Passed by this restaurant many times & finally got to try this place for a weekday lunch. Was there from 12:30pm to 2:30pm. As I had made an online reservation, my guest & I were offered a window seat. The restaurant is quite big, however the tables in the area where we sat were set-up quite close to each other. Luckily Ricarda's wasn't very busy that day, otherwise it may have felt somewhat cramped up. Our waiter & the restaurant manager were both very friendly. We ordered the Toulon Flatbread (spicy duck sausage, sliced potato, red onion, egg, rosemary, stracciatella, $14) & Rigatoni (lamb ragout, grilled black kale and broccoli, rapini spread, aged parmesan, $18). Presentations looked as good as their tastes. Love the fried eggs on the flatbread, and the spicy kick was perfect. The rigatoni was cooked al dente and was very flavourful. The restaurant also has a casual take-out outlet with freshly prepared sandwiches & baked goods. Look forward to my next visit to Ricarda's! read more

Ricarda's - Rigatoni - lamb ragout, grilled black kale and broccoli, rapini spread, aged parmesan; $18 - Mediterranean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

See all

In short: Server got wrong order and charged me for the wrong order (more expensive). Server did offer me dessert but didn't have time for it. I went to Ricarda's on a Tuesday noon (October 15), booked a table for 2 at 12:30pm. I got seated right away, in a bit squeezed table with full tables on all 3 sides of us (the other side is the wall, we didn't have window table) when there were a lot of other empty tables around. I'm ok with that. The server came around, I ordered Pan-seared Scallops and my coworker ordered Lamb Burger. It took awhile for the food to come out, my coworker got his lamb burger, but I got halibut & octopus - wrong order there. The server apologized, I only have 1 hour lunch and in a rush, so I accept the halibut & octopus without asking to switch to my scallop order. I said I ordered the last item in the Lunch menu, the server said halibut was the last item in the main menu, so she got it wrong. The food was good, my coworker seemed to like his burger, my halibut and octopus were also decent. I asked for the bill and the server asked if we wanted dessert as her treat, but we were in a rush for meeting at 1:30pm so we declined. I got the bill and got charged for the halibut, which was $5 more than the scallops I supposed to get. As the wrong order was the server's mistake, I think I should get charged for the price of the scallops, not the halibut. If only I had more time for the restaurant to make me the right order (and charge me for it, obviously), or have more time for the dessert, things could have been better. However, I did not expect to plan time for wrong order or dessert. The 3 stars are for the interior design and the quality of food. If you're a food reviewer, choose a table near window and you'll have pretty photos for sure. Not sure about great services though. read more

Really wanted to like this place but it didn't do it for us. The meatballs tasted like they had been frozen before, the flatbread we ordered was supposed to have walnuts and Brussels sprouts on it but neither were, and the salad we ordered was lacking in flavour. Maybe il come back for breakfast or lunch to try it, but dinner wasn't great unfortunately. read more

Ricarda's - Mediterranean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I had their wild mushroom risotto and mushroom pizza. both really good. They have neat menu and loved their pastry side. Looked fresh too!

This is easily my favourite resteraunt, period. The food is absoloutley fantastic, and quite honestly a meal you will never forget. Everything from the menu is simply Devine and the environment is business casual. I simply can't go a single visit to Toronto and not stop in at this place. Highly recommended. read more

See all

Gorgeous interior. Service was great! Food was even better. I ordered the cinnamon French toast and it was absolutely delicious. My hubby ordered the smoked salmon crepe. A good combo of sweet and savoury. We also ordered a dresset- it was alright- not my fave type of dessert, but pretty to look at. You must try their freshly squeezed juices/drinks. We had watermelon/blueberry and raspberry lemonade. read more

See all

I'd been looking forward to trying this place since it opened this summer-- and finally got the chance to try it this past Sunday. Overall, I was very happy with my experience! Being a brunch food fanatic, I decided to check out their new Jazz Bruch offering. From French toast, to beautiful seafood and charcuterie selections, you will definitely leave feeling satisfied. I also fell in love with the vast cocktail selection-- I personally tried the peach Bellini and the Pineapple Espresso Martini. Both clearly included top-of-the-line fresh ingredients, and were beautifully balanced. I sipped my drinks and indulged to the sounds of the seriously talented Jazz band. Talk about a great way to finish off the weekend. I will definitely be back! read more

After walking for hours around the city we settled into this lovely restaurant for dinner. No, we didn't have a reservation, but fortunately got a table instantly. And it was a pretty busy Saturday night. I guess they recognized our famousness ;) But seriously, the service was impeccable. The food was virtually perfectly prepared, and the drinks were made just right, with a nice wine list was well. I also would highly recommend the Brioche bread pudding for dessert, amazing. We got lucky finding this place after looking at many menus and other restaurants along the way. read more

Very clean and modern environment. I came here for lunch and ordered the soup of the day, the lobster linguine, and the creme brulee. The food was presented very nicely and was quite good, but it took a long time for the food to arrive. read more

Ricarda's - Mediterranean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Very good restaurant.....excellent ambiance ( open concept and you can see the kitchen at work) and all of our food orders were delicious. The service on a Saturday night was wonderful....we had a friendly and knowledgeable waiter. Our octopus appetizer was tasty and prepared to perfection. The bouillibaise main was superb and the broth was perfect. Our dinner companions share the rack of lamb and it looked great.....and they said it was perfectly done. So why just 4 stars......the place is great but pricey.....and the portions could be a little bigger. If you have a larger appetite... Expect to pay $100 per couple without drinks. Overall......I'd go back again for special occasions. Apparently, they do a great brunch... Which we will need to try. read more

We had a great time today at their Jazzy Brunch! We enjoyed the food, atmosphere and service. I highly recommend this place and don't understand how I haven't discovered this gem earlier. One downside - the first people of our party arrived 5 minutes before Ricarda's opened and weren't allowed in. read more

What a gorgeous space. I came here for dinner on a Friday night for a date. There was a live pianist and jazz singer, who did an amazing job. I love the ambience of the space. High ceilings, open kitchen, lots of seatings. Definitely a place I would like to come back to. Our server was super friendly and made some great recommendations. We started off with a octopus salad which we a greater starter piece. It was light with the right amount of acidity and flavour. The octopus was sliced very thinly so it very easy fish to share. I ordered the duck for my main. It's cooked to your liking. I had mine medium and it was perfect for me. My date ordered a lamb shank... it is definitely a big meal. We ordered a bottle suggested by the sommelier, who I have to say did a fantastic job! He picked a wine that was within our price range that was suiting for the dishes we ordered. It was delicious! read more

Just ok. A restaurant with nice service but the food didn't blow us away. The flatbreads were pretty good but I had the Turkey dish for the main and didn't finish it - it was fairly bland. read more

A ridiculously yummy find. While seemingly a busy fancy dinner spot, we had the place to ourselves on a Friday morning and enjoyed watching the staff prepare for the rest of the day! The food was outstanding and service extremely personal. Reasonably priced with good vibes, we can't wait to come back for dinner. Can't ask for anything better!! Torontos best kept secret breakfast spot. read more

Ricarda's - Mediterranean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Incredibly friendly staff. Incredible design. Incredible kitchen. Quietly fantastic. read more

Came here for jazz brunch. The restaurant was busy and it was fully booked. The food tasted great but not many selections, at least less than many other brunch buffet. I like the pan seared foie gras and the freshly made egg benny. The sweets were the best part! The live jazz band was a great addition to the brunch experience. read more

See all

Ricarda's is a classy establishment for a girl's night out, a dressy date or a business meeting. (I think they film Suits here sometimes?) The decor is tastefully curated, in a non-pretentious way. Even the lobby is upscale. They served us bread with a red pepper hummus which I'm glad I didn't fill up on, because I had the lobster roll (3) with skinny fries and loved every bite. My table also ordered off the tapas menu to sample the meatballs and caprese salad, which was a whole lot of hype for not very much food. The service was fantastic and our waitress was one of the most attentive people I've ever met. We totally overstayed our welcome but she was gracious and let us chat long after we had finished our meals. For that, I might be back to try their bakery. read more

I'm sad to have to write this review. There was obviously a lot of thought, care and energy put into creating this restaurant. The space is beautiful - probably one of the most amazing restaurants I've ever seen, in terms of design and decor. That's probably the best thing about this place, unfortunately. I don't know that I quite understand the concept. There is a lot of 'make your own' type of menu items, and I like the idea, but it almost feels like the menu is so expansive, you lose sight of what the house specialties are. Obviously, they do offer their own curated flatbreads and pastas, etc., but they didn't really have significant appeal. Some of the combos were just weird. I visited with two of my friends and we were able to sample quite a few dishes. - Halloumi with fig and olives - it was only OK. I recently reviewed a restaurants where I had eaten the most incredible halloumi salad, and that perhaps ruined this one for me (b/c Ricarda's was not nearly as impressive). - Radicchio + cabbage salad - very tasty. Was missing texture (needed something crunchy). At the end of the day, it's a relatively simple salad though. - Octopus - I didn't eat this but my companions did. The plate was beautiful, but the flavour was just OK. - Chicken Shish with polenta and zucchini spaghetti. Again, another beautiful plate but the flavour was just OK. This had so much potential but it fell flat. - Spinach pasta with duck and a sauce of garlic, anchovy, olive. The pasta was overcooked and the duck was lacking in flavour. - Corn pasta with a red sauce w/ mushroom and artichoke. The pasta was good, firm. The sauce was way too acidic/sour. I was surprised by this, b/c balancing a red sauce is pretty basic. - Pistachio cake....which tasted like lemon and nothing like pistachio. I love lemon, so that's OK. The dessert was fine. Unmemorable. One note about everything we ordered: PRETTY. So pretty. Everything lacked flavour, which I know I keep saying, but that was the overall theme here. It was exciting to select from the many options on the menu and the plates were wow in appearance, but the food is nothing special. The service was friendly and welcoming. There was one weird moment: At one point, in the middle of eating out appetizers, a runner came over and asked if we wanted our mains now or in a few minutes. Terrible. This should not happen. The place was not busy -- should be able to time things better. This is prob why the pasta was overcooked (it had likely been sitting). I wouldn't go back here unless for drinks, simply to enjoy the beautiful space. read more

While rushing back to the office from a big time Hollywood event today I stopped int at Ricarda's to grab a sandoozle. **Full Disclosure: I stopped in to the cafe portion of Ricarda's. I did not sit down and have a full meal though I will update if I go back** The menu is small and to tell you the truth I remember none of it other than what I got. What I got was the "Roasted Chicken Sandwich". However, I don't know why they called it a roasted chicken sandwich when they should have called it a chicken salad sandwich because A) That's what it is and B) Everyone loves chicken salad, it's the best salad. So back to my sandy. The sandwich comes on a delicious, possible freshly baked in house, crusty bun. A crusty bun which absolutely tore apart a vicious cut on the inside of my lip. I got said cut when I bit my lip on two separate occasions during a different, possibly tastier, meal earlier this week. This absolutely ruined my experience and is the only thing I can remember about the sandwich (with the exception of all I wrote above). Is it fair that I based this entire review off my inability to eat? No. But you know what? I don't think it's particularly fair that as a grown ass man I was never taught how to chew properly. Tit for Tat Ricarda's! read more

They've done everything right here. Such a beautiful ambiance and perfect for a midday work lunch or classy dinner. Nothing's too uptight but the food and service is held to an impressive standard. I was brought the wrong dish, a seafood pasta instead of saffron shrimp risotto, and they brought the correct dish in only a few minutes with much apology. I would have enjoyed either! I'd recommend Ricarda's to anyone looking for spot on Italian/Mediterranean dishes in a classy modern space. read more

Ricarda's - Saffron shrimp risotto at lunch. Absolutely spectacular - Mediterranean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Very disappointed in the service! Attended the Sunday brunch today with high hopes. Once seated it took a long time for the server to acknowledge us and take our drink order. We ordered 2 coffees and a ginger ale and went to get our food. We were seated at a table right under the sun. It was so hot and uncomfortable with the sun shooting in our eyes; we couldn't even turn around. I sweating so much and was really not enjoying myself. I asked the server if we could be seated somewhere else; she replied no and mentioned that customers at a nearby table were also in the sun and going through the same thing. How does that help my situation? Given the hefty price of almost $60 per person, I think accommodations could have been made. We came back with our food and our drinks were still not there. A great deal of time went by. Finally, I motioned to the server regarding our drinks and she said "Let me double check on that". She returned and said they were brought them to the wrong table. If she had checked in on us at least once during our meal she would have known. She didn't even check if we wanted refills until I asked for one. Overall, we felt like we had been ignored. I have received much better service at restaurants a third of the price. Won't be recommending Ricarda's. read more

Loved the desserts. I am diabetic and it wasn't too sweet. It was spectacular. And I even bought another to share at home. read more

Ricarda's - Mediterranean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I consider myself somewhat of a brunch aficionado, so I had to try Ricarda's. While the venue is beautiful, the food is sub par. My shakshuka was 3 fried eggs mashed together. That is NOT shakshuka. I was offered a small pastry (which i thought was complimentary) but was charged $5 for it. Overall disappointing experience. read more

We went to the Sunday Jazz brunch last weekend. You expect to pay more because of the Jazz. Food was nice but the Jazz band played the happy birthday song 4 times during the 1.5 hours we were there, plus took 2 breaks. The brunch overall experience was really not worth the cost which came to $170 for two people with tax and tip. I would go back on a normal day and pay a la carte as the food is good and the ambiance is very nice. read more

I came here for breakfast on a Saturday morning and was surprised how quiet it was. I guess we were a little early (~10:30am). I ordered the eggs benedict and it was SO delicious. I'm not much of a breakfast/brunch kind of gal but this place was really good! Served with fresh fruits.. it was the perfect portion. The décor inside is very instagram worthy. Open kitchen, marble countertops, modern décor.. love it! I will definitely be back if I am ever downtown! read more

After being seated around 12:05 for a $55 brunch buffet, our greeter returned to say, "we have a 1:30 reservation so we'd really appreciate it if you left by 1:15". That, and milk for our coffee being brought to the table in a to-go cup, made for a less than stellar experience. That said, our server was terrific and the coffee was great. Food ranged from above average to excellent. Previously, I'd been for dinner and had great food and laughably poor service. If their management changed, I dare say it would be worth a third try. But I'd have no way to know. read more

My girlfriend and I had eaten here before, and really enjoyed it. We made a reservation for 4 people tonight and had a phenomenal meal. Fois Gras is really great, like really great. Order one for yourself, and dont share. (Sorry vegans and animal rights activists, but for carnivores and Food Lovers, Ricarda's does it really well.) Service was good, the sommelier was a little pushy, but I guess thats his job. read more

Sunday jazz and brunch was excellent. Great variety that includes a cold seafood bar, made to order pasta and omelette stations, s'mores station, pastries, pancake and crepe section and the beef/pork/fish. Pancakes were made differently and were amazingly good. read more

I've walked by this place so many times and finally decided to go in to try their bakery. It was late in the evening when I went, but luckily they have a 50% off selected baked goods if you go in the evening!! They bake their breads and select pasties fresh daily with no preservatives so they try to get rid of everything at the end of the day. My first time, I got a danish, and my second time I got a chocolate raspberry truffle cake. Both were eaten the day they were purchased and they definitely satisfied my evening sweet tooth. Well worth the 50% off price! They also have some unique breads included in this promotion -- potato bread, cinnamon bread, apricot bread, to name a few. They don't slice the bread there in order to keep the bread as fresh as possible after purchase. My friend got the cinnamon loaf and it was just okay. I would still come back to try some other breads and other baked goods! read more

Thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Ricarda's. The food was great - I had the smoked salmon quail egg's Benedict with a side salad. The mimosa special for $5 on Saturday was a nice touch with multiple flavours so you can enjoy many without getting bored of the plain orange juice. The service was a little slow, but brunch is busy so as expected. read more

Excellent from all sides. Great service, wonderful atmosphere and food without fault. read more

Ricarda's - Mediterranean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I loved this place. I had the pork belly and octopus carbonara. It was one of the best pasta dishes I've had in a long time. Pasta was fresh made in house and cooked perfectly. Wife loved her sumac chicken salad. Ambiance was nice. Service was friendly and helpful. Definitely recommend. read more

Fabulous light breakfast with salmon, avocado, eggs and salad. The service is also amazing.

Amazing decor and ambience, and pretty good customer service. Tried out with 3 girlfriends and was happy to see that they were not too busy for a Friday night! We ordered mains and dessert to follow. I got the black and yellow fettuccini and it was good but it felt a bit under-seasoned so I asked for extra black pepper. For dessert we got the chocolate pavlova and that was literally a piece of art! So pretty - it is almost hard to want to eat it! But it was yummy! Next time I'm getting the tiramisu! Place is a bit pricey, but good if you're dining for a special occasion or as a nice little treat for yourself once in a while! read more

I ordered Cornish hen which comes with huge portion and tastes great. It was juicy, tender and flavourful. The cocktail (the one I had is called can't go wrong), flatbread and mushroom risotto were also pretty good. The menu seems to have a lot of seafood options and I would def try those in the menu next time. The restaurant is spacious with open kitchen. Good place for conversations. read more

I never write reviews but as a matter of principle, I felt I needed to write this one. I work across the road from Ricarda's and I was excited to see that they had a "build your own salad" option on their menu. I went in today to order a salad to go. At the last minute, I decided to add chicken to my salad for an extra $5.95 which I thought was a little steep but proceeded with because I was quite hungry. When my salad came out I was shocked to see three TINY, thin slices of chicken on it. I was blown away and said to the waitress..."this is an awfully small portion of chicken for $6" and she just nodded apologetically. She offered to ask the chef to add more and normally I wouldn't have said ok but the salad was almost $19 and I was pretty appalled. I saw her walk over to the chef and say something to him, she then grimaced as he said something back to her before storming off with my bowl. She came back a minute later and said "I hope this is OK", I looked down to see he'd added HALF of one more tiny slice of chicken. I shook my head, took the salad and walked out. I get it Ricarda's, you're fancy and appeal to a certain demographic, but that's no excuse to blatantly rip people off. There are many options in the area, especially when it comes to salad. I'll be spreading the word. read more

Went to Ricarda's for romantic dinner with my wife. We started with a couple of tapas. (Mussels & Mezzo platter) both were excellent. For our main we got the whore rack of Ontario lamb, cook medium, with the asparagus and rosemary potatoes as sides. The lamb was perfectly cooked, as were both sides. The lamb melted in your mouth! For dessert my wife had the Milk Chocolate Pravola and I had the Beet Goat Cheesecake. Both desserts were incredible. Service was very attentive the whole evening. Overall we loved our dinner and will definitely return again! read more

Me and 20 of my coworkers went to Ricarda's for lunch and we made reservations and selected all meals one day in advance and yet it took one hour after we had arrived until the meals were served. I had the flat bread called "Milano" (mushrroms and some vegetables) which is basically a slightly oval shaped pizza and I was honestly not impressed. I personally think a decent frozen pizza from Loblaws could easily compete with the pizza/flat bread they served at Ricarda's and the pizza at loblaws would have been roughly 10$ cheaper. I couldn't really taste much flavour even though the waitress added some pepper afterwards. It had nothing memorable. One of my coworkers had visitted this place before and had beef carpaccio. She said it tasted like old socks and she didn't understand how a chef could screw up this kind of dish. When we went for lunch she had tomato sauce and said it tasted like canned tomato sauce. There was no garnish no nothing and that for $11 without tax. With tax I paid almost $20 for my pizza thing and could have had a much more delicious and bigger pizza for less $ at one of my favourite pizza places (not a chain). The environment at Ricarda's was very noisy as the place was very busy but we had to yell at each other to have a conversation but I realized that this is fairly common in Toronto. It was my first and last time there. At this price range there are better places in downtown. Not impressed. read more

We were a bunch of co-workers going there for lunch( 20 people), and reserved the place a week ago and ordered our food one day before ( because we were at lunch break and we were in rush). They did not prepare our food on time, and we stayed there for 1 hour for the food, which made few of us not having lunch and taking that to the office. One of the waitress,an Asian girl, was so rude and mean about the delay. we ended up speaking with the manager about all these stuffs. he and the rest of the people working there were really nice people. they sent us the apology email and gave us free desert (cookies). in general, the restaurant is a nice, luxury place and the food is good. read more

Located in the new landmark, QRC West building, Ricarda's is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Always friendly and efficient service, the capps are good and the bread and pastries are a nice way to round out your visit in the high tops by the cafe or in the open building atrium while taking in the stunning architecture of Sweeney, Sterling, Finlayson & Co., reminiscent of Santiago Calatrava's ground breaking work at BCE Place. Full sit-down meals are good as well and decently priced. I prefer the lighter dishes to their heavier offerings. read more