Via Allegro Ristorante, Etobicoke

My boyfriend and I were there to celebrate our 10 year anniversary; friends of ours had recommended it. The food was wonderful but the atmosphere was chaotic. There were several parties, one of which involved a lot of kids, which made the restaurant very crowded. The kids ran around the restaurant without any adult supervision and the waiters did not seem to mind. Their website exhibited a very classy and eligant restuarant however, by the end of the night, we felt like we were leaving a high-priced Chuck-E-Cheese. We can say that we have tried it but, to be honest, we would not go here again.

Via Allegro, Iwill be back. I went without reservations on a Tuesday night not expecting the place to be jammed. We had drinks at the bar while waiting for a table and ended up in an impromptu scotch tasting with two gentlemen who are regular visitors from the states. I knew about the wine selection from reading the Wine Spectator but I did not know about the massive scotch list. Scotch is not really my thing but I thoroughly enjoyed the stories. My wife and I shared a beef Carpaccio which was outstanding. I had the Rabbit pasta and she had a mushroom risotto. Both dishes were among the best we have ever had. The Sommelier (apparently Joey Votto's mother) paired the wines for us. What I enjoyed most was the pleasure that everyone seemed to take in serving us and in talking about the food, wine and scotch. We would definitely go back.

I am not a negative person, and always try to find a positive in everything however I just cannot with my last experience with Via Allegro Ristorante. I took some very special people out to celebrate a New Years Eve Dinner and was terriable dissapointed. Understand that I am a business traveller and spend 2-3 nights a week in fine dining establishments around North America. The service was very poor, our server was acually very rude and short with my guests who had a couple of simple questions about the menu. We ordered some appitizers which were pretty good and ordered our dinners at this time. Out of the three meals that were served, every one of them was "Discusting". The rabbit was overcooked and tasted rancid, like it had gone bad. The second pasta dish was served undercooked and the sauce actually had a burnt flavour. I ordered the veal and could not even eat it. The server noticed that no one ate their meal and asked if everything was ok. I politely explained to him that all three meals were below par and he excused it by saying that the kitchen had a big rush by the time our order was taken and left it at that. No offer to do anything at all. I ended up getting the bill for close to $300.00 and he simply dropped it off and did not even make any effort to satisfy us. In the meantime both the male & female washrooms were visited by myself and my guests and they were filthy dirty. Certainly a huge dissapointment, I will never return nor recomend anyone to visit this restaurant.

The food is over priced but it is worth the money sometimes depending on which chef is cooking the food, but the staff are absouletly horrible. Service is by far the worst out of all the top restaurants in Toronto such as Canoe, North 44, Bymark.

Had a mushroom risotto with beef tenderloin that blew me away. Service was prompt and the server was well informed about the menu. My wife had a glutton free pasta that the chef created on the spot to accommodate her allergy. Not as expensive as I expected. Took me a long time to get here but I will definitely be back

I have had 2 bad experiences at this place.., they used to have an amazzzing rissotto a while back, so we forgave them as the owner had made some amends who we believed would make things better with the staff. Well, we contacted them regards a birthday celebration, however, when we inquired if we could bring our own torte due to gluten issues, we were told no! I wouldn't go back to this narcissistic joint if you paid me to go!

The food is okay, but the staff are so incredibly rude and they are not very professional. They will argue with eachother right in front of the customers and provide awful service! Had to keep reminding our waiter to bring stuff we told him about earlier.

Anyone who has been to Europe would find Via Allegro's decor to be simply extraordinary. The unique custom piece are beautiful! When I enquired, the manager informed me that they were indeed handmade and original. I love the imported pieces from Amalfi, the spectacular murano chandelier and the authentic ovens from Naple, Italy. The atmosphere feels like a celebration of life! I'm not a big wine drinker but the selection by the glass was incredible. The staff was patient and incredibly informative. I found exactly what I was looking for. The staff's menu knowledge was extensive and they led me through the great many menu offerings. My female friend can be difficult and picky but again, the staff was patient and very happy to lead her through the menu. I was surprised to see that they had both traditional and modern dishes, all done with their own unique treatment. I had a southern Italian style risotto that was done with extra virgin olive oil instead of butter and cheese. It was healthy and delicious with the most succulent wild scallops I have ever had. My friend ordered an appetizer of gnocchi wild and tame. The gnocchi dish had both wild boar and a special domestic prosciutto. She loved it to no end! We shared a main of short rib done two ways. We fought over this amazing dish. For dessert we had their famous passion fruit cheese cake. It was truly the best dessert I have ever had!!! For two educated women who have eaten in the best restaurants, this was by far the most complete and satisfying dining experience we ever had!

Noisey.Overpriced. Underserviced.After a ninty five minute wait for beef and rissota GOOD, pasta which you could easily make at home, and gnochi, leaden balls of dough in a flavourless green sauce [they took off the bill and should take off the menu ]We were given a small bottle of prosseco and three small brownies in atonement in hopes we would come back.Not likely.We know our way around a kitchen and can cook as good or better meals at home.

Really was a pity that the dishes we had were so salty since the waitstaff was excellent. We weren't even able to finish our main courses due to the excessive amounts of salt in both of our dishes! It was so awful I was happy the waiter didn't ask if we wanted to take our leftovers to go.