Pizzeria Libretto — Restaurant in Toronto

I had some high expectations in dining here! A name like Pizzaeria Libretto is promising to be a higher and brand and for the prices that we paid, I feel a bit shortchanged. Do not get me wrong, the food was tantalizing the delicious. I had the focaccia and the buttermilk fried calamari. For the latter, [I will say this, this stellar dish beats fried fish and any other restaurant, crispy, not greasy, perfect balance of seasoning, nothing to fault here the dish was finished with unctuous Romesco sauce which had the right balance of acidity and had helped to cut the grease in the fry calamari. The herbal oil that they had added honestly I think was added just for color but it did nothing for the dish and I think should be omitted.

The drinks were the highlight of my experience as they had a great array of cocktails, wines as well as digestifs. And the drinks were consistently coming... The theme of asking you she will receive, was consistent with the drinks

My friend had the fungi pizza and I had treated myself to the Rocco's Nicoise Salad.... Yes yes folks.... For my to do a review considering I had a salad at a pizzeria.. Fear. I like my liquid calories what can I say and I am going to cut corners somewhere! The salad was well seasoned,, lovely marriage of flavors of sweetness of the dressing with the darkness of the tomatoes and the salty brininess of the tuna.

So where it did not go wrong last night?? What had happened to warrant 3*not of 5?? I have dined at Liberato on Augmentin and I will see this, service was much much faster at the other location than the 1 in Danforth. I had to wait over 20 minutes to get my for Foccacia bread which I had wanted as a starter and as a lovely accompaniment to my wine. By the time it had arrived, I was looking at the bottom of my bone dry glass. I was also hoping to sample some of the dessert offerings and it was a disappointment upon ordering and waiting to hear how many of the desserts were no longer available. It feels like a let down especially when you are paying hefty price for the experience there. Now I will say this the servers are lovely human beings... Very amiable, giving is helpful recommendations from the menu and are even willing to share their knowledge on which client would care well with what ever just reordered.. No complaints against them. I just feels there needs to be better organization between the kitchen and front of the house staff.

So will I come back to Libretto? I would as they had a few dishes that were memorable but I do hope that they promised to offer the options on the menu that they...

Modern pizzeria that offers traditional Neapolitan style, brick oven pizzas. This trendy little spot brings the classic and simple taste of the local Italian cooking and ingredients to our Canadian tongues. Located in the heart of the Danforth neighbourhood, this place definitrly adds to the atmosphere of this well-known community.

Came for a dinner visit with a group of 4, which they were able to accomodate comfortably. They have a decent amount of tables and space inside the establishment, and a little patio area outside with a more limited seating. Interiors bring a very trendy vibe with a darker atmosphere, a bar, and an open kitchen that showcases the two brick ovens in the back as focal points. They also havr more seating space downstairs and well-maintained restrooms for guests. Atmosphere 5 out of 5.

The servers were really friendly, as we were greeted fairly promptly upon our arrival. Food came at a decent time after ordering, and all our dishes came in hot, fresh and all at the same time. Kudos to the kitchen and dining staff that allowed for that whole experience to happen smoothly. Only suggestion would be to have a designated hostess / greeter that could make the seating arrangements more efficient, since we did wait a few minutes at the front before we got seated by someone. Service 4 out of 5.

For our food, we started off with a plate of gnocchi fritti with chive creme fraiche as our appetizer. Loved the sauce and even saved some of it for my pizza. However, the actual plate portion seemed scarce to share and the gnocchi size felt too small. It almost tasted like fries due to the smaller cuts. For our main courses, we had the opportunity to order and try four different types of 12" pizzas (duck confit, funghi; 'Nduja and pepperoni both with gluten free dough). I personally ordered the Duck Confit pizza and enjoyed every bit of it. The duck was very tender and the roasted peaches gave the nice sweet accent to it, wishing that there was a bit more peaches on the pizza. We also had chili oil and flakes on the side which we advantageously used for our pizzas. However, the chili oil was not spicy enough for my liking. I had to add more chili flakes on it & the pizza just to give a nice kick of spice to each bite. The 'Nduja and pepperoni pizzas were also very good, especially the gluten free crust that impressed our whole table. However, the funghi pizza did disappoint, since the base cheese felt a little too dry and there were not enough mushrooms as toppings....

While Google describes a two-star rating as "disliking," I wouldn't say that I dislike Pizzeria Libretto because overall it was nice restaurant and the food was good. However, I dislike how my boyfriend and I were treated by our waiter and his attitude. "Derek" (also a bartender?) didn't make a very good first impression on us.

We had never been to Pizzeria Libretto before and were very enticed by the online menu. We were excited to enjoy a Valentine's Day dinner that consisted of authentic Italian fare.

But… upon learning that it was our first time dining at Pizzeria Libretto, Derek immediately began explaining the name of the pizzeria (which we appreciated) and how it related to the style of pizza that is created there. However, the story became rather off-putting when he began to assume that we had come to the restaurant expecting pizza that was, as he put it, something we could get at Pizza Pizza. We smiled and nodded, said thank you and began looking at the menu.

At first I thought maybe he just didn't realize that what he was saying wasn't very nice, but when it was time to order he seemed bothered that we were okay with "just water" (which he spilled quite a bit of on my side of the table and neglected to clean up or even offer… so we got out some napkins that we happened to have with us), and even more unimpressed when we decided to split the $25 fixed price menu that was offered that evening.

I don't think we need to explain or justify WHY we decided to split the meal, but I will anyway for context — I know I wouldn't be able to eat the entire 12" pizza on my own, plus we had had a late lunch. Either way, he didn't seem impressed.

When we ordered the Caprese Salad, Derek decided we needed correcting because we said, "Cap-pray-say" and he said, "The CAP-PRAY-SEE salad" randomly.

Even splitting the $25 fixed menu (which had four courses), we couldn't finish it all. I was absentmindedly picking the crumbs off my plate while talking to my boyfriend and Derek cuts in to say, "Are you done with your plate, or do you still need it?" — Who does that?

Needless to say, I was looking forward to leaving and really did not want to tip him. But, luckily for him, we're good patrons in spite of being treated otherwise.

All-in-all the food at Pizzeria Libretto was wonderful, and we would likely come back if we're ever in Toronto again. However, Derek leaves something...