Paradiso — Restaurant in Burlington

Update February 2017

Every time I visit this restaurant, there's small changes, and unfortunately for the worse.

I LOVED this place. I even had my Rehearsal dinner here.

just over a year ago they tweaked their menu and removed some of the more interesting options. My favorite was the 12 hour roasted boar Gnocchi.. and now its beef. It also has become muddled in flavour and every bite is exactly the same.

Last night I got the Mac and Cheese. It was basically the same as the Gnocchi - Except with macaroni elbows. VERY underwhelming for a 22 dollar dish. The calamari was overcooked - Burned black at the end, and just two tiny squids. It used to be a much larger portion.

My friend got the beet salad to start, and then got a salad with his dinner. They were Identical, but one had a sliced up beet on it, with a slightly different toppings. A 10 dollar salad was the same as the side salad with his meal. Why wouldn't the waitress say anything?

His spouse ordered the tomato soup - a $10 dollar bowl of soup. It was advertised with Parmesan cheese. It didn't come with it. When she asked for it, someone came by with the grater and just dumped some in. Not the flakes or chunks, and did nothing to improve her exorbitantly priced tomato soup.

The environment is nice, it's recently had a bit of a refresh. The bread is to die for. However my overpriced, small portioned overcooked calamari, the multiple "recycled" dishes with same flavors, and a $10 cup of tomato soup with 5 cents of Parmesan tossed in 5 minutes after it was served - I'm not in any rush to come back.

Its sad really, because this is a place where some of the best memories I have originated from. As they continue to raise the prices and lower the quality and portion sizes (and uniqueness of their offerings) I'm left feeling a little sour.

Original review:

Every time I frequent this place I leave happy, Full, and wanting for nothing. Great service, Great Environment, and great tasting food. Some of their portions are a bit on the small side, but they're plated nicely...

So once again this year I came with my niece for lunch for her birthday and once again the food was delicious. It was a beautiful day to sit outside and enjoy the sun, the food and the service. A pact was made that it will be our annual go to place for her birthday despite the fact that neither of us live in Burlington. lol.

I also went back with a friend last week, who does live in Burlington and found out it is his favourite place too. Third time was equally great. Thanks to all who make it so enjoyable! Kudos to the chefs.

Spending the day with my niece today for her birthday and I wanted to take her somewhere nice for lunch. i googled suggestions for pasta & seafood as well as good reviews and Paradiso came up. As many people reviewed and raved, the food was very good. My niece loved the seafood stew and I enjoyed the crab cake salad. The outdoor space was nice and it was a beautiful day out. When it came to the food we enjoyed ourselves. We would have stayed for coffee and dessert and I would have given 5 stars, but as many others wrote how they were wowed by the waiter Colin, we were not wowed by ours. He was not friendly or pleasant. He was abrupt and his manner bordered on rudeness. More based on habit, I left a tip. it would have been more if the service was good, but truly he didn't really deserve what I left. The woman who brought our food was friendly and made you feel welcome which was great. Kudos to the chef! Slight damper on an otherwise lovely birthday.

Thanks so much Mandy for the reply. We did truly love the food and atmosphere and will definitely go back for another...

It was just comically bad. The only reason I'm giving one star instead of none is because (a) there is no lower rating possible; (b) it provided myself and my party with hours of laughter because the food was beyond reprehensible. It pains me to see that their rating is a 4.1.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that the muscles had a "phallic-like" taste to them and an incredibly peculiar stench. Three out of the four brave souls that dared to try them had stomach problems for at least four days after. The actual meals tasted like they were three days old. The chicken cutlet that I ate had the same consistency (and smell) as the sole of an old shoe. On top of all this, even the coffee was awful. How can you mess up coffee? I know it seems like an absurd piece of criticism, but the coffee tasted like cigarettes.

We were seated a booth that was not suited for the size of our party, and so we had to pull up an extra chair and sit awkwardly at the end of the table. Here's the kicker: the restaurant was dead and we easily could have sat somewhere else, but we were not offered that.

I just want to add that we ate there a few years prior and it was fantastic. What happened? I never provide feedback to restaurants, even if the experience is lackluster. However, I feel that it is my due diligence in this case because it was (and I'm not exaggerating) THE worst restaurant experience I have ever had. Please, do an overhaul and fix this. Don't worry about responding to this comment because I won't be back. Just do right by...