Villa is a restaurant in our hood that we visit from time to time. They have a good solid contemporary Italian menu with great thin crust pizzas, some wonderful salads and a decent wine list. We were looking for lunch on a Sunday with a patio that was out of the intense sunlight. The temperatures were still broaching 30°C with a reasonable amount of humidity, but at least outside there was a nice breeze.
This restaurant has an interesting history; for years and years there were two restaurants at this location side by side owned by the same people, one was Zsa Zsa (this is where Villa opened in 2004) and the other was Fiasco Trattoria (this was our Friday night place). Sometime prior to 2004, the owner sold off the two locations and the ZsaZsa side opened Ill Fornelo, an Italian wood oven pizza restaurant chain in Toronto. The restaurant failed rather quickly, apparently we Bloor West people don’t prefer chain restaurants and the manager purchased the restaurant and re opened under his own label called Villa. They serve very similar food to Ill Fornelo, but it is not a chain! Go figure!
They did an overhaul of the restaurant when it turned into Ill Fornello, but didn’t change much when it morphed into Villa. It has a nice clean contemporary design, with the kitchen exposed in the centre with the lovely pizza oven. The photos decorating the walls are of Italy and provide a nice personal touch. The staff is friendly, although could use a bit of training. We were there for a late lunch on a Sunday and it wasn’t busy.
I ordered the Grilled Shrimp and Calamari ($14.95) made with grilled calamari and tiger shrimp, black olives, capers, spinach, tomato salsa. I love this dish. It has just the right amount of the tomato salsa to eat with the succulent grilled shrimp and calamari. They leave the tails on the shrimp and I know for presentation it is preferred, but now I have to dig into my saucey dish and pull the tails off with my hands. The calamari is perfectly grilled, tender and not chewy at all.
JT ordered the pulled pork eggs benedict ($14.95), which was a plate of 2 poached eggs, braised pork, barbeque sauce, caramelized onions, toasted English muffin with hollandaise sauce. He said it was good but wasn’t bowled over by it. The pulled pork was tender and tasty and not too sweet with the barbeque sauce. Sorry, no photo.
One of my pet peeves is when one person finishes their meal before the other and the server removes the spent plates. I find this so rude to the diner who is still eating (that would be me); it makes me feel like I should hurry up and finish (and he cleared the table of the bread and bread plates as well). So for this fact, the service is getting a low score this time. We have had better service on occasion but not this time. Our adult libations also took quite some time to arrive, but then again, perhaps they had to send a courier to Italy to get what we ordered!
Overall rating of Villa (in my opinion): Decor 3.5/5, service 2.5/5, food 3.5/5, Value 3.5/5, Noise: 5/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet). We paid for our meal in full.
I love seeing Toronto through your eyes Eva. And that calamari looks awesome!
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Oh yeah, and my pet peeve is when they ask if they can clear your plate while you are still eating!
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OMG, that has happened to me too! WTF! I also hate it when they slip the bill on the table while you’re still eating or sipping that last sip of wine. Or when they take your wine glass and it has one little sip left…ARGH!
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What a lovely compliment Kristy, thank you so very much.
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Bloor West is such a great ‘hood in Toronto – have brunched there many times but not as familiar with the dinner spots…(though Fiasco rings a bell) – prices sound reasonable at the Villa too bad about the service. Thanks for the review!
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Thanks Kelly. We could use some more upscale places (remember Lemon Meringue?).
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Looks like a beautiful meal, although I’d be pretty irritated too when they remove the plate from your dinner date before you finish your meal.
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Thanks Yudith, they just cleared the table before I was finished, but left me to finish my plate.
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Hmmmmm….their servers really need a few lessons! Sorry that spoiled your dinner~
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Thanks Liz.
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Such a behaviour would spoil my meal. It has also happened to me, probably in Switzerland or another country, but certainly not France which has the best (at least in Europe) service level (of course there are exceptions…). It’s one of the basic rules they should teach to waiters. It reminds me also of something they never do in France but practice in many countries: taking your empty glass or cup in a café. As if you came to a café only because you were thirsty. So rude! In France I can sit for hours with an empty cup and even if they might not like it, they will never take it. (On the other hand if the café is half empty why would anyone mind? I never understood certain things…).
Anyway, the dish looks fantastic. The pork and eggs benedict sound great too. I would probably choose the latter because I am terribly hungry on Sundays (I would taste a bit of your squid though because I love it!).
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Thanks Sissi. I like that about France too. The grilled calamari was wonderful with the capers and olives.
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I hope the manager has noticed that too….things like that can be trained. I would say give them one more chance.
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That’s usually our MO, we’ll give them two chances!
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As much as I woud have enjoyed your dish, Eva, JT’s pulled pork eggs benedict would have been my choice. And I would have been just as dissatisfied as he was. That dish has all the makings of a fantastic meal and anything less would be such a disappointment. I hope they get the waitstaff better trained. As you know, a badly trained staff can kill a restaurant just as easily as lackluster food.
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So true John. I was just saying that it’s our culture that has made serving tables a transitional vocation and not the main focus which also means that there is not the emphasis on doing it well. They are usually actors or students first.
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It’s hard to find a restaurant with the great combination of good food and good service. I’m the one who’s still eating when I go out with a particular friend and although she says she doesn’t mind and enjoys watching me enjoy my larger dinner, I do when I see her cleared area.
I love shrimp and squid but I too wouldn’t like to have to either eat all my squid with a knife and fork first and then dig into my shrimp with my fingers or switch between the two and end up with slippery cutlery. It just doesn’t seem well thought out.
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The shrimp tail thingy has always been a pet piece if mine. The service is as important to me as the food, it’s a tricky balance. It’s a shame that waiting in tables has always been a ‘career’ of transition and never the main show.
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I agree with you about removing plates! It takes me 5 times longer to eat than my husband and he sits there looking like a drop-in to watch me eat. I hate it. It’s not difficult to train waitstaff but there has to be a commitment to it and obviously there isn’t one here.
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Thanks Maureen. It’s a tough balance because unless you’re one of the top restaurants in the city, you really don’t get your puck of staff.
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How disappointing. Even though the calamari dish looks really good, great food is easily ruined by appalling service. And yes, JT’s plate should have been left right where it was and I can’t believe they even removed the bread! xx
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Strange isn’t it? I have a friend who as soon as she takes her last mouthful she pops up from the table and begins clearing it off. She’s the only one who’s finished. I guess she doesn’t want anyone to beat her to doing the dishes.
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Though the food looks quite beautiful, I’m sorry about the service – honestly its a small thing but can ruin a restaurant!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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True CCU, and if they are not careful, they may not last.
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Your calamari and shrimp dish looks great. Interesting how they score the calamari tubes. I totally am in agreement with your pet peeves, on quite a few occassions I find the servers really need training.
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Thanks Norma, what happens is that they tick me off and we don’t go back for months.
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