired the building\u2019s original designer, Harry Krueger. Diners enter the restaurant by first passing through a stucco-style gate with an archway that opens onto a patio before reaching the main doors.<\/p>\n
Inside, one of the most notable features of Krueger\u2019s design was a marble fountain, built by an Italian craftsman, in the middle of one of the dining rooms. The fountain was given to Choles Floral Company, Paisan\u2019s original neighbors, according to an Instagram post from Porta Bella.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Porta Bella has been a Madison staple for 58 years. Feb. 28 was the restaurant\u2019s last day of service.<\/p>\n
ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ<\/p>\n
The booths and tables were refurbished by Borowski and Meier, Brynn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandpa\u2019s a woodworker, so I think they just slowly went through and remade, built and refurnished most of the tables and booths,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Krueger\u2019s influence clearly carried through the updates made by Borowski and Meier. The restaurant feels grand and intimate \u2014 dark wooden walls, dimly lighted stained-glass chandeliers and booths tucked away and partitioned off with curtains. It\u2019s easy to see why this would have been a date night destination.<\/p>\n
Lisa, who declined to share her last name, worked as a busser at Porta Bella from 1988 to 1989. \u201cIt was the place that everybody came with their parents when the parents came to town, and if you were ever on a romantic date, this is where you came because it was … \u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nearly all the booths at Porta Bella have their own sconces or chandeliers.<\/p>\n
ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ<\/p>\n
She paused and looked around with a mischievous look in her eye. \u201cDark,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Lisa was with seven others from their supper club \u2014 the group goes out once a month to try new supper club restaurants (they\u2019ve visited about 40 spots and keep a spreadsheet to stay organized). When members found out Porta Bella was closing, they made it this month\u2019s destination.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, if you can\u2019t fall in love and get married (here) … any given night when I used to work here, somebody got engaged, (it was) somebody\u2019s anniversary,\u201d Lisa said.<\/p>\n
Lisa and her party arrived at the restaurant about an hour before their reservation, sipping brandy old-fashioneds at the bar as they waited for their table.<\/p>\n
\u201cDinner was much more of an event,\u201d she said. \u201cVersus like, just go eat as fast as you can.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Although no longer open or available to the public, Porta Bella has a downstairs space that has lived a lot of lives: it was once the home of Paisan\u2019s, Porta Bella\u2019s sister restaurant, and a wine bar people lined up to get into. People waiting in line would sign their names on the bricks adorning the staircase.<\/p>\n
ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was more like an experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last sangria<\/p>\n
After waiting at the bar and chatting with regulars, we were seated in a booth. Our server was kind but encouraged speediness: some dishes had already run out, including the lasagna.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had Porta Bella lasagna for our wedding,\u201d Heidi said. \u201cI had my wedding dress, and I took a tablecloth, and I tucked it in like a bib.\u201d<\/p>\n
My partner and I ordered Porta Bella staples \u2014 that rush-worthy Porta salad, spicy cheesy bread, and ravioli with meat sauce.<\/p>\n
At the booth behind ours, Laurie Richards and Doug Grabarczyk also found items dwindling as the restaurant neared closing. They ordered two glasses of the restaurant\u2019s sangria, a customer favorite, but only got one \u2014 the very last glass.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The first page of the menu at Porta Bella gives a brief history of the space and its connection to Italy and Madison\u2019s Greenbush neighborhood, a longtime Italian enclave.<\/p>\n
ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ<\/p>\n
\u201cI have the distinction of having the last sangria,\u201d Richards said, raising a glass with slices of orange in it.<\/p>\n
Grabarczyk used to come here in the 80s, when he was in college. \u201cThis was the place, back then, that if you wanted to impress a girl, you brought them here,\u201d he said. It was legal then to drink at age 19, \u201cso if you could bring somebody here and order wine, that was a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richards, whose background is in interior design, said the space is \u201clike a feast of the senses.\u201d<\/p>\n
The duo ordered menu classics: meatballs and linguine, chicken parmesan and the ever-popular Porta salad.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The spicy cheesy bread is a Porta Bella staple, along with dishes like the Porta salad and the lasagna.<\/p>\n
ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ<\/p>\n
The salad is so popular that the Hy-Vee in Oregon sells the toppings packaged and ready for anyone looking to recreate it at home. An employee at the Oregon store confirmed they make the topping behind the deli counter using the McCormicks\u2019 original recipe.<\/p>\n
He said the salad toppings sell \u201cvery well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pepperoni on every slice<\/p>\n
As our meal finished, I overheard a woman squeal as a Garibaldi sandwich \u2014 a Porta Bella original with ham, salami and spicy cheese \u2014 was set in front of her dining partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll never be able to do this again!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After dinner, we watched from the bar as the restaurant slowly wound down. Julie noticed that I was taking photos and gave me a tour of the space, showing me the restaurant\u2019s distinct dining areas, including round, plush booths in the center.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A portrait of Rose Trioa McCormick, taken in the Porta Bella patio, hangs on a wall marking off the Rose Room, one of the restaurant\u2019s dining spaces.<\/p>\n
ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ<\/p>\n
We stopped in front of the Rose Room, named after Rose McCormick. Rose was part of a prominent Italian family in Madison, and many of Porta Bella\u2019s recipes came from her family.<\/p>\n
The Rose Room is marked by a portrait taken of Rose on the patio outside the restaurant.<\/p>\n
At the bar, another guest, Patricia Looper, called the restaurant \u201cthe finest place in Madison.\u201d Family visiting from California would ask her to ship pizza from there. Now, at almost 70, she\u2019d bring her kids and grandkids here.<\/p>\n
Later, Looper\u2019s daughter joined her, and said she felt like she grew up with the restaurant. Heidi Mancusi had the same experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven people I don\u2019t know, when they hear that I\u2019m connected to the restaurant, they come up and tell me all these stories of how connected their family was to the environment and the food at Paisan\u2019s and Porta Bella,\u201d Meier\u2019s daughter Heidi said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The booths at Porta Bella are tucked away and feel private. A curtain hangs between booths to create more privacy.<\/p>\n
ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ<\/p>\n
Brynn, Heidi\u2019s daughter, called the restaurant closing \u201cbittersweet.\u201d It\u2019s sad to lose another Madison institution, she said, then quickly noted how hard Borowski and Shinnick have worked over the last 40+ years. They \u201cdeserve to retire,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Co-owner Wally Borowski, in particular, has always been a mentor to Brynn. He was the first person to show her how to make a pizza.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way that Wally makes a pizza is he makes sure every single bite is the best bite you could take. So every bite has a piece of pepperoni, every bite has just enough cheese, every bite has a pepper on it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
It was a formative lesson for Brynn.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s kind of how he approached work,\u201d she said. \u201cHe put love and attention into every single pizza that he made, every single employee that he hired and every single customer that walked in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat teaches you everything you need to know about hard work \u2014 and kind of life in general.\u201d<\/p>\n
Note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Wally Borowski’s last name and the spelling of Choles Floral Company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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