Baldini Restaurant

Italian food is always a comfortable choice in winter. A cozy restaurant hosting a couple on a cold windy night at a candle lit table like take from a Hollywood romantic comedy. Baldini delivers on this opening scene.
Yet this venue falls into the same class of decent that many other restaurants fall into. A local joint with some established clientele but generally average food priced above the quality.
Between myself and my date we had the bruschetta, calamari and two types of pasta. Of the four only the calamari stood out as something beyond what you cook regularly yourself at home. The pastas were average, one over creamed. The bruschetta was underwhelming and the wine we choose was your average Italian blend marked up 3 times.
All in all a mediocre experience bumped up slightly by a nice smiling staff whose attentive service helped make the experience more enjoyable.

This is based on lunch only but I give 5 stars. Tried two sandwiches and both were great (not to mention amazing prices). Friendly service, warm atmosphere just an overall nice place to eat. Walked by it a million times and now I regret waiting so long to try it.

Visiting from out of town and tried this restaurant based on Unilocal reviews. This is a neighborhood gem! Started with a fantastic bruschetta that was soo good! The tomatoes were fresh and the bread was both crispy and soft… perfect! The Chicken Supreme was AMAZING! Stuffed with prosciutto & provolone and a pommery mustard sauce paired with mashed potatoes and veggies… soo good! I was stuffed but couldn’t pass up the carmel brownie cheesecake which was fantastic! Wish this place was in my hometown! I can’t remember the last meal I had that was this good! Kyle our server was amazing as well! Great find!

We love this place. Always have since the first time we tried it. I’ve never had a poor meal here and in fact, each new thing I try is wonderful. Like tonight: had the veal scaloppini with Marsala wine sauce. So good. And as usual, the starter calamari is some of the best calamari we’ve had in the city.
Highly recommended. Kyle is great. He’ll know exactly what you want to eat. Just ask him for recommends.
Yum.

Cozy, petite Italian restaurant in Leslieville. Great atmosphere and fantastic service.
Warm bread served as a starter. Bruschetta here was wonderful!
VEGETARIANS: Herbivores beware, their pastas are cooked in chicken broth unless you ASK for it to be complete vegetarian. Good veg pizza with roasted vegetables.
The cappuccino here is quite strong!

Perfect service and food is good. I’ll definitely return there. The staff will provide you with all attention

After posting the below review, I got a very apologetic response from the owner who seemed genuinely shocked at what occurred on my last visit. He made me a generous offer enticing me to return and so myself and my bf went back on Friday (unfortunately my mum, the victim of the previous review, couldn’t make it.)
We had a lovely meal. Our server, Kyle was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate and seemed to really love doing his job. We were served hot, fresh bread to start with (and offered another basket after we finished!) and our water was constantly refilled without us having to ask. My boyfriend ordered the pork special and absolutely loved it. I didn’t sample any but both the description and look of the dish (stuffed with cheese in a red wine reduction, served with veg) was mouth-​watering. I had a simple margherita pizza and it was delicious. The crust was thin and the dough was light — I didn’t have that awful full/​bloated pizza feeling afterwards. The tomatoes were served in large juicy slices — this was a nice authentic change from the tomatoes being purreed and pasted blandly into the cheese, which is what usually happens.
Our visit on Friday brought Baldini’s back up in my estimation. I’m willing to believe that the mussel incident was a one-​off. I was very impressed by the owner’s desire to rectify the situation and I believe him when he says that he visited the kitchen and spoke to the staff after my complaint.
For those who haven’t visited, the atmosphere and décor of this restaurant is very romantic and relaxing and a nice change from the louder, noisier, hipstery places nearby. The menu manages to be expansive and varied while still being true to its Italian roots, and while prices have increased recently, they are still very reasonable.
This is the review I probably should have written on my first visit a couple of years ago.

Portions were very generous. Food was great. Service was excellent.
The waiters were very knowledgeable and accommodating.
All four of us left feeling full and extremly satisfied.

I’ve dined her x2 to date. Overall a warm relaxing restaurant with well cooked food. Unfortunately however, when I last ate here the bread basket was full of green mouldy bread. When we pointed this out to server there was minimal apology and our replacement bread basket also had mouldy bread. Come on guys… bread? Get it right!!!

I’ve come here a few times over a few years and I like it more each time. «Cozy» is the perfect word to describe the atmosphere. I can’t think of any other restaurants that are so quaint and charming. The server is fantastic; very friendly and knowledgeable. Food is very good. I’ve visited for both brunch and dinner.

Me and my significant other come here quite a bit (about once every 2 – 3 weeks) for dinner. We both love it. Kyle is an amazing server and always has our wine ready. The atmosphere is cozy, the food is delicious. I cannot say enough good things about Baldini’s. The only recommendation i would have is to shrink the menu so there aren’t so many options. But irrelevant — the food is great. Definitely recommend.

This place is in my boyfriends neighborhood and we always wanted
To try it out. We are sorry we did! Starting with walking in, where we were not greeted by the server when we came in, followed by bruschetta which had freezing cold topping that was fizzy tasting. When we sent it back, the server told us «that’s how it tastes». The mains were pretty mediocre too, especially for the price. Skip this place if you want good service or good food.

Was using up my expiring voucher again with my gf (seems to be a trend for me). We arrived to Leslieville area! Not a usual place for us to hang, but it is quite a peaceful area. When we arrived for dinner it was quite late around 9pm on monday. We were basically the only ones there dining. It felt very uneasy and awkward.
We have the Groupon voucher that allows two apps, two pasta, two mains, one dessert to share and conveniently it was part of their menu on the back special for two ppl.
Apps we selected: Marinated calamari grilled Charred tomato salsa, capers, kalamata olives and balsamic reduction served on organic greens
and Herb encrusted baked goat cheese, grilled eggplant on baby mixed green & balsamic syrup
— The calamari was good size pieces and was a good app.
— Mine I enjoyed the goat cheese, but everything else was just okay.
Pasta we selected: One of each. One was penne with rose sauce and bacon leeks. The other was stuff agnolotti with ricota cheese and butternut squash.
— Both were okay. Nothing special about these dish.
Entrees we selected: AAA Grilled fillet mignon & black tiger shrimps in a Madagascar peppercorns Barolo wine and Panko crusted bass served with lemon herb balsimico
Both are served with some greens and yukon potatoes.
— I have to say that my filet mignon was cooked right, but it was the smallest medallion size I have witness. Imagine eating a seared scallop size meat. The shrimp did not seem like ‘tiger shrimp potential’.
My gf dish was alright as well. The fish tasted a bit sour and off to us but we didn’t wanna say anything…
Dessert we selected: Maple syrup cream caramel. This reminded me of a dessert I ate at Mandarin Buffet which is not good at all. Overly sweet and the dessert was just not appetizing. Good thing we had a few courses or snack prior to this dessert.
Prob would not dine here again, b/​c its quite boring to eat at a small place. However, if you do enjoy the intimate candle light small table dinner, this is a place for you.

I went here for dinner on a Saturday night with my partner. The food was amazing, and it may have been the best meal I’ve had since coming to Toronto. I had the Veal scaloppini and a Caesar salad, with a glass of red. The dressing was made in house, as you would expect from a good Italian restaurant, and both dishes were delicious.
The service was friendly, quick, and knowledgeable, and helped me pair my meal with a good red from their collection. The ambience was spot on for a quiet or romantic meal. I can’t comment on their lunch or brunch offerings, but this place is a hidden gem for dinner.

I arranged a birthday dinner for my partner, and 9 of our friends. Being a Wednesday night, I was a bit apprehensive when I saw the place was fully seated, and only had their main host, and one other server. For a table of 11 people, the service was fast, friendly and efficient. Drinks and apps arrived in a timely fashion, and all the mains were served within a couple minute of each other. Choices ranged from pizza, to pastas, and their filet and seafood dish. Consensus around the table was that the food was very good, and the prices were very reasonable.
At the end of our meal, Baldini’s host arranged separate cheques for anyone that wanted, which always makes large group situations less taxing. I would not hesitate in recommending Baldini’s to anyone, whether your a table of 2 or 12.

Went to Baldini for a work lunch with 5 in my party. We ordered 3 x paninis with soup and 2 x risotto dishes. The soup was good — butternut squash and sweet potato — a little heavy on the pepper but seasoned well otherwise. I had the chicken panini and it was good; nothing to rave about but good.
There was one slip up — the server forgot to put in 2 risotto dishes and the 2^nd came after everyone else was finished eating. She did offer a complimentary desert though.
Decent — but not the best you can find on the block.

Clearly this is a love it or leave kind of place. I think I’ll leave it. We went for brunch this weekend while we were in the neighbourhood. Marmalade & OK Diner had line-​ups then we walked by this place. The brunch menu drew us in.
Inside, it looked like a cozy Italian diner which is good. It looked clean & the washroom is on the main floor. The menu had a great selection. The prices were reasonable.
Now you are wondering if I made a mistake with the one star???
Let’s see… BOTH of our glasses of water had brown bits that I didn’t notice until half way through. It doesn’t end there. After waiting for a while, the waitress (who I think was still drunk — I was too so who am I to judge?) asked again what we had ordered. We told her again & then 5 minutes later she brought us the food for someone else. Then when out food came, she tried to give it to the next table. Then more people started to come in.
I gave my bacon to my honey and he didn’t get it. The scrabbled eggs were a bit runny.
After ready the revues, maybe they should just stick to Italian lunch and dinner?
**try the dinner & skip the brunch**

I went to Baldini’s for my birthday dinner with the fam. They had been there before and highly recommended it. It’s a super small place but sports a great atmosphere and some great food. For an app I had the goat cheese with spices, eggplant and arugula which was amazing. For a main I had the seabass which was on special that night. The dish came with a good amount of fish as well as some linguini in a simple sauce. Everything worked very well together, was spiced nicely (not too much) and I was very pleased. We also ordered the house wine which was smooth and really nice.
Overall I highly recommend it, the service was good, the food was excellent and the atmosphere quant.

I had a Groupon for Baldini and decided to use it with my boyfriend on Wednesday night. I made a reservation (which is req’d for the groupon — and make sure you tell them you have the groupon!).
We got there at 7:30pm, and I was surprised at how busy the place was on a weekday! I thought it was a good sign for sure. The constant stream of people coming in for take out was also nice to see.
The place is really small, so the seats are pretty cramped, but fortunately we sat at a table for 4, so a bit more room. There was one server for the whole place, and considering how busy it was he did a great job running around and was very attentive.
The waiter brought out a bit of bread to start, with oil and vinegar on the table. The bread was average at best, and seemed like it had been sitting there for most of the day.
The Groupon gets you 2 appetizers, 2 mains and 1 dessert to share. It does not apply to specials, however, which is fair. I ordered the lemon shrimp to start. The salad was a bit overdressed, but overall I really enjoyed the appetizer. My boyfriend ordered the calamari. The presentation was nice. I tried a piece and thought it tasted pretty good — and I’m not a fan of calamari.
For the main my boyfriend ordered a pizza. I didn’t have a piece, but it looked quite tasty. A good size as well. I ordered pasta. Spaghetti with chicken, goat cheese, herbs. I can’t remember exactly what it was called. The waiter said it was his favorite. I wouldn’t say it was the best pasta I’d ever eaten, but it was decent. A bit too saucy and not enough flavour, but overall it was enjoyable.
We shared the Grand Marnier Crème Caramel to finish. It was nice, and light, but tasted like every other crème caramel I’ve had. Nothing too special about it.
My overall experience was good. If I was in the area I’d go back.

I don’t know much about Italian cuisine (even though I took a cooking class years ago in Florence, I’m blaming the wine for my lack of retention), but I do know when a server says our special tonight is _​_​_​_​_​, you stop him/​her right there and order it. Case in point, a delicious pasta dish with a light tomato sauce, some veg and a spicy Italian sausage. The flavors blended together so nicely, and I felt the proportion of sauce to protein to pasta was spot on. Sometimes places will amp up the noodles because it’s the cheapest component on the plate, but not the great folks at Baldini.
And great they were! Incredibly nice, very attentive, great at making a tasty red recommendation to sip with my eats, and quick to notice when I needed more water or bread (bread + olive oil = yum).
I think my favourite part of the experience was the seating situation. It’s really intimate inside (like most Leslieville jaunts I’ve noticed) which makes for a super close evening with friends. I was alone, but a table of hilarious men sat adjacent to me (almost with me) to celebrate one of their bud’s birthdays. I didn’t catch that gent’s name but they made him wear a tiara that said Princess, so he’ll forever be known to me as Princess.
Get this, not that I was eavesdropping (give me a break the tables are close!), but I overheard Princess tell the other dudes about this section of the subway that has yet to be completed. Right now it’s just a desolate underground abyss waiting for someone to pour more money into it to complete the line. I was super curious about where this station is located. Can you imagine heading down their for an event? Some sort of underground music/​dining deal where only those in the know, know?
All in all a great evening out. I suggest grabbing an appetizer instead of saving room for dessert. Nothing on the menu sounded too interesting to me the night I was there, and the sweet I ordered (couldn’t even tell you what it was) was overshadowed by the tasty bread and olive oil and delectable pasta special!