Pizzeria Via Mercanti

Someone suggested Via Mercanti (Kensington location) but we happened to be closer to this one so we decided to try it out. We were here on a quiet Sunday afternoon and it was very nice to have the patio all to ourselves (this was in the summer). We started off with the pizza balls. They were pretty tasty and even better when I requested some marinara to dip them in! I had the fagottino di parma, a pasta with cream sauce wrapped in prosciutto. Very delicious but it was not something I could eat too much of — very rich, creamy and salty. The service was decent, not terrible but could’ve been better. Next time will try the Kensington location.

Excellent place!
Gluten Free Pasta!
I had the Gluten free pasta with a meat sauce and it was great also the homemade French fries were excellent.
The other people had the pizza and they were all raving about it. They said it tasted great and the sauce was the best. Thin crust and perfect size for one person.
The espresso was very good as well. Sometimes it’s hard to find a good cup of espresso but this place was perfect.
Great atmosphere with lots of Windows so it’s nice and bright and the tables have that nice rough look to them. Really nice.

Pizzeria Via Mercanti servers great hand tossed pizza and house made pasta. The special of the day, tomato, basil, olive oil and fresh pappardelle ($ 19.95) was simple yet spectacular. The capricciosa pizza ($ 16) with fior di latte, prosciutto cotto, mushroom, and black olives was made to perfection. The servers were friendly. We had a wonderful conversation about soccer and live in Italy.
Now, you may start to wonder, why Pizzeria Via Mercanti received a poor review based on the aforementioned. The key issue with my experience were the plates provided. The first two plates had dead flies on them. The second plates had black specks all over. The manager than tried to joke it off as it is it acceptable and common to have flies on the plates.
While I enjoyed the food, I felt the plates were unappetizing and the cleanliness of Pizzeria Via Mercanti questionable. Although, edible insect protein is all the rage, I am not yet ready to join the movement.

Went on a Tuesday evening, promptly seated at the patio and had perfectly adequate service throughout, so perhaps it varies based on who’s working.
Between two, had a pesto pizza, and the two layer via mercanti pizza. The double layer one is really something, it’s a margherita on top of another meat pizza. Yes two crusts and all!
The pesto is made in house, and was pleasantly light. A nice contrast to the double layer beast. Only it was a bit much with the oil, and pools of olive oil pocketed the surface. The whole base of the pizza was mushy and not quite my style, but the taste was there.
Would go back if I’m in the area, but don’t rush to try it out.

Best pizza in the city. Servers are Italian sweethearts. I freakin’ love this place, and the Kensington location too. Get the Via Mercanti double decker pizza.

Terrible food and terrible service. Would not recommend this place at all.
Came for the summerlicious dinner with friends last night. Between my partner and I, we had the potato croquette, the arancino, the faggotino, romolo’s pizza, the cheesecake gelato and the tiramisu gelato.
NONE of it was palatable. The appetizers tasted like bad quality frozen appetizers you’d get at your local discount market. The pizza sauce was dripping off the dough like the gross condensate that you get if you don’t shake your ketchup after a long period of not using it and tasted like nothing but salt. The pasta was glorified KD and the gelato was mediocre — neither flavors tasted like what they were advertised to be.
The quality of the food in and of itself should be enough to dissuade anyone from coming here right? BUT WAIT — IT GETS WORSE. All but one of our table’s entres arrived and we had to ask for it because the waiter was ignorant of it. Not only did we not get an apology, but when the dish was finally ready she actually slapped it down on the side of the table as if we were inconveniencing her.
Being the gluttons for punishment that we are, we decided to order a nutella pizza for the table to end the night. We waited over 40 minutes for it to arrive… Twice during that time we were brought a slice of nutella pie by accident. TWICE. And of course when the pizza finally came it was burnt in spots and not at all yummy.
Tl;dr — do not come here.

Went here for Summerlicious and sad to say that the meal was not worth $ 25. The first course (potato cake) tasted like it came from the frozen food section of a grocery store. The pasta course, while okay, was tiny. The dessert was again tiny — a piece of cake that was dry and flavourless. The location is pleasant and the wine was good, but hey I could get those at many, many other Toronto restaurants! The service was also very lacklustre. You’d think they’d have at least tried a little, since the point of participating in Summerlicious is to introduce new customers to your eatery. I don’t write a lot of reviews but thought I needed to let others know just how disappointing this was.

This place is amazing. A true Italian experience from the ambiance to the food. I had the rigatoni today, but I think I tried everything on the menu at least once. There was so much to choose from on the Summerlicious menu so I went 3 times. Try it out. You’ll love it.

I went there to try the summerlicious dinner.
The pappardelle ai funghi was excellent: very tasty sauce and the pasta was cooked at perfection. We also tried the Romolo’s pizza and the quality was great, as usual.
Our server was friendly and spoke Italian.
Can’t beat that!

It’s tad pricey but the quality of the pasta and pizza matched the prices and the service is very good. We had both shared the pizza and pasta dish of the day with a couple of pints and it came to about $ 40 all-​in. Not bad considering the quality of the food and the fact we immediately got a spot on the patio.
The patio is tucked away on a quiet street and they have a selection of beers from Amsterdam. Great option for an easy, quiet patio.

Came to this place on a Saturday night. When we arrived at the address, we weren’t sure if this was a restaurant or not but we poked in and asked if this was where the restaurant was. It has a weird storefront but once you get in, you’ll see that there’s a bigger eating area to your left. The décor of this place had a homey feel, wasn’t exactly the atmosphere I was looking for, but that’s what it was. I ordered the mushroom pizza. The toppings and sauce tasted quite fresh, but I was disappointed to find that the pizza was so thin that the tomato sauce had made it soggy in the middle. It was so thin the toppings would slide off when you lifted the slice because it didn’t have much strength to it. There are tons of pizzeria places in the area, I probably wouldn’t consider coming back.

Do you like non-​existent service? Then this place is for you!
Walked in and took a minute or two to be noticed. Sat ourselves, though. Lots of ‘reserved’ signs on tables. About seven minutes passed (in restaurant time, that’s a lot) before a server came by. At that point, he took our orders but there was no guidance — just, like, listened to what we were having and that was it. No, «Would you like anything to drink?» or anything.
Food came out within five or so minutes. We never saw our server again. We didn’t get any of accoutrements we saw around — no chill flakes, no olive oil, no salt or pepper. Just the pizzas down, the server gone.
I liked the pizza alright. It was overpriced considering the laid-​back atmosphere and lack of service. The topping were not that exciting, but the crust was good. Could have been hotter. Should have been hotter.
Had to find a server for the bill. I wouldn’t go back.

Great location and restaurant patio in the heart of downtown. The food itself was decent. The appetizer bread tasted tough and stale. I had a calzone, while the majority of my party ordered different kinds of pizza. I found the crust of the calzone and pizza to be too thick, although the cheese, sauce and meat were quite good. My friend found pits in half of his olives, which forced him to eat his food delicately to avoid biting into a pit.
I didn’t have any drinks, but perhaps this is a good place for relaxing with a few beers on the patio. But don’t go for the food.

Wir sind spontan hier vorbei gekommen. Das Personal ist sehr freundlich, das Essen sehr lecker und frisch. Hier kommt man gerne mal wieder hin.

Came here for a friend’s b-​day. We had a large group out on the patio and food and service were great plus the prices are really reasonable. Something that stood out immediately was how authentic the place is. All the staff were speaking in Italian — always a good sign! We loved our server from Capri who was warm and friendly. He made recommendations with confidence, telling me friend that if she didn’t like the lasagne he would pay for it himself! The location is a bit hidden in the midst of hospitals and office buildings. The indoor seating area is actually very spacious and the patio is nice. Highlights included the Calamari alla Marinara and Pappardelle with mushrooms, asparagus and walnuts in a creamy sauce. People raved about the pizzas and cannolis. They actually let us do separate bills, which made life easier. All in all, a solid dining experience and I would certainly be back.

Went for a dinner date a while ago so perhaps they have improved, I don’t know. I’m just going to write about my experience. I am very reluctant to give them only 2 stars. I probably would’ve given something closer to 3 but they really rubbed my date the wrong way — she wanted to Unilocal 1-​star so I’ll be generous and split the difference.
The food was nothing to be excited about, not terrible, but given the price point and the emphasis on authenticity, I found it lacking.
The service staff seemed either pre-​occupied or inexperienced. We had to ask for someone to come take our order after sitting patiently with our menus stacked on the table. Strike #1.
When our arancini arrived, the outside was very nicely done, crispy and a nice golden colour from the deep fryer. Unfortunately, the block of cheese on the inside was ice cold. Clearly from the freezer. Strike #2.
When my date flagged a waitress down to explain to her it was stone cold, there was no apology, nor offer to heat it up, nor gesture to take it off the bill. There was just a repeated explanation that the balls are made beforehand in a big batch and then stored so that’s why it’s cold in the centre. Strike #3.
I’m not sure what happened afterward but our waitress disappeared into the kitchen for a while and I actually had to get up and find someone working the entrance to help me get the bill.
Like I said, this was not within the last couple of weeks. Maybe they had a bad day, maybe they’ve corrected their kitchen and staffing issues, who knows. I hope so. I’m just sad to have to give such a promising establishment a less than stellar review.

Food: 2.5÷5
Service:2.5/5
Ambiance: ³⁄₅
I was stoked when this new pizza joint opened and was dying to try the food here. I’ve enjoyed some of the best dishes in many parts of the Italy. Italian owner from Amalfi cost + Authentic pizza = über high expectations.
Went for lunch on Thursday. Didn’t make a reservation. Showed up at 11:45 a.m. and no one was at the restaurant– best time to go if you do not have reservation.
I entered thru the Elm street entrance (there are 2 entrances). There’s no sign from outside. You walk in to the YMCA building and the entrance is to your right. Note: You won’t be greeted if you enter through Elm Street entrance.
I got to pick where I wanted to sit when I walked in.

Service: Server was very pushy– we needed more time to look at the menu but she kept coming back every 3 min.
Food: We ordered linguine all scoglio (seafood linguine), quattro stagioni and napoletana pizza to share.
Quattro stagioni: Who divides 4 toppings into 4 sections? I’ve never ever seen that anywhere. It was ridiculous and wasn’t an enjoyable experience to share that pizza.
Napoletana: Über salty and unappetizing. All the toppings were on one side of the pizza.
Linguine all scoglio: they skimped on seafood– tiny pieces of chopped calamari was sprinkled on top with couple of clams and mussels. Price tag $ 20.50.
All dishes were very very salty… all of us kept drinking water all day after lunch. If you are watching your sodium intake, this place ain’t for you.
Ambiance: not very inviting.
I was quite disappointed with the food and service. I’d rather spend that $ 60 somewhere else.

On Sat 2014-​03-​15, 3 of us went for an early dinner. We were the first ones there so the restaurant was empty. After 6:30pm, more people arrived.
This is their second restaurant. The first («Via Mercanti») is in Kensington Market.
It is located inside a YMCA building. We went in the main building entrance which led us to a small door to the restaurant (which happened to be their side entrance). The main entrance can be seen from the corner of the YMCA building. See my photos of the storefront.
The waitresses were Italian and everything else was Italian.
The service was courteous and prompt.
The food was very tasty and well-​presented. The pizza were large (approx 18″) so it is enough for 2 people to share. We ordered separate pizza for each and ended up bringing half of each home.
See my photos.

This place can be hard to miss because there isnt any real clear signage but worth the effort. It is located in one of these old exposed brick building that just adds to the charm of the place.
The place is decorated cleanly and minimalistic which matches the exterior of the building. Our server (I suspect was the owner) was was efficient and courteous.
We ordered the margheritona and via mercanti pizzas and the small antipasto plate. Pizzas was freshly made and cooked until the crust was just crispy enough. Margheritona had delicious prosciutto shaved on top and covered with fresh grated delicious pandano. The via mercanti was a pizza within a pizza (aka the inception pizza) with the top layer being a margherita pizza combined with delicious mushrooms, ricotta cheese, soppresetta, and prosciutto.
The small antipasto plate was a big serving and was pleasantly surprized by the portion size. Great combination of olives, variety of cheeses, and more prosciutto! (See a theme here?)
After the meal, we were told that the chef in the kitchen does award winning fresh pasta so this place will warrant another visit in the future.

I was on a 2 day course in the same building. My one and only experience at their Kensington Market location was not a good first impression but I did enjoy their pricey food. So I figured I would give their new location a try.
Day 1: I had their $ 10 lunch special. They have a few choices and I went with the veal «something Italian named» salad. My colleague got the margarita pizza and salad. She had a nicely sized portion and ate it all! I had something I was not expecting; a small salad with some veal cooked and chopped up on top of my salad.
Day 2: my colleague didn’t want to go again. I had the meatball sandwich with a salad off the menu for $ 15. It was a very generous portion. I ate half of it and got the other half to go.
If you are on a one hour lunch from work and need walking time, this may not work out. I was in the same building and managed to be seated, served my beverages, order taken, food eaten and back upstairs at the one hour mark.
Good food, depending on what you order the portions vary and the same pricey prices from their flagship restaurant. Nice spacious space.

Romolo Salvati knows his pizza!
Being a fan of Queen Margherita and Mercanti in Kensington, I was excited to eat here!
Located at Elm and University, this is a great spot for lunch with co-​workers.
The restaurant is inside the historic YWCA building, close to Bus Terminal, and Sunnybrook Hospital. There were lots of young hospital staff grabbing a bite.
I had made a reservation in case they were busy, but there were many tables available at noon.
The menu had $ 10 lunch specials — which were tempting!
But we split a a pizza and 3 appetizers so that we could try more items.
We ordered the pizza before the appetizers because we were worried about how long it would take to make.
It came out before we ordered the appetizers!
The Capriciossa pizza ($ 15) was topped with prosciutto, black olives, and mushrooms. The crust was perfectly toasty and chewy.
A light pizza that two people could finish off easily.
The arancini rice balls were huge! ($ 5 a piece).
Moist and filling, cheesy and saucy… Interesting with peas and beef.
Slightly over-​fried though but still good!
The fried mozzarella balls ($ 4) were freaking delish.
There were five small, bite sized pieces.
They weren’t big, but super tasty and salty.
The calamari alla marinara was really fresh!
A simple appetizer sauteed with olive oil, white wine, and tomatoes.
After we ate the calamari, we were quick to soak up the oil with fresh bread.
We left very happy with our meal.
Via Mercanti is a great spot to grab a pizza in the core!
Now all they need is a sign out front so people can find the restaurant.