Pasta is the staple of Italian cuisine and has spread across the globe with centuries of immigration to lands far and wide. Toronto is a city that saw a significant influx of Italians find their new home, bringing their culinary excellence with them.
The result? Toronto is a hub of excellent pasta, some of which will blow your mind.
So if you’re feeling you could use a soul-soothing noodle dish or seeking to send your taste buds on a journey, why not venture into the city to satisfy those urges? This guide will direct you to the restaurants you must try for a beautiful pasta experience in Toronto.
What’s the Best Pasta Restaurant in Toronto?
Mamma mia! Where do we even begin with finding the best pasta restaurant in Toronto? In Italian fashion, we understand that deciding on the best pasta dish is a subjective opinion. You could be a fan of the Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca from Campania or the Cacio e Pepe from Lazio.
You may even be a fan of Italian-American red sauce Bolognese pasta with a giant old meatball! So how do you decide when Toronto has so much variation and selection?
Well, there’s a point where you have to start generalizing the best pasta restaurant in Toronto. You’ll have to pick a few that cater to the general population and offer the most delightful dishes in one location.
So that’s what we did! We’ve compiled a list to help those searching for great pasta in the city narrow down some choices. Read below how we formulated our criteria for defining the best pasta restaurant in Toronto.
What Makes the Best Pasta in Toronto?
Choosing the best pasta restaurant in Toronto is a challenging task. Hundreds, if not thousands, of establishments are spread throughout this great city. Let’s not forget that Italian home cooking has a history in Toronto, with a steady flow of immigration since the mid-19th century!
That makes choices even harder when so many restaurants adopt flavors from the homeland. But we’re determined to define a list of some of the must-try pasta in Toronto.
Here are the criteria that helped us decide on our favorites:
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Quality of the pasta dishes
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Accessibility of the restaurants
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The overall dining experience
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Freshness of ingredients
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Customer feedback left online
Most of our journey took place around Little Italy, Toronto’s heart of great Italian cuisines. Still, we also traveled around the city’s most recommended pasta restaurants to gauge an opinion. So after tireless searching and a heck of a lot of noodles, here we managed to construe a list of the best pasta in Toronto.
Here are Our 5 Favorite Restaurants for the Best Pasta in Toronto
Some pasta restaurants in Toronto stand out above the rest. With all our criteria considered, here are our five best pasta restaurants in the city.
1. Terroni
“Best restaurant with multiple locations across Toronto”
We’d have to start our best pasta in Toronto list with a citywide favorite in Terroni. Their success in bringing fresh ingredients straight from the sun-kissed shores of Italy has seen their restaurant expand into multiple locations across town. Try their pasta, and it’s easy to see why!
The pasta is made in-house daily, making the difference in their delectable dishes ranging from mouth-watering Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli to divine Spaghetti Bolognese. Terroni doesn’t set a foot wrong in their pasta dishes, delivering the same high standards in Italian food culture in Toronto.
Pros:
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A staple of Toronto Italian cuisine
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Fresh-made pasta every day with Italian ingredients
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Multiple locations throughout the city
Cons:
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Almost always busy and gets noisy
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Smaller portions
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Service can be lacking when there are a lot of people.
Today, Terroni has multiple locations across Toronto. Still, we’ll look to their original Queen St venue to gauge an idea of its prominence in the city. Over 2,200 reviews have awarded the restaurant a 4.3-star average, praising the quality of the food but noting that it’s a busy location.
But if you’re after pasta that’ll make its mark on your taste buds, Terroni is a place where that’s guaranteed!
2. Queen’s Pasta Cafe
“Best handmade pasta restaurant in Toronto”
Queen’s Pasta Cafe is another Toronto institution that doesn’t mess around with its pasta. The noodles are made in-house every day, guaranteeing to complement the traditional sauces and cheeses that compile into one of the city’s most delicious dishes.
The charming cafe isn’t just about the food but promotes focus on the entire dining experience. There’s a particular ambiance cultivated by the interiors, friendly staff, and wine pairings that attempt to recreate an old country eatery, and they do an outstanding job of it!
Pros:
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Handmade pasta in a range of sumptuous dishes
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Great wine pairings with the meal you’re ordering
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A charming, old country atmosphere
Cons:
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Slower service
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Appetizers are not up to the same standards as pasta
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Pasta dishes are more expensive than in other places
There’s a lot of love shared towards Queen’s Pasta Cafe, evident from the nearly 900 positive reviews of the restaurant. The location sees a 4.5-star average, praising the fresh pasta and the general pleasant dining experience.
3. Sugo
“Best casual dining restaurant”
We all know that pasta is the ultimate comfort food, and Sugo embraces that idea to the fullest extent. The restaurant offers a casual dining environment to drop in and enjoy Italian-American favorites, with the pasta, meatballs, and sauces as tasty as the last.
Sugo is one of the more welcoming establishments on our pasta list, refusing any reservations and catering family-favorite pasta dishes in a neighborhood-friendly fashion. The menu isn’t huge, but does it need to be if you’re focusing on quality rather than procuring a massive range of dishes?
Pros:
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A delightful casual dining environment
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Drop-ins are most welcome
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Small menu with a focus on quality
Cons:
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Can be long wait times because there are no reservations
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Not much choice for those with specific diets
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Rushed service
Sugo is a proven pasta favorite of Toronto, with over 2,000 reviews boasting a 4.7-star average rating. Customers consistently deliver positive feedback about the great good, excellent pricing, and the quality of the dishes.
4. Bar Vendetta
“Most stylish pasta restaurant”
You’d be intrigued about a restaurant called Bar Vendetta; is it a venue where they take revenge through food? Not in the slightest! It’s a stylish Italian eatery that funnels fantastic pasta dishes to those looking for transcending flavor trips.
Bar Vendetta is another casual favorite that limits its menu to a few well-made pasta dishes paired with some meticulously curated wines. It’s a small venue, but one that’s a must-visit if you want a pasta experience that’s more intimate, flavorful, and reminiscent of the Italian homeland.
Pros:
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A few quality pasta dishes that are bound to impress
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Excellent service from the wait staff
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A complete dining experience from start to finish
Cons:
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Rushed dining times due to popularity
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Some questions about location hygiene
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The limited menu doesn’t cater to specific dietary requirements.
Bar Vendetta enjoys acclaim as a Little Italy favorite, with nearly 500 reviews showing a 4.6-star average rating. Customers love the pasta, praising the perfect seasoning and construction of the dishes. The only negativities are rushed service and spots of uncleanliness.
5. Piano Piano
“Offers the most exquisite pasta dining experience”
Piano Piano is another soulful restaurant that has expanded to cater its exquisite pasta dishes to the broader Toronto population. The locations cater more unique menus that creatively infuse modern taste trends in sauces with classic, traditional pasta, which is simply delicious!
If you’re looking for a pasta dish that excites the senses and delivers a more innovative dining experience, visiting Piano Piano is the way to go. Even the whimsical ambiance of these locations supplements the dining experience to make it a typical meal yet a little out of the ordinary.
Pros:
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Innovative pasta dishes fusing classic and new flavors
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Offers something outside of the traditional dining experience
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Great pasta joint for a special occasion
Cons:
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One of the more expensive pasta places
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It can get hectic during peak times
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Complaints about inflated gratuity fees
We’ll look at the popular Harbord Street location to gauge Piano Piano’s public opinion. The restaurant sees a 4.4-star rating with over 1,800 reviews. The most significant complaint is that the experience is expensive. Still, they cannot deny that the pasta dishes are beyond fantastic.
So while there’s a near-endless supply of pasta restaurants in Toronto, these are the prime favorites that we can’t recommend enough!
Kiss Your Fingers with the Best Pasta in Toronto
Whether you’re just looking for comfort food or seeking to transcend to the hills of Tuscany, Toronto is jam-packed with fantastic pasta restaurants. You’ll find many that push the boundaries of what makes a great pasta dish. Other traditional establishments have home cooking that will send your taste buds wild. Our best pasta in Toronto list makes sure you’re heading to the right place to get the creme de la creme of dishes.
Visit one of our favorites to get your fix, or make a pasta bingo card! We know any pasta fan will love what’s on our list, so we leave you with one phrase, “Buon appetito!”