Tavolino - Toronto, Ontario

My goodness what an experience. If I could rate zero I would. We found the place on Groupon and they had a 3 course meal plus a glass of house wine deal. We arrived at the place and it looked cozy and like a place that had character. The groupon ... had said to talk to Vince about what was available as part of the deal. Vince was unkempt and his clothes were dirty and stained - I will stop there in terms of his appearance. We asked about what was available and what he was saying did not make any sense per the prices listed on the menu and the group on. We decided to leave so we asked for the bill for the wine we had ordered (this was the house wine per the groupon). He gave us a bill of $57 for 4 glasses (about 2 ounces of cheap red wine each). We requested an itemized bill because he just told us the verbal amount and handed us the machine. He bought the bill and it was now $67.80 for that awful wine. We refused to pay as this did not make sense - the groupon per person, a 3 course meal and the wine was going to cost $25 per person. So he threatened to call the police and we said it was fine we would wait. So he locked the door and we sat. Please note we had been provided with bread when we arrived the side plates were filthy!!! Eventually he said the police said they were not coming so we could go (I doubt they had been called in the first place). So we left USD20 and left. The place really does seem very charming and had great reviews. The other customers seemed very happy with the service provided. However this was my experience very unprofessional of Vince. Read more

Decent Place Located in Mt Pleasant village which has many quaint restaurants. This one fits the locale with down-to-earth decor and quaint size (maybe seats 25). Greeted at the door by the owner who was very nice but looked like he was dressed to stay home. The staff ... there are dressed with black dress shirts and black dress pants, which is nice. They are professional but not particularly inviting. The food was presented nicely. Portions were good. The food was decent, nothing I'd pay more for that's for sure. I used a Groupon and when I was brought my bill the server told me I should tip on the total before the discount. Fair enough, some people probably don't do that which would piss off any server, but I'm not one of those people and I didn't really care for him telling me that. If it was printed on the receipt or something maybe that would be better. I don't know, I feel like the staff were just there to make money, I didn't feel like they very genuine. There are many restaurants on Mt Pleasant with great food and great service, I wouldn't go back here. Read more

Long story short, I will not be going back. The service was not great. The dad, who used to owner it once upon a Time was very nice and the woman (I'm guessing the owners wife) was nice too. Other than that service was mediocre. The food was not bad per say, ... but it was not good either. We had the fried zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and spinach, Ossobuco with mashed potatoes, Pan seared Halibut with risotto Cannoli Siciliani stuffed with ricotta pistachios and Nutella and to end it off an espresso. Like I said the food overall was not bad, but the risotto was raw in the middle, not al dente, RAW and the Cannoli hand no pistachios or Nutella anywhere to be found and the centers were empty. Not cool. Finally the espresso was dirty water. We had 2 apps 2 mains 1dessert 1 beer 2 bottles of water and a coffee. With tax and tip we spent damn near $200. I am more than willing to shell out for a great dining experience, but this was NOT a great dining experience. Sorry Read more

If you are like me and bought a Travelzoo voucher, make sure you make a reservation! We were told that we should have made a reservation 24hours ahead even though it was not explicitly stated in the voucher. The place was empty when we arrived, we were the only customers there ... on Thursday evening at 6pm. The server then went to the kitchen (probably checking with owner?) and he came back to say, “OK, we will do it, please take a seat”. The food itself was better than the initial “welcome” we received. The complementary bread arrived shortly after we were seated. For appetizers, we chose grilled calamari and mussels. For entrees, we went with pork tenderloin and veal. Veal was a thin slice of meat and was a little over cooked for our liking but other than that, the food was decent. Read more

Great food, very friendly. We Had the gluten free penne with the bolognese sauce, also the risotto and Tiramisu. Cappuccino, Spanish Coffee all excellent. Enjoy