Scaddabush Italian Kitchen & Bar Don Mills — Restaurant in Toronto

We keep coming back to this restaurant because the food is consistently delicious and made with the freshest ingredients. During our most recent visit, we enjoyed the Sofia pizza, bruschetta avocado, and polenta fries—and once again, we were thoroughly impressed by the exceptional quality, taste, and the love that goes into preparing each dish. Our server, Alex, was a very pleasant and attentive young man who contributed greatly to our wonderful dining experience. What truly sets this restaurant apart is the incredible presence and dedication of the manager, Sterling. He plays a pivotal role behind the scenes and is always around to ensure that every dish is prepared exactly to the customer’s liking. Sterling personally visits most tables to check in with guests, making sure everyone is happy with their meals. If there is ever a miss or issue, he immediately addresses it on the spot, ensuring customers leave feeling completely satisfied and valued. Sterling is a golden manager who genuinely cares about every customer. He treats the restaurant as if it were his own, greeting guests with a warm smile the moment they walk in and attentively overseeing the entire dining area. His humility is remarkable—when we acknowledge his kind and inviting gestures, he simply smiles and says he is happy to be here to make the experience pleasant, insisting it’s just part of his job. Beyond his excellent customer care, Sterling is an inspiring leader who constantly motivates and coaches his staff. He is always available to lend a hand, no matter the situation. For example, when a server accidentally dropped some dishes, Sterling immediately got down on his knees to help clean up, first checking if the server was okay and reassuring them to focus on the customers while he handled the mess or jumps in to help out wherever needed. This level of care and hands-on leadership is truly exceptional. This restaurant is unique not only because of the outstanding food and service but also because of the amazing team led by Sterling. His inspiring qualities, kindness, and dedication create a positive environment that shines through in every aspect of the experience. Many thanks to Alex for the wonderful service and a heartfelt thank you to Sterling for making every visit memorable and special. Sterling is the heart and soul behind this restaurant’s success, and his leadership makes all...

During lunch, our server informed us that the kitchen carefully took their time (but not too long) to prepare our meals, and it really showed! The garlic bread was freshly made having slightly crunchy crusts and chewy interior. The lemon shrimp spaghetti was creamy, but not too heavy and the social sized portion was the right amount for a table for 3. The bruschetta fresca like the garlic bread tasted fresh, but also had the right amount or cheese, tomato, and balsalmic. The chocolate cake dessert was not too sweet and had just the right amount of moisture.

Micaela was our server and was simply excellent. It definitely seemed she was in tune with the flow of things at back of the house and agile when it came to the needs of her guests. She did all of this while emanating a very inviting, comfortable, and positive vibe which enhanced the relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant during our dining experience. Keep it up! 👍

On the topic of atmosphere, the rustic interior and the reasonably audible yet not too loud background music was definitely a part of the positive experience. However, it was the location that made it much more inviting to approach and much more enjoyable to dine in. Unlike most Scaddabush franchises, this one is located in an open air shopping center (Shops at Don Mills). Because of this, from the perimeter parking lot, you walk through pedestrian friendly internal streets and by a small square surrounded by other shops & patios in order to get to the restaurant. The patio view feels like you're looking at a lively downtown district surrounded by other lively restaurants adding to the vibe. In comparison, other Scaddabush restaurants are situated in the middle of parking lots and/or away from/ separate the main commercial property they are tenants of. It's unpleasant having to find a parking spot in a sea of cars and walking around them just to get to the restautant and even if you choose to sit in the outdoor section, the ✨️view✨️ is just more cars!!! This is all too common in the Canadian suburban dining experience, which is what makes dining out at Scaddabush Don Mills so refreshing.

Overall, I highly recommend going to this Scaddabush restaurant especially for East Toronto suburbanites who don't want the hustle and bustle of downtown, but still want that top tier relaxing pedestrian-friendly dining experience with delicious...

We had a minor, but annoying experience at Scaddabush Don Mills last night. My daughter ordered the spaghetti and meatball. At the bottom of the Pasta section on the menu there are options to add chicken, mozzarella (@$7.99) and one other thing. My daughter asked our server to add the mozzarella to her pasta dish. When our orders came (via a different server) the mozzarella wasn't added to the dish. She mentioned this to the server, he said "my mistake" and came back with a ball of mozzarella.

When the bill came, I noticed we were charged $9 for the mozzarella and pointed out to the original server that the menu says the mozzarella addition to the pasta is $7.99. What followed was an argument about the cost of the mozzarella. Apparently there are two mozzarella offerings, and one is the addition to the pasta dish at $7.99 (which is what my daughter ordered) vs. a separate mozzarella order, which is $9. How in the heck were we supposed to know this, and she ordered the mozzarella addition to her dish. Our server was flustered, and offered to talk to the manager. For $1, I brushed it off, but we were incorrectly billed and I took it out on the server's tip.

I will likely return to this location because it is close by and I like Scaddabush, but I will be keeping an eagle eye on the charges. I wonder whether these small errors are deliberate and add up over time. If not deliberate, the ordering, delivery, and billing were sloppy at best. If we had known there were two mozzarella offerings and what they looked like, we could have pointed out the error when the mozzarella was brought to our table. However, we didn't know there were two offerings at different prices and what the mozzarella we ordered should have looked like.

Like I said, it was a small annoyance that ultimately came at the expense of our server's tip, but it left a poor impression.

Four stars for food because my daughter didn't like the meatball and for the mozzarella screw up. My butternut squash ravioli...