Il Gatto e la Volpe Woodbridge — Restaurant in Vaughan

My family of 4 had dinner on Feb 6th for my husband's bday. I'm Italian so when it comes to Italian food, I'm extremely picky. First off let me start by saying that Cassandra our waitress was the sweetest waitress we've ever had. Patient, charismatic and so attentive to each one of us. Maria was also nearby with a smile attending to everything and anything. It was nice having her bring our food because her strong Italian accent made it seem as if we were in a little cozy place back in Calabria.

We ordered antipasto, grilled calamari, fried calamari, 3 types of pasta, pizza and steak with sides. Everything was absolutely amazing. Pure authentic Italian food. Even the bread basket was amazing.

The dessert: tiramisu and this warm, fried dough that they served with sugar and cinnamon dipped in wait for it….. Nutella, WOW!!! My 22 year old son doesn't have much of a sweet tooth but he devoured this. (I know that there's a Spanish dessert similar or same to this but this in all of our opinion, was the best we've ever had)

The restaurant had a nice ambiance. The staff was just welcoming and everyone had a smile and we never felt rushed. Thank you Cosimo for coming to greet us and wish my husband a happy birthday. Thank you to both Cassandra and Maria, you ladies are so sweet and thank you to the ones behind the scenes who I'm sure put their heart and soul into the pure authentic food for us picky Italians who compare everything to nonna!

Definitely recommend and definitely going back with family...

My Uncle Dan is straight out of a movie. The most Italian man you could ever think of. Straight out of the Goodfellas, thick accent, wife beater, gold chains, etc. He has more money from his construction business than he knows what to do with. He’s in his twilight years of working so these days he mostly spends his time making his own red wine from scratch, hunting turkeys, and growing vegetables in his garden. He clears the vibe check.

I'm yapping now, but all this to say he picked Il Gatto E La Volpe for dinner so I knew this food was gonna SMACK. We started with margherita pizzas for the table, arrancini, calamari, and a couple bottles of red wine picked by Uncle Dan.

My Mom got the gnocchi bolognese, which I knew I would get 80% of as she eats like a mouse, so I went with the Florentine steak. I hate to be corny and say "everything was sensational," but everything was sensational so Imma leave it at that.

My favorites were the gnocchi bolognese and arrancini though, as I had never seen gnocchi bolognese on a menu. It honestly should be a more common dish. I'm making a prediction that by 2029, gnocchi bolognese will be a standard item on all Italian menus.

Service was great, vibes were up, and this was just a great place to enjoy some much needed family time over some red wine. These haters got me stressed. SHOUTOUT TO UNCLE DAN!

IG...

Someone recommended Il Gatto e La Volpe to me, but I was very disappointed. I should have known the food would be sub-par when I arrived on a Friday night with a reservation, only to find over 30 empty tables and was told to seat myself.

We were greeted promptly, but being told to seat ourselves at 7 pm with so many empty tables was bizarre. A bottle of flat water (likely just tap) was $8. For 2 people, we ordered calamari ($30) and rice balls ($25). The calamari portion was shockingly small—10 pieces of calamari and 5 shrimp. The rice balls were cold, hard, unflavored, and barely had any sauce.

Our mains were penne alla vodka and margherita pizza, both simple dishes that were completely ruined. The pizza was tiny, bland, and left my boyfriend hungry enough to get a burger after. The penne was overcooked mush with a flavorless vodka sauce. Even my mom, who tried the leftovers, said it didn’t taste like vodka sauce.

Finally, we ordered a tartufo for my boyfriend’s birthday. While decent, it was store-bought and not worth $12.

Final thoughts: We spent $150 for rice balls, calamari, pasta, and pizza—no alcohol, just one pop. We felt completely scammed. I will never return and strongly recommend avoiding this place...