Servers were friendly and nice, came to check on how our food was doing and water refills. However, they don't write down or repeat orders so first time they got my order wrong. Pizza (artichokes and mushroom) was ok, not great, very crisp and a bit more dry than I like. But did like the the bread and cake appetizer that we dipped in a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. read more

Tavolino - Pizza Quattro stiagoni - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Long story short, I will not be going back. The service was not great. The dad, who used to owner it once upon a Time was very nice and the woman (I'm guessing the owners wife) was nice too. Other than that service was mediocre. The food was not bad per say, but it was not good either. We had the fried zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and spinach, Ossobuco with mashed potatoes, Pan seared Halibut with risotto Cannoli Siciliani stuffed with ricotta pistachios and Nutella and to end it off an espresso. Like I said the food overall was not bad, but the risotto was raw in the middle, not al dente, RAW and the Cannoli hand no pistachios or Nutella anywhere to be found and the centers were empty. Not cool. Finally the espresso was dirty water. We had 2 apps 2 mains 1dessert 1 beer 2 bottles of water and a coffee. With tax and tip we spent damn near $200. I am more than willing to shell out for a great dining experience, but this was NOT a great dining experience. Sorry read more

See all

Solid Italian food with friendly attentive service. We had the carbonara and the linguini with sausage after the grilled calamari app. All very good. The carbonara had crab meat and an actual egg. And instead of bacon you got chunks of smoky pork belly. The special twists really elevated this dish beyond what you get at your typical Italian resto. Linguini was also good. Nice light garlic/oil sauce with sun dried tomatoes and rapini was perfect dish for a summer evening. Sausages were tasty but I would have preferred a bit of zing. Still the ingredients worked really well together and I enjoyed it immensely. Grilled calamari was good but I prefer a bit more grill marks on the calamari. It looked a tad underdone but the taste was great. About $40 pp for wine shared app and pasta mains. Reasonable price for good food. Would go back again for sure. read more

Decent Place Located in Mt Pleasant village which has many quaint restaurants. This one fits the locale with down-to-earth decor and quaint size (maybe seats 25). Greeted at the door by the owner who was very nice but looked like he was dressed to stay home. The staff there are dressed with black dress shirts and black dress pants, which is nice. They are professional but not particularly inviting. The food was presented nicely. Portions were good. The food was decent, nothing I'd pay more for that's for sure. I used a Groupon and when I was brought my bill the server told me I should tip on the total before the discount. Fair enough, some people probably don't do that which would piss off any server, but I'm not one of those people and I didn't really care for him telling me that. If it was printed on the receipt or something maybe that would be better. I don't know, I feel like the staff were just there to make money, I didn't feel like they very genuine. There are many restaurants on Mt Pleasant with great food and great service, I wouldn't go back here. read more

Tavolino - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

See all

This review is long overdue, but still fresh in my mind. This is one of those experiences that I have truly struggled with how exactly to capture in words. I'll start by saying that I used a Travelzoo voucher with a work friend. We were both quite recent transplants to the city earlier this year and I was taking advantage of some online deals as a way to explore and save a few bucks. I know these deals can be hit or miss, but I figure it's usually worth it. Usually. In this case, it was not worth the insignificant savings we received for this particular deal. The whole meal started out on a bad note. I had forgotten my cell phone at home, which I needed in order to use the voucher. I had mentioned the voucher when I made the reservation and again mentioned it when we were seated. The server asked to see the voucher when we sat down, which of course I couldn't show due to not having my phone. My friend said that if we don't have the voucher, he would just pay regular price and we'd come back with the voucher another time. We asked to have a glass of wine to start, but the waiter REFUSED to serve us until we produced the voucher! Of course, this was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard, as we had just said we'd pay regular price if we couldn't get it. But no, he said he wouldn't serve us until we could show it. I borrowed my friend's phone and managed to access my voucher online to present to the server. He finally conceded to bring our wine. This was the only time I'd ever been asked to show a voucher before ordering. Usually it's given at the end of the meal, so this was very strange. I had actually looked at the menu online so that I could decide ahead of time what to order. The terms of the deal stated that entrées had to be $24 or less, which did not leave many choices. I was dismayed to find that the restaurant menu (vs online menu) had increased the price of several entrées so they would no longer be eligible for the deal - including the one I had chosen. I asked if I could pay the difference (it was $2) but was refused. I ended up choosing a salmon entrée, which was really good. In fact, all of the food was quite good, most notably the tiramisu, which was made in house that day. I just can't get over how poorly we were treated by the server. I don't know if he was the manager or not, but his attitude towards us was horrible. When we asked for more wine, we were told 'no'. WTH?? No?!? He then said, "You only get one glass of wine with the voucher." We had to explain that yes, we understand what's included - we'll pay for the wine on top of the voucher price. The straw that broke the camel's back for me, was when the bill came. He had added the tax on the regular price of the food and drinks instead of on the voucher price. When I mentioned his mistake, he literally argued with me and was extremely rude and condescending towards me. I happen to know how these deals work when it comes to tax rules and when I attempted to explain to him, he just kept talking over me, very loudly, telling me I was wrong. Sorry, buddy, you can raise your voice as loud as you want, it doesn't make you right. It's a good thing for him that my friend paid the bill because at that point I would've given him a zero tip for the way he spoke to me. The food here was really very good, hence the two stars. But because of the way this guy treated us, I would never go back. If the restaurant doesn't want to honour a discount, then they shouldn't offer it in the first place. But they sure as hell shouldn't treat their customers poorly just because they take advantage of that discount! And some people really should reconsider being in the hospitality industry when clearly they suck at it. read more

WARNING: For any one considering purchasing the Groupon, or is in the mt. Pleasant area and considering going to this restaurant, I urge you to reconsider. I called with a Groupon to make a reservation. The voucher states that reservations are welcome Sunday-Thursday. When I asked to make a reservation for Sunday, a very rude male voice simply told me "no". No explanation, no context. When I asked if i could come as a walk-in, he threatened me. He said " I now have your phone number, that wont happen". Implying that he would turn me away at the door. He was extremely rude and made me feel uncomfortable. I was going to chalk up this attitude to a bad day and decided I'd call back at a later time. Less than a minute later, the restaurant called me back and another male voice began to berate and cuss me out and then hung up. I have never experienced anything even remotely close to this unfortunate event. Being the logical person I am I didn't want to dismiss this restaurant for that one incident but through the discovery of other similar reviews, it appears that the owner and his son are rude, unprofessional, sad men. At this point I've decided to loose out on the money I paid for the voucher. It's too bad, I hear the food is great. read more

Cute and small family own Italian restaurant....everything we order was delish !!! Highly recommend the tagliatelle di manzo and gnocchi con ragu bolonese. They even have an espresso machine! Great service and friendly staff... read more

See all

Unprofessional. I made a reservation and drove 40 min to get there only to see a sign on the door saying closed for water damage. This restaurant is hard to get a hold off as well by phone, you must leave a voice mail and they call back a few hours later. Much better restaurants out there SKIP this one!! read more

This review is for the attitude and business method of the restaurant and not the food since we didn't even get to eat there. My sincere recommendation is to avoid this restaurant at all cost if you do not want to be cheated/lied to. We bought a Groupon and proceeded to spend several weeks trying to make a reservation. Each time the restaurant would say they are busy or not pick up. I tried calling at several times of the day - no luck. Finally I went in person to make a reservation on Friday August 2 and was told that Monday August 5 is open (I even confirmed several times that this was the case on Stat holiday) they said yes. So we proceeded to return on Monday promptly only to find the restaurant closed with no notice whatsoever. Shortly after we arrived, two more separate groups of people arrived (9 people) in the same position where just the day before (Sunday) were told to make a reservation and that the restaurant would be open. The common theme is Groupon, and it almost certainly appear that restaurant lied to us and discriminated against us - why list your company on Groupon if you can't handle it. The least they could have done is to give a courtesy call to anyone to inform us before we pay for parking or spend our time. Absolutely nothing - I would urge you not to waste your time. read more

This is the first time I've ever enjoyed a meal so much but given a low rating. Tavolino is the perfect example of how a single element can ruin an otherwise wonderful meal. That element was a rude owner who visibly treated his staff with disrespect and micromanaged the whole evening in an uncomfortable way. The servers were extremely capable and there appeared to be three of them for a busy 35 seat dining room. If you ask me, the server to customer ratio was perfect without this man looming over everyone in the dining room. We arrived and were asked by the owner if we had reservation.We told him we did and He proceeded to walk off and top up the wine of another table while waving one of the servers (who was clearly in the middle of something) over to seat us. Not the most welcoming of gestures. We sat down at a nice cozy table and began to decide on wine and dinner choices. Our servers were all very professional and extremely friendly. We ordered the grilled calamari, Eggplant Parmigiana, Gorgonzola Gnocchi, and the Osso Bucco as well as a bottle Ripasso that the server opened and decanted for us. He was nice enough to leave the bottle on the unoccupied table next to us, but mentioned that if a table came in, he would have to move it back. We appreciated his consideration, but shortly after we heard (and saw) the owner giving him shit for leaving the wine on a different table. There were many instances like this throughout the night. They brought out some complimentary bruschetta that was nice while we sipped on our wine and the appetizers were both delicious. But I couldn't help but be irritated by this man who did nothing but point at his staff, treat them with disrespect and act like he was the most benevolent person to ever open a restaurant by lumbering around and trying to suck up to guests by performing useless tasks. Perhaps this sort of treatment and antiquated machismo is okay is rural Italy. If it is, I've never seen it, and certainly being a business owner calls for better treatment and basic respect of the staff. Especially when the guests can plainly see all of this. At one point, this owner came over and picked up our wine from the table beside us and plonked it carelessly on our table and wandered off, not topping up our wine or asking how anything was. It was really rude and I told our server so. The staff were excellent at managing our irritation and did everything they could to make sure that we enjoyed the food and had great service. The Osso Bucco was good. I liked how it was served with gorgonzola polenta and rapini-- a little different than the typical risotto that normally accompanies Osso Bucco. Gnocchi was light and pillowy. Sauce could have used a little more salt, but I tend to like things salty. Overall, the food was really well done. Kudos to the chef. Apparently the 'owner' is his brother. After our server had come to top up our glasses with wine, the owner came over and tried to re-do the same task. We asked him not to, because we had just been topped up and wanted to drink slowly. We thanked him for coming over. He grunted and lumbered off. Everything about him was creepy and rude. Later, I saw him mutter something to our female server and slap her out of the way. She handled everything in stride, and even remarked how she liked him and that was just how he is, but I don't think there is room for this sort of treatment in any workplace. Especially not in such a small dining room where everything is quite obvious to the guests. Regardless, she was a true professional. Dessert was excellent. The flourless chocolate cake was extraordinary. Five stars to the wonderful servers who did everything they could to make us happy and were all complete professionals. The owner needs have more faith in their skills and leave them to do their jobs. Five stars for the wonderful food. The chef knows his stuff and is doing great job. The menu is thoughtful and well executed. I consider bad treatment of staff to be reason enough to never return to an establishment. Especially if I have to witness it with my own eyes. Please, Mr. Owner, leave service in the hands of the professionals you hired and treat them with respect. They work hard and do a great job. I don't want to come back to your restaurant and have to spend my night off feeling bad for everyone who works for you and be annoyed by the fact that you're in the way. I sincerely hope that the servers are not required to turn in a portion of their tips to this man. Would I recommend Tavolino? No. Spend your money at a place where you can be sure the staff are respected or, make sure you come in on a night when this owner is not working and tip the staff extra. They deserve it for putting up with this guy. P.S. Some of the other five star reviews for this place seem pretty spammy, brief and are all written by people with under 6 reviews total. Could easily be fake profiles and reviewers. read more

Spigola was a but sour for me but veal was delish! Ordered grilled calamari as the apps but it was okay as it has the fishy smell. Overall good experience. read more

Tavolino - Veal with avocado - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

See all

Great new addition to Toronto's dining scene. Simple menu, great food, excellent staff, cozy atmosphere. Highly recommend veal parm read more

I've never had a more unpleasant experience at a restaurant. The owner was one of the rudest people I have ever come across. I have never experienced a worse atmosphere or service. read more

Do not recommend. Went in for a salad and mussels. Sent the salad back as a fly was in the middle and the mussels were so small to be almost non existent. Even the wine was bland. Stagnant water from flower vase on table added to the gross experience. Service was perfunctory but at least didn't charge for the salad! read more

As a resident of the neighbourhood, I am always excited when a new restaurant opens - although the competition is stiff on this stretch of Mount Pleasant, as there are several outstanding food options in the area. With that in mind, Tavolino certainly lives up to its' neighbours. The food here is simply excellent. The owner, Vince, recommended the special 'Pork Cheek Caesar Salad' and allowed us to order it, even though it was part of a prix fixe menu that we did not partake in. The reco was spot on, as it was the best Caesar salad I have ever enjoyed. Although the salad was a tough act to follow, the mains certainly held up. My wife and I enjoyed the gorgonzolla gnocchi and orecchiette bolognese. Both were outstanding. The flavours were brilliant and the sauces not too heavy. Perfectly balanced meals. We took home a brunch menu, which also looks very intriguing. We will be sampling this at our first opportunity. read more

The food was good but the atmosphere set by the owner was very uncomfortable. He was rude. We used a Travelzoo coupon and we became second class citizens. He gruffly said don't give them a wine list as wine was included. What if we wanted a second glass? Perhaps saying If you need the wine list let us know. He charged 15% tax when tax is 13%. House wine was $12 according to the bill. We just paid and didn't need an argument. It continued and the whole experience turned it into an uncomfortable night. Another 2 couples came in and he argued with them that there was only 1 coupon per table. If you want people to come back .., accommodate. If you don't like coupons, don't offer them to potential new customers. read more

From the moment we walked in, the owner was rude. We were the only people in there, and he had the audacity to tell my mom and grandma to sit down when they came to our table to say hi. The only reason they had to walk over is becuase our tables were opposite sides of the restaurant...even though we bought the two groupons together. We ended up leaving. He had a terrible attitude. Honestly cant believe hes in the service industry. read more

Superb food and good service. Local restaurant, comfortable and not fancy. Been here twice now, and highly recommend it.

The owner was extremely rude and spoiled our evening. He made it very clear that he did not want a groupon on a holiday despite the fact that the groupon says valid any day. I should point out that there were only 4 other people in the restaurant so we were hardly taking the space of full paying customers. We were told that we could only order pizza or pasta as a main (not on the terms and conditions of the groupon), despite the fact that there are many reviews on Groupon for higher protein, less carb dishes. He completely micro managed the poor server to an embarrassing level and was reluctant to answer questions about the dishes. If you want to feel like a second-class citizen and be forced to choose dishes you don't want - this is the place for you. read more

Used a groupon here with my family recently, and everything was great! A couple dishes and most of the "main courses" weren't part of the deal, but everything was tasty, loved the mussels appetizer the most. The waiter was also super nice, feels like a cozy family owned restaurant, definitely wanna come back in the future read more

We were walking down Mount Pleasant one day and saw that this restaurant opened up. We've tried all the other Italian restaurants around Yonge/Mount Pleasant & Eglinton so we wanted to try this one as well. Just the other day we remembered it and went for dinner. It was an excellent meal! We started with the Calamari/Shrimp/Fried Artichoke and it was very delicious. In particular, the shrimp was wonderfully seasoned and lightly breaded and fried to perfection. I only wish there was more of it. I had the Penne Con Vodka for dinner and it was also very delicious. I love cream tomato sauce and this sauce surpassed my expectations. For dessert we had the home-made donuts which were decadent and delightful. There were three donuts: one filled with lemon sauce, one with berry sauce and one with chocolate. Overall an excellent meal! The atmosphere and service were also lovely and the owner came by to make sure we were having a good time. A great little restaurant! My only criticism was that they played the same classical song on repeat the whole night. It took a while to notice but once we did we could only wonder why they only played one song... Regardless I would most definitely go back! read more

The atmosphere was warm and welcoming. The staff were efficient and friendly. The service and food was phenomenal. For a treat out on the town it's worth it! read more

The staff are extremely friendly, the food is delicious. Recommend the grilled calamari, bruchetta, and pizza bianca di prochuitto!

This business fails to pay their employees going as far as providing post dated cheques and posting stop payments on them. Do not support this business. They treat their employees like garbage. Boycott this business! Their employee subsequently lost their home due to their non payment of wages. read more

The food here was excellent. I had the veal Marsala and it was exactly what I wanted it to be. The service was great and the atmosphere is quiet and warm, and kind of takes you back to an older time. The flourless chocolate cake was excellent. More of a dense mousse but truly excellent. read more

Great food, great environment, great service, family owned. They are passionate about their food and customers. You won't be disappointed. read more

The food and service were great. Our waiter Andre' was a good waiter and the restaurant is a nice place, however; what's the deal with the owner ?? This old and crusty owner was on the staff so bad my wife wanted to leave and not finish her "Spigola" (which was superb). He was really abusing his staff and we could see that one of the Servers (who we were told was new) was visibly upset and we watched the owner chew him out behind the bar. Not sure if we can recommend this place based on that type of behavior. Too Bad. read more

Delicious - DELICIOUS - home-made pasta & bred basket. Fresh ingredients, super authentic flavours, nice atmosphere, and family-run vibe. The owner literally cam out to the streets to invite us to dine in (throw-back to Italy!) and recommended the chef's (his brother's!) selections for the day. The food was exceptionally tasty. We will be coming back. read more

Great Food!! Everything I had was amazing. Plus the staff was super friendly and they really makes you feel comfortable. I highly recommend the mini donuts. Well worth the calories :-). I can't wait to come back. read more

Good Food, Good server (Neither excellent); but VERY RUDE Front of the house. He must be the son of the owner. Very rude, and made weird comments that really bummed us out. Would not recommend. read more

This restaurant had The Italian ambience of original Italy The tastiness of the food matches the best of Italian cooking and the service was most attentive and professional. We even enjoyed chatting with our host and the amiable chef Best of luck for the future read more

The food was fantastic and the service great. The mussels and the crab tagliatelle were particularly good.

Amazing meal every time we go. Which is at least once a week. It is our new go to. They know fish and can accommodate gluten free! They treat us like family and their specials are always something we have. Great restaurant for this neighbourhood. read more

Another great dinner at Tavolino tonight! Such a friendly atmosphere. Unpretentious and delicious!

Horrible experience. Condescending rude staff. Arrived 6:00 pm on a Wednesday with a Travelzoo voucher. No other customers in restaurant which is not uncommon for this restaurant. Staff refused to honour coupon without reservation. Called and made reservation from completely empty restaurant with another staff behind counter who confirmed it was a slow night and could get reservation immediately. The server still refused to honour voucher. Was rude and condescending. Will never go again. Have frequented restaurant in past and while quality of food has declined over past year, sons have enjoyed the risotto so decided to make a night of it. Terrible experience for a mom and teenage son. I wonder if had been a male customer, if would have been different reception. Inexcusable in completely empty restaurant. Much better Italian restaurants in neighbourhood including Positano, Nove Trattoria, 7 Numbers, Capocaccia and Spiga and way better service. read more

My husband and I made a reservation and went to Tavolino on Friday night. We were using a Travelzoo coupon. I failed to tell them that when I made the reservation. They told us that they would accommodate us nevertheless and were seated at the front of the restaurant. We were brought water and a basket of bread and spread and had just unfolded our napkins when the owner came over and told us that our table was for the people standing at the door and told us to move to the back. We picked upper coats and he said in a very loud voice, "ya, get them outta here! They came with a Travelzoo coupon and didn't tell me." He did say that he would accommodate us and seated us. We were embarrassed and left. I had heard that the food was very good but we will never taste it! This owner is an extremely rude, unwelcoming, abusive man with a very ugly personality...to say the least. I feel sorry for his brother, the chef, as I read all of the other reviews on Yelp! read more