Hey Meatball

Sandwiches are pretty good. I’ve gotten better salads from pizza places though. My wedge salad featured a full, uncut head of lettuce. Seriously? Try a little harder, guys. I won’t be recommending this place anytime soon.

Pretty terrible food. It’s pretty much the equivalent of boiling your own pasta at home and putting canned tomato sauce on top.
Not only that but the spaghetti and meatballs was not even spaghetti. It was clearly linguini– a flat pasta.
Confused why this place gets such high ratings. Terrible.

Beet side was great. Side salad was fresh and crunchy. Meatballs lacked spice. Beef was the best of the three options. I suggest getting all beef and splitting the sides for an entire meal.

Great location with large tables for big groups, always a fan of the self serve free water.
I’ve tried the various sandwhiches and pasta and everythign is always fresh!

Stopped in here for lunch the other day. Definitely not bad at all.
Close to the Distillery District, this place is a quick grab and go joint. There aren’t many tables, and the ambiance is definitely not for a date, but it makes a good stop for a fast lunch. The décor is simple, mason jars, cafeteria style tables.
I ordered the Rodfather, it came with three large pork meatballs on a toasted bun with marinara sauce. The side salad is very tasty with a nice light vinegarette.
The price is a little steep (a popular subway chain is cheaper), but the meatballs are homemade and the salad is very fresh. Definitely worth it given the amount of food you get.
Special note: don’t take your coworkers here. It’s hard not to get sauce on your face since the portions are huge.

Hey Meatball is by far the best spaghetti and meatball place I’ve been to in a long time! I love that the meat they make their meatballs from comes from Rowe Farms and all their veggies are organic. Their marinara sauce is to die for. Another gem for Leslieville!!!

Nothing to write home about.
I had the pork meatball sandwich.
I don’t know, wasn’t all that good. I got a sandwich. The meatballs were slightly on the tough side, if you can believe that. Were somewhat bland and tasteless. The sauce was whatever, it’s just tomato. Too much bread, i threw the other half out. The salad was meh.
Overall, messy sandwich and not worth the hassle of maneuvering every bite of it. Food was just a mere OK.
If you’re going to eat a garbage sandwich, you may as well get Subway — the way you like it.

The stuff was very patient with me. I was trying to pay with PayPal and didn’t work for 5 minutes and only then I realized I need to swipe otherwise the system won’t find me. (I really love paying with PayPal it’s neat, hopefully they would sign more retails in the near future)
I went in for late lunch not feel anything heavy so I got meatball 3pc’ with tomato sauces and some Parmesan cheese. Also get some toasted garlic bread in the side. There are three options which are beef, chicken and pork. I went with beef meatballs. It was OMG dry its as if it was all lean beef and there are some herbs parsley and other seasonings. Okay my ideal meatball is juicy tender and flavorful. Dry and not seasoned well not fond of it, the tomato sauce taste nothing special I added quite a bit of grounded black pepper so it won’t taste so plain. It was ciabatta bread sliced toasted with garlic oil artisan bread I guess they source it out in a close by bakery. I tried very hard to finish my meal… sorry to say .
There are also spaghetti and sandwiches I think those might be good. Might give it another try some time. It’s definitely kids friendly most kids I know love spaghetti meatballs I think they like the idea of it sounds fun looks fun could always picture a kids with tomato sauce on his mouth funny looking one.

Love it! Prices are more than reasonable. The food is also very flavourful and the portion size is amazing! Awesome spot to pick up lunch.
Just annoying that they only accept cash.
Will definitely be back.

Hands down, the best meatball sandwich I’ve ever had. I really didn’t have huge expectations of a meatball sandwich. Who does? I had the Rodfather. Tender slightly spicy meatballs, red sauce, fresh shaved parm & pesto on a fresh bun; it was incredible! The side salad was a little over dressed but very nice and crunchy with lots of different, colourful veggies.

Just happened to blunder into this place while walking Queen St, and I figured ‘Yeah, i like restaurant names that casually insult me.’, so in I went.
I was greeted by a very friendly lady at the counter who sensed my bewilderment, and offered to take me through the menu.
I ended up settling on the Rodfather (the Hey Meatball specialty, apparently), a tasty sandwich of pork meatballs, tomato sauce, cheese and pesto.
Add to that a tasty homemade lemon lime soda, and I didn’t even care about the insulting name.
This was a dynamite meal with great flavour; seriously couldn’t have asked for better.
If I had to nitpick something: they left the door open on a sunny day in March, and as I ate my little toesies got cold. But, small price to pay for a great meal.

I’ve been coming here weekly for the past year. I usually grab the Rod-​Father Pork Meatball sandwich which is served on an ace bread like loaf. It is then toasted and treated with pesto and a coating of pasta sauce over the meatballs. Most of the time I choose to upgrade to their Caesar salad as it too is amazing and unique. Note– the Caesar salad is a $ 2 upgrade from the chopped salad which is also great.
Overall I really enjoy my visits to Hey Meatball. Staff are really friendly and you get a fairly healthy meal for not too much cash.

Small shop, great for take out or very casual eating in. 3 long tables that seat 8 each and a few seats at the window for people watching.
I came for impromptu dinner with my kids and it was great. Prepared quickly so great for a fast bite, pretty easy on the budget, very friendly staff, and food was good. We ate the spaghetti in marinara, rigatoni in bolognese and Caesar salad. Pastas were $ 12 and salad was $ 5.
Will come back again.

I tried Hey Meatball for the first time for lunch yesterday. Overall I was very impressed. My fiancé and I decided to get two meatball sandwiches and split them. We tried the Rodfather (pork meatballs) and the vegan meatballs because we both usually really appreciate a good veggie meatball. These veggie meatballs were lentil and sweet potato based (there were some other stuff too that I can’t remember).
Both sandwiches were fairly large in size and came with a side tossed salad. The pork meatballs were delicious, the sandwich was fantastic. The vegan meatball sandwich was also quite tasty but they definitely weren’t the best veggie meatballs I’ve had. I guess I prefer eggplant veggie meatballs but that may be a personal preference. I probably wouldn’t get these again but that’s more a testament to how good the regular meatballs were.
The extras: The salad was also good. It had a lot of pickled veggies on it which I found a bit overpowering but my fiancé really loved it.
By far my favourite thing was their hot sauce. Two different types both really good!
I really enjoyed Hey Meatball. It’s a bit too heavy to eat on a regular basis but it was super tasty and ill eat there again when I feel like a bit of a hefty Italian indulgence.

Here for burger week. Although the line was painstakingly slow. The food was well worth the wait. The burger/​sandwich was very tasty. Pesto and marinara mix was perfect and the bread was just right. A little on the greasy side but still good. Portions are not large. I probably could have eaten two. This burger puts California sandwich to shame. Albeit the prices are on the high side. Hipster type of crowd

One of the best burgers during burger week, spicy but not uncomfortably so, the pesto rich, and the patty juicy.
Unlike Hogtown Smoke where they laughed at us when informing the line of over 10 – 15 people that they don’t have any burgers (no apologies) this place was well stocked, and the cast of characters at the restaurant incredibly friendly. I will not hesitate to bring my friends here in the future.

Another great burger during burger week! (Courtesy of PayPal.)
Pork patty, tomato «gravy», mozzarella cheese, pesto, and spicy pickles. YUM!!!
Amazing staff.

After 3 different visits, I was FINALLY able to have a meal at the recently opened Hey Meatball in my ‘hood (Leslieville).
I was annoyed the first two times by the fact that they ONLY accept cash — no debit, credit or anything of that sort. Makes me wonder why they have that sweet iPad as a cash register in the front…
With those annoyances out of the way, this was the first time I’ve ordered spaghetti and meatballs, like ever. At $ 12 for a plate full of meatballs and spaghetti drizzled with olive oil I expected to be full, and full you will be upon finishing. It really did hit the spot. And this is coming from a dude with an insatiable appetite (for gainz, ya know?).
The meatballs were succulent and around the size of an egg, only more spherical of course. (duh).
If you’re ever in Leslieville and happen to have a hankering from some delicious spaghetti and meatballs, Hey Meatball is the place to be.
EDIT: They accept Credit card and Paypal now.

It was rainy. It was cold. Basically hot Meatball Sandwich kind of weather.
Glad they have opened up shop in Leslieville, because distance was the only thing that prevented me from visiting their Little Italy outlet.
As soon as I walked in, I was ensconced in the aroma of tomato sauce. Like are they pumping this stuff through the vents or something? Either way, it was heavenly, and definitely perked up my salivary glands.
Had to go with the owner’s namesake, the Rodfather. 3 Pork meatballs, marinara, and pesto all slathered and heaped onto a toasted Ciabatta bun. The glutton in me then ordered the Mac and Cheese, because the weather dictated it.
The sandwich was Nom-​y. The tomato sauce tasted like it had been simmering for hours. Super mellow with some acidity, and lively floral notes from the herbs (Basil and Oregano I think). I know a lot of reviewers eat this sandwich with a knife and fork, but I decided it was in my best interest to unhinge my jaw and go in for the kill. Totally worth it!
The Mac and Cheese was good, but not revolutionary. The sauce had a floury taste to it. Not enough cheese in the Béchamel to bring out the gooey cheese factor that one would hope for.
Oh, and special mention of the side salad. It had a tangy/​sweet dressing and lots of different veg tossed in. Loved it!
The only thing that kind of sucked was that the front door was open through our meal, which meant that our food got cold fast.
Other than that, I am sold. Can’t wait to return!

Hey Meatball! It’s-a me, Steve-​o.
I keep passing by this place over the past week and wondered what the heck? Then one day saw the door was open, and my stomach was growling. Naturally like anyone with a growling stomach and high sense of curiosity, I entered this den of the unknown. Turns out it was their second day of operation in the east end, and already they were attracting a steady stream of young lunchgoers.
Hey Meatball is a place I once heard of somewhere, but it must have slipped my mind about their popular west end eatery. Whatever; they’re here in my ‘hood and I am too lazy to march past Yonge, so I’ll let the food make the proper introduction, figure out the rest later.
There’s room for a few plenty to eat in at this chilled-​out diner-​style, cafeteria-​service restaurant, where you wait for your name to be called to pick up your order. Overhead chalkboard menu with limited (at the time) options had me agonizing over the interesting idea of mac and cheese with meatballs.
Instead I picked the rigatoni pasta (also $ 12). Great flavourful smattering of sauce, cherry tomatoes and spinach. And the meatballs? Hey! They’re quite big and tender and much like homemade good, as it should. It’s hard to believe – and it blows my mind to a tomato paste-​y mess – that this amazingly quality meal is fast food (SLOW fast food, really), so I’m conflicted about whether or not their good stuff is pricey (they do offer a kids portion). In reference to a Kitchen Nightmares episode, they ought to have someone stand outside screaming, «We have homemade meatballs!»… or maybe not.
The two guys manning the fort (one of whom is the owner/​chef Rodney Bowers at the time of my visit) are very friendly, informative, and full of rad attitude, that it makes this new welcomed addition to Leslieville-​land stand out just by their presence. I will be sure to try the famed Rodfather sandwich and homemade sodas the next time around.