The Express

What a find! Not going to say anything except fantastic food. Service very attentive. Food is prepared fresh from scratch so allow a little time and have a drink and an appetiser. A great find in the Hamilton outskirts. Will be spending more time here.

Decent place. Fancy warehouse look with old dinner seating. A few things could make it a lot nicer. They seem to stay quite busy. Loaf of bread & oil was good. Bruschetta was nice. Mussels in tomato sauce were good (wine sauce likely better). Service was just ok for the amount of customers it could of been better. Felt rushed to leave. I’d go back.

Brutal. If your good with plastic table cloths, old banquet chairs and glass frames covered in smudges and filth this is the place for you. The staff doesn’t smile and the best part is when the manager pushes past you without saying excuse me. Pizza is Pizza go somewhere else that cares that your there.

turned out to be a bit pricier that I anticipated as the Panini lunch for 12 $ is only served during the week and I went on a Saturday. The food was good — we got bruschetta to start and pastas — penne, gnocchi, and spaghetti and some shared deserts to finish off. The sauce was .ok. (The sauce is what can make or break a good Italian meal in my opinion) my guests were not over thrilled with the sauce but finished their dishes without complaint. It’s quite dim and could use table lights. Service was ok. I would come back again for the M-​F lunch.

I really like this place, good atmosphere & wood fired oven make it a hit.
It’s counter intuitive to think that such good Italian food would exist in such an industrial section of town.
I’ve order numerous items off the menu, ranging from stracciatella soup, fettuccine Alfredo, calzone, Diavlo pizza.
I’ve found each visit is a good as the last, if it was not so far to drive. I would frequent this place much more.
I highly recommend any item out of the wood oven.

The food here is actually better than I would expect based on the décor and atmosphere. The table settings look pretty cheap and remind me of being at an East Side Mario’s or some other chain Italian restaurant. Also I unfortunately came when there was a big party, and the noise from the live music really took away from my experience.
My meal however wasn’t bad. I had a garden salad, which wasn’t anything special, and spaghetti alla milanese (shrimp sautéed with onions and diced tomatoes
served in a light white wine lemon sauce). It was simple and something I probably could have easily made at home, but it was enjoyable.
If I could be guaranteed an evening without a large party, I may come here again.

I was just at an engagement party here and everything was fantastic. From the service, to the food, everything was delightful. We started with the thin crust pizzas (as many brought to each table as we would like), then some pasta, and then chicken and pork. Lastly, we finished with a light salad to «cleanse the palate». The wine never stopped flowing, the servers were always making sure there was enough food and bringing more over. The day ended with coffee and rum cake. My only complaint, if it can even be called that, is that it was a little dark in the restaurant.

About a month ago, I was in Toronto. At the same time, I traveled an hour west to visit a friend of mine who moved from Chicago to Dundas to take a position at a nearby university. Anyway, he took me to this restaurant. He apparently had read a review of their pasta carbonara and thought I would enjoy. As any good Jewish boy, I love pasta carbonara. If its on the menu, I order it. I have had outstanding versions, like in Rome, at Roscioli’s or Armando del Pantheon or Da Gino, or Fraschatti in Trastevere. In New York City, I would choose Crispo, or La Carbonara or Otto Enoteca Pizzeria. I love the version they have at Café Med in LA. So does the Hamilton Spectator’s review of The Express’s pasta carbonara have any truth to it? The exact quote from the paper reads: «The carbonara at The Express is one of the best I’ve had on this side of the Atlantic, and superior to a lot on the other side.» Clearly we had two different versions of this pasta, and we definitely don’t eat at the same places in Rome.
The Express served me a thick, very heavy on the garlic spaghetti in a pseudo carbonara cream sauce. It should have crispy guanciale or pancetta, I believe some pork product was there but in large, uncooked strips thrown on top. Like someone took strips of Oscar Mayer Bacon and threw them on top. There was no fresh black pepper, and the only taste that was evident was garlic, and not fresh garlic, but garlic that comes from a jar.
The salad was a standard bowl of romaine lettuce with a restaurant supply Caesar dressing. The pizzas were okay but nothing amazing, and certainly not worthy of praise.
Its a standard italian restaurant in a very industrial part of a city. If Calvin Trillin had tasted this spaghetti carbonara, he may not have wanted to replace it as the standard Thanksgiving dish.

Delicious Pasta!