Behind all the scaffolding on Bay, you’ll find Za Cafe Pizzeria and Bar. It’s a bit of a dark horse, the former Gaberdine’s white walls washed with black, although the worn bar seating remains. The place doesn’t scream warm trattoria or even minimalistic pizza joint, it’s more of an emo Italian restaurant that happens to play energetic dance beats. A great place for after work drinks but would be a shame if you left before having a bite.

Because although Za doesn’t feel like a trattoria, their food is nonetheless comforting Italian fare. The beef carpaccio ($17) lays out large slices of raw beef tenderloin that’s liberally seasoned with salt, lemon juice, and very little oil. While it doesn’t have the drizzles of aioli that typically graces a Canadian carpaccio, there’s tons of flavours from pickled bell peppers, brined caper berries, and thick shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano. It’s a rustic carpaccio and would be even better if the salt was toned down a bit.

The burrata pizza ($21) special had a similar vein, the white pizza foundation just lightly brushed with oil, so the paper-thin crust remained wonderfully crispy and light. While the base was sauceless, the pie was still so flavourful from the herb and garlic base, tons of arugula, bright cherry tomatoes, and a ball of cool creamy burrata that went so nicely with the crispy hot dough. How do we get this special to be on the permanent menu?

I’m glad we tried their house made pasta as the curly strands of casarecce were perfectly done, chewy but still soft – almost like a pasta and gnocchi hybrid. The pasta’s crevices helped to scoop up the shrimp cognac’s ($24) creamy cognac rosé sauce, which was rich but refreshing. We were surprised by the generous portion of six tablespoon sized shrimp that topped the dish, more than enough to go around while sharing.

The pesto green ($17) was also large with plenty of the basil sauce so that it seeps into the tubular garganelli. The small dollops of ricotta were a nice touch, but there needed to be more of it. 

While the seafood spaghetti’s ($28) presentation wasn’t the greatest, the dish contained a decent selection of seafood: shrimp, salmon, calamari, mussels, and clams. Like the other pastas, Za didn’t skimp on the ingredients as there was plenty of it. Often, pasta that’s fresh is best, but on the odd occasion I prefer the dried variety. For spaghetti this is the case, as I found the fresh version too doughy and soft.

Interestingly, Za uses a spicy tomato white wine sauce with the seafood spaghetti. The heat was evident but doesn’t necessarily add to the dish. In retrospect, I would have preferred a traditional non-spicy sauce instead.

The Basque cheesecake ($12) is ideal for sharing as it’s sizeable. While it was well caramelized, that slightly toasted taste wasn’t pronounced… it pretty much tasted like any other cheesecake. Perhaps it’s because the mixture was too dense, not the light creamy consistency you’d expect from a Basque.  

Za’s tiramisu ($9) was a let down. It consisted of a lot of whipped cream and cocoa powder and very little lady fingers and mascarpone. At least it was a flavourful dessert, albeit basic and without a zip of zabaglione, which is disappointing compared to their other rustic fares. 

If you can look past all the construction and darkness, Za Café Pizzeria and Bar is an ideal place for an inexpensive meal or a pre-theatre dinner prior to heading to the Ed Mirvish or Elgin theatres, a short walk from the area. Just bring a friend as deciding between pizza or pasta will be terribly unpleasant. The answer is to just have both. 

Mamajoun specializes in lahmajoun pizzas and wraps – try saying that three times fast. In the west, we may refer to lahmajoun as an Armenian pizza or flatbread. It’s topped with any ingredient, but traditionally tends to be a beef spread made with tomatoes, spices, and herbs.

The restaurant starts with fresh dough that’s flattened into an ultra-thin base before topping it and then cooking in a high heat oven.  With “Pizzeria” being a part of their name, I opted to try two of the pies. First, one that best matched my preference, an Italian sausage and peppers pizza ($15.50 for a small) that’s not traditional but sounds tasty.

Crispy around the edges and soft but not soggy in the centre, this is a thin crust lover’s dream. The toppings are spread very close to the edges so that each bite is filled with cheese, tomato sauce, peppers, onion, and rounds of meat. With so many ingredients it could have easily become too salty. Yet, it wasn’t. Flavourful, yes, but not too overpowering. This was a good start.

Their Armenian pizza ($15.50 for a small) was punchier, the tomato and cheese base also enhanced with a spiced beef spread before being topped with soujouk (a drier and more flavourful sausage) and onions. While I enjoyed the hints of spice on the pizza, I also found it was too soft: the bottom of the crust not toasted enough and aside from the onions nothing to give it texture. It’s also a heavier feeling pizza due to the double meat and cheese. Slivers of bell peppers and mint would be a great addition to this pie.

Where the restaurant stands out is their jouns and at about $5 a wrap, they are also a great value. The Papajoun ($5.50) is like the Armenian pizza, the dough topped with red pepper paste, ground beef, onions, and garlic - it’s spicier but not quite as heavy as there isn’t any cheese.

To the Papajoun I added chicken (supplemental $4), which gave the wrap more heft without additional flavour. Why I prefer a joun is the ability to customize without additional costs. Some pickled turnips, mint, and tomatoes added a freshness to the wrap. While there was already some heat in the red pepper paste, it could have been spicier for me. Be sure to ask for pickled jalapenos or hot banana peppers if you like it spicy.

If you’re lucky, some mante may be available as an off-menu item. Owner Mihran stresses that these are best eaten right away as what makes them delicious are the dumpling’s crispy edges. Armenian mante are so much better than the Turkish and Lebanese versions I’ve tried in the past. The thin dough and crunchy toasted bits are certainly a draw, but I loved that they sit in a savoury tomato and chicken stock sauce with only a dollop of yoghurt. In the past, I often didn’t like the dish because there was just too much yoghurt that it felt like I was eating a yoghurt bowl with bites of meaty dough – sounds gross, huh?

For a sweet ending, the rice pudding ($2.50) was beckoning. The dessert was creamy and thick, adequately sweet, and brimming with cinnamon notes. The cup-sized portion would be a filling ending for one or just enough to share amongst two people.

Mamajoun also operates a small store selling preserves, sauces, and juices. With so many options to choose from, a tasting session would be a great way to feature the items if the restaurant ever wants to branch into special events.

As for now, there’s a host of jerky available to sample while you’re waiting the 10-20 minutes for your order to be ready. These are also freshly made with minimal preservatives, so it’s recommended that they’re stored in a fridge.

If it weren’t for Mamajoun being featured in a Yelp event, I would have never noticed and stopped at the plaza it is located in. Such a shame, as I would have never met the passionate and friendly people operating the restaurant (and jerky business), tasted a filling and flavourful joun, and had mante that I’d order again.

Overall mark - 7 out of 10

A fresh salad like their Caesar ($14) pairs nicely and is large enough to share amongst four to five people. The dressing isn’t overly heavy, which compliments the bacon, semi-dried tomatoes, and grated grana padano garnishes.  

But let’s be honest, people are here for their pies. The dough has a sourdough finish and is stretched paper thin yet still arrives well toasted and crispy so there’s no sogginess, not even at the centre. The medium pizza yields six decent sized pieces, but because it’s not overly heavy, you can easily knock back four slices without a thought. It’s best to budget a large pie for two people and two medium pizzas for three.

I have fond memories of their kale and bacon ($21 for medium or $29 for large) and am glad to see it’s a combination they still make. The oven crisps up the kale, so it become almost chip like and there’s plenty of double smoked bacon chunks to even satisfy my carnivore husband. It’s also a nice white pizza (the base made with garlic oil instead of tomato sauce) to have a different flavour from the other options.

If you want flavour, the killer bee ($21 for medium or $29 for large) is a wonderful combination of spicy, savoury, and sweet. Chunks of peppery Italian sausage creates a richness amongst the gooey cheese. While the pizza could become too heavy, the pickled jalapeno and spicy tomato sauce gives it a heat that helps balance out the pie, while honey provides a sweet finish. I can see why this is one of their most popular pizzas.

The margherita ($19 for medium or $26 for large) is a classic and thankfully the cheese is now more evenly distributed than my first experience. Still with the plainer pizza, I would have liked if they finished it off with a sprinkle of sea salt as the cheese less sections tasted rather plain.

I guess it’s an excellent opportunity to add on a dipping sauce and their creamy garlic ($1.50) is the best version I’ve had. It’s certainly garlicky with chunks seen amongst the mayonnaise, but I like the addition of chives that add a fresher finish. It’s also a nice consistency, not too thick so that is becomes a spread, but not too thin either. Just be mindful, it’s a flavourful dip so a little goes a long way.

While North of Brooklyn’s food impressed, their wine did not. The red arrives ice cold and after letting it sit and warm up, it only marginally improves and was still overly acidic. I’ll stick with beer or a fancy pop next time.

If you can dine-in, it’s the way to go - the crispy crust is so intoxicating fresh from the oven. Even so, after sitting in a take-out container for 15 minutes, the pizza was still good. 

Their online ordering platform was also a breeze to use, and the order was finished right on time to ensure it didn’t sit around waiting. Let’s be honest, once it’s done, it won’t last long anyways… somehow, in our family, within minutes a slice just magically disappears. 

• Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
• 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
• 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
• 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
• 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
• 10 - absolute perfection!

• Amano Pasta
• Trattoria Nervosa

When having meatballs as a starter, I want them nice and large. The size of tennis balls, the menu describes polpette di manzo ($16) as being made from ground beef, but it’s surprisingly delicate for beef. Sitting in a lovely tomato sauce, it pairs so nicely with the complimentary salty oily focaccia.

I had doubts when I first laid eyes on the thick crust on the parmigiana ($22) pizza – did I make the wrong choice? The crust is deceiving as once I bit into it, it is surprisingly light and airy, and nicely toasted on the bottom. This main combines my love for eggplant parmigiana and pizza and Paese doesn’t skimp on eggplant or cheese. While they augment flavours with basil, chili, and oregano; I would have liked more salt to seep into the neutral eggplant and dough as the tomato sauce isn’t applied as liberally, rightfully so, on the pizza versus the traditional dish.

Overall, Paese makes some good sauce – not too acidic and fresh tasting. Interestingly, their bolognese di tacchino ($25) incorporates turkey instead of the traditional beef, pork, and/or pancetta mixture, which makes it taste lighter. So even though it arrives as a huge plate, the men at our table were able to get through the entire dish. This would have been even better if there was some chili sauce thrown into the mix.

What a good dinner. Pizza, patio, and prosecco… who needs anything other than these three Ps during the summer?  

There is pent up demand within households – that’s what’s frequently being said about the torrent of money that’s about to flow through the Canadian economy once the flood gate opens. I can see why they’re predicting this: once my friend scored a reservation at the new Stock Bar, the roof top and street-side patios at Stock T.C, we wouldn’t bail even though Toronto was hit with a day of rain. Under normal conditions, we would have rain checked the patio and gone for an indoor dining experience. But since that wasn’t possible in June, and we had already been relegated to takeout and delivery for months on end, we were going anyways.

We saw umbrellas over the tables in photos and thought we’d take a chance. It’s a bet that paid off as we scored one of the last tables where everyone would be properly shielded from the elements. I bet Stock T.C wished they invested in more umbrellas to ensure more tables could get the full coverage – despite the plethora of umbrellas, when they’re placed only to protect from sun, it means few tables are usable.

So, was the risk worth it? Under normal conditions, the food would be a disappointment. The tagliatelle all’astice ($45) was so over seasoned. It’s perplexing why the chef felt a dish with lobster and marinara – two fairly flavourful ingredients – would need so much salt and pepper. The crustacean became lost, they could have thrown in any protein, a neutral chicken would have worked better. And for a high price point, the pasta had a lot of cherry tomatoes and probably a claw-worth of lobster. I’d pass on the pasta.

The Stock steak frites ($26) was decent – the beef was a little chewy, but that’s also expected from a lean sirloin that’s cooked perfectly to medium rare. If I were Stock T.C, I’d leave the steak uncut. Sure, the presentation will not look as nice, but it will help the protein retain it’s heat more as a common complaint is the steak arrives cold and dry. I wouldn’t say it was dry, but the temperature was a problem.

Perhaps the best dish of the night was the funghi e burrata ($26) pizza, but even this wasn’t something I’d rave about. I enjoyed the ingenuity of pairing burrata with mushrooms (typically it arrives with basil or prosciutto), as the earthy fungi gives an interesting twist with the creamy cheese. Yet, since I had this last, the pizza had two things going against it: 1) it tasted bland… after the salty pasta anything would seem tasteless; and 2) the crust, while nice and thin, had become hard from the cold.

If people are sharing dishes amongst a table, the restaurant should recommend having the pizza come between the appetizers and the main, or even act as the starter if the table isn’t getting anything. That would help ensure people are eating the pie at its peak.

The pizza would have made for a nice interlude between the prosciutto con gnocco fritto ($17) and the steak and pasta. Even the fritto, fried pieces of puffed dough, had cooled by the time they reached the table. Nonetheless, they had a lovely aroma, and the prosciutto was shaved thin enough that even the heat of your hand starts to warm the fat enough to stick to the pastry. Since it was my first bite of freshly prepared food since 2020, that fritto was freaking fabulous.

Eating outside always presents the chefs with challenges and deteriorates the taste of a dish. And with restaurants trying to recoup lost revenue, survive with limited occupancy, and deal with rising ingredient costs, menu prices will be higher than the historical norms. In the end, expect to pay more for dishes that aren’t at their best.

During a cold evening, my husband and I love dining at Piazzetta Trattoria. The heat from their wood-burning pizza oven is like a welcoming hug as you enter the door, as the smells of bread, melting cheese, and marinara mingles in the air. It’s such a comforting environment … the staff’s friendly greeting and you’re seated with a basket of warm bread in front of you in no time.

Piazzetta’s pizza boxes are emblazoned with a picture of that front door, but as I lift the cover, I’m waiting for the blast of intoxicating heat like entering the front door, sadly it isn’t there. It’s an experience that’s difficult to replicate with delivery.

We are delighted by the containers of jalapeno and habanero hot sauces that arrive with the pizzas. These tarte and slightly spicy sauces, the consistency of chutney, is the reason we order pizza from Piazzetta. So much so, that we even added jar of the jalapeno sauce ($8.99) for home use – these are great on tacos/quesadillas as well.  

The pizza’s crust seems even thinner than what you’d find dining in, to the point it becomes too crispy, losing that slight chewiness, and morphs into a flatbread. Yet, they still load on the toppings: the pizza Bolognese ($19) covered with plenty of ground beef and mozzarella, both not overly salty so that it doesn’t overwhelm the thin crust.

An interesting dilemma arises with whether there’s enough tomato sauce on a pizza that’s considered Bolognese. I felt there wasn’t enough, the pizza tasting more like a burger than a lovely ragu. Yet, I appreciated that the crust wasn’t soggy… perhaps a few dollops of sauce over the beef, after the pizza is cooked, could create something that’s the best of both worlds?

The cheese that was strongest in the quattro formaggi ($19) was the gorgonzola, although you could tell there was plenty of mozzarella and fior di latte included as well, given the cheese formed a layer that was equally as thick as the crust. Consider pre-heating the oven when the delivery is on its way, as this pizza really benefits from a quick broil to melt the cheese and toast the parmigiano so you’ll get a lovely cheesy aroma.

The burrata ($18 for one person) is always a great add-on. Despite the menu noting the smaller serving is for one, the tennis ball sized sphere of cheese easily feeds two as an appetizer and arrives simply on thick tomato slices topped with plenty of basil and olive oil.

Really any of their appetizers can easily satisfy 2-3 people or work as a main for one person. The fritto misto ($18 for one person) is an array of deep-fried calamari rings, chunks of white fish, headless sardines, and shrimp. Being lightly coated in flour the starter isn’t overly heavy, but given the coating is light it could use a sprinkling of salt after being fried to allow it to be eaten solo without the marinara dipping sauce.  

While Piazzetta’s insalata di Cesare ($12) looks like it’s hardly dressed, you can certainly taste the savoury Caesar dressing that has a nice balance of acidity. Incidentally, that freshness was a perfect complement for the fritto misto, toning down the fried affair.

Two popular mains that I see ordered all the time at Piazzetta is their lasagna al forno ($20) and the pollo alla limone ($25). At the restaurant, the lasagna is baked in the pizza oven and brought bubbling to the table in the cooking dish. Of course, this isn’t possible with delivery and could be why the dish tastes less creamy as the tomato sauce doesn’t continue to cook down and combine with the cheese. It doesn’t mean the lasagna’s not delicious – the pasta is nice and silky; the tomato sauce laced with fine ground beef is uber fresh and the dish incorporates enough cheese to satisfy – it just doesn’t seem as decadent.

I was a little worried the lemon chicken (or pollo alla limone) would be too citrusy, but my fears were abated. The combination of white wine, olive oil, and lemon was well composed, and the chicken breast incorporated a bit of flour to allow the runny sauce to stick on without saturating the meat. After the heavier starters, this gentler main with sauteed vegetables and creamy roasted potatoes was the perfect progression.

Having had dinner delivered on two occasions, the heartier mains like pasta and chicken definitely travelled better than the thinner pizzas. The tin foil containers really help retain the heat and are also great for storing leftovers and reheating in the oven. And trust me, with Piazzetta’s portions you’ll have something available the next day, the perfect excuse to not cook again, because I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of cooking.