 |
Toronto |
| Toronto - Montreal - Vancouver - New York - Chicago - Bangkok - Paris - Other cities | |
|
User Reviews and comments on Terroni From: terroni on Dec-24-2003 sono un italiano e vivo in francia mi chiamo terroni pietro in italia mio paese si chiama monti di guinadi provincia di massa di carrara vicino a pontremoli vi mando un buon natale e felice anno nuovo 2004 viva massa carrara viva la merda nel mondo viva terroni Serendipidous find on Queen Street: We were disappointed to find out that a restaurant where we had planned to dine only served until 10pm. On the hunger search...we stumbled across Terroni's across the street. Who knew we'd find the best pizza place in Toronto! Terroni's boasts a relaxed eclectic ambiance with the option of eating at the cooking counter where guests can watch the chefs in action. The menu is reasonably priced and has a great selection of pizzas and pastas. Oh...and on the way out, Terroni's has shelves full of difficult-to-find italian dried and preserved goods for purchase. Highly recommended! PS. Ever since the discovery last winter, we frequent Terroni's quite often...and we have never thought twice about trying that original restaurant accross the street. TheThe service at the Victoria street location is an absolute mess! From the very beginning when the female server took our order while scratching her head for at least a minute while showing us her unshaved arm pit.. all the way through to her sarcastic wave goodbye, it was appaling. First salads arrived (mediocre & overpriced) then we waited 35 minutes before our entres appeared. Along the way, I asked the server if there was a problem. With unbeliveable arrogance, she said "no.. why would there be a problem?" I knew she made a mistake with our order when I saw her look it up on the order screen and watched her confusion and consternation. No apology, no reason given.. only, "it'll be a few more minutes." A decent restaurant would have acknowleded the mistake, apologized and offered a free drink, entre or desert. None of that happned here! And at these prices, I'd expect at least a sincere "I'm sorry". I will never forget the defensiveness of this server when I noted we had been waiting an unacceptable amount of time for our food. Truly, spectacularly horrible service. If you have an enemy you want to annoy to death, Terroni on Victoria would be a good place to go. If you long to be treated with decency and respect for your money, go elsewhere. For the first time in my adult life I did not tip! I'll bet she experiences this a lot, so If you have a used bic shaver to donate, maybe this waitress can use it. From: Marc on Mar-03-2005 the worst meal I have ever had, very dente pasta, poor service, and small portions when I mentioned my complaint to to the manager of the Queen street location he said "sorry you did not like it". This place is trendy and very busy , I can't understand why? From: Jenniflower on May-16-2005 Terroni is a great restaurant! When I lived in Toronto, we lived very close so I went like... once a week! I miss it a lot now, but i give it a 5/5! From: Dave Piehl from St. Louis on Jul-15-2005 We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at Terroni's last evening. While it did get crowded, the food was hot and very tasty! We stayed and enjoyed Tiramisu for dessert. We highly recommend Terroni. From: Franny on Dec-14-2005 Amazing food!!!!! Amazing atmosphere- it felt like I was in Italy!!!!! Amazing service!!!!!! Great place to go on a date, lunch, dinner with friends on a weekend!!!! WOW!!!!! From: Matt on Oct-24-2006 Victoria street location. Mediocre food. BAD service. Conversation overheard at 5:30 pm ... Customer: "Hi, how long for a table for 4?" Little Guy at the Front: "Everyone wants a table for 4. Come back at 7." Niiice. Do you think he came back? Nope ... and neither will we. From: Vi on Nov-26-2006 Regarding Queen St West location. I happened upon it by accident. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of food and bustling yet comfortable atmosphere. It turned into one of my favorite restaurants. I dine out often and made it a habit to share your experience with many friends and associates because I loved it! Unfortunately, I no longer frequent this establisment because I simply can not tolerate being waited on by kids with sassy attitudes -- specificaly an 18-22 yr old blonde boy. Sorry Terroni I will not return. You may want to look at a situation like this because I am sure I am not the first to stop dining at your restaurant for this reason. Thank You. From: Chris on Dec-26-2006 Ignore those bad reviews. Terroni has the best pasta in the city. Plus, the pizza and salads are fantastic. There's nothing wrong with the service. Go there. From: Carlos on Jun-04-2007 It was a long wait to get in and it just was not worth it. The food was very average, the tables were too close together and the waitresses were rude. Do I need to put up with attitude from a scrawny creature with hairy armpits dressed in an undershirt, while I'm trying to eat my food. Don't waste your time, go to a real restaurant. From: oreo maria on Jun-23-2007 From the moement we arrived at Teroni at Yonge and Balmoral we encountered attitude from the hostess and wait staff. My brother oredered spaghetti with tomato sauce but it was lightly covered with it. When he asked for more he was told that they make only enough sauce for each dish. We could not believe that for we have never been refused extra sauce at other restaurants even if they had to whip some up (plus you need sauce on hand when making pizza). She also told him this want not home where you can get extra sauce (like we never eat out). In the end she gave us sauce (1 mintue after asking for it) but said we would be charged and again could not believe that. She gave us the impression though that she had waived the fee but lo and behold it was on the bill. Now the $2.50 is not going to break our bank but it is the prinicpal. We will never go there again. There are better Italian restaurants in City From: Timothy on Sep-17-2007 Terroni's has a great atmosphere in the restaurants on Queen St. and Victoria St.. The staff are both pleasant and welcoming and the food is great. The portion size is fine and you don't leave the restaurant feeling stuffed. I have been going to Terroni since 1999 and I love the cozy atmosphere, the pizza is amazing and the staff have always been pleasant and friendly. I have introduced many people to these restaurants and everyone enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. I wish Terroni nothing but success and look forward to dining in the new larger location on King St. From: Angela on Sep-19-2007 Our family with two young kids went to Terroni on Balmoral for an early dinner on a Saturday in August 2007 (it wasn't busy because it was 5pm). The staff was friendly enough but were somewhat pre-occupied by one of their staff members birthday and birthday cake. What was worse is that our 5 year old was starving and wanted butter for the bread as they only brought olive oil. Well, obviously we weren't versed in Terroni's no changes/subsitutions or whatever other crap they spew about not accommodating simple requests. They said they have butter in the kitchen but they won't give you any. Now please explain to me how being allowed butter for BREAD is changing the integrity of a dish. It's BREAD for crying out loud. Despite the butter request being turned down, I later decided to ask for balsamic vinegar for my $13 appetizer of bufala and tomatoes. I knew it was likely pointless but the nice waitress said she'd ask even though they don't give it out either. Amazingly, she came back with balsamic and said it must be my "lucky day"! While I appreciated getting the balsamic I hardly feel that I should feel "lucky" for getting some balsamic vinegar for an appetizer that I'm paying $13 for! And by the way....I've been to Italy and eaten at "authentic" Italian restaurants and guess what? They serve balsamic at the table with that dish I ordered. I strongly recommend NEVER GO TO TERRONI - ever. I certainly won't and I will tell whoever will listen...especially now that I've read other similar reviews about Terroni and at different locations too. An anti-customer establishment such as this should not be rewarded for such attitude on simple, reasonable requests. People aren't asking them to whip up dishes that aren't on the menu. Owners of Terroni - GET REAL. Your restaurant ain't no 4-star establishment. And quite frankly I hope you go out of business given your attitude to customers. I've been to 4 star restaurants and they generally try to accommodate people if the requests are reasonable. That's what people pay for...not attiutde! From: anne on Sep-28-2007 This is kind of in response to the reviewer who couldn't get butter for her kids bread ... hey lady, you know where you can find butter? At your own freaking house --- eat there! Also, don't let your kid get that hungry- bring snacks! I am not an employee of this restaurant or good friends with its owners or anything but I do love the food and fun atmosphere. I also respect their wishes to stay true to the southern Italian menu. There are hundreds of restaurants that spew out mediocre food for the minivan majority, with little packets of butter and all that crap, but terroni is special and I certainly wouldn't discourage people from eating there -- I recommend it to everyone I know! From: anonymous on Oct-02-2007 I went to the location on queen street west and it was not what i expected. The service was rough and the food not the greatest. Next time i will give my money to McDonalds, at least that way I know what to expect. From: anonymous on Nov-21-2007 whoa lady, why so angry at a mother who wants butter for her child? the staff at the queen st. location can be crabby at times, this is true. Also, I have noticed that the quality is just not what it used to be. Went for dinner recently with a bunch of friends, the gnocci was tasteless, not the little bites of heaven that they used to be. Also, the bucatini is a good pasta but the rest were mediocre. Stick with the pizzas though, you can't go wrong with them or with the fungi assoluti salad. From: Patrick on Dec-05-2007 Having been introduced to the Terroni on Queen by a good friend this summer, who as a result gained considerably in my estimation, I have become a Terroni's addict. It is a magical combination of amazing food, ambiance and the wonderfully mixture of patrons. If I don't Terroni on a regular basis I lose some of my, albeit minimal, humanity. So get out there and Terroni!!! If you can't stand hairy armpits and food served in a way slightly different then you are accustomed to it may be that instead of going off your nut, you just go elsewhere From: Sabrina on Dec-12-2007 Yawn. It's an Italian restaurant, the food is okay (certainly not great, sometimes just terrible), the staff are rude, the atmosphere is fake, doesn't really make you feel you are in a little cafe in Tuscany. To the owners, get over yourselves, you are not rocket scientists, you sell pizza. You have moved into the Courthouse and you have big shoes to fill, no more lineups out the door of your little hole in the wall spot. There are many better, and more authentic, Italian restaurants in Toronto than this one. From: Marlena on Jan-18-2008 Some visitors have commented how much they love the restaurant, hairy armpits and all. First of all, hairy armpits on their own do not create authenticity. Secondly, hairy armpits on a bunch of servers with attitude, who are too busy kissing up to certain customers who might give them a bigger tip, and don't have the time to actually do their job (which is bringing the food to your table, and then clearing away the dirty plates), is not something worth spending one's hard-earned money on. From: Carlos on Feb-04-2008 Next time you go to Terroni on Adelaide and they tell you it's only a 45 minute wait (since it's a slow night), say goodbye and walk a block away to Mercatto on Toronto Street. They'll welcome you into a much nicer restaurant, with better food and without the arrogant attitude. From: Victoria on Feb-12-2008 Just love your restaurant, the atmosphere is so real and so raw. The pizza is still the best in town. Preferred your other location, much more intimate. From: LP Doren on Feb-23-2008 Been to Terroni's on Balmoral, and tried the new one on Adelaide East last night, and was crudely disappointed. Mind you, my friend had the pizza. But I had the misfortune to order the daily fish, swordfish that came oddly sliced thin laterally (!?!) , some slices with holes from the dubious enterprise, and as tasty as hospital food - no spices, no herbs, no nothing. Even the frisée that came with it had not a sprinkle of oil, vinegar, or even lemon let alone specks of parsley. The menu offered much done with ricotta, notorious for imbibing sauces and leaving them clumpy. Where's the marscarpone? They brought us the wrong lemon (ricotta!) cake at dessert too. This can only be southern Italian/North American cooking. While it may make for good food at home, it doesn't "cut" it in gastronomy. From: LPD on Feb-23-2008 PS: For pizza, I would still go to Fillipo's, Marcello's and Caffè Doria who make pizza in wood burning ovens, before coming here again. From: Margaret on Mar-01-2008 My friends and I were looking for the Courthouse, sure enough it was gone, but we decided to try Italian food instead. We were disappointed. We had a long wait and the food was very ordinary. From: John on Mar-01-2008 I love Italian food, so I was interested to try a new restaurant. I don't think I will be returning, as it was quite mediocre. From: Roberto on Mar-06-2008 Lots of hype, but actually quite ordinary. We had a long wait, the food was so-so and the servers were rude. I'd recommend not to bother. From: chiara on Mar-11-2008 If you decide to run with the restaurant policies and the attitude that Terroni has, your food better be impeccable. And the food at Terroni is anything but. Calling it mediocre is complimenting it. Of course it tastes somewhat OK, because the ingredients are good quality. But to anybody that knows something about cooking, it's pretty obvious that Terroni doesn't. Rustic food is simple and can be really elegant, but what Terroni's doing is rustic in a very bad way - sloppy and tasteless. Pizzas are not what they used to be, somewhere along the way people forgot how to make the dough taste nice, paste are somewhat ok, depending on the day, but the secondi are just horrible. And their gnocchi and ravioli would turn off anybody - the first absolutely leaden and tasteless, the second missing their stuffing 4 out of 5 times. There's much better Italian food in the city, and they don't use the world 'traditional' as an explanation for not knowing how to cook. From: pecka on Apr-12-2008 Where to begin? From the four slices of bread to be shared among the five of us at the table, served with tasteless oil, to the pasta and pizza entrees served with barely discernible toppings/fillings, to the arrogance of the manager lecturing the member of our party who dared to request balsamic vinegar for her bocconcini and tomato salad. First she was instructed by our server to try it as it was, which she did with the oil, salt and pepper she was grudgingly allowed. When she again requested some balsamic vinegar, the manage came to our table, and spent several minutes insisting that to serve this salad with balsamic vinegar would impinge on its "authenticity". Never mind that our friend had recently been in Italy, which is where she was first introduced to the combination of bocconcini and balsamic. The upshot is, my friend handed her salad over unfinished, and we enjoyed a lovely dessert and coffee across the street. We thoroughly enjoyed the great service at The LIttle Black Dress Shop in the afternoon, but recommend you give this Little Rude Restaurant a pass! From: M on May-06-2008 I disagree with the above - and I do happen to know a thing or two about food. I go to Terroni's often, and au contraire - I find their olive oil and crusty calabrese divine. When I was there last, I had a lovely antipasti starter with fantastic speck and a crumbly parm - I find their ingredients fresh and the quality high. For my primi I had Spaghetti in Canna a Mare - (homemade spag. with fresh clams, mussells, scallops, tiger shrimp) in a tomato sauce that was light and fresh. The portion of seafood was generous too... My companion had the Tirolese pizza which was lovely as well. Furthermore, while I am aware they do not do any menu substitutions, I have never had bad service and always enjoy the food and environment when I visit Terroni's. From: M on May-06-2008 One more thing, I always go to the Queen West or Balmoral location. Have never been to Adelaide's... From: Imran on May-28-2008 What a load of pretentious bollocks this place is! The food is PONY and how dare they tell that I can't have basalmic with my buffalo due to the "integrity" of the dish being compromised, this from a place which doesn't know the meaning of integrity. I highly recommend you all go there and order the buffalo mozarella and DEFINITELY ask for the basalmic. Ensure that you have already started eating the dish and then once refused on the basalmic, send the almost fully eaten dish back and tell them to shove it where the sun don't shine and refuse to pay! Sweetmans! From: Girl 22 on Jun-25-2008 What started out to be a birthday celebration ended up being a sickened and horrifying experience at Terroni - Yonge & St. Clair. The pasta was tasteless, dry, hard and served cold. We would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. First of all we were crammed on a table that accommodate 4...and it was five of us. We didn't think anything of it since we were out to have a good time and we didn't really cared....we were all very flexible. Secondly one of our friends ordered a drink. She looked nothing like a teenager but was requested to show an ID. We know its the law and abide by it. Still having lots of fun. We give the waiter a health card with picture, DOB etc etc everything that you will think is required to check proof of age. He denied that saying that 'they' take only drivers license. We were all taken back, but humbly obliged and give him the drivers license. We were still having fun at this time. Thirdly, we ordered a round of Ice Tea and water for everyone. We were given a container (bottle/Jug) of water of about 1 liter of water. Within a short time we finished the water and asked for more. At that time the waiter told us that 'they' do not have any more water. We were just stunned. At time point we knew that something was going on. We told him that we were never denied water before. He then went over to another table where people had just left, he picked up their water (1/2 jug) and brought it to us saying that this is the best he can do. We were just horrified and appalled that we were treated this way. We refused the water and said that we would not drink anyone else's water. He then took the same bottle and went to the back and fill it from the tap and brought it back. When he brought it was still foaming (not sure if he did anything with it), from the effect of the tap. We are not sure of the procedure of serving water from the tap, but we know that when he brought the first bottle it didn't look like that. It was chilled and clear etc. None of us drank it. We ordered our food plus appetizer. We waited half an hour before we got our food. The table next to us that came in after us, ordered and was eating and our food did not arrive. When our food came it was cold and dry. There was no sauce etc etc etc. One of the party in our group took a while before he was served his pizza. We were all eating while one of the party in our group sat and waited and waited and waited for his pizza. We asked for Tabasco sauce and was told that they do not have. We were deliberately ill treated and we felt violated. We did not give any reasons what so ever to receive such a degrading and horrifying treatment. We were mannerly and polite to the extend that we even left a 15% tip. Its the way we were brought up by our parents who thought us good values. One of our friends were in tears by the end of the day. The next day we called the manager and lodge a complain. The manager denied that anything of the sort has happened. We then asked to speak to her superior. She took our number promising to pass on the information and never called back. Until now we are still waiting. From: Jeanette on Jun-30-2008 I can't believe all the dismay over being denied balsamic vinegar at Terroni. The stuff is not like salt or pepper: in fact, it's pretty potent. I was at Terroni--don't know when exactly--and sat beside a guy who flipped out over not getting balsamic for his Caprese con Mozzarella di Bufala salad. Look it up in any reputable food book, or even on the internet, and you'll see that the salad is not traditionally served with the stuff (soft creamy cheese with vinegar ?!?!?). It became a fad in the 1980's when North America went nuts for balsamic and started pouring it on everything. The fact that a restaurant exists that cares enough about their food to not pour stuff that doesn't belong on their dishes makes me very happy. People who want to pour ketchup on their macaroni or balsamic on their bocconcini, can go right ahead and do it, and I bet the folks at Terroni wouldn't care--just as long as they do it at home. From: Kelly Ann on Jul-01-2008 I used to work there so I should know. The food is not good. The tips are though, particularly if you show enough skin to the right customers. So who cares, it's all about money. From: sabrina m on Jul-11-2008 Hey, I used to work there too. It was a good job for a girl like me, but you're right, the food was not so great. From: Vicky on Jul-12-2008 To the owners of Terroni, maybe you should just close your doors - after reading all these people's comments about your restaurant, with its arrogant attitude and its tasteless food, who would want to waste their money at your establishment? From: Jenn on Aug-13-2008 I have now been to Terroni three times, twice at the Queen restaurant and once at the Adelaide. Overall, I have been disappointed each time. I wanted to love it, it came so highly recommended, but I just can't. I find the pizza tasteless (I have tried three and been disappointed each time), the ordering policy pretentious for a place of this quality and the service mediocre. Last night at Adelaide we had a table of 7. Our entrees arrived, followed by our drinks and bread. I much prefer the drinks/ bread first, followed by entrees approach. Not much else to say, the decor is nice, the buzzing ambiance is nice, but the food is... meh. I won't be going back unless it's for special events organized by others. Too bad because it's only about ten steps from where I live - maybe I'll try Mercatto instead? From: Pete on Aug-17-2008 I felt much better after discovering from other reviews here that I was not the only one to have had an unpleasant experience with the service. At first I ordered diet coke, which I was told was not available. It could have ended there and the waiter could have walked away, but he insisted on lecturing me that the owners do not believe in sweetners, that the ownders are "anti-sweetner and they don't support it". It was a bit strange but I thought nothing of it. Then after the pizza arrived I asked for some olive oil to drizzle on top. Then I got the lecture from the waiter and he denied the oil. I found this to be strange and inconsiderate, so I won't go back and I don't recommend anyone else go back. To no change menu items because it makes preparation complex for the chef and waiters I understand, but to enforce it as a stand for some kind of pretentious princple is not good business or welcoming. From: TerroniHater on Aug-24-2008 I just tried Terroni's for the first time, after hearing great things about the food. We asked 3 waiters for fresh grated parmesan cheese for our pizza (which was supposed to have parmesan on it already, however we could not see any), and each time, were told that we could not have cheese for our pizza, as the dishes are all served in a very particular way. We eventually complained to the manager, who agreed with us that they are losing customers over this "policy", however did not wish to resolve the situation. He mentioned that Terroni's stopped leaving the cheese graters on the table 2-3 months ago, because people were using it on their pizza! We explained to him that denying a customer parmesan cheese is like denying them salt and pepper, and he stated that "no fine dining establishment provides salt and pepper". His comment is certainly lacking validity, as I have yet to be refused salt and pepper in any kind of restaurant! And after today's experience, I can't understand why he thinks Terroni is a "fine dining restaurant". His only attempt at rectifying the situation was offering us a "seafood dish" instead. At this point, I am still unsure what that would have solved, as we went to Terroni specifically for pizza! I should have left the pizza and walked out, however I ate it anyway, and paid for it, however for the first time ever, I left exact change with absolutely NO tip! There are many other wonderful restaurants in Toronto that actually try to please their paying customers - Terroni is NOT one of them! Do yourself a favour and spend your time and money elsewhere! From: Paul on Sep-12-2008 I heard such great things about Terroni. About how it is the best Pizza in Toronto. Ugh, how wrong could everyone be? At the Adelaide location it was terrible. It was bland, had few to no ingredients on the pizza. The only grande thing about it was the price. Extremely over priced for what you get. Just. Not. Worth. It. I felt like I wasted 40 minutes and $40 of my life going here. From: yummyum on Sep-17-2008 What I love about terroni is how true they stay to the traditional style of Italian food. They serve the food as if you are a guest in someone's home in a small countryside in Italy. Imagine asking for more balsamic or parmesan when you are a guest at someone's home! But also needless to say, each dish is a family recipe and is specially formulated to apply to each pallette. The problem with substitutions and modifications is sometimes those substitutions will ruin the flavours that are meant for the dish, and when this occurs, the customer automatically claims that the restaurant is not good. A customer would NEVER blame their own decision to modify the food. Having said that, I wasn't always on Terroni's side. In fact, I was just as angry at first, but having thought it through i think if that is how they want to run their business then so be it! All their ingredients are of the highest grade available. From the Vita Eggs that they use all the way down to the meats that are butchered themselves or bought from local butchers. Their cheeses are of highest quality and they make the pasta fresh straight from their basement daily. The seafood they serve is always fresh, not frozen. Don't you want that kind of quality in all the food you eat? From: Disappointed diner on Sep-25-2008 The arrogance at Terroni's is appalling. All requests were denied. The assumption being that the chef knows what I like better than I do. Well he's wrong. Can I have my sandwich pressed? No. Can I dip my sandwich in olive oil and vinegar? No. Can I have mustard for my veal sandwich? No. Can I have cheese for my pasta? No. Can I have salt and pepper? Reluctantly, the waitress agreed to provide that, and watched over my shoulder while I added it to my food. Apparently she was not allowed to leave the salt and pepper on the table. I guess the diner is not to be trusted. The food was bland, dull, and overpriced; but the overall arrogance of the waitress and chef made the meal even worse. I know what I like, too bad Terroni's won't allow me to have it my way. In a city with so many great restaurants, Terroni's attitude doesn't stand a chance. From: Jane on Oct-18-2008 I ate at Terroni last night and I loved it! I had the best pizza ever, the crust was excellent! I was a little dissapointed with with the pasta with meat sauce thou. Where was the cheese? But we will go back. From: Alfonso Ribeiro on Oct-21-2008 The food was bland and overpriced. The waiters were pretty much useless. I would give this restaurant a rating of 1/5 and never come back again. From: italto on Jan-23-2009 from reading all of the above...i have a few things to say. I have been a fan of terroni since they opened, on a dreary strip of Queen st West that no one wanted to go near except students musicians and artists who took up residence in cheap studios. that area is what it is thanks to terroni and others willing to take a chance on the neighbourhood before it became littered with drunk suburbanites, 12 dollar martinis and condos. for the comment about it not resembling anything like a tuscan cafe? well, that would be because Tuscany is in the north, and Terroni is SOUTHERN italian food. Also, the look comes from the fact that when they opened, they made use of old, reclaimed, vintage items to decorate, which many upstart toronto restaurants do, and that look just evolved as they expanded. for people who say that the food is horrible? what are you basing it on? the bastardized slop that they serve at Pat and Marios or the olive garden? And where do you get your pizza from? dominos or somewhere else that you have a coupon for no doubt. pizza was not meant to be 3 inches thick with anything and everything thrown on top. italian food is all about simplicity and subtlety....not slapping as much tomato sauce and cheese on something so that everything tastes the same. Remember, the very first pizza ever was a dough with a little bit of herbed sauce, and cheese look it up... for the people who complain about the no butter for your bread? why dont you just ask for some mayo and wonderbread while you're at it. and for the substitutions, there is a reason that these recipes are the way they are, and that should be respected...if you were at a 5 star french resto, would you ask that some balsamic be thrown on top on top of your duck with the port demi glace? Unlikely....don't let the fact that this is 'comfort food' confuse things....some of these are family recipes, some are new. but they are all planned. and for the people that complain about the busy-ness, and the closeness of tables, and the din and the chatter.....GO SOMEWHERE ELSE! it's not like someone forced you into it, you saw the place was jumping when you joined the line up for a table.... yeesh, Terroni doesn't claim to be perfect, and they don't assign their own star ratings, so obviously it's coming from somewhere else..... if you had a bad time, that sucks, but sometimes, that happens...you might have been in a bad mood when you got there, maybe your server was working two sections cause someone called in sick, who knows? I have never had a bad meal at terroni, and often share the line with first timers asking for advice on the menu...and almost everytime i do, they find me at my table to thank me before i/they leave. From: Caroline on Mar-25-2009 a group of 6 of us went to Terroni and first we were told they carry no diet pop of any kind and were told we could have Limonetta or sparkling water. Later someone at my table saw the Limonetta bottle I ordered and said do they have Orangina, which we asked and they did, but we were never told that. My firend had ordered milk prior to this and it was warm when it came to the table. We were told they didn't have butter for the bread only their special olive oil. Then I was told I couldn't ask for my meal to be without oyster mushrooms. Later, someone else at my table asked for cheese on their pasta, which has seafood in it and were told that the cheese is too strong when put on seafood so no they couldn't have cheese on their pasta. I was shocked and appalled, but thought okay if the food is as good as everyone says it's worth this snobbishness. IT WASN'T THAT GOOD. From: AG on Apr-02-2009 Went for dinner with two friends a couple weeks ago. All this attitude people complain about was nowhere to be found. So they didn't seat us until all our party arrived...not a big deal, and not unheard of. Unsure of our wine choice, we asked our server if she's tried a specific one, she said yes, and gave us her opinion. Wine was fantastic as she'd indicated. Each of us ordered pizzas that arrived within 7 minutes of being ordered. They were fantastic and needed nothing but what was on them -- though the fresh hot peppers in a bowl on the table were great! Were not rushed in anyway, and even when we gave the young lady 3 credit cards, she didn't bat an eyelash. Fantastic meal, fantastic server. If you don't like "eating off the menu", go elsewhere, pure and simple. From: JCKC on May-14-2009 We went for Mothers Day, expecting a lineup and getting one. After about a 20 minute wait, we were seated and treated to absolutely the best Italian food i have ever had. Seriously, no pretenses here, just great super fresh food, good wine and decent service. The star really is the food. We had the mezzo y mezzo platter, which was fantastic, followed by a beet salad - to die for - and the margherita pizza which was phenomenal! I want to get the tomato sauce recipe. Seriously, it was great. I would absolutely go back every time I am in the big city. From: Fred on May-16-2009 I used to frequent Terroni on Victoria with some of my buddies when in Toronto on business, hadn't been back to town for a couple of years only to discover the restaurant at that location had changed, now it's Osteria. But things are pretty much the same as before, the food is still ordinary but the attitude, that's what makes it great, because that's what makes for a challenge for us guys. Ultimately, beneath all that attitude some of the waitresses are still a sure thing, my favourite was Kelly but she's no longer there. So go to Terroni, not for the food but for the fun. From: big city girl on Jun-01-2009 To JCKC - If you thought that was good food, you really should get out a bit more. this is one of the worst italian restaurants in Toronto. From: Christina on Jun-29-2009 I went to Terroni for the first time, and wasn't impressed with the food. For what I paid, I was expecting much more in quantity. Also, the taste of the food was just ok. I had the do da pizza, and it was good...not great. I couldn't believe how limited the drinks were. I had to run through a list of at least five drinks, and finally settled on a bellini. The drink selection was terrible. From: Tina on Jul-08-2009 I'm glad to see that some people do not conform to the over-hype of this place. Stop following the sheep, and believing the iPhone commercial and food reviews in Toronto Life. Finally had to see what this place was about, so my fiance and I headed down on Tuesday night at 9:00. Menu was nothing to brag about, the 'handful' of gnochhi my fiance ordered was sub-standard at best, the salad was okay, and the pizza was bland... Just okay... If people want to dwell on the "true", "pure" and "historic" ingredients? My father imports far better olives than these guys... Lets put it that way.. BOTTOM LINE: I think people just eat here (at the Queen West location that is), because they think its some kind of priveledge. Do not placate the ego of the chefs and owners. this place is OKAY... Just okay... I wouldn't bring out-of-town guests here to boast about anything, or waite in line for more than 15 minutes to eat at this place either. ~One thing I will say.. The service was super fast. Ordered, ate and paid in 20 minutes. Good thing too- went for dessert somewhere else. From: Steve on Jul-10-2009 Had the most bizarre experience at Terroni's Adelaide, and certainly will not be going there again. My girlfriend ordered a past with shrimp, which she found a little bland so she asked for some parmesan, and was told flatly NO by the waitress, we don't serve it with seafood. We were both dumbstruck. I then asked the waitress if I could have soem for my (meat based) dish and some pepper, so she went and got some. When she served my parmesan, I asked nicely again to just put some on my girlfriends because she wanted some - she said NO again. We then asked for a manager - he came, and after we again asked nicely - he said NO...we just don't serve it with that pasta. I asked why they would not just serve a customer what they have asked for (after all it is just cheese) and his answer was dumbfounding....he said 'let me take your food away, and I can bring you the menu and you can choose a dish that we do serve with Parmesan'. As I said, we won't be going there again. We sent back the food (which was by this time cold anyway) and left. Bizarre in this day and age that any self respecting restaurant can say NO to a customer for some cheese. From: Aquino Laudari on Jul-12-2009 A few weeks ago, my wife and I decided to go to Terroni, on Queen Street, with another couple. We had the most uncomfortable, unusual, and insulting experience that we've ever had at a restaurant. From the time the waitress first took our drink orders, to the time we spoke to the manager to complain and eventually cancel our food orders, I actually thought we were being 'punked'. The whole experience seemed like a joke. Unfortunately it wasn't. We asked for a gin and tonic and were told that they didn't serve tonic water, but they would gladly replace it with limoncella. Then we asked for a cranberry and vodka instead, and were told that they had no cranberry juice. We also asked for Corona and were told they didn't have it. Then we asked for Stella Artois instead, and were told they only serve Italian Beer. We asked for a diet coke and were told they had no diet drinks, but would gladly get us a Brio instead. After accepting the beer they had, which was in fact room temperature when I got it, and ordering a bottle of sparkling water, we were ready to order our food. I was hoping they had cozze as an apetizer, but they didn't. I was also looking for a pizza with arugula on it but couldn't find it. I new that they didn't substitute ingredients on their pizzas, so I asked the waitress if I could have them ADD arugula to my pizza. She said, flat out, NO! They don't modify the menu for anyone..."it slows down the kitchen, and causes a lot of confusion", she said. At this point I wanted to ask her to tell me what kind of pizza I felt like eating that night. Instead, I ordered a pizza with an arugula salad so I could secretely put in on my pizza myself, hopefully without the Terroni restaurant police noticing. The waitress brought us some olive oil and some stale bread to tie us over before our meals arrived. I asked if we could get some balsamic vinegar with the olive oil and the waitress's initial response was that they didn't have balsamic vinegar. I couldn't believe this! An Italian restaurant in downtown Toronto doesn't have balsamic vinegar. Desperately looking around for hidden cameras and waiting for Howie Mandel to come out from under the table, we all tried very hard to remain calm, and roll with it. This is where we asked to speak to the manager. When this fine gentleman arrives, he listens to half of my sentence, interrupts me, then starts uttering what sounds like a well-rehearsed speech of how much time and effort the owners of Terroni spent on planning the menu and how precisely calculated all the ingredients are in their dishes. He then goes on to confirm that the waitress actually lied to us and that they did in fact have balsamic vinegar, but they would never serve it with their 'family blend' olive oil since it would contaminate it and completely take away from its natural, divine flavour. I thought I was being schooled on Italian cuisine. I guess being Italian and eating in Italian restaurants for the past 42 years means I know very little about Italian food. When I tried to talk about the lack of respect for what the customer wants and how dissatisfied we were, I was interrupted again with an insulting, condescending, and arrogant tone. His lips were moving, but all I heard was shut the hell up, eat whatever the owners tell you to, and eat it the way they want you to, because after all, they know better! It was interesting how he turned it around as if we were insulting Terroni and did not appreciate all of the effort the owners put into designing the menu. Finally, I asked him to stop talking and to listen to me. I let him know that the bread was stale, the beer was warm, and the menu was limited. We asked him to cancel our orders and notified him that we were leaving and probably never coming back. His response was, 'oh well, that's your perogative.' He made no effort to correct our problems, showed absolutely no concern for our satisfaction, and sent the waitress with our bill. It cost us $30 for two warm beers, one bottle of water, some stale bread, olive oil, and a lesson on how to eat Italian food. We ended up going to the Italian restaurant across the street and had a great time. Can you believe their bar actually served tonic water, Corona, and diet coke? What a concept! From: Roberto on Jul-16-2009 I went to Terroni on Balmoral Ave. the other day with my mother. While we were waiting to order, we were brought a small dish of olive oil and some bread and my mother asked for a little bit parmigiano-reggiano cheese to put in the oil for dipping the bread. To our disbelief, the waiter refused our request saying that the olive oil was of a too fine quality to be tainted by the cheese. He went on to say that they try to be as authentic to southern italian cuisine as possible and they make an effort to uphold their reputation. Let me be clear here, my criticism here is not directed to the fact that my mother was refused cheese to mix with the olive oil. It is at the pretension of Terroni of trying to appear 'authentic'. I have been to Italy 7 times in my life. I have eaten in southern Italy and northern Italy and have never been told that I could not put Parmigianno-Reggiano in the Olive oil. In fact, it is a practice I learned in Italy from Italians. In particular, when you travel in Southern Italy, in Calabria (I believe one of the owners is from there) you encounter the least amount of rigidity with their cuisine. The area is rural and poor and the peasants who live their hardly have the time or care to defend their culinary traditions as Terroni does. Lastly, if Terroni wants to appear authentic, they could begin by training their waiters to pronounce the names of the dishes properly. When i was being told the names of the specials by the waiters, I got a flashback of listening to backpackers in Rome trying to pronounce Gnocchi. From: Aquino Laudari on Jul-23-2009 My apologies, a correction to my July 12 review on Terroni. The Terroni we went to was in fact on Balmoral Ave. not Queen street, and the other Italian restaurant across the street that we ended up at, which by the way was extremely flexible and accomodating, not to mention had awesome food, is called Capocaccia. From: Harry on Oct-11-2009 Had a veal sandwich at Teroni's Queen St. location. The "veal" was as tough as shoe leather - or was it "veal" hooves? Or was it a cheap cut of cheap tough cut of pork? From: Just a girl on Mar-14-2010 Thank you all for your comments. This restaurant should be closed down. It is a disgrace, with arrogant management, arrogant and stupid servers, and very mediocre food. From: dontworyy on Jun-12-2010 For all of you above, my cousin actually owns Terroni and started it up. I'm not being bias because he is family but with all honestly i actually really love this food. I was in Italy last summer and eating in Almafi, Tropea, Reggio, Sicilia was basially the way it would be eating at Terroni. It is very authentic. Yes it may be over priced for what you do get but realistically if the food is good then don't complain. Terroni is one of my favorite restaurants in toronto along with Casa Mia and Grazie which are as well over priced but at least its not caker food, that was frozen and tomato sauce coming out of a bought can, everything is HOME MADE and thats what you pay for. If you don't like it then whateer everyone has there own opinions but i can say with the most certainty that the food there is exactly what it would be like in Italy and is very good. From: Ashley M. on Jul-14-2010 I've been to Terroni's quite a few times, and here's what I think - they have a couple dishes that I think are just fantastic - the ravioli di zucca and another pasta with duck meat (can't remember the name). Shockingly, those pastas are no longer on the menu. They've been taken off for the summer, and God only knows if they'll come back. So I gotta admit that put a sour taste in my mouth because that's one of the reasons why I would go there. The service - nothing special. Nothing deserving of an astonishing tip or anything. I could've walked into the kitched picked up my plate and brought it back to my table myself. The strictness of not changing your order, and definantly not asking for butter/balsamic - that's annoying. I mean honestly, the option should be there. I understand not serving it with the dishes, but if a customer asks they should be able to provide it. Although it's not a massively pricey restaurant, it's definantly not super cheap. So I feel as though they should be a little more accomodating. The whole ambiance and everything - fake as hell. It's not this trendy queen st hot spot restaurant like some people want to make it out to be. The tables are small, I feel like I'm sitting on my neighbours lap. Sometimes it's way too crowded. I mean I know I have the choice to go wherever I want, but all and all, this restaurant isn't anything special. From: Gabe on Aug-12-2010 After a two year moratorium, I decided to give Terroni a chance once again, last night. I'll start off with a quick summary of what occurred in 2008 before I delve into the present. I ordered the pasta which is supposed to have five different types of seafood in it. After the server had dropped off my plate, I noticed that two of the items (jumbo shrimp and scallops) were absent from my dish. My light-hearted complaint was met with "yeah, we're out of shrimp and scallops". No 'Sorry', and no price reduction on the bill. Last night I decided to give Terroni another go. Even though it was a Wednesday night around 8pm, there was a fair size line-up which had formed behind us and out the door. Third in line, we were told it would be a thirty to thirty-five minute wait. After half an hour, we were shown to our table on the patio. On the way to our table, I noticed that there were three empty tables of four on the patio besides ours. I joked to the hostess that we'd prefer a different one, and she told me we could have any one we desired. I was shocked that they were allowing people to stand in a long line-up with tables readily available - just so they could look busier than they were to passersby. These were not newly vacated tables either, as the only people who had walked past the line to leave in the previous fifteen minutes got up from a table inside the restaurant. The three couples behind us were also waiting for patio tables, but the first couple was not shown to their table for at least another 10 minutes after we were. I ordered a pizza and my girlfriend ordered ravioli. After reading the pretentious paragraph long disclaimer on the menu vis-a-vis no substitutions - "Please respect our menu", my girlfriend made a joke to our server about me wanting no Gorgonzola on my pizza. Because I'm sure she has to turn down similar (serious) requests for substitutions all the time, she was not amused. After learning it was a light-hearted attempt at humour, she replied with "Yeah, this place isn't a Queen Street hideaway any more, and so with more mainstream customers, we have to deal with a lot of this crap”. Soon after our food arrived, my partner requested Parmesan for her pasta. Although there was NO suggestion whatsoever that I also wanted extra cheese, the server felt it was her duty to point out that while she would bring over the cheese she would only put it on the pasta and not the pizza. A few minutes later, a patron at the table beside ours asked for balsamic vinegar due to the fact that their salad was "tasteless". The server refused. They would rather have the food returned and not paid for than bend their rigid rules. I then requested that the manager, Steven DiDonato come over to have a chat. His explanation was both predictable and insulting. "We want you to have a proper Italian experience here." While I do think this is a great idea, it is NOT something which should be rammed down their customers’ throats. At that point, a dude at the table on the other side piped up to say that he'd had a similar experience the last time he had been in. When I pointed out to Steven that he had three unhappy tables on his hands, and perhaps the management needs to take a look in the mirror, he couldn't even bring himself to agree to that. It was like speaking to a robot. I'm going to assume he's been working there, in one capacity or another, for a while now, and that's why he's completely brainwashed to believe that the customer is NEVER right. Quickly realizing that further discussion was futile, both tables on either side of us requested their bills, and we did the same. When ours arrived, it was substantially cheaper than it should have been. Thinking that the manager had done this to make up for our experience, I added in a 25% tip on what the total should have been. After signing my receipt, the server came back to the table to explain she had run my card through on the wrong bill. When she returned with the correct bill (full amount), I requested the credit slip for the previous one and their copy of that original slip. She informed me that she had destroyed both, and would get the manager to explain. After a ten+ minute wait, he decided to grace us with his presence, give me his business card, and told me to call him if the charge wasn't actually reversed. I know this review won't make much of a difference as Terroni will be full (or pretend to be) no matter what people say. Just doing my part to let people know what they're in for. Not to mention, it felt good to get that off my chest. From: JC on Aug-21-2010 We have given Terroni 3 chances, and that was three chances too much. The server the first time was arrogant, obnoxious, and the food had no flavour, boring!!!The second time the restaurant smells like a dirty washroom form the mall, do they ever properly clean and disinfect there? No one ever really genuinely smiles as well. The third time, again the food is not so great, the smell is still a strong dirty washroom smell, and the waitress gives you a small table in which we cannot fit all the food on the table so we used the ledges all around us and behind us. Why in the world would they seat us at a table when there is more food that fits that table. The dessert was totally disgusting..the worst panna cotta ever. We were seated first and watched as the table beside us arrived later and was served before us....poor service!!! Well..three strikes and your out!!! I would highly NOT RECOMMEND TERRONI to anyone. I would rate the food a 5 out of 10, customer service a 2 out of 10, the uncleanliness and distinct dirty washroom smell a negative 10. How in the world would you keep customers coming back!
|
ADD YOUR FAVOURITE STORE