Paisano’s Italian Garden Cafe

There wasn’t much to complain about here but nothing to rave about either.
We tried pizza and pasta. Both were fine but not exceptional. The bread we were served was not made in house and we did not get olive oil and vinegar with it but butter which was unusual and disappointing at an Italian restaurant.
The seating inside is plentiful, the atmosphere is nice, and our waiter was just lovely (he was very friendly and his service stood out), but as I consider food to be the star of the show, I won’t be hurrying back here any time soon, though I won’t say I’d never try it again.

Easily one of our favourite restaurants — eat here usually once a week.
I’ve never been disappointed by the quality of food or service. A North York staple :)

Was there last week and had a great meal (Tuscan pizza). Service was great and everyone else loved their meals!

All things considered, being who else around within a 40 minute walk, will essentially make this the default diner. Great service, but their food is just average. Nothing to write home about, so I’ll stop here.

I went there several times. Nice tasty pasta and pizza. friendly staff. But no parking around! Everytime there is a issue where to put your car!

We always order from Paisanos because the pizza is easily one of my favourites in Toronto but every time we order our food is always hot!
I can always expect hot and yummy food whenever I order from the restaurant!

I have been going to Paisano’s for over 10 years now and every time I’ve been there the service is excellent and the food is consistently good. The menu has a nice selection, including delicious desserts. Although it is somewhat lacking in atmosphere it is comfortable guests aren’t rush to leave when their meals are finished. I’ve spent many an evening there lingering over coffee or tea long after our meal has finished and the staff are always accommodating.

I have attended this restaurant with my boyfriend a number of times and have always left satisfied. The staff is extremely friendly and always made sure we were taken care of throughout our stay.
They have a good menu with a lot of options. The Chicken Parmesan is unbelievably delicious! Try it, you will not go wrong. It is definitely their best dish and the staff will tell you that themselves. Their prices are fair especially considering the quality and amount that you get.
They recently renovated, and the atmosphere is nice and fairly quiet, good for couples and families. Since the renovations the lighting is a bit weird but nothing major.

Our favourite Italian place by far in North York. We bring my parents and in-​laws here anytime they visit from out of town… in fact they always request we go to Paisanos when they come to the city. Amazing portion sizes and quality for the price! It provides that casual dining experience but with fine dining quality if you ask me! And without the snobby menu prices Go here!

I came here a few weeks ago with my aunt — we were craving Italian food and she knew of Paisano’s — a delicious Italian restaurant with all kinds of items to choose from. The service was always helpful and friendly and we didn’t have to wait long despite the number of customers already seated.
They start you off with bread and butter but unfortunately, the bread looked just like slices of plain white bread from the grocery store.
We started off with the Soup of the Day ($ 5) — I forget what the soup was called (the soup of the day isn’t written on the menu but the server will tell you about it) but it was a sort of creamy corn soup. I think it was the best thing I had that night — creamy and sweet it was a yummy way to start our dinner.
I ordered off their chicken pasta section of the menu — the Raffaella ($ 16) — chicken breast, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, snowpeas, penne pasta, and a rose sauce. It was okay — I’d never had snowpeas in pasta before but it adds a bit of a bitter taste to it. I don’t known if I’d order it again — it was, overall, more on the bitter side of pastas and it felt like it could use more sauce.
My aunt ordered the Seafood Creole ($ 16) — shrimp, calamari, clams, salmon, mussels, linguine pasta, and a marinara sauce. My aunt was really satisfied with it. I had the chance to try it and while I liked it more than my dish, I thought its seafood components overpowered the dish — I know it’s a seafood pasta, and there’s a lot of ingredients from the sea in it to prove it, but they didn’t blend too well with the marinara sauce and with each other.
For dessert, we ordered the Homemade Tiramisu ($ 5) — layers of espresso & liquor-​soaked sponge cake alternating with mascarpone cheese, and topped with grated chocolate. At first bite, it tasted a bit too cold — like it had been in the fridge for the day (not the freshest, but I didn’t expect it to be) but it was an overall yummy dessert — had notes of the coffee with remnants of liquor and it was presented beautifully.
Overall, Paisano’s was a good experience — ambient, cozy, great service, and, for the most part, good food — not amazing, but good enough. While I don’t think I’d order the pastas we got this time again, I would come here again for that creamy corn soup, to try more of their desserts, or to try more on their menu — Paisano’s has a lot to offer and I’m always down to try more Italian cuisine.

My boyfriend grew up in North York and this restaurant has been a family favourite. We moved out of the area and hadn’t been there in a couple of years so we tried it again last night. I remember liking this spot but last night left a lot to be desired. We both thought something had changed. Based on other reviews I’m wondering if pizza is their strength and perhaps we should have gone with that instead.
We were seated quickly and staff was friendly. Our meals came out at the same time as our drinks, so surprisingly fast. Normally that is not something to complain about but it kind of made me wonder why and we didn’t really have a chance to get settled before the meal. It almost felt rushed. Usually a bread basket is pretty standard at an Italian restaurant but we had to request this after the meals came; it wasn’t automatically brought to us. The bread was just sliced white Italian, like what you can pick up in a grocery store. No authenticity to it at all really.
My boyfriend wanted shrimp fettuccine Alfredo, which they don’t offer so you have to order the vegetarian option and add shrimp to it. The additional charge was $ 5 and he got exactly 5 pieces of shrimp, so $ 1 per shrimp. I ordered Chicken Al Pesto which was $ 16. I think these two meals are comparable with the pasta, sauce and protein yet one was $ 19 and the other $ 16, a price differentiation that didn’t seem right. Actually they offer a Shrimp Al Pesto which is $ 16 so does cream sauce really cost $ 3 more than pesto sauce? I have costed menus in the past for work and it just seemed like a big difference to me. We don’t mind the $ 5 but give us more shrimp. The sauces were bland. I didn’t really taste any garlic in my dish. Although the colour was green, the basil flavour was non-​existent. When I make pesto at home, I usually blend the pine nuts into the sauce, but these were mixed in whole, so you could only taste them when you bit into one but there weren’t enough in the dish to have one in every bite. Overall it was more like a cream sauce than pesto, so if you’re looking for an olive oil based pesto sauce, this is not it.
We haven’t written them off completely but if we go back we will probably try pizza instead.

My gf and friends decided to come here on a special evening to enjoy this rare long lasting thriving business. Yes, its been open for 50 years! Are they serving real ‘Italian’ food? I’m not sure, but its safe to say they’re doing something good.
Seating capacity is able to fit quite a bit. We ordered the deluxe pizza as app, which I thought was alright. My gf got the eggplant entrée which is not bad, I thought ‘Antica Pizzeria’ in Niagara Falls is better. I got the lasagna, which is not bad, I can eat it. Its more sauce than the noodles though. They say that if your pasta is drowned with sauce, it may not be that great. But I’d say this place is good, and I’d come back and enjoy their other dishes.
If you order the chicken parm, its pretty BIG!!!

Great local restaurant — was busy on a weekday evening, which is always a good sign. Our server was very attentive, and the food was delicious.

I had salmon and it was very delicious. The price is fair for italian resturant. But i had hard time finding parking, although they have their own private parking lot. It was full and it took time for me to find parking nearby.

The pizzas are nice! I liked the «Meat Lovers» the best!
The antipasto was also a great choice.
Good service too!

Nice place for a date
Service here is awesome every time! One of the best places to go for Italian in north York
Their eggplant parmigiana is to die for

After hearing good reviews from this place, my boyfriend and I decided to try it. We ordered takeout as we couldn’t sit in due to time constraints, but we live in the area, so the food was still hot when we returned home. Unfortunately, we were quite disappointed with the food.
This restaurant feels like a family-​style restaurant that has been around for a very long time (which it has, 50 years at least i think). When I went to pick up my order from the guy at the bar, I took a good look around. The décor was a bit dated, though spacious, and the clientele was primarily an older crowd with a couple of families and couples. They also have a patio.
We ordered the chicken parmigiana and medium deluxe pizza which came to ~$ 40. When we got home to eat our food, my food was packed in a tray with three divisions, one for a few pieces of carrot and broccoli, one for linguine with tomato sauce, and in the middle was the breaded chicken.
Quality and taste? Unfortunately, poor. The sauce was very bland and I actually had to add salt to it, which is not something I normally do. The chicken was seasoned well enough, and the portion was large, but the pasta was nothing special as it was dried pasta, and the vegetables seemed like it was from frozen. The pizza? The bottom was slightly burned and although they called it «gourmet pizza» on their menu, it was far from it. The menu itself seems quite dated (particularly the photos) and lacked creativity.
All in all, I was quite disappointed. I thought that maybe getting takeout would taint my experience but I’m sure the sauce wouldn’t have been more flavourful even if I had dined in. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many good Italian restaurants around the area, but I think that next time I’d rather drive out a bit further south on Yonge for something better.

My parents live in the area & we were looking for quality take out food that was available for delivery.
We found it,
The food was delivered so fast & it was hot… and I mean HOT. The meat sauce on the spaghetti was delicious (not oily or too tomatoey) and one portion was large enough for 2 people. A large Caesar salad was enough to split between the three of us. The salad was fresh & the salad dressing was amazing.
If you’re in the mood for good Italian food but don’t feel like going out, Paisano’s is the perfect choice.

I really like this Italian restaurant in North York. I just recently discovered it thanks to a friend and we really enjoyed our meal here. You know a restaurant is good when it is Wednesday evening at 6 pm and that place is bustling AND it’s not even in a high traffic place. In fact, if my friend didn’t take me, I would probably never notice this place. But inside it is very nice and has a cozy and warm ambience. Great for a family dinner out or a semi casual date.
We tried the following:
Chicken carbonara — tasty and creamy and good sized portion
Escargot in herb n tomato sauce — really good, multile pieces of escargot with bread for dipping the remaining sauce
Veal mushroom — tasty as well
Shirley Temple — refreshing drink
Service was also friendly and efficient and prices were reasonable. Check out their website for more info!

Love this neighbourhood gem for Italian food. Tucked into the small street if Willowdale ave, this place has a non pretentious atmosphere, the food is delicious and fair prices.
Our office has group gatherings here and we all love it!