Olivia’s At Fifty-Three

Walked by yesterday and Closed. *sad face*

The back patio is stunning with comfy seats and romantic lighting. It’s dimly lit with candles, paper lanterns, and lots of strands of little white lights strung through the massive tree that covers the area. The literary geek in me loves that the specialty martini’s are all named after authors.
The inside is gorgeous too — with jazz nights and a microwinery in the basement!

Great food and lovely patio out back. I dined here al fresco as part of a wedding rehearsal dinner last week. Two appetizers started us off: oh-​so-​good crusty bread drizzled with a fine balsamic vinegar, and individual bites of too-​salty braised duck.
The three-​course dinner of salad greens with parmesan and grape tomatoes, grilled salmon with swiss chard and fingerling potatoes, and blueberry «shortcake» were really delicious. The salmon was perfectly done although the accompanying chard seemed a bit greasy and the potatoes somewhat bland. The interpretation of shortcake was unique; a hard and crunchy cookie topped with ice cream and dabbled with about 6 or 8 blueberries. The ice cream was divine– and the cinnamon flavour of the biscuit came through, but eating the crisp cookie with a fork was a little frustrating, and I would have loved to have had a more generous helping of blueberries.
Friendly service and delightful ambience, particularly with the addition of the live band playing for us. A nice little spot in the heart of Toronto’s Little Italy.

The problem with reviews is that it sometimes sets up unrealistic expectations. My first hint that things might not be as good as I thought was that when I called at 6pm on Sat. night they still had space for an 8:30 reservation. Don’t get me wrong– I was grateful to get a reservation. The second clue was that the last good review on their website was published in 2006.
With that said I thought the service was good the ambiance was great but the food was really not great and was overprice for mediocre meal. Especially at the price they charge. My scallops were good and beefy and well cooked and my friends figs were good– but they should have been $ 5.00 cheaper. My Squid linguine was was a mess of messy noodles in an over thick sauce. My DH described his Arctic Char as rancid. Not what you expect at this price. What a shame and disappointment.
PS– no mention of the micro winery by the server. We missed that aspect all together.

You go to this place to seal the deal. If yah know what I mean.
Personally or for business.
Quick review:
1. I went for a friends birthday
2. Saturday night from 8 – 11 during late summer on their patio
3. Review time
3.a Great service. Great Patio. Fun place. Intimate. Great Music. Perfect for functions or dates of the upscale variety
3.b bit expensive, and certain items on the menu are worth it.
3.c I had the steak. good. but not great in my books.
4. Their cheese cake was absolute shit. but you cannot bank the whole experience on that. Even tho, that was my lasting impression.
If you are on a fancy date. this will be the ticket home son.
review fin.

This restaurant is pretty much everything you could want in a restaurant. It’s just slightly off the noisy College St. strip, it’s got a great ambiance, a lovely looking patio (I went when it was a bit too cold to eat outside) and delicious food.
I ate the cheese and olives antipasti, which was delicious, especially with their own balsamic reduction over bread. There was enough oil and reduction left on the plate, so we asked for more bread to sop it up. Very friendly service.
For dinner I had the sea bass and my girlfriend had the squid ink pasta with scallops. The sea bass was very good, but not great. The portion size left a little bit to be desired. My girlfriend’s scallops were the best I’ve ever tasted and her portion size was a bit bigger.
Their wines are great and very appropriate for the menu. While I’m far from a wine expert, I have a vague perception of what tastes good with what, and they do a very good job here.
The one complaint I had about the place was that it seemed to be just a bit overpriced. Don’t get me wrong, I’m accustomed to good restaurants being $ 25/​plate and up, but this just struck me to be about $ 5/​plate more than it should be. If the average dish price were $ 22 instead of $ 27, it might have gotten 5 stars.
Enjoy!

A pretty good date restaurant.
A wonderful location with several options within the house for different moods. Inside is a cozy dining room with live jazz several nights a week. Outside is a wonderful patio that successfully breaks the mold of the canned Little Italy experience. Perhaps the real gem is in the basement… you can dine in the «microwinery»… it’s gimmicky at best, but is definitely a unique environment to eat in.
Wait for the summer. Sit on the patio.
The food’s ok. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about either.
They aren’t open for food too late, but will accommodate drinks.

Just off the main College Street drag, Olivia’s escapes the attention of many Little Italy scenesters. We’re talking about something a little more special than the typical slick but soulless Bar Italia/​Riva/​College Street Bar experience. I’ve led a group of twelve to this ivy-​covered Victorian house for an excellent dinner. I’ve also had classy cocktails for two in the romantic garden patio. I highly recommend a visit!
Noteworthy:
–There are live jazz performances every Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
–Olivia’s is the first and only microwinery in the City of Toronto!