Cafe Insomnia

What a fantastic little café. I had the stracciatella soup, and it was very authentic and delicious...The panini...don't even get me started. I dream about it sometimes, it was the ultimate sandwich experience. The bf loved his ravioli, and the small bite he allowed me was very good.
Everything is fresh, simple, delicious...the epitome of Italian cooking really, nice vibe and good services. I appreciated that the server used tongs to put lemon wedges in our water....but that is just my inner germaphobe.
Loved it.

Never been disappointed! My husband and I have had many dinners at Cafe Insomnia over the past few years. The staff and owners are very friendly and attentive. The cafe is small, probably holds less then 40 people, so if you are planning a dinner or lunch making reservations would be helpful as they are usually very busy. A small menu that changes daily or weekly, but a nice balance. We really enjoyed the new "menu sampler" that they had just introduced, we were able to share a 5 course meal that included coffee for an extremely reasonal price. And we were full! Friday night dinner also had live dinner music/singers, they might also have this on Saturday nights. They only serve dinner on Thurs, Fri & Sat as it is a small family run business. Nice atomosphere...perfect for a night out with friends and without the kids! Take the kids to a loud chain restaurant!

My husband and I are back in Guelph after 10 years in Ottawa where we LOVED DiRienzo's and their amazing sandwiches and entrees.

Here at Cafe Insomnia we were disappointed with the amount of toppings on the sandwiches (particularly meats and cheeses) for the price ($6 plus).

Everything was fresh but did not leave us counting the days until our next visit.

Also because we got there before 12:00pm the pasta was not ready so we were limited to sandwiches.

So we are still looking for our Italian deli in the Guelph-KW region.

It's a pleasant restaurant with an unpretentious atmosphere. The penne was al dente. The chicken in the chicken cacciatore was slightly soggy, but basically fine, but I found the tomato sauce lacking in complexity. The selection of vegetarian items wasn't huge. The coffee was good. .

Great atmosphere, owner's and servers' were extremely personable. It was a pleasure to choose from the menu options, which were freshly prepared that day. Nice to see a restaurant that selects menu options based on seasonality and perpares food with fresh and top quality ingredients. Live music was a nice touch! Overall an enjoyable dining experience, at a very reasonable price. We will definitely return!

While I don't remember what my father and I ordered, I recall being satisfied with their lunch specials - even as a person of Italian descent. Simply wanted to clarify for the - below: panino is the singular form of the plural panini. Also love the old nonnas who work at Insomnia! Reminds me of my own grandmother.

totally overrated place:-
I recently walked in with a typical lunch order for some sandwiches;first off,the server took down my order but the owners did not look too impressed that I placed an order without calling it in !
However,after all that, the bread used for my so called Italian panino sandwiches was a disaster !
It was your average convenience store quality bun bread (and I thought it was called 'panini' !?)
The cheese was somekind of liquidy mix which was dripping like it was warn yogurt !?
Boy,what a disappointment this place.
I might give it another shot but dont expect much from this place.

I had heard great things about this place. I was extremely disappointed. It is quite expensive for what you get. I certainly wouldn't say it was authentic food either. The food was edible, but certainly not memorable.

Love this place. I'm little disappointed that they are no open every evening. Great Italian home cooking, love the atmosphere and the people. If planning to visit for lunch between Tue-Fri (specially Friday) make reservations day ahead.

Restaurant very busy over lunch, we had to wait for a table. The restaurant is very small and homey feeling. I originally wanted to order the lasagne but they were sold out. Menu is small but the portions are good and the food was very good. I will return.