La Piazza

We came here for a Friday dinner. The server was friendly. Drinks take a while to arrive so keep that in mind. The steak, chicken and beet & ricotta salad was great. Ambiance is good. We come here a few times a year and the experience is always good.

Delicious food, worth the price. Kind restaurant staff. Michelle was so sweet while serving our table during the busy thanksgiving lunch special. Would highly suggest La Piazza.

They are far from the best Italian in Toronto, but their $24 Taste of Eataly two-course lunch was a pretty good deal. Enjoyed the three starters we ordered - frittatine di cacio e pepe (fried bucatini), barbabietole (marinated beets, ricotta) and melanzane (grilled eggplant, mint, ricotta salata). Flavors were all tasty and the portion of the beets in particular was a pleasant surprise. For the mains, I tried both the potato gnocchi (with tomato, ricotta) and casarecce (tomato-almond pesto, basil). The gnocchi was pillowy soft and the sauce was delicious especially with the ricotta. The casarecce was great as well. Portions looked small, but we were stuffed and had a hard time finishing everything! Service is friendly, not the most attentive (you'll have to flag them down for water) but food came out relatively quickly.

I visited Eataly, a marketplace and home to 4 Italian restaurants in the Manulife building at the heart of Bloor-Yorkville at the Bay and Bloor intersection yesterday. I chose La Piazza (The Square) restaurant because its menu and ambiance appealed to me. I lived in Northern Italy for 16 years and grew fond of their cuisine. I often look for Italian places in Toronto and hope they sell or serve genuine Italian products. They seldom do. In many cases, I was disappointed by dishes carrying (bragging) Italian names but not coming even close to the original recipes I loved so much. I nicknamed them “Wannabe Italian (Canadianized) Dishes,” when I came across one of them, I crossed it off the list. The welcome to the restaurant started bumpy. Even though the restaurant was almost empty, a hostess did not ask me if I had any preferences for where to sit and showed me to the bar. I told her I didn’t like to eat at the bar and that I preferred a table. She wasn’t happy with my choice, and her body language showed so clearly that I remarked, “You don’t seem happy with my choice.” Unconvincingly, she responded that she was OK. She led me to a small bar height (cocktail table) with tall chairs - not my favourite setting at meals – but I accepted it, trying to avoid the label of the hard-to-please customer. I ordered a Corona beer, but they didn’t have it, so she proposed an “Italian” beer, Instigator, similar to Corona. I accepted, and soon after, a draft beer landed on my table. Even though this beer was made in a trendy craft brewery in west Toronto and not in Italy, it was a light, tasteful beer to my liking. My server was a pleasant girl. I ordered Tagliatelle al Ragu Toscano and wondered if I would get a dish respecting the original recipe and ingredients. The answer came in the form of a “strange” looking Ragu. I expected the Ragu with a (familiar) minced meat and got instead chunks of beef. Nevertheless, the meal was delicious. I even spoke to the server about my slight disappointment about the type of meat used in my Ragu and told her that this wasn’t the original recipe. It turns out I was wrong and right at the same time. Yes, the original Ragu Toscano is made with minced meat, but Ragu in general (I learned, thank you, Google) comes in many forms and variations. One more thing was missing to make my experience exceptional. The restaurant did not serve the dish with the Parmigiano cheese as tradition requires. I demand the best as a gourmand and Italian cuisine connoisseur. Many would not even notice the discrepancies I spoke about. I will certainly return to this restaurant and explore other dishes because, all in all, the experience was positive.

The food was great ! The service was excellent, our waitress Stefania is an amazing person, we enjoyed every little detail of our meal

Jose was absolutely amazing server !! He was so great and pleasant To talk to !! He really went above and beyond - and knew his menu and wines which I appreciated !!

We had a delightful dinner! The food was absolutely delicious and our server Stefania was so kind, attentive, professional and over delivered.

I'm surprised at the low ratings since I had a lovely experience here! We got the prix fixe lunch and it didn't disappoint. The portions were pretty good and I enjoyed every bit of it! The seafood tasted fresh, the risotto was well cooked. And the service was very good. I'd definitely come back.