Bar Sugo — Restaurant in Toronto

We've been huge fans of Sugo / Bar Sugo for quite a while, and I've just had one too many amazing experiences to not put it in words how much I love everything about the experiences here. Across the food, the drink, and the hospitality, the team at Bar Sugo (we tend to go here more often) are just phenomenal. Beyond how incredible the food is (we fantasize about what we're going eat for pretty much the whole day leading up to going), by far the biggest thing that's driven me to post a review is the energy and compassion of the team. From Silvano (apologies if spelling is off) who greets us as the door and does whatever he can to get us a seat in a reasonable amount of time, to the entire team who come by the tables and check-in on folks to see how the food / drinks / life-in-general are treating us, it really makes the hustle & bustle of their own immense popularity entirely worth it. To that point, I'd love to point out how compassionate and active the whole team is, when it comes to moving groups through the tables throughout the evenings. Anyone would be forgiven for being exhausted, short, or disconnected - but I've never felt the slightest bit of any of that from the team; everyone who works here just seems to be authentic helpers and earnest in their constraints (unsurprisingly very busy on Saturdays eves) and their willingness to try and make things work. For anyone who is ever discouraged by a long estimated wait time, you can rest assured that Silvano & the rest of the Bar Sugo team will do anything they can to get you in earlier than expected. As someone who gets anxious in lines and navigating around long waits (what to do, where to go, etc), I've never been more at ease at such an in-demand place - truly one of the best human experiences at an incredible din & drinks place I've ever had. Whatever their secret sauce is (both literal and figurative), it's sure as hell working, and I'd recommend anyone not familiar to go experience the full stomachs and the full hearts ASAP! Love these people...

This is a wonderful memorable spot. It started from the front of house, with welcoming friendly staff who you can tell love working there. Even though it was a busy evening no one seemed overly stressed out and the service was impeccable. It sucks you can't make reservations for less then 5 people but at the same time it's worth the wait. We had a 30 min wait and when we were seated we started off with the Calamari Fritti. It was thinly sliced, crunchy, fresh, perfect salt level with 2 amazing sauces served on the side to dip into (my favourite was the garlic sauce). Recommended 100% For the main we decided to share a Uncle Scotty pizza which is more then enough for 2 people (who can really eat). I was surprised of how good zucchini could taste on a pizza. It was so thinly sliced and the whipped ricotta cheese added an amazing creamy finish of perfection really bringing the whole thing together. Also loved the smoked background taste from the wood fire oven in the crust. Truly a must try masterpiece that left you feeling light afterwards. The pizza oven has a great background story to it as it was made from the bricks of a school the owner used to go to (so I've heard) For dessert we had a twist soft serve ice cream to share which was the perfect sweet finish to our whole experience/visit. I loved how both flavours were in every bite like a ying yang. The ice cream was soft, creamy, had a coolness that I didn't expect and what felt like little sweet crystals in my mouth. Loved it!! The washrooms were downstairs and a cool style as well. There was no ladies or mens just individual washrooms to walk into with sinks on the outside. Very modern open concept. I do hope we get a chance to visit again and try other things on the menu. Our experience here has only increased our expectations of how a pizza should...

I'll admit, my expectations of Sugo were high. If I had visited their website first and seen that they serve Italian-American classics, my expectations would have been tempered.

For an extremely busy location, we were fortunate to be seated immediately on our Friday evening visit. The service was very friendly, warm, and infused with a great sense of humor.

Now, let's get to the food. For appetizers, we ordered the calamari, which had a cool twist, coming with fried sliced hot banana peppers, and an order of the stuffed peppers. The calamari was okay but definitely overpriced for the quality. The stuffed peppers didn't meet my expectations; they were pork and a bit too dense. Traditional Italian cooking often uses a triple meat mix, which I find yields better results.

For mains, we ordered two pastas. Their house specialty, the rigatoni with a rosé sauce, was served hot and was nice but nothing you can't make at home. It could have been a bit more al dente. We also had the gnocchi, which was a little flat in flavor. We also tried a pizza. All pizzas are $30, and we chose the Vinny Massimo. The crust had a nice char, but something was off about the combination. The jalapenos were a bit too green; personally, I prefer sweet-hot jalapenos that have been pickled. The combination of the raw green jalapenos, pepperoni, and basil garlic sauce just didn't sit right.

We had a Peroni and a Moretti, two Italian imported beers, and I found the prices very reasonable for Toronto.

Here’s the kicker: Sugo is a fun, lively, albeit a bit loud place, great for a quick bite. The service is fantastic. However, I am not a fan of their policy of not accepting credit cards. I get it, they can be slightly more competitive in pricing, although their pricing was fair. Still, not accepting credit cards is a...