Nino D’Aversa Bakery — Restaurant in Toronto

This is overdue (I should have posted this on January 7, 2025 when I originally intended), but I did promise the rude lady that answered the phone that I would post this so others are aware, simply because of her attitude (she didn't make things right and was extremely abrasive). I have read other reviews and I think we are all talking about the same miserable employee. Anyway, I bought meat from the deli and by the second day, the colour was very off and a slime had developed between the meat and the packaging. I called Nino D'Aversa on Toro road in Toronto (this is the location where I purchased the meat) and asked how long should meat from the deli, that hasn't been opened yet, last? She said at least 4 days. I told her that I purchased quite a bit and only used some but fear the rest cannot be consumed because it's gone bad. She said "well it shouldn't have," and I said, "but it did; it didn't even last 2-3 days", and then she replied, "but it should last at least 4." You see where this is going. I realized this lady wasn't going to be fair or reasonable, so I told her my only recourse is to post a review and she said "you do that." So here it is. The pictures (I am only seeing a post option- I am not sure if I will be able to post pictures for some reason) barely capture the slime. There are no filters; it can be a bit difficult to see the colour of the meat and of course, I have no way of proving how it smelled. It also had so much fat on it. They chose the worst cut possible. I will say that because it's so close to home, if I need bread and it's late, I will still go purchase bread, but I will absolutely never ever get meat from...

I can't speak much on the dining experience and store ambience as my only experience with this store was through their online service. Preparation took double the time of the estimate provided at checkout but I overlooked it as I ordered at rush hour and this store seemed to pride themselves on some sort of authentic oven-baked technique that I imagined would demand more time than the average quick-buy pizza chain.

Unfortunately, for the time and price, the pizza ended up being one of the least favourite I've ever had the misfortune of tasting. The pepperoni looked and tasted as if it was snuck from one of those Lunchables pizza kits, which would've been fine if I was getting a four-dollar snack for my nephew and not a nearly 30-dollar dinner for my family. Crust was burnt and flavourless; as a crust lover I was exceedingly disappointed by how bland and inedible it was, especially because it consumed at least one-tenth of any given slice. The pizza wasn't even remotely resemblant of the pictures plastered on their UberEats page---and I'm not just speaking of colours and saturations (which every restaurant alters), the food quality and even ingredients looked markedly fresher than the cold platter that arrived at my door.

In all, this might seem like a overly-critical review, but I plainly strive to advise any browsing shoppers to beware if they're curious about trying out this store based on the inflated rating on UberEats. So....

Awesome staff that serve beautifully made cooked food for lunch. I have been going for twenty years to this location and the staff is awesome to me. The management, to be honest, has not been nice to me in the past. That is why three stars. Be five stars if the management was as nice as the staff, but they always seem to make it obvious it’s about money over silly things. For example, I once wanted salami for my Mother. I did not want the one inch last piece when there was a fresh one to open up and slice. No one wants the end of a salami. The manager cane out and started to pick an argument with me saying no one wants the end of the salami. “I can’t go broke over salami.” Remember twenty years of going almost daily to get me or my mother or my father going to get lunch for him and my mother who is homebound. We pay enough money to keep it running. To argue over the useless end of a salami was so silly. Or when getting the cooked food the manager will watch over to make sure the exact amount of pasta is in the plate. It goes on like that. So it has a fantastic staff and a great chef with great food, but a bad management system. I am torn in half about this location but the food is good and homemade. So go for the food, just don’t expect to be blown away by amazing service with the staff wound so tight with the management...