Pervious concrete has made a comeback as a green infrastructure solution for urban areas. The fast adoption of the permeable pavement practice by many cities worldwide warrants an urgent response from researchers to address the lack of standards for mixture optimization, pavement design, and characterization methods, which results in field placements with insufficient strength and durability. These critical issues are the topic of this review paper. Laboratory test results relevant to the mechanical and hydrological performance of pervious concrete, e.g., compressive and flexural strength, impact and abrasion resistance, porosity and permeability, and their interrelationships are discussed in great detail. The use of additives, alternative binders, fillers, and fibers from natural sources and waste streams and their impact on pervious concrete performance parameters is reviewed. Efforts in computational modeling of mechanical, structural, and hydrological behavior of pervious concrete materials and pervious concrete pavements are also presented. Based on this extensive review of state of the art on these important matters, the areas of need for future research are identified. •Studies of mixture composition optimization and characterization methods are discussed.•Review of effect of waste materials on pervious concrete mixture design and mechanical performance is presented.•Statistical models of pervious concrete mechanical properties are summarized.•Numerical modeling of pervious concrete stress-strain behavior and permeability are reviewed.•State of the art of pervious concrete pavement design is discussed.