Fusaro's Italian Kitchen — Restaurant in Toronto

I’ve been a loyal customer of Fusaro’s Kitchen for 17 years, dining there regularly and ordering catering for events. I don't know if the management has changed, but something certainly has. In October, I hosted a small gathering and ordered paninis, sandwiches, and salad for the evening. I paid for delivery, but a week before, the manager called to say they could no longer deliver and I would need to pick up the food myself. I agreed and was told to arrive at 5:30 p.m. on the day of my event.

On the day of the event, when I arrived to pick up the food, the employee told me they were closed. She explained that there had been a break-in the night before, and they hadn’t been able to prepare my order. It was just an hour before my event, and I was shocked. I extended my sympathy for what had happened and was very understanding, but asked why I hadn’t been notified earlier to make other arrangements. They had the whole day!!! She said they tried calling. When I checked my phone, I saw they had called while I was en route—too late to make a difference.

The catering manager arrived, flustered, and I asked why I hadn’t been contacted sooner. She responded that she was “dealing with business” and had no time. I reminded her that I was the business—without customers, there is no business. Her response was rude, and she didn’t seem to understand that managing customer relations during a crisis is part of her job.

She promised a refund, but my main concern was that I had no food for my guests, just an hour before the event. Despite my attempts to remain calm, the manager dismissed me mid-conversation. I reminded them that a part of management responsibility was to manage crisis. How on earth a CATERING MANAGER does not think of calling the clients waiting for food they had ordered for a party? what if this was a milestone birthday or a wedding? I left the restaurant frustrated and upset.

A few days later, I was contacted for my credit card details to process the refund. Then I was told the amount was too large to refund via card, and I needed to pick up cash. When I went to the restaurant a week later, the cash wasn’t available, and the machine was down. I was told to return on Monday to get the cash, but I was given a narrow window of time during my work hours. It felt disrespectful.

I finally went back today (Friday), only to be told the refund had been processed on my card. I picked the receipt after checking my online banking and left without speaking to the manager, as I was fed up. After reading reviews, I realized this wasn’t the first time this has happened, and I didn’t see the point in providing feedback—if they didn’t learn from previous complaints, they wouldn’t learn from mine.

Fusaro’s Kitchen has lost a loyal customer. I know one customer won’t bankrupt them, but they’ve lost someone who trusted them for nearly two decades. Loyal customers are the most important asset of a business and they should be treated with respect. Not only them, but everyone as humans! On the day of my event, all they had to do was apologize and try to make things right. Instead, I got poor service, rude behavior, and dismissiveness. I won’t be returning or recommending them to anyone. I’m deeply disappointed, as Fusaro’s Kitchen used to be one of my favorite places, a nice family-run business, but now it feels like a shadow of what it...

My roommate and I went here for dinner tonight - she wanted to take me out for my birthday and we decided on this place because it was very budget-friendly.

The place is small and quaint - and also very busy. During our stay in the restaurant, we must have seen two dozen delivery services come to pick up food.

When we arrived we were greeting by the staff and chose a table. My roommate and I had already scoped out the menu and knew what we wanted ahead of time. Both she and I were really craving good bruschetta as an appetizer and both wanted pasta dishes.

We gave our order to the waiter: bruschetta to start, veal parmigiana for my roommate, and the penne arrabbiata for myself. We also ordered a couple of other items from the appetizer menu as well as a couple of drinks.

We were extremely surprised & disappointed that our entrees arrived first. When I asked about the appetizers, the waiter didn't say anything other than "oh... yes" before heading back to the kitchen. My roommate and I tried to eat our pasta slowly because we wanted the bruschetta. We were also very surprised that there was no fresh pepper on the table or any offer of parmesan for the pasta, which is pretty typical in Italian kitchens.

We had finished 3/4 of our entrees (we were eating very slow, mind you) when the waiter appeared and asked us if we wanted parmesan for our pasta. It was quite annoying that we had nearly completed our food and then were offered parmesan, about 25 minutes after receiving our pasta. At this point I asked the waiter if there was any bread that he could bring for the table and he said he would be right back.

My roommate and I completely finished our entrees before the waiter came back with a couple slices of toasted bread. There was still no appetizers. Another 15 minutes went by and the waiter came out with bruschetta for our table. At this point we were ready to leave and wanted our bill, both of us quite disappointed that the bruschetta came out so late and there were still missing appetizers. My roommate asked for the bill, mentioning that there were missing items and that they should not be on the bill. We decided to at least eat the bruschetta while waiting for him to come back; we were in the restaurant for about 90 minutes at this point. The bruschetta was extremely tasteless and the bread was soggy. The saving grace for the whole experience was how flavourful the pasta was.

Veal Parmigiana: 9/10 (Deliciously cooked, excellent sauce) Penne Arrabbiata: 9/10 (perfect noodles, tasty sauce) Bruschetta: 1/10 (soggy, tasteless) Service: 1/10

We will not be returning to this restaurant based on the...

If anyone says the food here is not good, then they do not know what good food tastes like. I grew up with this food at the table. Both my parents were cooks back in Italy. This is true authentic Italian food. Simple, aromatic, flavourful and fresh. If you are looking for spicy/hot or for a black pepper dispenser grinding and sprinkling over your meal to hide the taste of your food or to alter it , this is not the place for you. Once you receive your dish you should not have to add anything to it, the flavouring is acquired during the cooking/prepping of the meal. And the chef at Fusaro did an excellent job of bringing out the simple fresh delicious taste of the ingredients. Each dish is perfectly balanced. My husband and I stopped in by chance. It was amazing. We shared an order of gnocchi in a red sauce. One order of chicken parmigiana, came with red sauce penne and a salad. One order of veal parmigiana, with red sauce penne and salad. The gnocchi themselves where cooked to perfection and the texture was perfect. The red sauce was to die for. Excellent and authentic. The penne had a red sauce also, fabulous. The penne were also cooked to perfection, al dente. The parmigiano was also delicious and freshly sprinkled on the gnocchi. We were so happy. It's tough trying to find authentic food. We will definitely return for more. The ambiance was cozy. We were neither cold nor hot, the temperature was perfect. I don't understand how there wasn't a line up to get in!. Thank you to the chef and the service. ...