Cucina Buca — Restaurant in Toronto

RUDE AND DISRESPECTFUL MANAGER

My partner and I were invited to Cucina Buca’s training event where they offered food at a discount to have guests attend to give their staff some training and a “dry run” on operations. We were very excited but the rude manager promptly ruined everything. After ordering our food the manager came over and smugly told us that some people were taking advantage of the discount being offered and that we were not supposed to be ordering more food than we could eat and that any food that we did not finish would need to be paid for at full price – implying that we were ordering too much food and somehow abusing their discount. The manager then lingered at our table telling us that we ordered enough food for at least 4 people and guilted us into cancelling our order of flatbread. I was even forced to tell my server that I could pay for the cannelloni full price if need be, as my partner really wanted to try it.

The manager spoke to us as if we were second class citizens – insinuating that we were bad people stealing from their restaurant. Simply put, we can afford their food at their full prices. We were INVITED to their restaurant, where THEY OFFERED a discount and was just ordering the food that we wanted to eat. If they had concerns they should have limited the discount or set limits to what items and quantities could be ordered at a discount – rather than talking down to and pressuring guests to order less than they desire.

Even worse was that the manager was WRONG. When the food came, we easily finished the food that we ordered and was still hungry, wishing we had ordered the flatbread that we were pressured to cancel. So not only were we pressured to not order enough food, but the manager FAT SHAMED us for eating food enough for at least 4 people and still being hungry. Ridiculous. We brought this up to management and they ignored us completely – showing how little they care about service and common decency. Overall, very disappointing and a shame as the food was actually quite good – but it comes with the price of being insulted and...

This place is a solid 4.5 stars!

Walking in, I felt like I was stepping into a minimalist designer's Pinterest board. Every detail screamed, "Get ready for some fancy service and culinary wizardry!" Our host was a bundle of joy—so friendly and respectful, you’d think they were auditioning for a role in a feel-good movie. And our waitress? They were on top of everything, with a placen genuine smile at all times.

We went all out and tried several dishes. The beets salad with burrata? Delicious! They even threw in a complimentary carpaccio —because why not? Then came the pizza, which you cut with scissors. Yes, scissors. It was a fun gimmick, but the pizza itself was just...very good. Next, we had the octopus, which looked like it belonged in a food magazine but was as tender as a tender as my date (thankfully lol) . The pasta was fantastic, but let's be real—I could whip up something just as good at home, if I was an Italian chef….but I’m not…..in other words it felt like Italian homemade pasta.

The wine our waiter suggested was a revelation. It was full-bodied, with just the right amount of acidity and low in sugar. And because they wanted to show off, they brought us three additional ice creams. Nice touch, especially for my daughter, who is a tiramisu fanatic. But oh boy, the tiramisu. They tried to reinvent the wheel here, and to be honest…..there is nothing better than a traditional tiramisu . so their version ended up looking and tasting more like a mousse. Definitely the weakest link, the good side of this is that it’s easy to fix this dish, get a Nona to make it for you.

Would I go back to this place? Absolutely! The highlight of the night was definitely the service. And my favorite dish? The carpaccio. If you go, just don’t bother with the tiramisu unless you’re in the mood for mouse.

This place is very eclectic in the range of occasions you can go for, first date ( if you’re looking to impress) girls night out, business meeting ( definitely yes), and the ultimate breakups dinner ( since the service will be there to pick up the pieces and it has several...

An absolutely terrible experience . The staff and in particular the manager we're rude from the onset. We went for summerlicious and the manager condescendingly said oh, you're here summerlicious! He proceeded to seat us at a terrible table which we then changed. Our server was friendly at first but that changed when We commented about our espressos being under sized and arriving with sambuca added rather than being on the side. This is when everything turned. The waitress got defensive. The manager became rude, we spent over $500 and have been treated better in a McDonald's! . We were served an open bottle of wine and they claimed it was the last bottle . The manager brought two new bottles of our wine and put them up on the shelf without explanation. Upon pain and leaving the restaurant, the manager abruptly canceled our reservation on open table preventing me from writing a review on the site. We'd made the reservation! Three out of the four of us at the table have been in the industry, one restaurant owner, one general manager, and a server. We're at our table. We've never seen the level of rudeness and incompetence displayed by especially the manager at this restaurant. It's simply appalling and whoever owns Cucina buca should fire that manager immediately. I will never again dine at Cucina buca and recommend you make a reservation at a restaurant that welcomes your patronage instead of making you feel like it's a privilege being served! I've dined around the world and I will never go back to waste my money at this overpriced excuse for a...