Sorento Italian Kitchen — Restaurant in Toronto

For context, this is my second time eating here and my first experience was quite good.

I am giving this restaurant 3 stars, based on food alone today. Had the service been better, I would have easily given this restaurant 4-5 stars.

We arrived at the restaurant and were warmly received by the owner (?). My mother wanted to have dinner here, to celebrate my father's retirement. This was something I shared with our server. I was pleased with the warm reception, and pleased that they accommodated our request to modify our pizza order.

Our server was courteous, but not very attentive.

First, he didn't get my father's drink order incorrect. My father explicitly said (twice) that he did not want ice in his drink. When the drink arrived, I noticed that there was ice in it and kindly advised the server that my father actually requested no ice with his drink.

Second, my order was not punched through. So, after everyone's order was served at the table, about 15 minutes into everyone enjoying their meal - and without any follow-up from our server - I left our table, to inquire about my dinner. That's how I found out that it wasn't entered into the system. In other restaurants that I've been to, I haven't had this problem. Typically the servers make sure that everyone has received their orders, before the party starts eating. Like, the server actually looks around at the table and asks if anyone needs anything. I noticed our server look at my empty table setting (no plate) and he paused, but did not ask any questions. On my part, I simply assumed that he made a mental note to check the kitchen for my order. Anyway, I confirmed with him that I still wanted my order (because everyone else in the party was eating their dinners and, naturally, since I was at the restaurant with them, I wanted to eat dinner there, too), and I was told that my dinner would arrive shortly. It did arrive at a pretty good time, and when it arrived, everyone else around the table was finishing their dinner, so, even though I did receive my dinner, it made the experience less enjoyable for me (having to eat my dinner so quickly, since I was the last one to get served).

Third, there was no remedial action on the server's part. He did apologized and said that the error was his fault. I thought it was nice of him to take ownership of his error. When it was time for the bill, I asked if I would be getting any kind of discount on my dinner. Let's remember that I had to ask for my order halfway through our celebration dinner. I have to admit that my food was delicious, but the uncomfortable and unsatisfactory experience altogether left me sad and disappointed. In other restaurants, in order to make up for poor customer service, the server will either give a discount on the meal, offer the meal at no charge or give something for free, just to make the paying customer feel appreciated. No such thing happened to me here.

My dinner cost $14 and our group's total dinner came up to approx. $100 before tip. Between now (June) and December, we will have 5-6 other opportunities to eat at a restaurant and would easily spend over $100 before tip. So, that would be approx. $600 before year-end. I'm embarrassed to admit that, given the opportunity to choose a restaurant to celebrate and spend at least $100, I would not champion to make an effort to choose this restaurant, for fear of being treated poorly again.

If you are looking for good food at a reasonable price point and don't mind hit-or-miss/potentially poor customer service, I would recommend this restaurant to you. If you like to eat at restaurants that make you feel special or appreciated for choosing to support their business, then you might want to...

We just came back from a terrible experience for my mom,s 80th birthday. We went in the restaurant and it is really crammed, tables are extremely close to each other. We were 6 adults and 2 kids, and we had to be in 2 separate tables. We asked the waitress if we could put the tables together and with an unfriendly face she said NO. Luckily our other friends didn't come otherwise it would have been really embarrassing to be in 3 separate tables; we were having conversations and passing food across tables while people were going through the middle. Also the table that was supposed to be for our friends was a fire hazard, the chair was 2 inches off the stairs. We were in the middle of 2 set of tables...that they were supposed to be left free in order to disturb those 2 sets; but I guess service is not their virtue, therefore the more people the more money. Also being close to the washroom/fountain was not really good idea; there was a bad smell sometimes even though the washrooms have 2 doors to go through. The lights were full of cobwebs. Waitress came soon and we ordered drinks and appetizers, and pizza for the kids. Appetizers were nothing extraordinary. Our kids had their pizzas and unfortunately we ordered our main courses. The waitress was hard to find....she barely came to our table. Unfortunately the set of tables behind us got busy with 8 rude adults, with no kids. Our 4 year old daughter jumped twice on the floor and my 20-months old son was watching a movie, and I guess they were very loud and bothering these people, so one told us Can you control your kids! What we found really rude, and we started talking back and forth, so we asked for the bill even though we didn't finish our meals, in order to leave that uncomfortable situation. The bill arrived, and to our surprise tip was already included!!!! In the meantime, the manager was trying to sit people on the other set of tables behind us (we were in the middle), and she came and told very rudely to my 80 year old mom and my husband to move closer to the table...not sure where because there was really no space at all. Everybody was rude, the restaurant staff and the clientele. We definitely will never go even close to that restaurant, even if we didn't have the problem with the other people, we didn't think the restaurant was...

I've driven by the location a number of times and have dined in some of the other restaurants in there and on a whim, my wife and I decided to look at the menu. After seeing what was offered for the lunch crowd, we went on in. You know it's a good sign when the server/owners know customers by name and vice versa. If you're going for ambiance or decor, then you'll be a bit disappointed. The restaurant was clean but some of the furnishings and decor looked a bit out of place in some areas. I joked with my wife that it felt like a Mr. Greek or something previously. But looks can be deceiving.

I ordered the Margarita pizza and my wife ordered the Spaghetti al funghi. (I was hoping they offered a funghi pizza but sadly, they didn't have one) Places like Sorento are truly what I love about this city. It's often the smaller and more obscure establishments, where you can find some of the best food in town. The Margarita was very good. Not greasy and flavorful. As simple as pizza can get. I tried my wife's dish and the Spaghetti was firm but not too chewy. I would have liked a bit more variety of mushrooms in there (it looked like mostly cremeni mushrooms) but overall, a very nice dish.

The dinner and lunch menus looked pretty much identical with the exception of an additional dish or two in the mains but everything on the lunch menu was also on the dinner menu. (I did note that some of the lunch items were now a $1.00 more on the dinner menu. My pizza for example was one item like that) hopefully that translates to a bit more on your plate for dinner service for the same item. But even with the price increase, it's still worth it considering the price you'd pay for a pizza from one of the cardboard box establishments.

What stops me short of giving them a full 5 star rating is the decor. I think if it was slightly updated or if they renovated some of the worn down areas, updated the lighting inside, it would make for a better dining experience. But looks be damned! I'll definitely be returning...