Bar Milano

To end off the summer, a friend and I decided to visit center island and just before getting on the ferry we Unilocaled a restaurant nearby to eat. This restaurant showed up but finding the entrance was difficult, we went around circles around the two buildings. Almost giving up on this place, so glad we somehow found it, the atmosphere and food alongside the services was excellent. We sat on the patio with such a nice view of the waterfront.
We ordered a chicken pizza, which was really satisfying however a tad bit dry. Also had the chicken Parmesan which was not good at all. Overall, this is a good summer location to hang out with friends on the patio with a nice view and drinks.

I wouldn’t recommend going here. Ordered the pizza and it was pretty bad. The crust taste really burnt (although visually it didn’t appear burnt, which was odd).
The toppings were okay. I think they could have been a little more generous though, given the price.
Pizzas are around $ 16 – 18. The only good thing about this place is the location imo.

Horrible service — when we asked how long the estimated wait to be seated, the hostess responded with «how long is a poece of string»

Sucked so much over price for such shitty food. The tomato soup was too salty, the steak was burnt and the salmon tasted weird. Also the waitresses dress was super short so it felt very uncomfortable every time she came to talk to us.

Pretty disappointing… Prime location but mediocre food & service.
Such a shame.
On the plus side… Great patio for just beer

Great location, horrible food. It’s on the beautiful waterfront, and given that, it has such possibility. But the food is bland, and not appetizing in the least. The $ 14 cocktails are also subpar and not worth it.

This place is beautiful, waterfront, and the service is quick… Our waiter charlotte was extremely nice. I would definitely go back there on a sunny day.

This restaurant has mediocrity written all over it.
If the restaurant were located on anywhere other than the waterfront, I would never return.
The meatball spaghetti is not an abomination, but thoroughly unsatisfactory, especially with its not so cheap price tag.
The one redeeming feature about this restaurant is the view. God, the view.
Given the view coupled with a few drinks or two, even the-​a-​bit-​too-​tough-​and-​dry-​chicken tastes alright.
That being said, the service is good. Servers are very friendly and makes you feel right at home.
So yes, Bar Milano is more a feast for your eyes, than your taste buds.

It all depends on what you’re going for… If you’re an, «I read Playboy for the articles» kind of person, you may have way too high expectations for this place. Their feature is they’re located right on the water, with plenty of people watching, a fun atmosphere, and they also serve food and drinks. The staff are trying to keep crowd control with the masses of people lining up to get an outdoor table. For all that background noise, I think the food and drinks are pretty decent! The charcuterie board was really awesome and made for great app-​sampling while having a not-​so-​awesome sangria. The pizza was decent, and the? pappardelle was fine.
You come for the view, and a place to chill with your friends, while drinking a bit, and getting full. If Bar Milano was picked up and moved to somewhere on Bathurst or Queen, maybe food quality would be more of a kick-​in-​the-​pants, but for the other perks you get from this restaurant, it’s totally worth going to.

A disappointing lunch, but eatable. Also enjoyed people watching as they walked by the Harbourfront. Would have rather ate somewhere else. Don’t think I’ll ever come here again.

This place is only good for its location.
Ordered a bottle of wine and found a piece of glass in my glass (no pun) only to have the waitress tell me that it must’ve chipped with my teeth! Wow! Quick to judge eh?
I barely had a sip!
We ordered a pizza that took. get this​.an hour! And it came undone! We were so hungry & we really did not want to wait so we ate it.
I’m never coming here again!!!
Thanks for nothing!!!

We came on a Saturday for lunch and the place was packed. We got a table on the patio right away. We ordered the chicken parm, chicken club sandwhich, and supli as appetizer. The service was good for a busy day and the food was pretty good as well. The fries and supli were delicious.
I like this place, it has a nice water view and I will comeback when I’m in the area

Had a great late lunch/​early dinner after a meeting on Wellington Street. Lovely location, right on the harbour but with the late afternoon sun, you could use a pair of sunglasses right in the restaurant.
We had a consistent and friendly server who was present without being intrusive — great service! We sampled the meatballs in pomadoro sauce, and the cauliflower fritters from the Small Plates section of the menu, along with a Caesar salad, and a pepperoni pizza. The food was fresh and looked beautiful on the plate. Lucky for us, it tasted as good (better?) as it looked. We ate it too quickly for me to get a picture of everything, but there is a shot of the pizza halfway through.
It was a really pleasant restaurant experience where the food and service were far better than average, paired with a beautiful waterfront setting. We will definitely return!

This place leaves something to be desired.
Located in the Queen’s Quay terminal building at the foot of York, the former Il Fornelo did not stand out in any way.
We arrived to a half empty restaurant without a reservation but couldn’t get a table. Given the lack of restaurants in the area I suppose it can be busy. The hostess got us a high top but was clearly not enthused to help and gave us that NYC ‘what no reservation’ attitude. A generally unfriendly start, she offered little in the way of smiles and talked as little as possible.
The food was average at best. I had the diavalo pizza. It was decent but not anything any other Italian resto hasn’t been doing for ten years.
My coworker had pasta. The ‘dinner’ size he had was so small we had to ask two different staff members if he had received the lunch size in error.
In general the portions were small, and the small menu very uninspiring. I’m not sure what they are going for here, but I can tell you it’s likely only location bringing in the crowd.
On the bright side our waiter was pleasant and responsive.
They do have a great outdoor patio overlooking the lake, certainly the main draw of the place. If that appeals to you it may be a reason to come here and suffer through the rest.
Or you can go next door to the fun pub!
Enjoy (or don’t it’s your choice).

Located on harbourfront, down by the Bay, where the watermelon grow… Just kidding.
But in all seriousness, this place has a beautiful location. The ambiance is casual and the food is quite good. The pizza was a little thin as I couldn’t pick it up without dropping a lot of the toppings. I eventually had to use a fork to pick it up. The burger was quite good, not much special about it. The battered cauliflower was surprisingly good. It had a fluffy batter and I found the aioli really helped the dish.

I love this place dearly!
Huge smoking/​non smoking patio.
The closest I can be drunk next to harbour front legally and not having to hide the alcohol while enjoying the view haha
Mhm went for lunch,
Shared Calamari ($ 13)
Friend got spaghetti ($ 18)
I got fettuccine alfredo ($ 17)
Both pasta portions were quite large so you get your money’s worth, tasted really good too, I almost would’ve gotten the rest to go but I didn’t wanna carry it around downtown running errands.
We also had a couple cocktails and shared a bottle of white wine. Overall bill was around $ 100 – 120.
Servers were really attentive given the large outdoor space with everyone around, very knowledgable and friendly.
Great spot, when summer returns, you will def see me by the patio drinking away :)

Brought my family here after a boat cruise around the Toronto Islands. We came here out of the convenience of the location and knew nothing about the restaurant.
It was quiet on a sunny Monday afternoon, but the weather was nice and the patio looked welcoming. I tried the funghi pizza*, normally $ 18, without the pancetta, since I am vegetarian. I love oven-​fried thin crust pizzas and really liked it.
Tiramisu came in a jar, sprinkled with coffee beans and topped with a slice strawberry. It was alright but nothing I could recommend. There’s only one place that my mom and I swear by in Scarborough, so our bar on tiramisus are pretty high!
Comfortable ambience and great service from our waitress; we were even thanked going out the door. Unfortunately, there are really no vegan options.
*Dammit, I forgot that pecorino is made with rennet and therefore, not a vegetarian-​friendly cheese.

I think some of the other reviews are a bit harsh (which I read before ordering). They aren’t trying to be a gourmet high end Italian place… It’s a simple menu with a nice view. Apparently the summer 2014 menu is brand new as of May. My overall experience was good, loved the hearty chicken linguini and my server Miranda was friendly and helpful. If you want some simple Italian with nice drinks on a patio overlooking the lake this is your place (I don’t think there is any other Italian on the lake downtown). I liked the easygoing music too… Perfect volume to sit back and take in the sun or have a conversation with friends. Only drawback is it is a touch pricey for what it is. But I can still see myself spending some summer afternoons on this patio for sure.

Returned to find no improvement.
Menu remains vegetarian/​vegan unfriendly even though Italian food is highly adaptable and they could easily offer options.
To start, we had a spinach and kale salad with avocado substituted instead of bacon (because we all know people who order kale salads love to eat bacon). The avocado and roasted red peppers were nice, but the kale was a rounded leaf variety that I don’t particularly like. We found a couple loose pieces of grated parmesan in the salad even though this is supposed to be cheese-​free, so watch out if you have food allergies.
For mains, we ordered spaghetti with tomato sauce and asked for vegetables in place of the meatballs that are included with it. It would be really easy for them to offer a straight spaghetti and tomato sauce like most Italian spots, but I guess that’s wishful thinking here. We requested that one of those vegetables be rapini which was listed in other pasta dishes, but our server promised we would get a mix of other veggies in addition to the rapini at the chef’s discretion.
It was brought out last after everyone else in our party had their meals and once again had cheese mixed in it, just like when I was here last year. This, despite telling the server we are vegan and her insisting that she had informed the kitchen to make our dishes vegan. I believe her, I just think there’s a communication break down happening in the kitchen and obviously management issues.
When the re-​made dishes were brought out, they only had rapini in them and mine just had 3 sprigs. Definitely not worth the $ 15 given that the quality of spaghetti and tomato sauce is not great either. Only redeeming quality was that it was al dente and piping hot.
We didn’t have to wait an hour like we did last time for our food but we also didn’t sit in the back section where it’s difficult to get service. Our water was never refilled during the course of the meal, which is always a bad sign.
They’ve opened up the patio already and the door staff use to access the patio from the bar area creates a cold gust onto the indoor dining area just behind it, every time it shuts. We opted to move away from the banquettes near the windows to the centre of the restaurant so we wouldn’t have to deal with this. It’s only 13 degrees outside!
Servers are all young white females and made to wear short black skirts and dresses like it’s some type of god-​awful Irish pub chain. I find such blatant sexism appalling and it takes away from the dining experience. Mostly men in the open kitchen and a male manager.
The music was very ‘nightcluby’ and doesn’t fit with the ambiance of the place.
Overall, still blown away that Il Fornello’s replacement could actually be worse. I’m sure this place will continue to survive as long as the patio is open and the weather enjoyable enough for a stroll along the boardwalk but I’d suggest you get out of Queen’s Quay if you want great Italian food and vegan options in Toronto.
Try Piola on Queen or a Terroni location, they have a thoughtful vegan menu and you’ll feel like you’re at a proper Italian place, not a pan-​Irish pub nightclub that serves spaghetti.

Our group of 12 decided to dine at Bar Milano on the waterfront while we waited for our cruise ship to return to port. The patio was nice and we ended sitting at 2 tables next to each other, which is fine, we had a huge group.
We ordered a variety of things including the fried risotto, meatballs, pizza, pasta and sandwich. The food came out in a decent amount of time, however, no one was quite happy with it. The risotto balls were undercooked, the meatballs on the bland side as was most of the pasta. I had originally ordered a burger cooked med. and although the presentation was nice, the fries were very overcooked and the burger was beyond cooked well.
When I brought it to the waitress’ attention, she took the plate back to the kitchen but quickly returned, informing me that well done was the ONLY way they cooked their burger. That was just beyond me!
Since I couldn’t choke down what now resembled a hockey puck, I settled on the chicken panini. When that came out, I actually took it apart. There was so much cheese that it overwhelmed everything. The chicken breast was extremely dry.
I had a bite off of my cousin’s pasta dish and found the pasta very al dente and the sauce rather bland. I took a look at my aunt’s chicken alfredo and the globs of cream sauce on it and decided not to chance it.
It was quite a disappointing meal.