Folco’s Ristorante

Wednesday night 8pm — restaurant was busy; luckily I made reservations.
Service seems to be lacking — perhaps understaffed. I can see the effort is there though.
The spoon was a bit dirty — had to request a new one; literally had to yell to get anyone’s attention.
They ran out of the dish I wanted (lasagna and then the mushroom raviolli)
Had to ask for bread after 45 minutes since arrival (It didn’t come with any olive oil, just butter)
Pasta was very good though.
Perhaps I had high expectations from the reviews, but it didn’t meet expectations to be a «classy» restaurant

I went here with my family and it was a very good experience. It’s a dimly lit, Italian restaurant with some of the best service I’ve seen, and it feels like a pretty high-​end restaurant when you come in, but it’s not super formal that everybody has to dress up — but it wouldn’t be surprising if you did.
Not many people when we went so service was very good, and it was pretty quiet. I ordered the seafood linguine which was made almost perfectly, the linguine was cooked just right and everything else complemented the pasta and sauces pretty well. Everybody else seemed to enjoy their food as well, so no complaints there!
We had a great time, and I think this is an underrated restaurant.

Probably one of the best Italian foods I have ever tasted by a family owned business.
Besides Alice Fazoolis, Folco’s Ristorante is another that serves warm bread with olive dip instead of butter. That’s already an additional half star, to serve warm bread with non butter dip.
We love getting their mussels as an appetizer to share. I recommend any pasta here because their tomato juice is «on point». All of the mussles are slowly cooked and opened perfectly and are gracefully covered with appealing tomato sauce with herbs. The pasta, well, it’s pasta, but it’s delicious because of the homemade sauce.
In the summertime, ask to sit on the patio if there’s no construction, it really adds to the feel of dining at a restaurant in Main Street!

This restaurant is local to me. I had been a few times, many years ago but hadn’t been back until this past week. See, my husband doesn’t like pasta (what???), so he always dismisses this option.
I visited on a Tuesday evening with my mother, who does like pasta. Certainly there are other options on the menu, but IMO, the real draw to Folco’s is the pasta. Hand made in house and dressed with simple and tasty ingredients.
We ordered bruschetta and meatballs to start. The bruschetta is nothing to write home about: good but not mind-​blowing. The meatballs were delicious and the sauce was excellent. One complaint was that the sauce was cold within a minute or two. Would have been better if the sauce was piping hot and the plate warmed.
My mom ordered the panko tilapia feature, which was served with spaghetti aglio e olio. She found it delicious. I ordered the fettucini alfredo which was INSANELY good. The pasta was just so perfect and the sauce was decadent and smooth. No curdling and it had plenty of flavour.
All in all, I would like to return again soon. The service was friendly, the space is quaint, I definitely recommend. Markham really only has a few gems, and this is indeed one of them.

Little house on Main Street Markham that is easily missed. I have been coming here for years and I am never disappointed. I have tried everything on the menu and my favourite is their spaghetti and meatballs. Noodle are al dente every time, sauce is delicious and made fresh everyday. Meatballs are perfect size, taste and texture. Portions are great for the price. My daughter lights up every time I say let’s go eat at Folco’s. If you live in Markham and have yet to give the place a try, you truly have been missing out on a gem of a place. Service is great, small little place but plenty of servers around. The chef/​owner goes to every table at dinner for a meet and greet, lost art of customer experience in my opinion.

Really wonderful food and wonderful service. Rich was put waiter and he was attentive, caring, and a perfect the complement to a delicious meal. I had the meatballs, lamb and then cheesecake for dessert. All perfect.

If you have not been here, get here. The food is spectacular, the Pasta made table side was delicious, fresh and full of flavor. intimate but not quite. I had the Veal Piccata melt in your mouth served with a tasty Aoli angel hair. Good wine list and lots of street parking. $$$.

The most divine Italian food I have tasted. They sometimes feature this incredible mushroom risotto that they cook in the parmigiana reggiano wheel and it is a knockout. Other favourites are the penne alla vodka, caprese salad, butternut squash ravioli. All very hearty and satisfying. They also have a tomato basil salad that comes in a parmesan crisp bowl. The tiramisu is outstanding. It’s a nice cozy restaurant and they have a small patio outside. I adore this restaurant and everything we’ve eaten has been outstanding. The service is nice too — friendly but not too in your face.

My boyfriend and I visited for the first time… We were not disappointed !! All of the food, from the appetizers to the desserts were excellent ! Would highly recommend

My husband and I came here on a random Tuesday. We got a seat no problem. The hostess was extremely welcoming and friendly. The place definitely had a «home» feeling. We had the fried calamari to start — it was good but nothing to rave about. As our mains, my husband got the lasagna and I got the mushroom ravioli made in a truffle cream sauce. The lasagna was in a bolognese sauce that was cooked for over 8 hours. Both dishes were amazing! We would definitely come back to have those same dishes again. The waitress also mentioned that the restaurant has movie nights where they pair dishes based on the movie. What a great idea! Overall, was a great experience, great food, great staff and look forward to coming back.

I am a local resident of Markham. I enjoy local restaurants like Folco’s, no need for me and the wife to travel long distances for a restaurant.
Atmosphere is nice, no one rushes you out the door.
I had the Tagliatelle bolognese that night, excellent dish. Fresh pasta and tasty meat sauce. Service that night was also very good.
TAGLIATELLE BOLOGNESE tomato meat sauce, slow cooked for 8 hours, a Folco family specialty 18
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what a delicious dinner here. reservations are highly recommended for a friday night though quite a few 2-​top and our 4-​top got seated with barely a wait slightly later in the evening.
pasta is made in-​house and several items are boasted to be shipped straight from the mother boot. it’s nice to see (taste!) that the vegetable bolognese, meat bolognese, and lasagna, which (on paper) appear to all have more or less the same sauce — all turned out significantly different.
FETTUCCINE VEGETABLE BOLOGNESE ($ 19) — wide variety of vegetables contribute to an acidic and vibrant sauce that has some excellent tang
LASAGNA ($ 19) — soft sheets of pasta separated by meat sauce, which tastes more «grounded» than the vegetarian tomato sauce
TAGLIATELLE BOLOGNESE ($ 18) — each bite is so. satisfyingly. meaty. pasta wasn’t as bouncy as i was hoping for.
WILD MUSHROOM RAVIOLI ($ 20) — in a cream sauce which tasted a tad sweet due to the natural sweetness of dairy; would have liked more even amounts of filling as some ravioli seemed a little empty but otherwise the filling was delicious and fragrant, but not overpowered by the white truffle
as we wrapped up our evening, we got a peek at the vitello parmigiana maybe? pasta tossed with parmesan flambé’d straight in the wheel. how exciting! smelled good enough to have dinner round two — though considering portion sizes here, would’ve put us straight into hibernation mode (mmm i’m ok with that).

Walked in on a Tuesday night with a friend, and it took a bit of time to be seated, even though the restaurant only looked about half full. In their defense though, the waitress did apologize every time she passed us and had to pick up yet another order for another table before she could get us to a table.
When we were finally seated though, the service was excellent. The waitress (the same one) was very attentive, and stopped by several times to check up on us, and to make sure we had everything we wanted. We didn’t have any trouble flagging her down whenever we wanted something, and she usually got to our table before we started looking for her anyway.
The food itself was excellent. We started with the meatballs, and then ordered the gnocchi and penne alla vodka for our mains. I’ve been to quite a few restaurants where the ingredients listed in the menu promise a lot, yet fall short of flavour, but this restaurant, I’m happy to say, is not one of them. The meatballs were very tender and flavourful, and came with a sauce that was oh so very good. We ended up asking for more bread so that none of the sauce went to waste! The penne was also quite good, and the gnocchi was one of the best I’ve had in quite a while. You can definitely taste all the different ingredients melding together, and it was also spiced just right. We finished it all off with a decadent chocolate fudge cake, which again, was simply delicious!
The restaurant itself had a casual, yet cozy atmosphere (it was decorated for Christmas, complete with fireplace), and was very conducive to good conversation. It was the perfect place to catch up with a friend.
If you aren’t in any particular rush, and want a nice family-​run restaurant where you can sit down to good home-​cooked food and simply enjoy the company of a small group of friends, this would be an ideal restaurant for that occasion.

Very attractive restaurant with seating on the patio in the summer. The patio can very loud due to the busy traffic just a few feet away. Convenient parking right behind the building, on the street or in the RBC parking lot across the street.
The food is delicious! Best gnocchi I’ve ever had, light and fluffy pillows of taste. Grilled Caesar salad is a treat. Pasta and lamb dishes are particularly good. Accompanying wine list has some tasty selections. Prices are high but quality of food makes it worthwhile. Only caveat: service can sometimes be spotty. My absolute favourite dining experience in the Markham area.

After hearing so many people in the area raving about Folco’s I finally decided to try it out. I was disappointed about the food. The veal parmigiana was sub-​par. Too much sauce, very dry meat which was overcooked. My husband tried a pasta dish which was «ok» we were told pasta was made fresh in house. The drenching of sauce on the pasta killed any taste I was hoping to get out of it. The caesar salad was good & so was the bruschetta. Their tomato sauce — homemade I was told — tastes like something out of a jar. I was hugely disappointed and felt their food tasted no different than the Italian restaurant across the street. I was hoping to go back & try out their pizzas, but there is a much better Italian restaurant in the Garden Basket Plaza that makes everything from scratch and I have been a regular of theirs since they opened.

A well-​earned 4-​star review! The restaurant was cozy and perfect for a date night (although the random photo of a baby on the wall eating a bowl of pasta was creepy and seemed rather out of place.)
I ordered the squash goat cheese ravioli which was served with mushrooms and a buttery sage sauce. It was rich and delicious. My boyfriend ordered one of the specials — breaded chicken served with arugula salad and spaghetti (all pasta is made fresh, in house). The spaghetti came in a Parmesan basket — yes, this was basically a small bowl made entirely out of cheese. I stole a few bites of his pasta and it was delicious!
Our service was a bit on the slow side at first, as it took quite a while before any bread was brought to our table, but our waitress was very pleasant. The chef was also wandering around asking about people’s meals, which is always nice to see.
I’ll be going back for sure! Make a reservation in advance as it gets pretty busy.

Came here with my girls last week on a very cold night. Didn’t realize there was parking behind the restaurant but just parked in the huge lot across the street. The place inside is very cozy and romantic. It does smell very high of Italian cheeses but hey it’s an Italian restaurant. It was an ok experience. They gave bread to start with butter and olive oil. I got the fettuccine Alfredo and they asked if I wanted chicken on top which cost 6 bucks. Thought that was a bit pricy nor did they tell me the price until I paid. It tasted fine but nothing life changing and the chicken wasn’t seasoned on top. My girl got the lamb special and it was good. They didn’t tell her the price until after her bill and it was almost 40 bucks. Definitely didn’t think it was worth that much. Overall it was a fine experience and it’s always nice to be in main street markham but won’t be returning.

Jan 11,2014
When I called the restaurant, I was absolutely delighted that the woman who answered the phone knew about dietary restrictions and how to accommodate them. People pay lip service to the gluten free and dairy free crowd… this place actually steers you in the right direction… and we’re not talking «Oh, you can have a salad.»
Dina, who I came to find out that evening, was not only the lady who answered my questions on the phone, but was also our server AND the chef! So, she gave me detailed list of ingredients in the meals I was looking at as well as how to accommodate me, too. WOW! If any of you follow a gluten and dairy free liftestyle, you can truly appreciate where I’m coming from and the «jackpot» that I felt I hit!
This was my first time to Folco’s and will not be my last. Thank you, Dina, for a truly authentic and wonderful gastronomical experience! The food, ambience and attention to customer needs exceeded my expectations.

3.5 Star
This review is based on Savour York Region Winter 2013’s experience. For $ 15 it is well worth it for a 3 course lunch.
Service was a little slow to start with just 1 other table which seemed to be regulars for a late lunch.
Mista Salad — plentiful and fresh but the Folco’s House Dressing was a little too sour to my liking
Veal Parmigiana — Veal was really tender and moist! I love the light crispy breading too! The tomato sauce was nice but just a little too much and I have to scrap it off. Penne was cooked perfectly al dente!
Dessert. — Sadly Pumpkin Spice Crème Burlee was not available and a substitution was offered. I was a little disappointed…
Folco’s is worth your visit if you looking for more classic Italian dishes. I definitely would be back again for some Italian Comfort food… I love Pasta!

My group of four tried this restaurant for Savour York Region in late winter 2013. From the outside, this restaurant seemed warm, inviting and cozy to me. Upon entering, we were greeted by friendly, accomodating wait staff. The restaurant ambiance brought me back to the old-​world feel of bed-​and-​breakfast I enjoyed at Niagara-​on-​the-​Lake. The evening time would be great for couples.
All of us ordered different appetizers, entrees and desserts to experience the variety and craftmanship of the food. For the Savour York Region package, I am content to give the food a 3.75 out of 5. A unique experience for us was the chef cooking a mushroom risotto in a big parmesan cheese wheel in front of our table. The aroma was quite intoxicating that it would be wrong not to try this dish once.
Our group is not an expert in Italian cuisine but we agreed we would return to this restaurant.