Pizza Sardegna
Hot salami and roasted pepper. The order everyone at the table converges on.
Italian · Yonge & Eglinton
Grazie Ristorante
The Yonge & Eglinton Italian that has never taken a reservation and never needed to
ItalianYonge & Eglinton, Toronto$$Details being confirmed
The review
Grazie has been at Yonge and Eglinton for three decades without taking a single reservation, and midtown has simply organised itself around that fact. You put your name down, you go for a drink, you come back.
The Sardegna pizza — hot salami, roasted pepper — is where most tables end up. Penne alla vodka is the pasta, and it has been good for long enough that fashion has now cycled back round to it. Calamari fritti fills the wait.
Honest notes: no reservations, a loud and tightly packed room, and a menu that will not surprise anybody. It is not trying to. It is trying to be full every night, and it is.
What to order
Penne Alla Vodka
Not fashionable, not trying to be, and consistently excellent.
Calamari Fritti
Ordered while you wait for the table you did not book.
What works
- Consistent for three decades
- Good value portions
- Works for a family table
What doesn’t
- No reservations, ever
- Loud and tightly packed
- Nothing on the menu will surprise you
Verdict
Sardegna pizza and penne alla vodka. Put your name down and go for a drink.