Al Dente Trattoria

A few weeks ago, my spouse and I started ordering pizza for the first time from Al Dente in NDG. Twice we ordered two pizzas, one pizza each. Last night was our first time on a Monday, and someone had told us that you get an extra pizza for free on Mondays if you order two pizzas, and I asked if that was true. Yes you get a third pizza for free the man told me. «In that case, make the third pizza a number 6», I said happily. Fast forward now to someone, a pizza delivery man, raising his voice on the stairs to my beautiful autistic spouse. I go down to see what’s happening. There are four pizzas. And my spouse’s explaining to him that we ordered two pizzas plus a free pizza, and he’s arguing over her loudly that we ordered three pizzas, and we only get a small cheese pizza for free, the other we had to pay for, bumping our bill up from under 33 dollars to over 48 dollars. There was no reasoning with him that we hadn’t ordered and didn’t want that extra pizza. I had to tell him twice to lower his voiced in the stairway of my apartment building before I could even figure out was going on. And because I didn’t want him to bother the three other families in our building or to continue badgering my spouse, I gave him a fifty and told him to go. Then we called Al Dente, thinking they would come to their senses and it would get fixed. But they thought it was funny. «Everybody knows about our Monday special.» But we are new customers, and we didn’t know about it, which was why I asked about it in the first place. They had said nothing about a small cheese pizza, only a free pizza. I’d made it clear I thought the third one was free. And we used their online menu where there was no mention of the «Monday special». This was all dismissed. We didn’t know about it, so too bad. It was «special» all right. So: well played, pizza thugs. You bamboozled us into accepting an extra pizza, you bullied us into paying for it, and you dismissed us when we complained. Part of me wishes I had refused to pay, but I chose the lesser of evils since this delivery guy didn’t mind making a lot of unwanted noise, never allowed me to speak without speaking over me, and seemed eager to make a «scene» despite the fact that my spouse has autism and that there are children who live in our building. Simply put, we were robbed. Well played indeed.

Al dente seems to bring a diverse range of folks, from families to dates and work parties. Word of caution: their in-​restaurant menu is more expensive than what you see online! That being said they have a table d’hôte in the evenings with some pretty elaborate meals (the sea food pasta platter looked very filling, and was delicious according to my table-​mate).
I opted for a pizza (brocoli, mozzarella, sun-​dried tomatoes and… something else?), and… couldn’t finish it. It was delicious, it was thin-​crusted, it was generously coated in cheese. Nom! I got to sample the bruschetta (recommended) and their pasta. I’m not a big fan of al dente pasta, I prefer mine super cooked through, but that’s on me. If you still have some room for desert, go for the cannolis!
My gripe with the place is how cramped it is. You can barely pull your chair all the way in or out, and my whole meal ended up being a choreography, since I was elbowed left and right. You dropped your fork? It’s gone for ever, you can’t possibly have enough space to get under there! The waiter was patient, and we were a rowdy group, bless him.

I was surprised as this was one of the best wood fire oven pizzas I’ve had in Montréal. I would even say it’s as close as what I’ve had in Italy.
I highly recommend this place and I will defiantly come back here again to try the rest of their menu.
Another bonus is its bring your own wine!

Restaurant that is packed with families on the weekend. It’s a BYOB as they don’t have a license.
I have gone here occasionally for family dinners. it’s not a favourite of mine — cramped small restaurant were you feel like you are sitting next to the patron across from you. I mean, don’t think about starting up a private or sensitive conversation — 4 tables will hear you.
The food is fine, served warm and nicely presented. Personally I feel the price is on the higher side — i’m not a NDG local so maybe this is ‘the place’ to go that is within walking distance.
Service was great from everyone.
Service: A
Food: B

Hands down the best pizza in NDG. I’ve tried everywhere: Atlas, Pinoli, Carvelli, Double, B&M, etc. This is the best, hand crafted, wood oven cooked, pizza.
Either go to the place with some wine, as it’s BYOW, or order delivery, pizza is excellent. Salads are great too.
Haven’t tried anything else really. But this pizza is excellent and yummy.
The place itself does have a bit of a family dine feel, which we didn’t expect, just a little bit, but that was fine. Server was really nice too. Will always get pizza from here from now on.

Service is a hit or miss, as is their seafood. Fortunately its a BYOW and their pizza is delicious (real pizza oven).

A wonderful place to bring family or go on a date. The ambiance is well suited to all needs.
The food is splendid and quite original. Yum!

I was excited to happen upon this quaint little family restaurant and get myself a fresh wood oven pizza
Pro
— Food was quite tasty. It didn’t blow my mind, but nicely satisfied a craving.
— The menu had a great selection of mix and match pasta and sauce options as well as a large variety of pizzas
Cons
— Service was far too slow. Not sure if it was because of our waitress or because they jam packed way too many tables into that place.
Comments
If I find myself in the area and it’s not too packed, I may drop in again to try their pasta dishes.

This is a BYOW. Not licensed !

Il n’y a pas que dans la Petite Italie qu’on trouve des bons restos italiens! Al Dente est un très bon resto du NDG qui a au menu 26 sortes de pizzas, environ une vingtaine de choix de pâtes et autres mets italiens typiques. En fait, vous choisissez la sauce et le type de pâte désirés, donc le nombre total de combinaisons devient encore plus époustouflant. Les pâtes sont fraîchement faites sur place et elles sont délicieusement cuites, al dente! En plus, c’est un apportez votre vin — n’oubliez pas de passer par la SAQ avant d’y aller. L’ambiance est chaleureuse et même si les tables sont très prêt les unes des autres, une fois assis on n’a pas trop l’impression de coller les coudes. La seule raison pour l’étoile de moins est le temps que ça pris pour prendre la commande et nous donner notre facture. On a eu le temps de manger un panier de pain au complet avant de commander puis à la sortie, il a fallu qu’on demande à deux reprises pour avoir notre facture.

This spot was much better than I had imagined. It’s a block away from my house yet I have never bothered to try it until now. There were no kids the night I went…(not that I m ind kids that much), but found it a different experience than some who’ve reviewed. We sat on the patio for the evening, had a great time, a great meal, it was packed. The bill was remarkably cheap, you bring your own wine and I always forget how much alcohol adds to your total dinner bill.
I ate lobster filled pasta something or other, it was awesome, lots of sauce and I love the sauce. I also tried a sample from the two other dishes at my table and was equally impressed. I’ll definitely be back.
Service could have been a bit faster, my water glass was empty for most of the meal. They do not take reservations for the patio, but make a reservation anyways because if you have a reservation for inside, you go to the front of the line if you want to wait for a patio table to open up. It seemed to annoy the people who were already in line… but c’est la vie. We waited a whole 6 or 7 minutes for a table to free up at 7:30pm on a Saturday night.

My husband and I happened to be in Montréal before Christmas and most restaurants werewfilled up with reservations. But then we discovered Al dente Trattoria and were we ever surprised. Great pasta (spaghetti and fettucini) plus homemade sauce and rapid courteous service added up to a delicious dinner. We will definitely go back. Our compliments to the wonderful chefs and owners!!!

Wow what great warm crusty bread, nearly filled up on it. Had the lunch special menu with a choice of salad or soup. I took the soup, tomato and lintels. Very good, not too salty.
As the main course, I had the Fazzoletti Con Arragosta. It’s a GIANT pasta filled with lobster and ricotta cheese in a rose sauce. When I mean giant… think two lasagna strips folded over and closed. A bit too much sauce for my taste, but people who love tons of sauce would adore this. Skimped a bit on the lobster, tasted more cheese than lobster.
They advertise fresh pasta, it was definitely fresh pasta… cooked perfectly, just like the restaurant name «Al Dente» :) Would give it 4 stars if they had put a bit more lobster and didn’t put so much sauce on it, but that’s personal taste (sauce amount).
Would eat at this place again and try something else with less sauce in it. Tough to find parking sometimes because it is on Monkland, to find free parking, go on a side street off Monkland. Easy to miss the sign for the restaurant since it’s «slightly below ground level».

NDG family restaurant packed to the brim with kids and aunts and uncles and such. The terrace out front is ground level with the street and has a very chatty neighbourhood feel. We made a reservation two days before and were seated with our chairs partially obstructing the hallway the waiters were using for taking orders out of the kitchen. The food was fine, fresh, very hot, quite tasty, not spectacular. The bathroom did not scream ‘clean.’ The waiter we had was amazingly prompt, attentive and friendly; and I was surprised to notice the owner of a great Montréal lunch place here having dinner with his entire family. Overall, if I lived in the area I’d probably find myself coming back, but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to bring people here to eat if it was their first time in town.

I went to Al Dente with my boyfriend and his parents because one of our friends told us it was excellent. I ordered the Risotto Primavera and was disappointed because it lacked flavor. My boyfriend had a different type of Risotto and I tried that to see if it was better but it wasn’t.
will go back to try the pizza, because I think that might be better.

Solid restaurant that’s been around for ages. My parents love it because it’s bring-​your-​own-​wine. The pizza is a go-​to. Pasta is made on-​site.