North York Italian on Yonge

Hello fellow chowhounds.

I've lived in the North York area for a few years and have yet to venture out to any of the Italian restaurants on Yonge between the 401 and Finch. I've seen Alegno, Amarone, Antolini, Mezza Notte & Lokshen Alfredo in my walkings down the street and I was just wondering who has eaten at any of these restaurants and what you have enjoyed and conversely not enjoyed.

I'm really into smaller restaurants so I'm thinking about venturing out either to Alegno for a wood burning pizza or Lokshen Alfredo for their mushroom risotto.

I came accross Lokshen Alfredo a few months ago and it immediately became my destination of choice for fine italian, home-cooked cuisine. As a Queen West Village resident, the trip North to eat has never disappointed. In fact, I just celebrated my birthday at Lokshen in April (ask about their birthday promotion!), and the professional service and fine attention to detail completmented the consistently delicious food beautifully. I recommend the Fettucine Mare & Terra if you are a seafood lover like myself. The scallops are the size of my face! The homestyle bruschetta is always a great starter as well. To the folks at Lokshen... magnifico!

[foodhead]

I found Lokshen Alfredo bland and disappointing. There are many many better places to eat in the north end.

Tried Amarone, Alegno, Mezza Notte and Lokshen Alfredo, and the only place I will go back to is Mezza Notte.

Lokshen may have been my own fault - I ordered a simple pasta with basil, tomatoes and olive oil which failed to impress me. Amerone and Alegno I have no desire to go back to.

My partner is Italian, so to be honest, I wouldn't take him to any of these places. He's a fan of Marcello's and I am of 7 Numbers, so I prefer to not go for Italian food in North York.

I generally recommend Mezze Notte, which I've always enjoyed, but I haven't tried the others, so I'm not recommending it over them, necessarily. It's not spectacular or particularly original food, but it is better than good, and well-priced, as well.

mezza notta is very very excellent.

Not only is the food mediocre, but the noise level in the place can split your eardrums. This has already been discussed below.

I must agree.
We went once, four people and couldn't carry a conversation, unless we wanted to scream at each other (which we didn't) so we sat silently through our meal.
Too bad they don't recognize the problem and fix the accoustics.
Noise seemed to be bouncing off the walls.
It could have been pleasant.

I posted about this ages ago. We couldn't hear ourselves speak.......wondered if it's because we're getting older !! I guess not, seeing as other people think the same as us.

They are all mediocre and not worth a vist.

If you don't mind driving a couple of minutes more up north ( between Hwy 7 and Steeles ), I would defintely give Tutto Bene a try. In my opinion, best Italian north of Sheppard by a mile! However, most of their dishes are for serious dining ie, not your typical Italian pizza/pasta place!! eg. Appertizer: Grilled seafood medley in a lobster bouillabaise reduction.

Mezza Notte would be my pick. i live right in the area you're looking at, and Mezza Notte is the pick of them all. When i go with my family of 4 we make a point of trying something different on the menu each time, and still havent found anything we really don't like. The pizza is the same recipe as Mamma's Pizza (the owners, brothers Rob and Gus used to own the franchise by sheppard and brought the recipe with them) and the rest of the italian fare is simply scrumtpious. I'd definitely reccommend the veal parmagianna or one of the specialty pastas

menu at top left of link

Link: http://www.toronto.com/infosite/14484...

Try Lokshen Alfredo.. Nice friendly family run joint, honest and unpretentious food at reasonable prices.

I would go when they're not as busy... I've noticed more care and attention on not busy nights e.g. tuesday to thursday nights.

Been there 4 times in the past year.