Pizzeria Defina — Restaurant in Toronto

This was the best wood fire pizza I think I've ever had.

We made the trek down here because my wife and I are trying all the spots on BlogTOs best pizza in Toronto list from lowest to highest. This spot was number 8 and I don't know how. It was effing delightful.

Ample street parking. It's a small place but it was not busy when we came (1:15 on a Saturday) so we got a spot right away. The ambiance was nice. Super casual. We were both definitely in sweats. Dimmer lighting (not Instagram friendly if you're into that sort of thing...we're wearing sweats in a restaurant so clearly we aren't) and the kitchen is separated by a glass divider at the back so you can see the wood fire oven in all its glory.

We ordered three pizzas: the Red Hot Chilli Pepper, the Capo Faro 24, and the Wild Mushroom.

The Red Hot Chilli Pepper was my favourite one. It had chorizo and peppers on it as well as chilli flakes amongst other things. More chilli flakes and chilli oil, which I recommend, was provided unprompted as well. Very good.

My wife got the Wild Mushroom, a vegetarian option, which was also delicious. The char on this one was nice but it still maintained floppiness of the slice.

The Capo Faro we tried because the menu said that it won some award in 2016. If you're not adventurous, I would recommend you go with one of the more traditional meats. This one has mackerel and octopus on it, so it is fishy tasting. It was really good still if you like seafood, but be warned if you just dabble in it.

The staff were super pleasant and friendly as well. They were there whenever we needed anything without hovering or being overbearing. Food came out so quickly too. We paid for an hour parking and were back in our car with our leftovers with 13 minutes left on the meter.

Everything together gives me an easy 5 star review. I'll be back the try the...

We ordered some Defina for lunch for delivery, and I have to say it completely shattered my expectations in all the wrong ways. First of all, DoorDash delivered the food and didn't even notify us, so it sat out by the front door for a good 10 minutes before we took it inside to eat. The food was expensive as hell (which is acceptable, if the portion size is large) but the portions were tiny. The Rigatoni, $28, was near the size of dog food....How can a hungry man pay almost $30 to not even get half full? How can you price your food so high and give so little? I know inflation is a thing but there are very successful restaurants in the same area who charge far less for more, higher quality food.

Speaking of quality, the quality of the food we received was subpar at best. We ordered a Wild mushroom pizza and a Rigatoni + Basque cake. The pizza dough was hard, overcooked, and lacked any substance. The cheese was curling and didn't taste fresh. The mushrooms on the pizza we ordered were at least not bad, but the entire dish lacked taste of any sort. The cake was disgusting; the jam that accompanied it felt frozen. Not to mention, the cake was absolutely tiny. The slice we received was so tiny that the plastic jam container was wider. Nothing redeeming about those. The rigatoni at least tasted alright, props to the chef, but a few bites of (clearly) frozen rigatoni and meat is NOT worth the whopping $28.

I know that delivery will always be different from regular service, but you cannot have gone worse with this. Unless our DoorDash driver ate from the Rigatoni (which was unopened, so thank you DoorDash), I would've sworn we were delivered leftovers. Will not order again, and will definitely not recommend or go visit. Still astounded at how a tiny plate of Rigatoni can cost $28. And a finger...

I was recently pleasantly surprised and impressed by Pizzeria Defina in the Roncesvalles neighbourhood. I was there for an engagement party in an area I was unfamiliar with but the food, service, and venue were all outstanding!

We had the party room on the second floor. It was nicely set up, with casual seating, intimate lighting, lots of space to mingle, a nice bar and patio out back, washrooms (with a shower in one), and lots of art hanging on the walls. Very nicely done!

It was a casual setup for food, starting with a Cheese Platter, Oysters on the Half Shell, Olives, and Flatbreads. The veggie courses were next with a delicious Romaine Garden Salad, Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Crispy Green Beans with a delicious Truffle Aioli, and Wild Boar Meatballs.

Pizza was the last course and they were certainly worth the wait. We got a variety, all cooked in a wood-fired oven and all delicious! I was kinda full by this time but I managed to sample a couple of different ones and they were outstanding. This was the best pizza I've had in a very long time!

Besides the great venue and delicious food, the service was excellent, especially with only three staff to handle greeting, serving, clearing, tending the bar, and operating the dishwasher on the fly. Great job!

Although this was a private event in their party room, I can only imagine the restaurant on the ground floor would be just as good. Give them a try. I would...