Sambucas On Church

The prix fix is great value and very generous portions. Enjoyed the food and the service.

I was upset that a waiter tried to take advantage of us; it ruined what would have been a good night.
I went here for Winterlicous and ordered a Long Island ice tea. The waiter brought me Coke in a high ball glass; there was clearly no alcohol. I alerted the waiter to the mistake, but he said he made it himself and it was fine. So I left it full on the table for the duration of the meal (the food was edible, like a red lobster or Swiss chalet). At the end of the meal, the waiter avoided our table for half an hour clearly foreseeing that I would request to speak with the manager. Apparently the manager wasn’t in (likely.) but I could speak with one of the cooks who’s worked there for a while. So I did, and he concluded based on the fact that the colour of the liquid in my glass was very dark that I was not drinking a Long Island ice tea. My drink was refunded, but it’s concerning that the same waiter still works there. (I pass by sometimes and see him inside).

I’ve had eventful experiences that weren’t as bad as my experience at Sambuca’s on Church.
As the name suggests I was super excited to try their Winterlicious lunch to the extent that I made reservations and couldn’t wait for a much awaited Friday lunch.
Upon reaching the restaurant we were greeted by a host and was told that my name was not on the list which means they didn’t enter my reservation details.
Furthermore I was told that I’d have to wait for another 50 mins or so for a table, to which I decided to do a take out instead.
So I ordered a soup, seafood risotto and Tiramisu to go.
My friend ordered a seafood salad.
We realized that a take out shouldn’t take that long.
After a good amount of time our orders arrived and in spite of giving separate orders they added everything in one bag which was still ok. So when we went aside to segregate
our orders we noticed our dessert and plastic cutlery were missing. That’s not the end of it. When the time came to pay for our bills they did not charge us separately and put everything on one tab and were super busy to amend it .
I have dined at numerous restaurants during rush hours and never have I came across such an experience so appalling that it failed to match Toronto standards.

Your average casual restaurant. Nothing wrong with it except if you come in a bigger group like 15, don’t go.
Simply the restaurant cannot handle the capacity. Waitress could not deal with the extra people not accustomed to give proper customer service. With all the other options in the vicinity, its not in good competition. Also it’s memorable, but for the wrong reason.

Virtually unbeatable for the price, for casual continental cuisine in the Church & Wellesley Village. Great for brunch, lunch and dinner, especially if you choose wisely from the prix fixe menu for dinner (which means starting with the mussels or salad, choosing from about a dozen great entrees, and ending with crème brûlée or tiramisu). Reasonably priced wines. Nice ambience, efficient and typically friendly staff.

The food is always amazing I come for the prix fix menu as it is only 25 $ for a three course meal. Our server Joshua was friendly and attentive and even sang me happy birthday I recommend the butternut squash soup and the tiramisu is so authentic ! Must try

We REALLY should have read the most recent reviews on Sambucas before swinging by. I came with my wife, son and daughter. We decided on Sambucas after shortlisting it down from 10 other restaurants taking part in Summerlicious based on its offering for its prix fixe. The swordfish grabbed my son’s attention so we chose Sambucas.
The dinner didn’t really get off to a good start as the bread was dry and crumbly.
For appetizers, we had the arancinis with mushrooms and salad. The arancinis were alright though nothing fancy. The salad had a nice dressing to it.
For the mains, we had the (1) swordfish, (2) grilled sirloin, (3) shrimp & lobster fettuccine and (4) risotto. Let’s proceed from best to worst. The risotto was cooked very well and was flavourful. Of the 4 kinds of entrees we ordered, this was by far the best. Definitely would be nice in the Fall or Winter! The next best was the swordfish. It was cooked okay, right on point. It was accompanied by steamed vegetables which were nicely done. The shrimp & lobster fettuccine was okay but the pasta was definitely on the hard side. I like pasta «al dente»…and this was harder than al dente for sure! Furthermore, it was dry as it lacked any sauce. The sirloin really bad! It was ordered as rare (I was shooting for medium rare) and it came out medium well. Since it was a long wait, I didn’t ask for it to be returned and re-​done. But it was really chewy and even with a steak knife, it was rather hard to cut! I really can’t say I was the least bit impressed by that.
Now for the piece the resistance… dessert! We ordered two deep fried tiramisu and two crème brulees. The tiramisu was actually served wrapped in a crêpe (think burrito!). The tiramisu inside was borderline okay but the presentation wasn’t quite our thing. The crème brûlée was REALLY BAD!!! It was almost like a cross between a crème caramel (in that it was really light) and a crème brûlée. But the consistency was bizarre. It was not smooth, nor was it firm. It was quite chunky… almost like a rice pudding.
I don’t know if the quality of food was so poor BECAUSE we ordered off the Summerlicious menu. If so and Sambucas was hoping we will never return, then they achieved that goal.

Just went here with my husband for Summerlicious. The menu looked good, but overall we felt the execution was pretty clumsy.
For appetizers we got arancini and leek soup. The soup was okay, but the arancini were cold in the middle. For the main course I got the shrimp and lobster fettucine — the lobster was overcooked, and tough to cut up with my butterknife (but why do I have to cut things in my pasta anyway?). The shrimp still had their tails, so I had to fish around and get my hands greasy removing them. The flavour of the pasta was okay, if not a bit oily. My husband ordered the swordfish, which was strangely soggy in the middle and came with flavourless steamed veggies. For dessert I ordered the crème brûlée (even though they brought me the cheesecake). My husband ordered deep fried tiramisu out of curiosity… and what he got was basically a giant burrito stuffed with tiramisu. It was difficult to cut (with a steak knife!) and difficult to eat.
We will not be going back.

The place was ridiculously understaffed on a Tuesday night — one waitress and no bartender for around 10 occupied tables. The poor lady had to do two jobs at once and serve a big number of people. Because of that the wait times were long, and the quality of service was bad — management should plan their staffing better. I had the stuffed chicken. It was regular — nothing particularly exciting.

This remains one of the most unmanaged restaurants in the world. The food is good but the workload among the servers is off-​balance. I’ve seen one waitress working a table of 16 plus individual tables while another sat at the bar and fiddled with her phone. There’s no spirit of pitching in and helping each other here so if you sit in the section that’s the busiest, your server will be overwhelmed and no one else will help out. Too bad, as the food is quite good. All this restaurant needs is a real manager.

This is my first time visiting Sambucas for Winterlicious 2015 for dinner. Glad I made a reservation as it was quite busy the night of. They were very accommodating especially for my party of 6 people. Courteous staff who were extremely helpful in making choices.
I was simply blown away by the appetizer, which really looked like a main course! The PEI mussels were cooked very well and the sauce to accompany was excellent.
Main course was the rack of lamb which was again cooked to perfection at my request (medium) and was seasoned very well.
Dessert however was a tease! With a chocolate and nutty nutella cake in a shallow pool of crème anglaise, I was craving even more!
Overall an excellent atmosphere for dinner, great food all for $ 25 (around 30 with ax) puts Sambucas in my top 5 fav Winterlicious restaurants.

So I have been to Sambuca 3x. First time, got the prix fixe me and my girl. Food was delicious. A dude waited on us and he was lovely as well. Second experience was good too, portions are pretty big. Very good deal. Food is not amazing but its not shitty either. The mussels are the highlight of my meal. My girl got a steak, nothing phenomenal.
3^rd visit was TERRIBLE. Food was cool. The asian lady who was waiting on us was RUDE. Basically it was one of those, I am slightly broke but I want to go out to dinner, so let me go here for the prix fixe
. So tab was around 50 $ and we dropped 3 $ for tip (I know cheap but one those days broke times). She came to our table and said «hey guys, was the service bad or something?», I was so shocked. We responded with so much embarrassment and said no service was ok. she was then slamming our dishes as she was picking them up… huffing and puffing all angry.
Terrible

Warm greetings here. Impressed that the basic menu is offered but every Thursday they change the specials. Which is rarely seen in establishments. The cuisine is Italian. Pizza can be made to order (ie no Cheese) and take out if you want. Prompt and friendly staff. Liked the grilled red peppers in the garden salad. Nice touch with the goat cheese. Everyone liked their entrée. T-​Bone was a little tough and I asked for it medium. Otherwise, liked food. Desserts were good too. Joshua was an amazing server he just busted it! Great service.

Fantastic place! Huge menu with great food (had Liver and Onions and Apple Chicken) and very reasonable prices.
Relaxed environment with excellent wait staff. Outstanding overall experience!

Excellent place for brunch on a Sunday morning.
Friends called asking us to meet in the village for brunch. We all decided on Sambucas as we’ve been there before and have always found the food to be fantastic.
We arrived at 11am and the place was quiet… however, by the time we left at 1ish… it was fairly busy.
Today I opted for French Toast with carmalized apples. It also came with home fries, bacon or sausage, and large slices of watermelon, cantelope, and honeydew. The French toast was amazing. Bacon cooked perfectly, home fries good… fantastic meal. Much better than the French toast I had a day earlier Symposium Café… although they both were the same price…$ 10.95.
My dining companion had Eggs Benedict. It also came with home fries and the above mentioned melons. He also said it was FAR superior to the Eggs Benny he had at Symposium Café the day earlier… at the same price of $ 10.95 as well.
Server was excellent, very friendly and welcoming. Atmosphere was warm. Great place to dine, especially if you get a window seat.
I wished I lived back in the city as this place was excellent.

Wow, what can i say, this place blew me away, their food wasn’t just «good» or «tasty», their food was f’ing amazing, absolutely amazing, delicious food, the fresh loaf of bread was sooo good, and the pasta dishes were perfectly prepared, and so darn good, you can clearly see they really care about their food, portions were great. It was a really nice surprise stumbling across this place. I’ll definitely return.

Came here for winterlicious with my friends, and I had a great time. The food was good, had the PI mussels, stuffed chicken breast with vegetables, and crème brûlée. The drink I ordered the Jolly Rancher; it was average. The mussels were really delicious especially in a creamy sauce, the chicken breast was gigantic and seasoned well, however the vegetables, especially the beets were not that tasty. The crème brûlée was below average, not garnished at all, and tasted very plain.
The service was good, a bit slow when the restaurant got busy; it seems a bit understaffed. The staff themselves were friendly, and our server was nice enough to change our desserts from the winterlicious menu to the regular menu. The restaurant itself could use some interior decorating as the chairs and tables make you feel like you’re at a diner.
I would definitely come back here as the menu has a variety of options and portions are big. Would like to try the steak next time.

Well my review is kind of odd… I will say that this restaurant is 5 stars all the way and the food is AMAZING. But I’m a little miffed with the management. The servers are always outstanding.
I’m hoping the restaurant management reads this !! …I am made a reservation for 13 people for Sunday December 22 at 6:30. Arrived a few minutes early where I was informed that the manager just now (at 6:10) advised the server that a party of 13 was coming in and one more server will be starting at 6:30.
Our party all arrived and we were all seated.
We were given menus and water. Took about 20 – 30 minutes before the server was able to get to us to take our drink orders because by that point the restaurant of about another 15 tables was FULL! The servers were hustling like crazy in top speed, but not for us… They turned all the tables in the restaurant twice before our entrées arrived. In fact one of our guests had to leave as after waiting 2 hrs before the entrée was served. Once the food arrived, it was absolutely delicious !! We all had something different and everyone enjoyed their meal. I will say because the servers were to slammed with customers but drinks we’re not flowing. We would have spent allot more money on cocktails and wine if we could even get the servers attention as he was so busy with all the other tables.
All in all it was great to see my friends at the holidays and the meal was wonderful, but the manager should

I was there yesterday with a bunch of friends and tried their summerlicious menu ($ 25 dinner). The atmostphere was definitely cozy and calm. The waitress was very friendly as she kept asking us if we were doing okay while waiting for some friends to arrive.
My 3 course meal included: (appetizer) Baby mixed greens, pancetta bacon, mandarin orange, roasted pistachio, blue cheese and woodapple dressing, (entrée) Pan seared halibut with papaya and avocado relish, served with grilled vegetables and herb roasted potatoes, (dessert) Lemon meringue pie.
I absolutely loved the salad appetizer. The salad was fresh and full of flavor with the pistachios as the add on. The dressing was made just right; not too sour, not too sweet. It was definitely a good start. Then the entrée came and the halibut was too dry (overcooked) and had no flavor to it. Another friend of mine got the same entrée and also complained of the dryness. The salsa on the halibut was good, however, I wish I had more on my plate to compensate for the dryness of the fish. The grilled vegetables was too oily and had no salt or pepper on it. The potatoes were too salty for my taste. So after being disappointed with the entrée, the desserts came and my lemon meringue pie was not to ratio (50 meringue: 50 lemon curd) and it was very small.
I was not impressed by the main course. Then comes the bill. The waitress decided that since we had over 8 people, she would charge us all on one bill, which would mean a definite service charge for her. We wanted separate bills, but she never asked. (Smart server!)
All in all, I liked the environment and how happy my friends were, but I feel that the food was not good enough for me to go back again.

What an amazing find! I wasn’t very hungry when a friend & I decided to come here for dinner, so I ordered the «magic mushrooms» & a Caesar salad, my friend ordered the crab cakes. The dressing on the Caesar was delicious, and the crab cakes were the best I’ve tasted in a long, long time but the magic mushroom crostinis were HEAVENLY… creamy, crunchy & all around yummy. I look forward to going back to sample the rest of their menu.
The service here leaves a little to be desired; they only had 2 people working at dinner time! Our waiter was often rushed as he was handling quite a few other tables, so he might have been a little friendlier…