Sarpa Trattoria — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

We arrived at Sarpa looking forward to a relaxing dinner with old friends. Kim who was our server, certainly had a different evening planned for us. We had no sooner been seated with our beverages in front of us when she literally pounced upon us looking for our dinner order, and much to our surprise began removing items off the table including our side plates.

Apps were ordered 1 bread and 2 Ceasar salads one with anchovies/one without. Mains consisted of a Veal Chop Milanese, a pizza, a Veal Marsala and a Veal Limone with a side order of pasta in a cream sauce. There was quite a discussion about this side order – but Kim assured us it would be no problem. The bread arrived (There were 5 finger pieces no bigger than 3 inches long and ½ inch wide, sitting in oil.) As there were no side plates we had to request them (only 2 were brought) and our friend found himself fishing one off of an empty table. Both salads came without anchovies – when we questioned the assistant server about this instead of taking the salad back to the kitchen, he returned with 5 anchovies in a bowl.. Extra parmesan cheese was offered to the men only and the server had to be reminded to return with the cheese for the ladies as they were ignored the first time around.

Then up came the mains – To be fair – the pizza was quite good. The Veal Marsala was tasty and came with potatoes and rapini, the Veal Chop Milanese although tasty was the only thing on the plate (no potato, pasta or vegetable. And after all that pre-order discussion regarding the Veal Limone– it never arrived, instead we received an under-cooked order of rigatoni in a white sauce. Being Italian, when I say undercooked I don’t mean al dente – I mean it was truly undercooked. Much to our chagrin Kim tried to tell us that we had not ordered the Veal Limone. After some discussion she finally offered to bring us one, but it was so late into the dinner we declined.

That was the final straw and we asked for the manager, who upon hearing what had transpired apologized and asked what he could do to make it better, offering a free deserts, coffees, or a drink. We declined the drinks and the dessert but went with the coffee. In the end he came back with one voucher to cover a Veal Lemone dinner for one. (We were not charged for the veal we did not get nor the raw pasta.) Sadly though, upon receiving our bill – we had been charged for the coffees.

I want to note here, that while waiting for the coffee, Kim began cleaning the table reaching in front of us without excusing herself, wiping things down– it was just strange.

For a restaurant that’s located at Bloomington Side Road and Yonge Street the prices are more reflective of a restaurant in the heart of downtown Toronto (ie the Veal Chop Milanese which was served without any sides was $47., the Ceasar Salad was $20 - note even the Keg’s salad is only $14.) Unfortunately the service and some of the dishes were not reflective of...

Mixed emotions in this review- getting a reservation is super easy. Lots of free parking in plaza. Has a separate room for private functions. Drinks- fair amount of options no complaints here. Food menu- a bit on the pricy side for WHAT you are getting. We ordered the Caesar salad and DOP Burrata cheese salad. The Ceasar was very good but the Burrata was very bland and unimaginative. For the mains we ordered the steak and Bolognese pasta. The steak subpar but the pasta was good. However this was not even the reason why I gave this review 3 stars. The service was NOT what I expected from a restaurant that belongs to the chain of restaurants like Terra and Francobollo. Having dined at all the others and many restaurants that call themselves fine dining restaurants, the service was unacceptable. The waitress was in a rush from the moment we got there. She must of asked us to pick our main course probably 3x within the first 10 minutes we got there. She said the steak would take 40 mins to prepare and that the “kitchen” wanted to know our main course selection. She said this several times and when we told her we would let her know and that we were in no rush to leave she got upset. After 10 minutes she came back again and asked again. Our apps arrived and after 5 minutes of eating those she asked again. This is unacceptable. The restaurant was only 40% full and we arrived at 7:30. Once the main meals arrived NO ONE came to ask how the meal was and we actually had to flag someone down just to bring more water. Once we were about 70% done our meal she can back and asked how it was going. This level of service is just not acceptable. I work in an industry where I am a frequent flier of restaurants like Opus, Glow, Morton’s, Terra, North 44 (when it was around), Auberge Du Pommier, Oretta, Jacobs & Co, Chiado etc. So a certain level of expectation in terms of service and quality is expected. Overall will not be...

Excellent Food...If this is your priority, then Sarpa will not disappoint. Hosted a larger group last night (family and work mix), a well traveled foodie crowd, with approval by all around.

Sarpa would make any list of Italian restaurants to recommend in downtown Toronto. But located north of Richmond Hill, it's a definite destination for anyone in York region. On Yonge St., with easy parking. The interior is well designed, classic-contemporary. Smart/dress attire - I.e wear a collar and leave the sweatpants at home. A range of environments, from intimate corner nooks, to general dining area, and a separate bar area for pre/post dinner 'brindisi'. A Thursday evening, service was professional, attentive and quick, relaxed and accommodating, not stuffy;

Wines are well matched to the menu and prices are completely approachable, with a variety by the glass, including primarily Italian, Australia, US. Much better value than comparable downtown restos, where a 6oz glass costs nearly as much as a starter! Menu has a good selection of appetizers/sides, primi, paste and mains, to satisfy most. Prices are more competitive than a downtown Toronto/Manhattan restaurant, reinforced after dining, considering the high quality & flavour of the dishes, and higher market cost of ingredients, lately.

The quality of the ingredients and presentation was excellent. Beautifully rendered pork belly app (should have ordered a couple more servings!), refreshing take on grilled calamari (nice smokiness from the grilling), perfectly executed and mouth watering lamb chops, large portion of caramelized short ribs on creamy polenta, etc... Make sure to bring company that doesn't mind sharing a taste of each others' dishes! Sarpa delivers an excellent food experience - nice to have a 'go-to',...