Bar Italia

Went to Bar Italia this week for coffee and a pastry with a couple friends. When we were leaving, we noticed a HUGE cockroach on the jacket of one of our friends. Totally unexpected and unacceptable. Will never go there again.

I came here for Winterlicious on a Saturday night with a date. This restaurant has a very unassuming exterior which might not attract first-​timers, however the interior is classy and romantically lit. There are probably 25 tables for 2 – 6 people which makes this restaurant great for dates but not so much for larger groups. The waitress serving us that night seemed standoffish and rather unhappy to be serving (her arms were crossed over her chest for most of the night) but everyone else was polite and friendly.
In terms of food, Bar Italia serves some great dishes and some misses. Their Winterlicious menu offers three courses, with three choices each so my date and I were able to try ²⁄₃ of the menu. For the appetizers, we ordered the Insalata Mista (very fresh and light; we particularly enjoyed the tomatoes) and the Polenta Grigliata (the mushrooms and the sauce were delicious; we’re not too keen on polenta). For the entrees, we ordered the Bucatini all’Amatriciana, which I feel was a mistake on my part. The Bucatini was cooked al dente but I feel the sauce was too sour and the dish unremarkable. The Salmone alla Griglia, however, was divine — perfectly cooked and seasoned on a bed of roasted vegetables. My date cleared his plate in minutes. For dessert, we ordered the Tiramisu (quite good; strong espresso flavour) and the Torta Di Ricotta (kinda lumpy and bland). In hindsight, I think we should have ordered the chocolate tart instead.
For $ 25, this meal was well priced. I’d give the food 3.5÷5 (some dishes were a solid 5, but the pasta was disappointing for an Italian restaurant). The ambiance made up for some lost points and the service was overall A-​okay.

Anything over 2 stars is generous for this place. The only thing they have going is their location. I ordered pasta, the one thing you’d think a restaurant with the name «Bar Italia» could get right, it was cold and bland. The service from each employee there was pathetic. The management reflects the food, horrible. If you have self respect you won’t give this restaurant your business.

A solid choice if you are in the area. It’s a large restaurant that can definitely hold a big group. There is also a decent size patio in front.
Was here for lunch and our server was so nice and friendly. The lunch menu is kinda disappointing in terms of selections — a few apps, and then lots of salads and sandwiches. There is only a pasta of the day and no pizzas. The wine/​beer list is pretty decent.
I had the grilled shrimp salad with some lemon vinaigrette. Overall a good dish, but nothing to make my taste buds explode. We also shared a mushroom and goat cheese dish — it would have been better if they had put some oil on the bread before putting the mushrooms on… something so the toast wasn’t so dry.
If you want t come here just for drinks, there’s a a bar at the front where you can just chill and dream of eating pizzas… elsewhere!

We often go here but I have to say, last nights service was horrible. The restaurant was virtually empty — the server forgot to order two appetizers and one of our mains — I actually told him he was screwing up — then they started to trip over each other — but the experience was spoiled. Food was good, but not good enough to return there. They need to turn up their game and get better staff.

I’ve never been more disappointed or upset by a restaurant, ever. I usually try to find some kind of redeeming quality — this place doesn’t have one. I don’t even want to spend the 5 minutes to give a play by play for this review, that’s how annoyed I am. To keep it simple: horrible service, sub-​standard food, rude management, and expensive.
If you have a group, go somewhere else. If you want to go out on a Saturday night, choose another restaurant. If they seem like they’re busy, don’t go in. If there is a festival outside — run far away from here!
There is no excuse for making people wait 45 minutes for a glass of wine and then another hour for hard, cold chicken and soggy salad (that was just my dinner). The server had been working for about 12 hours, was grumpy and couldn’t care less about us. She also lied a number of times to our group. The manager was rude and was pissy with us when making simple requests like «can we have a pitcher of water…». After complaining about the service and food, what did we get? No refunds, no apologies, not even a thank you for dropping hundreds of dollars at their restaurant. Very disappointing. Will I be back? HA! Never. I hope you, dear reader of this review, that you won’t either. I couldn’t bear you wasting your hard earned cash.

Went here on a Monday night for a Paint Nite event. The restaurant look nice, but barely had any customer for dinner that night. I got the spaghetti bar Italia, it taste pretty good. Wasn’t too wow by it. Overall, very nice looking restaurant, service was okay. Price was decent for food. Atmosphere was good.

I used to like this restaurant, but after tonight’s experience I am not gonna get back there. It took one hour for them to bring our order, when they did, I had to return my pasta because of its taste. It was the first time I returned a food and the reason wad that it was bitter.
I ordered another food which got ready in 10 minutes, however when We got the bill my primary order was still on the bill probably because it was more expensive. Needless to say no compensation for us!

We went here for the Little Italy Festival to grab a few drinks. Mr. H had the chardonnay and I had the red wine sangria, both were around $ 11 which I thought was pretty expensive. The sangria was good though and we shared an appetizer, crostini gorgonzola. Unfortunately I had forgotten that I don’t like gorgonzola, so I didn’t enjoy it much. However, people next to me were eating pasta and it smelt and looked really good.
I may go back if I’m in the area again :)

The best way to describe this place is, overpriced. We were three people for dinner, we all had an appetizer, entrée, and split a bottle of wine. This cost us 177 $ + tip. Seriously? I understand it’s Toronto and prices can be a little more than elsewhere, but I felt like I got robbed.
After being seated at the table and given menus, our waitress and the owner (?) or maybe he was the maitre d’, asked if we were ready to order. When we said we weren’t, they literally hovered over our table, pens at the ready. Seriously? Give us some space and time to make a choice. It’s not like there was a line out the door and the restaurant was packed.
For the entrée, I had the Grilled Octopus Insalata. If by grilled octopus, they meant cold and rubbery, it was spot on. My wife had teh Calamari and it was well, it was calamari, we’ve had worse and we’ve had better. My friend had the bruschetta and well it’s hard to f***-up bruschetta
For the mains, I had the Pollo Parmigian, well it was essentially chicken with some cheese thrown on it and warmed up and thrown on an ice cold plate. This was in direct contrast to my wife’s plate, of spaghetti bolognose, which we have to assume was prepared by Chef Mike, as the plate was piping hot and the past warm and a bit gooey. Chef Mike, isn’t the chef of the restaurant, that is our pet name for anytime we suspect our meal was prepared in microwave. I can’t remember what my friend had, but, it couldn’t have been great, as I don’t recall him saying a word.
One last word about the wait staff. When serving water, go to the side of the table the person you are going to pour for is on. Do not lean across the table and pour. (A), it is rude, (B), I don’t need someone’s arm in my face, and © it’s kind of gross to have your armpit hovering over my plate.
If you are starving and have to eat somewhere, I suggest going across to the Metro grocery store and picking up a sandwich.

From the moment we checked in I knew it was going to be one of those nights. It took about 10 minutes till someone greeted us. I finally had to say we have a reservation where I was told it will be a few minutes they are setting the table. The restaurant want busy at the time so I don’t know why the table wasn’t even set.
Sat down we were brought menus and then for the next 20 min we waited till someone took our drink order. No water was brought to the table nothing. After ordering our drinks it took almost 15 min for our wine and beer to arrive. At that point we figured we better order or weight never see the waitress again.
We all ordered food came a significant amount of time later it was ok. The problem was the service nobody came to see how the food was if we needed anything. I definitely would never come back bc of the service you can get the food they serve at nearly any Italian restaurant nothing made them special or stand out.

Food was great… when it finally game. Server kept on bumping into me when she was putting items down on the table, multiple times knocking into me, bumping water jugs and plates past my shoulders. Automatically added gratuity to the table, without informing anyone at the beginning of the meal. When confronted, was rude about it. Also careless about splitting up the bill, which we asked her to do initially and was agreed upon.
Food was very decent.

Have been going here for many years. Have taken people from out of town here on many occasions and we generally have enjoyed it. Its nothing amazing, but its always decent. Last time we went will probably be my last. Bar Italia must have some managerial problems as the staff are totally incompetent. Our server seemed like she just arrived from Sudbury and was reading from a script. Had no clue how to interact, had no idea about the menu. Its like all the staff were sick and she is the alternate that gets called up a couple times a year to fill in. Had to ask over and over for simple things. When you are looking at your date, in a «What the hell was that» manner, more than once in an evening, you know somethings wrong. Get it together Bar Italia or you will be out of business soon.

I go here every year as my Valentine’s Day tradition. The food was stellar.
The server was awful. Un bussed tables, inattentive, I was constantly trying to get her attention for another drink.
Great Prix fixe menu with seasonal foods. Desert portion could have been a bit larger.

Wonderful Staff!!! Amazing Food!!!
First time trying Bar Italia and definitely going back.
3 of us went for Winterlicious Lunch. Tried the Appetizer, Crostini Funghi — bread was nice and warm and the mushrooms and goat cheese went well together on top of it. A bit more goat cheese would have made it PERFECT but it was a nice appetizer; For main course, Panino Di Polpette Di Carne — Home made veal sandwich on a sourdough bread (MORE BREAD — oye vey I thought to myself after I ordered). BUT, nice size portion, not too big. Bread was warm fresh and tasty and the home made veal meatballs were delicious. A bit more sauce would have been perfect but it was delicious nevertheless. I asked for hot sauce and they gave me their home made hot oil which was wonderful., Torta Di Cioccoloata — ONE OF THE BEST DESSERTS IN THIS WORLD! WOW!!! by the time the girls tried to reach for another piece, I ate it all! Mind you, it was fairly small but melted in your mouth and I couldn’t help but devour it!
Great experience, beautiful place, waitress was wonderful and the food was exceptionally delicious ! The spaghetti and linguine dishes that the girls had were also really good and the salad has one of the best dressings I ever had.
ENJOY!

Bar Italia is one of those Little Italy staples I’ll happily go to with you if it’s your jam, but I will never suggest it as an option.
They do mussels, pastas, paninis and salads but no pizzas. They have a cute shaded patio right on college and drink specials. These things are mostly wins, save the lack of pizza. Pizza is my fave food group, so their utter disrespect of pies really gets my goat.
Their sangria is too pricy for what it is: about half of a bottle of wine with a splash of brandy, cheap fruit and some soda for $ 39? Get a grip. No seriously. Get a grip on the rest of that bottle of wine and pour it in!

Had a nice light lunch at Bar Italia while at Taste of Little Italy. Loved the Insalata di Bresola (shaved dry beef on a rocket/​endive salad with shaved parmasan, avocado and lemon dressing). The bruschetta was slightly dry and should have had been drizzled with more olive oil. I’ve also never had olives in bruschetta before… Odd.
The patio was pretty nice, but the service was super slow. We asked for our bill a few times before someone even remembered. And you think on a busy day they’d be a little more aware of customer satisfaction.
Overall, an okay experience but the service turned me off.

Came here for a Wednesday lunch at noon on a cool, sunny spring day. Just walked a block or two along College and it was one of the first place we found that was actually open and looked like it would have an acceptable menu.
Greeted immediately upon entrance. Long and narrow inside. Booths and tables. Modern, chic, simple with some interesting designs but nothing that really stands out or is memorable. Several casual tables outside, some in the shade some in the sun.
Friendly enough service. Prompt. No complaints.
Good chicken fettucini lunch portion with sundried tomato with parsley & basil ($ 11.95). Big enough without being too filling. Available without the meat for a dollar less if I remember correctly. If we hadn’t been in a little bit of a rush to get back to work, I would’ve been tempted to try a salad or dessert. And of course wine.
But those will have to wait for another day when yes, I would go back. Would like to try for dinner in the summer on a Friday perhaps when there’s a crowd, to get a true feeling of the atmosphere.

Service was fast, food was yummy though nothing spectacular. I was going to get the gnocchi, but then changed my mind at the last second because my bf ordered it and I wanted to try a different dish than him. I was recommended the special by the waitress. Now this was my fault, I didn’t ask exactly what it was and didn’t quite understand what she said. She described it as delicate and delicious.
Boy was I shocked when a huge plate of meat arrived in front of me! Yes, it WAS delicious, but definitely not what I was looking. Again, I am also to blame for not asking more questions but I was also a bit perplexed why she would recommend something that is so different than my initial choice.
Regardless, it was still a nice resto, the gnocchi WAS delicious, and the service was good. I will likely come back and try another one of their dishes next time I’m in the area!

Came here after work on a Friday evening with work friends — reservation for 11 people. The restaurant is very cool and trendy looking. We were seated in a nice spot.
I ordered a stiff drink while we waited for the rest of our friends to arrive. Menu looked good… everything was shaping up.
I ordered the following app:
Prosciutto e Fico Crostini — Shaved Parma prosciutto, herbed ricotta, arugula topped with shaved parmigiano reggiano and fresh fig.
OH SNAP! It was so delicious. and this app bumped my rating up by one star. I had never had fresh fig before… this was outstanding. The perfect blend of tastes and textures. I’m going to try to make this at home.
I ordered another drink since we were in for the long haul. The restaurant was starting to get a bit hot and uncomfortable. Luckily, someone came around with fresh cold water frequently. She even made a joke that she would be careful not to put water into our whiskey glass. So, she filled up my water glass… and then proceeded to fill up my other glass… WTF! So I said,.“Uh, you just filled up my whiskey glass.” I’ll be honest, I don’t think there was anything much left in there… but c’mon. Okay… simple mistake.
My party had started noticing at this point that while the wait staff are nice, we constantly have the wave them down for ordering more drinks, food etc.
My main course was the:
Fettuccine Bolognese — Fresh egg noodle pasta, home style meat ragu and shaved parmigiano reggiano.
Meh… pasta was a little undercooked and the sauce was meh.
My friends and I wanted to go by this time as the service was not as attentive as we thought they should be.
Plus. they automatically add on 18% tip. I forget whether this was because it was a large group, but we would of expected some better service if this tip was being added on. And if they already know they are getting 18% on everything anyways, why aren’t they bringing us drink after drink after drink.
So… delicious, outstanding appetizer… everything else… meh, I’ll try somewhere else.