La Cantina — Restaurant in Hamilton

Second Review: 09/03/2022

La Cantina offers Fine and Casual dining. Regardless of your style, it is highly recommended that you make a reservation as they can get busy at any time and any day of the week. Over the past 25 years, I have come here using both their casual and fine dining rooms and they never disappoint! Last week’s dining experience with my boys was no different than any other times I have gone in—with friends. A very pleasant greeter acknowledges your presence with a warm hello and smile and ushers you to your table. Once seated at the table, the assigned server does the same thing and brings a basket of their focaccia bread that is out of this world. Their focaccia bread is one of the main reasons I keep going back! The perfect density gives it a crusty outside and chewy inside. We almost always ask for another serving to sop up the sauces from the pasta dish. Their appetizers are delicious, and they have the most authentic pasta dishes, and I have had most of what’s on their menu. Their pizzas are as good as everything else they offer. Homemade dough, with fresh toppings all done to perfection in their wood-burning pizza oven. If you’re lucky, you might get seated where you can watch them prepare and bake your pizza in the wood-burning oven. Some people might think La Cantina is over-priced but to me, with their huge potions and great food, it is worth it! Go treat yourself and prepare to be blown away!

As reviewed on Yelp - 6/9/2018

In the last 3 weeks, I've been back to La Cantina 3 times. Last week's experience with a party of 7 was just as good as with a party of 2. What keeps me going back is their focaccia bread that is out of this world. On our table were a spread of, Specialty Risotto, Pizza, N.Y. Striploin, Conchiglie Frutti di Mare, Spaghetti con Polpette, and Veal Piccata. The portions were at par to price, and everyone enjoyed their meals and were quite happy. The service was good and the evening was capped with desserts and espresso. Here's where I've been let down: their espresso, served with a little cookie on the side was good but was way overpriced at $5.50. I've had better espresso at a much lesser price. In the past, I was able to order hot oil with my pizza at no cost, but now they charge $2.95 which was undisclosed to me when requested, and this is going to cost them a star. I would still go back but will go elsewhere for espresso and dessert. As for the hot oil, upon ordering, I will ask them to drizzle it on my pizza instead of asking for it later. Will have to see how...

I took my guy out for his birthday supper here. We made reservations so we could save a spot.

Since we reside in simcoe we had a bit of a drive, we ended up getting to Hamilton much earlier than anticipated and we were 1.5 hr ahead of our reservation. We checked in and asked the host staff of we could sit at the bar and enjoy a drink before our reservation. They accommodated us and we enjoyed a hot Fireside coffee and my date had a Monte Cristo. both were SO good, very well made, sugared glass room with fresh whip cream, baileys, coffee too. Perfect for a chilly evening ☕

We also enjoyed a beer at the bar, Keiths Red Ale and red able on tap.

Supper was great. My date had a sea food choice and i had the pasta and sausage dish with fresh black pepper. the wait staff was very friendly, engaging, checked in but not overly checking. The waitor we were assigned to had such a great sense of humour. He even recommended Olive oil and balsamic with a bit of parm. cheese for dipping bread. We have NEVER had that before and it quickly became our new favorite thing!

The wine was very nice, fresh, potent. The good was divine. Great meals, seasoned well, pasta was fresh, cooked well, and beautiful flavours.

The environment is more classy, romantic and perfect for date nights. The decor is really intriguing the restrooms are down a step flight of stairs, just be very careful what shoes you wear. The floors are tiled and heels can be really slippery, especially on the stairs **

we will def be coming back here. i want to ensure the front of house staff (who stand at the desk upon entering) get recognized, the staff was really friendly, accomodating, they asked us how our drinks were at the bar and thanked us for choosing the restaurant as it was our first visit.

our waitor was really kind, funny, and overall the dining experience was 10/10 he msgd us laugh, made great recommendations, and made our visit even more enjoyable. 😄

pricing is on the more costly side but for the drinks, quality of the food, environment, staff, and overall experience of this place, i would say pricing is fair and not overly expensive.

coffees at bar were 12.50 / each beer 8.50 / each total for bar: est 52.00 $

MEAL Bread basket with olive oil dip, charcuterie board, fresh pasta seafood dish, fresh penne sausage dish, 2 9oz glasses of white wine (house and California zinfandel) total: 130$ for the great meal and wine

Thank you for the wonderful evening. We will be coming...

Our party came in to eat yesterday (Saturday, November 30th) and was very underwhelmed. We were a party of 9 so I understand that due to our group size it can be inconvenient for the kitchen and service flow, however there were many things that seemed to disappoint throughout the evening. Our server was kind, but perhaps very inexperienced. He did not introduce himself, struggled to remember the specials and seemed flustered throughout the service. The main course was ready before my Grandmother had finished her appetizer. Meaning that our server rushed her finishing the appetizer, making her very uncomfortable. She has partial facial paralysis making it very difficult to eat and by rushing her she was put on the spot. Additionally the mains were left to sit in the servery while he did the mise en place (placing the cutlery) for the second course. This meant that the plates were cold to the touch and the food luke-warm. Everyone in our party was fairly disappointed with the mains. The sheer volume of the mains do not make up for a) the lack of flavour or b) the pricing. I personally had the gnocchi and would tell anyone to avoid it. The sauce was congealed to a thick paste due to how long it had sat and the gnocchi was like dense rocks, not the soft pillows they should be. My partner had it much worse with the vegetable spaghetti, which was dry. There should have been much more olive oil on the dish to give it some moisture. As well, when ordering the charcuterie board, one would expect there to be some sort of cracker or crostini to eat it with. There was just meat/cheese/two olives/3 grilled vegetables and lots of kale/greens on the board and that was it. There was soft, complimentary bread already on the table which was nice, but wasn't fitting with charcuterie. One wants that nice textural crunch with the board. Overall everyone agreed that it was highly overpriced for the quality of food we recieved and no one would want to return for what we paid. A few nice highlights were: the Maker's Mule, complimentary bread and warmth of the hostesses. However it would not be enough to return. Save your money and try...