Terroni Restaurant (Queen)

Review: I don't really see the rave about this restaurant. Everyime I drive by Terroni's, the restaurant always seems to be packed with people lining up to get a table. I think this restaurant is sooo over-rated. The food isn't even good for people to actually be eating here!! I've been here twice since my first experience with their pasta was horrid I was hoping maybe a second try at their pizza would change my mind. Oh boy was i ever wrong! Their pizza sucked as much as their pasta! First of all when i tried the pasta, the noodles were definetly not properly cooked! it was still hard, cold and chewy when i got it! it was disgusting! The sauce from the seafood pasta was soo bland and tastless! The ravaoli I tried from my mother's was so dry!! The serving sizes were also VERY tiny for a $20 meal which was totally not worth it! Compared to their pizza, it was just as bad! There were hardly any toppings on it! I was basically served tomato sauce on a bread crust with crumbs of vegetables and meat! This was NOT pizza at all! The crust was so soggy and not crispy cause it was flooded by the tomato sauce! Only good thing i could say about them is their desserts (tiramisu, creme caramel) DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU WANT PASTA/PIZZA! I GURANTEE YOU IT'S A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY!
If you want good authentic Italian pasta/pizza, try John's Italian Cafe in the Baldwin Area! Incredible food thats actually worth your money!!

Review: My wife and I live in Toronto, and have dined at Terroni a number of times over the years. Today is the last time we will visit any of their restaurants. While the food is good, fresh, and genuine, Terroni has, on multiple occasions, worked really hard at trying our patience.

The first time, as our waitress had poured the obligatory olive oil to dip our bread, my wife politely asked if she could have a drop of balsamic vinegar. The waitress staunchly refused, and when asked the reason, began lecturing us on the purity of the Terroni brand, and how mixing balsamic vinegar with oil didn’t represent the true expression of Italian culinary tradition – not only was she forbidden from serving us vinegar, but how plebeian of us to ask.

Stunned by the reaction, my wife decided to bypass the neurotic waitress and ask the kitchen for a little balsamic. As she approached the counter, she was deftly intercepted by said vigilant waitress who, nearly in tears, sternly reminded us that vinegar was “verboten”. First evening ruined.

The second time, we visited a Terroni restaurant that had just opened on Adelaide Street. Once seated, we were asked for our drinks order. Our friend ordered a diet Coke, to which the waitress replied that “our owners does not believe in diet colas”. Stunned by such direct, scolding reply, she chose a regular Coke, which thankfully appeared to be an acceptable choice. Second evening ruined.

Finally today, for the third and last time, we visited Terroni’s Queen Street restaurant with friends from the United States. I was sensitized by our past experiences, but was willing to give the place one last try, even though it was not my first choice. I did warn my wife to kindly avoid questioning in the slightest any and all food modifications – no matter how slight – fearing reprisal.

Unfortunately, as the waitress was taking our orders, one of our blissfully unaware friends fell into the diabolic trap and dared “I’d love your Nizzarda salad, but would it be possible to please hold the anchovies?”…. well, that was simply too much of an affront to the legendary purity of the Terroni tradition: the waitress, on cue, began lecturing us on the impeccable quality of their food and ingredients, and the historic tradition behind them that made it so very unthinkable to substitute or modify any and all dishes – all of Italy and civilization itself had been insulted by a request to hold an anchovy. She concluded the sermon by admonishing that Terroni “was all about being true to their food”.

The tone was sanctimonious, arrogant, and unbelievably presumptuous. Toronto is still a little childishly full of itself, as in New York’s poorer cousin trying hard not to be ignored. Some of its restaurants reflect that, with Terroni at the head of the pack. I informed the waitress that perhaps they should think of staying true to their customers form time to time. It so happens that I was born and raised in Italy, but never found a restaurant there or anywhere that took itself quite so seriously, and made a point of lecturing its customers quite so sanctimoniously. You can remain true to your tradition and still be kind to your customers – we did not ask for ketchup on our spaghetti. Dogmas do not belong in the kitchen.

If you value Italian food and customer service, and would rather avoid a sermon delivered by a clueless 25-year-old on the fine culinary traditions of their founders, go to Trio Ristorante and Pizzeria: you’ll spend less, get better service, and taste the best authentic pizza this side of the Atlantic.

Review: Wow...where to start?!
Can't really see how anyone with any sort of reasonable palate can think Terroni is serving up anything special.

The 4 choice chef special appetizer platter was a big disappointment, The mozzarella balls were dry like sandpaper and really could have used some marinara at least to save them (out of the question here), in fact We questioned each other and were wondering if a frozen President's choice mozzarella ball may have been far more tasty!
Overall the other offerings on the appetizer platter tasted VERY bland and crusty again like sandpaper. Even some garlic would have made what was offered on the platter somewhat tasty. VERY BLAND, not worth even close to the $15 for this.

The main dishes we ordered were Spaghetti with seafood (clams, shrimp scallops, calamari & mussels) & Spaghetti Bolognese:
The seafood dish was a little light on the following: Seafood :) Pasta, Sauce, Flavor IE: again bland. The clams were not at all properly cleaned, sandy and gritty and overall the dish was very sub mediocre.

The Bolognese dish was again very un-inspiring (tasteless sauce) overall but a step above the seafood pasta.

Don't see what the hype that still surrounds Terroni, perhaps it appeals to teenagers or the early 20's crowd who don't know authentic cuisine.
For the same money you can certainly find a tastier Italian meal in the downtown core for the same or even less money.

Will definitely not be returning to any Terroni location (Queen West Location referred to in this review) Don't waste your time and certainly don't ever EVER stand in line for this place!!!

Review: What happened to "The customer is always right"? This is not in Terroni's language, that's for sure!! In fact, I don't think they know what a CUSTOMER is. We tried and tried to get parmesan cheese on our pasta, but in vain.... Could not for the life of us get any. Yes, I agree, parmesan cheese can alter the taste...and may ruin the true flavour of what the chef is trying to achieve. Just a "I don't recommend parmesan cheese on this pasta" would have been appreciated... but if I still want that cheese after trying my dish.... GIVE ME SOME!!! please!!! I am the customer after all.... oh but wait..that's right...they don't know what customer means.

OK, no big deal, it's just parmesan cheese!! I can deal with not having some... But, having said that, at one point, during my dinner it was about principal and not about the cheese. My experience at Terroni's was just ruined by this denied SIMPLE request. Just felt frustrated and insulted!!!!! The waiter was just not nice about this!!! What??? you want cheese on your pasta??? We don't do that here!! Type of expression!! We know better than you, we ARE better than you!!!

Having said all that, I will never set foot in that restaurant ever again. I will never recommend that restaurant to anyone (and I am in the tourism industry). But, they probably hear that everyday and probably don't care!!

Review: 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?

Review: The chef apparently does not allow balsamic vinegar, although several different bottles are for sale at the court house location. The claim is that the chef knows better how you should eat your food and if you don’t like it then go somewhere else. I invite you to reduce your tip by the appropriate amount. Same thing for parmesan cheese, not allowed according to the Nazi that runs this place. Anyway the food was adequate and service somewhat adequate.

Review: 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!

Review: I'd first off like to say that since discovering Terroni, I have been to all their locations in the city - most recently the renovated Courthouse building on Adelaide. Ever since my first experience, it was made very clear that this chain is not one that prides itself on service.

What really gets on my nerves about Terroni is how over-rated it is. The reason I still go there from time to time despite the horrible service is for one pizza that I really like - the Don Corado. Other than that, I could care less if I never ate there again.

What's prompted me to write this review is a combination of bad experiences I've had with the chain. My coworkers and I often order Terroni for lunch as until recently - they used to have great custom order panini's. Every time we would place our order, they would ask if we wanted them grilled or not. We always say grilled. And when we go to pick them up, we confirm with the person at the takeout bar that they are to be grilled. And yet 9 our of 10 times - THEY ARE NOT! We have even gone so far as to complain to management and further, place our order through management, and it still does not get done. This clearly shows the lack of care that the staff at Terroni's have. In most cases, I would blame this attitude soley on the individual. But seeing as this is how we've been treated by multiple staff members from all locations - this is clearly something implemented by the owners themselves.

As for my most recent dining experience, I showed up to the new location and requested a table for 2 on the patio. The hosted was rude seemed indifferent. After waiting a half an hour, we were taken to our table - INDOORS??? When I told the waitress that we had requested a patio table, she said we weren't listed under the patio section? So we waited another half an hour. At this point, I was ready to leave, but sure enough a very polite staff member (image my surprise!), told us our patio table was just being cleaned. We waited another 15 minutes for this table. After 10, I went up to her to ask why cleaning a table took so long and she just look apologetic and said it would be ready soon. We ordered a drink - that didn't arrive until 15 minutes later! Now I don't know what kind of training the servers from Terroni's go through, but I would be fired if I made a table wait 15 minutes for no good reason for a drink!!!! Once we got our food, we didn't see our server until we had to flag her down for cutlery! Then we saw her again to pick up our finished meals. Fed up and no longer wanting to be there, we asked for the bill. We waiting another 15 min. for the bill.

My final advice for anyone new to Terroni's is - the food is good - not great but good. Avoid dining in because the service is bad. Go for the takeout. But remember - there are far better casual dining Italian restaurants in the city!

You've been warned.

Review: 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). 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. STUPID, WE KNOW

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.

Review: I read some poor reviews about Terroni and I I don;t think it is fair to it. I have been traveling a lot in different parts of
Italy and I must say they have the most authetic Italian cookings. The ingredients are fresh and the wine is awesome. Actually I am surprise with such an extensive
wine list for casual dining. Coffee is very "italian", much better than starbucks. Of cause we cannot expect fine services like an upscale restaurant but we are well served
with all the waiters and waitresses. It's our first time here and we love to bring our friends to share the good food and wine in Terroni.