Tutto Pronto on Avenue — Restaurant in Toronto

My review is about how tuto pronto handled food allergy restrictions. I respect a restaurant that can straightforwardly acknowledge if they don’t want to accommodate food allergies, and this restaurant would be wise to be honest and upfront about this. My negative review is because I was given every assurance that it was no problem to adjust the meal to my allergies, starting with my calling weeks in advance to inquire. This call including going over the menu and the specifics of my allergies to determine what was possible, what I needed to avoid and even trying to make those arrangements in advance, to which I was told it wasn’t necessary and the server that night would be more than happy to ensure the order was accurate. We arrived 15 min early before the rest of our party to ask allergy questions and to go over things and it seemed to be ok. The server supposedly consulted with the chef and we had the green light for the meal. Only once everyone else had ordered and the evening was underway did the trouble begin. Every few minutes or so the server returned to tell me about a problem with the meal that had been agreed upon (after consulting with him and he with the chef) and to make changes. This occurred at least three separate times. Finally, after a very long time and once the other diners had begun their appetizers (I did not order one) the server once again approached me to once again ask me for a list of all of my allergies and I again repeated for the third time how the dish should be prepared (it was a very simple dish). In the end, it became clear that the chef was uncomfortable accommodating my food allergies, and clearly did not want to do so, so I advised the server not to prepare the meal. Clearly, the chef did not want to do it. So I sat, and sat, without food through my friends eating their appetizers, then their main courses. The server was not bothered at all and left me extremely uncomfortable. No further interaction, no offer to suggest alternatives, no offer of a drink on the house to compensate this, no apology for his and the chef’s part in misleading me. I have eaten in many restaurants in many cities for years with food allergies, and this is the worst experience I ever had. I would like to speak to the owner, but don’t know how to get to her. If the restaurant had been upfront then we would’ve found another place to dine. No problem. There are restaurants that won’t accommodate food allergies and that is their prerogative, and they are clear about it upfront. But to encourage me and then result in this is wrong. It ruined the evening for all of us. In the end, I tried to discuss my disappointment with the server and rather than be apologetic he was rather arrogant, defended the chef, and told me the chef didn’t want to have to wash the pan between making dishes to ensure it was ok)! Imagine that. Only one pan to cook meals and no cleaning in between! A reflection of a lazy chef (Christian)who is unable to or does not want to go beyond the cookie cutter approach and a server (Elin) who either didn’t know how to handle this or who didn’t care. No concern, no awareness. By the way, the rest of our party said the food was average. Suffice to say none of us will return and I will spread the word among those with food allergies to stay away. It may be an ok neighbourhood place for regulars. But if you have food allergies you will be treated with disdain...

We got the Burrata Italiana, Carpaccio Di Manzo, Tagliatelle Ai Funghi and Cavatelli Pugliese. Overall a decent meal but a few low lights.

There was not enough bread for either appetizer...it was pretty disappointing that they then proceed to charge $4 for extra bread. Enough bread should be provided to fully finish the appetizer...otherwise you're really skimping the customer. Specifically for the Burrata, I felt that there should have been more roasted pistachios on it...cause the roasted pear and the Burrata already have a soft/mushy texture, so adding a bit more pistachios to give a more crunchy texture to the mouth feel would have been nice. Sure, the toasted bread would add a nice crunchy texture, however see comment above. To add a bit more flavour, I think adding a drizzle of honey to the Burrata would have been very nice! The Funghi pasta was the better of the two pastas, however I wish there had been more sauce that accompanied the noodles and towards the end of the meal, you could really taste the oiliness, which was disappointing. I could also tell that of the two pastas, the Funghi was completed first, as it seemed to have been sitting under the prep light for sometime before it was brought out to us. How could I tell? The sauce had started to coagulate. The Cavatelli was overall enjoyable...however I felt as though the noodle was JUST a bit TOO al dente for my liking. Not sure if the pasta is made fresh daily...but doesn't seem like it. While the waitress was friendly enough and polite, not once did she make eye contact with me or my partner. She merely looked uninterested when interacting with us.

From what I understand, this place is comparable to Terroni...but in my opinion...it's 1-2 tiers below Terroni for about the same price...so maybe not...

This was one of the most underwhelming dining experiences I had in Toronto. First off, for what is supposed to be an upscale Italian restaurant, I was expecting the bread to be complementary. When our soup arrived, we were not offered bread nor asked if we wanted to order some; we had to ask ourselves. Anyway, the bread, which was not complementary, was slightly burnt not fresh.

Furthermore, I am pretty sure the pizza we ordered was frozen. They denied this accusation, but the texture was stiff and the way the toppings stuck on the dough was reminiscent of high quality frozen pizza. Loblaw's pizza in their hot section literally outclasses the pizza here and is a fraction of the price.

As for the pasta, it was tolerable, but definitely not worth over $20 for the plate.

I would say that the service here was good. The waiting staff took care of all of our needs and even decided to give us the soup and bread for free because of how disappointed we were. That alone deserves a star. The place also gets another star because my 1 year old son seemed to enjoy the food, but keep in mind that he was very hungry and probably would have eaten anything.

This place needs the Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen treatment if it is going to have any chance at living up to its reputation as an upscale Italian restaurant. At the moment, it's dive bar quality food disguised as cuisine. Never again am I...