Rated this place:
720 Queen St. W., Toronto, ON, M6J1E8
Terroni = Arrogance: For the third and last time, we visited Terroni’s Queen Street restaurant with friends from the United States. I was sensitized by our past experiences, but was willing to give the place one last try, even though it was not my first choice. I did warn my wife to kindly avoid questioning in the slightest any and all food modifications – no matter how slight – fearing reprisal.Unfortunately, as the waitress was taking our orders, one of our blissfully unaware friends fell into the diabolic trap and dared “I’d love your Nizzarda salad, but would it be possible to please hold the anchovies?”…. well, that was simply too much of an affront to the legendary purity of the Terroni tradition: the waitress, on cue, began lecturing us on the impeccable quality of their food and ingredients, and the historic tradition behind them that made it so very unthinkable to substitute or modify any and all dishes – all of Italy and civilization itself had been insulted by a request to hold an anchovy. She concluded the sermon by admonishing that Terroni “was all about being true to their food”. The tone was sanctimonious, arrogant, and unbelievably presumptuous. Toronto is still a little childishly full of itself, as in New York’s poorer cousin trying hard not to be ignored. Some of its restaurants reflect that, with Terroni at the head of the pack. I informed the waitress that perhaps they should think of staying true to their customers form time to time. It so happens that I was born and raised in Italy, but never found a restaurant there or anywhere that took itself quite so seriously, and made a point of lecturing its customers quite so sanctimoniously. You can remain true to your tradition and still be kind to your customers – we did not ask for ketchup on our spaghetti. Dogmas do not belong in the kitchen.If you value Italian food and customer service visit Trio Ristorante and Pizzeria for truly authentic pizza.