Roberto’s Ristorante Italiano

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Great food. Great staff. Owned and operated by family. The owners wife Marisa is extremely friendly and a fun loving server. Can’t understand some comments about her attitude.
Food has been consistent for over the 7years that i have been going there.
Please don’t review this business if you received a freebie for writing this review, or if you’re connected in any way to the owner or employees.

I strongly recommend this establishment!
I recently had a fantastic dinning experience at Robertos. Staff were very friendly and service was quick. I took advantage of the extensive menu and found the food to be very authentic and flavourful.
You won’t regret your decion if you choose to eat here and I look forward to going back again very soon

i used to like Roberto’s, honestly. It was a friendly, casual dining spot my husband and I enjoyed on a regular basis. But I don’t think we will be back, as their service is so spotty and has really gone downhill.
The waitress we had at our meal tonight was, frankly, unwelcoming, with a «whatever» attitude. Did not smile once. Within seconds of seating us she was urging us to order… Give us a few frigging moments to read the menu, lady! We were rushed through our first course and had to fight to finish it, otherwise she would have whisked plates with food on them from us. Our mains arrived while we were still eating our appetizers and when we mildy remonstrated with the server, were told that the restaurant was busy so it was take ‘em or leave them… Great choice. She then zoomed by for a food check and with food in our mouths, didn’t wait for an answer but darted away. Why bother even asking, then?
And pet peeve of mine: please, Toronto servers, do not address a group of ladies of a certain age as «guys». I HATE this. I am not a guy. When and if you start addressing a group of men as «gals» (i.e., when hell freezes over), I may change my mind. Until then, I will express my non-​appreciation of this habit come tip time.

I came into Roberto’s for the first time in June 2015 as a party of 2. The restaurant is quite small, but we were able to be seated right away. We both had an idea in mind of what food we wanted, but unfortunately since there is only one menu handwritten on a chalk board and moved from table to table, we had to wait at least 15 – 20 minutes for our turn with it just to get an idea of what was being served that night.
Once we ordered, the food came out pretty quick, and we both liked our meals. The food is was pretty good and I would probably go back again if it wasn’t for the way the waitress treated us at the end of the meal:
The waitress was rude and judgmental when we asked for change back for our cash to pay our bill — expecting us to round up to the nearest multiple of $ 20, which would result in us leaving a 25% tip. She brought our money over to the owner, and she also made a face about us asking for change, as if we were trying to rip them off. We intended to tip the standard 15%, since the service was by no means exceptional, so it’s not like we were just trying to stiff the waitress by not leaving any tip at all. Once we sorted out our tip with our change, the waitress stopped what she was doing and made sure to immediately check how much we tipped before we left the restaurant. I didn’t like the hostility directed towards us for not tipping 25% for average service, especially since the two of us are university students and by no means rolling in cash. This isn’t a fancy restaurant and people shouldn’t be made to feel bad about tipping the standard 15%.

As a customer of Roberto’s for over 30 years I continue to go back for the food. The tomato sauce that is used in many of their dishes is excellent. But I think this was the last time due to the poor attitude of the owner/chef’s wife. You need to be a favourite diner if you want to be offered the non menu specials. The new mushroom appetizer was only offered to special customers. There certainly are other good Italian restaurants that I am sure will appreciate a loyal customer.

I have been there twice and have mixed feeling about the place:
Positive:
–friendly, casual, romantic, pleasant atmosphere and staff
–The BEST mussels in tomato soup I have tasted. Goes well with their garlic bread sticks. One of my favs.
–Great salads.
–Good wine selection.
Negative:
–I find their main dishes to be a little bland and/​or overwhelming in one flavour. For example, their veal was tender but tasteless and overwhelmed by the sauce. The same goes for their stuffed pasta shell (forget the name) there was too much cheese.
–I don’t know how they price their meals, but I end up emptying my wallet each time: very expensive.

Wanted to try a new place and stumbled across this after shopping nearby on Yonge St. Didn’t read any reviews first and did the old fashioned peek in the window and went in good faith.
Menu is written on a blackboard propped on the floor that they have to move everytime someone wants to see it. This should be placed on the wall instead of all those paintings. Saw 2 people that just came in wanting to see menu and one had to wait while the other end table was looking. Very inefficient and annoying.
Ordered the Caprese salad (exotic greens, roasted red peppers, goat cheese) and it was decent portion and enough to split into 2 small plates.
Cheesy garlic bread sticks in the bread basket was a surprise and the highlight, similar to the cheesy bread sticks at the mainstream pizza place except much better. delicious and nicely done.
Not all their pasta is home made which is disappointing.
Ended up ordering the Veal Parmesan (breaded veal, thin ham layer and lots of mozzarella on top) and Veal Limone (thin veal slices that were a to dry overcooked, except the lemon sauce was nice and not to runny like others).
Didn’t try dessert or coffee as there were dedicated coffee house in the area, so that was it for us.
As others mentioned, place is small and cosy. Tables are too close to each other but the place is to small not to. We could literally eat off the plates of our neighbors.
Clientele is the older crowd and not what you would call hip or trendy, but it works for them. Saw a lot of regular customers hamming it up with the owners, which is always a good sign.
If you have a big party larger than 4 people you better make reservation as the place holds only approx 30 – 40 diners at most, packed tightly. Mainly 2 and 4 seaters.
Overall not a bad place and not the best. Probably would not return as there are many other places to try, as prices are not cheap, but look where you are.
Worth a try for the cosy environment, good food, family feel.

This was very impressive. What sparked me most was when I asked for a menu — they gave me a huge sign with the daily menu. It was unexpected and impressive. When we sat down, we were served with amazing garlic bread. We ordered calamari for appetizers and it was very good — it was done perfectly. The tomato sauce that came with it was delicious — we used it for some of our garlic bread as well. The 3 of us ordered a different pasta. I ordered the Rigatoni Pollo, and my friends ordered the Tortellini Crema and Ravioli Caprese. They were all made excellent and good sauce. If you like cream sauce pasta — the Tortellini Crema is perfect and not too heavy sauce. They were all made with fresh pasta which was awesome. The dessert menu sound good as well but we were quite full from the pastas. The environment seems very family-​like which is perfect as it was my birthday and I wanted a simple gathering. This is perfect for family and good service as well.

This restaurant has a bit of a tight-​knit community vibe — lots of regular customers with a long history of going there. I can see how a newcomer could feel a bit «on the outside» when going here… But as a member of a family who has been going here forever, I love it. Their salad dressing is amazing, breadsticks are delicious, pasta and veal dishes are tasty, and their lemon mousse cheesecake just melts in your mouth. Also, their calamari is excellent and their prices are very reasonable. I think it’s worth a try if you’re in the area — the staff are very nice once you get to know them.

The service is great, the entrees are very good, but it’s the appetizers that I love most: I always look forward to the house salad, breadsticks, and amazing calamari. Mmm…

Robertos has a vibe of a cafeteria with some latin music on. We both like to sit on one side of the table, as we settled onto the bench seat together, one of the waitresses gave us a stink eye about it and the promptly came over and asked if were going to be eating on the same side.
Another waitress started talking loudly to the table next to us about proper tipping etiquette according to the new etiquette book– how people should calculate the tip based on the cost including the tax (20% of the final cost). Yet she neglected to adhere to waitressing etiquette by talking about tipping.
The food was mediocre. «I didn’t throw up» is a good way to describe it. It was their special pizza night so we expected better.
We should’ve just gone to Mamma’s Pizza and saved our money.
Final remarks: if you like to sit on the same side of the table, you won’t be welcome here.