Rapini & Sausage
Bitter, garlicky, deeply savoury. The dish the regulars order without looking.
Italian · Davisville
Five Doors North
Family-style Italian on Yonge that still refuses to explain itself
ItalianDavisville, Toronto$$Details being confirmed
The review
Five Doors North has been on Yonge for long enough that the sign is still an in-joke nobody explains. The format is family-style Italian: everything arrives on large plates, everything is shared, and everyone leaves with a container.
Rapini and sausage is the dish the regulars order without reading the menu — bitter greens, garlic, fennel sausage, nothing else needed. Veal parmigiana feeds three people from one order. The grilled calamari, rather than the fried, is the right starter.
Honest notes: over-ordering is nearly unavoidable, so order one dish fewer than feels right. The room is dated. Weekends fill quickly. It is one of the best-value tables in midtown.
What to order
Veal Parmigiana
Family-size and then some. One order covers three people.
Grilled Calamari
Not fried. Lemon, oil, char. Better than the fried version.
What works
- Portions genuinely feed a table
- Excellent value for the volume
- Cooking is more careful than family-style usually is
What doesn’t
- Over-ordering is almost unavoidable
- Room is dated
- Fills fast on weekends
Verdict
Rapini and sausage, grilled calamari, one less dish than you want.