Lo Zingaro

Absolutely worth popping in. The best part is their thin crust libretto-​esque crust is much crispier. Might be the lighter cheese or something else. But this is what makes it. Cut one triangle off the end of the piece and the rest is held without folding. Ok fine you think topping and sauce are important too? Yeah they got you covered with homemade sausage and more. Wide variety of white za’s. Out.

This place was my favourite Italian restaurant. I ordered tagletelle bolonaise and the dish took a nose dive. The pasta was under cooked and some parts were still stuck together. I would never go back again. I later learned they have a different chef. How could they let that dish out of the kitchen? The prices increased dramatically as well. I expect perfection when I’m paying $ 19 for pasta. They also don’t serve fresh pasta anymore. I’ll be going to Terroni or kit kat to get my pasta fix. Sad but I don’t see them being successful in the future. Saturday night and the place is empty. Please bring back the old chef…

This place is definitely a hidden gem as some others have said! My dad came in to town to visit and we went here when I first moved to the city, and now whenever he comes to visit we usually eat here! I always start with arugula salad (insalata di rucola) and order Margherita pizza as my main and they are both very good. The tagliatelle bolognese is also really delicious (although smaller portion size). The staff is always the same people and they are super friendly and welcoming every time we’ve come in! Definitely check this place out if you’re in the area!

We chose Lo Zingaro for our restaurant of choice because it was near our Airbnb, the prices were decent, and the photos looked delicious. We arrived 30 minutes after it opened and there was lots of seating available but not empty. I loved the atmosphere in here. Nice music and décor. The heavy curtains that hang over the door really help keep the cold out when people enter.
I ordered the gnocchi and my boyfriend ordered a pizza. The gnocchi was so unbelievably soft and smooth. It’s crazy how they were actually maintaining their shape. Great texture and the sauce was very nice.
I tried some of my boyfriends pizza and the crust is fantastic. The crushed tomato sauce was also very good. The only thing is he wished their was more meat throughout the pizza instead of just a few spots.
We ended our meal with tiramisu. It came in a bowl and we devoured it in maybe 2 minutes. It tasted wonderful. My boyfriend had a little espresso shot as well.
Service was decent except when I asked the waiter what he would prefer over 2 dishes, he didnt really have a true answer, just that their gnocchi is better than Gordon Ramsey’s restaurants in Vegas. This is okay I guess, he just didn’t seem confident.
I’ll gladly come here again. Unfortauntely I’m not in Toronto too often but I would suggest coming here if you want a great spot to eat!

Kinda disappointed. Service was good but the place was empty on a weekday.
Calamari Fritti: the calamari was kinda greasy. The tomato sauce was really good though
Margheritona: didn’t really like the cheese or the ingredients on this. Didn’t really enjoy it.
Antipasto della casa: this was really good. Enjoyed all the meats and cheeses. Yum
Overall service was excellent but food was just okay to me. I enjoyed gusto and buca more.

Wait so you are telling me this is an italian pace with sushi on the main menu?
Something is not right…

I was really looking forward to this place based on the reviews, but am really disappointed.
Our server took our order first, then warned us that it would be a long wait due to the big party in the back. It’s a little thing, but if he told us before we ordered, maybe we wouldn’t have felt as obliged to stay. Anyhow, we were ignored for the entire hour and change that we waited until our appetizers arrived. At one point our waters were empty and I had to go up to my server to ask him for a refill. A lady from another table came up to the server at the same time, and commiserated with me. If it’s going to be a long wait, at least come by to check that everything is OK, or provide some bread or something.
On to the food — after over an hour, the appetizers arrived. We got the Calamari Fritti and Caprese salad. Both were pretty good, but we were so hungry at that point anything would have tasted good. The mains we got were the Fresh Fettuccine ai Funghi with
Homemade Lamb Sausage, Wild Mixed Mushrooms in a Light Cream Sauce, and the Frutto Di Mare Pizza with Calamari, Mussels, Clams & Shrimp. My date had the fettuccine, and it was good but she was disappointed with the 3 tiny pieces of sausage she got. My pizza was very sad looking. It was very, very sparsely topped with seafood. There was 1 shrimp cut in half to look like 2, maybe 3 pieces of calamari and 6 pieces of clams/​mussels. My date commented that it looked more like a pizza with tomato sauce than a seafood pizza. For $ 21 I expected more. I was super unhappy with it, but was so hungry that I ate it anyway.
At no point did a server come by to ask us how everything was, or do anything to make us feel better about the long wait. A comped drink or dessert would have gone a long way and made us feel less miserable about our date night.

Delicious, great service, a little pricey for portions, but food is good.
Wine list over $ 35 per bottle on average.

This place is usually pretty empty (which always scares me away) but it was actually really good.
We started with rice balls and then had fettucini with mushroom and lamb, along with pizza with speck and brie.
The wine was delicious and we had a perfect seat by the window. Better food than Cibo around the corner. We will be back.

Found this hidden gem while looking for a place that had an available table for 5 on a busy Friday night. There’s not a lot of selection so if you’re not into pizza or pasta, this place may not be for you. If you’re willing to try something new, you’ve got to try their Tronchetti. OMG… I’m only 5″ and I’m ashamed to admit that I finished it by myself (and didn’t offer a slice to my friends to try).

I’ve been a huge lover and supporter of Lo Zingaro for a few years now. i even threw a UYE event here last spring.
The last few times I’ve been, the service has really gone downhill. The food is still great, but it seems to take forever to get to the table. On numerous occasions, I’ve had to check with the server that the food is coming. I work in a restaurant, so I know when it’s time to worry that the kitchen isn’t making your food.
For a long time, Lo Zingaro was very busy and the service seemed great. But the new front of house staff are a bit robotic and not at all warm. Being someone who’s always been such a strong supporter of Lo Zingaro, I’m not saying that I expect loads of free stuff. But I do expect to be treated as a guest who has done a lot to make sure that people come here. The latest waiter we had asked us to make sure to spread the word since we liked the food so much and they want more people in the door. I mentioned that I had already written three five star reviews and also hosted a Unilocal dinner there for 20 people. He seemed unphased by this support.
I’ll probably still come back, because the food is great and one of the cooks remembered us from the UYE event and came out to say hello. But this server had no idea how to treat loyal guests when they come in on a slow Saturday night celebrating a special occasion.

Well, there was a tiny crack in the window beside out table with a slight fresh cool breeze coming in from Queen St. and its accompanying mayhem on the typical Saturday night. I said it, the only downside to a recent visit to Lo Zingaro. Excellent everything, from service as soon as we walked in the door, to the wine selection and choice, price, pacing, a fantastic basic Italian menu, this is the type of Toronto-​Italian restaurant to bring your friends when you need to be guaranteed of your event going smoothly. Highly recommended!

Recently dined at Lo Zingaro for a friends birthday. Nice ambience but do not get a table by the front door (at least during the colder months). Every time the door opened we could feel the gust of chilly air come in.
As for food, we ordered the Fresh Fettucini with lamb and the Seafood Risotto. I definitely recommend the fettucini. The risotto was good but nothing out of the ordinary. For desserts the tiramisu was amazing!
Service was good but slow. It took a while for our orders to get taken, our glasses refilled, and our meals to arrive. I noticed there was another birthday party so maybe they were just very busy that night.

I had the seafood risotto and it literally was the best risotto I had in my life! The flavors of the sauce was very in tune with the seafood on the dish (shrimps and scallops). The sauce had a creamy taste to it, which brought out the quality seafood flavors. Some improvements to the dish would be increasing the portion by a bit, and if the shrimp’s shells has been removed to facilitate the eating.
The location and atmosphere of Lo Zingaro was also very nice and pretty conveniently located on Queen Street West (just a modest walk from Osgoode station). I would definitely recommend coming here for lunch or dinner with a small party of guests.

It’s nice. But that’s just my experience.
I came here at 4:30pm on a weekday so it was completely empty. I feel that this restaurant would have an amazing atmosphere if there’s a lot of people as they have these large windows at the front of the restaurant. Oh well.
Our servers were lovely and very attentive. Unfortunately, I didn’t capture their names, but the dishes they recommended were quite nice.
1. Tagliere di Salumi e Formaggi (20): House Cured Salumi and Cheese Platter
— Essentially, this was kind of like a charcuterie, but with just salami. I’m always a sucker for charcuteries (as I realized like wine and cheeses… more wine though), so it went very nicely with my drinks. However, it didn’t exactly pop for me…
2. Fresh Fettuccine (17): Homemade Lamb Sausage /​Baby Spinach /​Roasted Red Peppers /​Pecorino Romano
— I’m not a huge fan of pasta, but this dish was quite good. My favourite part was a lamb sausage.
The drinks are nothing too special, I had gotten the Apple Martini. but the just decided to stick to white wine …
Apparently, Lo Zingaro get lots of good reviews for it’s thin pizza which I had not had the chance to try. But it wasn’t bad!

3.5 Star
Lo Zingaro serves a good Roman Style Pizza which has this super thin and crispy crust. It might be one of the first time I have one of this in Toronto and I really enjoyed that. Great if you don’t want to go into a carb comma after eating a pizza.
We shared:
Crudo e Bufala — Crushed San Marzano Tomatoes /​Mozzarella di Bufala /​Proscutto Crudo di Parma /​Arugula /​Shaved Parmigian
Margherita — Crushed San Marzano Tomatoes /​Fresh Basil /​Extra Virgin Olive Oil /​Fior di Latte
Love Crudo e Bufala as I love Prosciutto but Margherita would be much better with a few more basil leaves.
Lo Zingaro also have great house made pasta. Fresh Fettuccine with Homemade Lamb Sausage /​Baby Spinach /​Roasted Red Peppers /​Pecorino Romano was delicious.
We also shared some appetizers:
Tagliere di Salumi e Formaggi — Cheese and Prosciutto
Suppli — Mushroom Rice Balls Stuffed with Fior di Latte & Italian Ham /​Spicy Tomato Sauce
Insalata di Rucola — Arugula /​Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano /​Aged Balsamic /​Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Thanks Jenny N for organizing and Lo Zingaro for hosting us.
I definitely would be back again for some more Roman Style Pizza!

Wow! Where to begin…
Lo Zingaro deserves every praise they get. Food — check, Service — check, Ambiance — check… They were all spot on! Add great company to the list and it was Incredible!
The food was A-​Flippin-​Mazin! Charcuterie platter, insalata, suppli, pizzas, fresh fettucine with lamb sausage were all flavourful. Even the green olives that were part of the charcuterie was memorable! And I’m not usually a fan of green olives. Ending with a bit of dolce, the Tiramisu was perfectly balanced.
We were well taken care of by the staff. My glass was always filled even when I’m too busy enjoying the food or conversations. We were never rushed out when we finished. Something I never imagined I would see outside of Europe.
Bravo Lo Zingaro! Solid 5 Stars.
Extra Twinkling Stars to Jenny N. for organizing a fabulous UYE and with surprise door prizes?! Hells Yeah! ;) Grazie mille, Jenny!

I tal’ ian you that this is da best Italian food I’ve ever had, the best.
There was a wonderful event thrown by fellow Unilocaler Jenny N (who is an awesome host) and the restaurant gave our entire party of 25 the entire back room.
The atmosphere here isn’t cookie cutter modern and chic but rather an upscale homey type of feel. You can sit down, enjoy a conversation without feeling overwhelmed by loud music.
In terms of food, everything ranged from okay to great but my two favourite things were the suppli and the spicy lamb pasta. The suppli has pork and cheese in it and was deep fried. It was like a high end falafel with cheese and I LOVE falafels! I also thought the pasta was amazingly tasty. I’ve never had true hand made Italian pasta and boy what a difference it is from the store bought pasta.
Verdict: Seriously, you are still reading this when I said it was the best in the first line? Just go.

I came to this cute little Italian place courtesy of their great Unilocal reviews. After eliminating the $$$$ Italian restaurant closest us to us, we decided to give the more modest Lo Zingaro ($$) a try ;) Like the eponymous gypsies*, we were willing to travel where necessary.
The AMBIANCE: This is a cute place. It wasn’t crowded and we took the cozy little front window nook that Jenny N. mentioned in her review. The restaurant is warm, and there’s a direct line of sight back to the kitchen and its pizza oven with staff hard at work. I find it a real bonus that the washrooms are on the ground floor… yay for a handicapped accessible restaurant.
The FOOD: My friend and I decided to share a couple different main courses. We had a rather good tagliatelle ($ 15) featuring homemade pasta and a nice rich bolognese. The real star though was the Roman style (thin-​crust) pizza we had. It’s not on their online menu, so I can’t remember the name, but it had a lovely spicy housemade lamb sausage that nicely complimented the rich fior di latte that topped the pizza. The crust was expertly cooked to a crisp, but not burned.
I made a face when my friend ordered dessert, as I normally find tiramisu to be one of the most boring desserts – one that has typically sat in the refrigerator for way too long. Instead, I was delighted to find it was one of the very best tiramisu I’ve ever had. This one, which I have to point out easily serves 2 people, had a delightfully fresh and light cream in between the savoiardi. Instead of becoming a muddled mess like most versions of this dessert, the components each stood out on their own and played off each other in a most astonishing way.
The food gets a very strong 4 ½ stars.
To accompany our Italian feast, we each had a glass of wine. This was my only complaint, the wine pours were definitely on the small side (I believe less than the standard 5 oz) and both of us found the different wines to be rather weak-​bodied. I’m left with the impression that the wine list is slightly on the weaker side. 3 stars for the beverages
The SERVICE: It’s nice to see an Italian restaurant run by Italians. The server was super friendly and attentive and even let us draw her into an interesting political conversation. We had a great time chatting with her about Italy. It was also quite notable that the chef came to check on us not once but twice. Both the server and the chef were so genuine in their inquiries about the food, that I was confident in knowing that they would fix any problems without hesitation. It’s great to see a restaurant that both stands behind their product and cares. 5 stars for the service!
OVERALL, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this restaurant. The pasta was fairly good, the pizza was great, and the tiramisu was outstanding… all complemented with excellent service in a comfortable environment. It’s also pretty good value… dinner with a main, ½ a dessert, and a drink was $ 40/​person. Not something I would call cheap, but perfectly reasonable for a restaurant in Canada that is taking Italian food seriously.
*In case you were curious about the name, Lo Zingaro means gypsies in Italian… maybe a reference to the owners finding themselves transported from the warmth of Italy to this frozen land.

4 – 4.5* Definitely a pleasant surprise, better than I anticipated!
I was looking for an Italian restaurant that served pizza, wasn’t $$$ with snooty ‘tude to boot, had great reviews, and I stumbled upon Lo Zingaro. And I’m soo glad that I decided on this restaurant… even though there aren’t a heck of a lot of reviews.
Atmosphere and décor was modern, intimate, and quiet for a Saturday night on Queen West. Restaurant has a dozen or so tables + bar, but only a handful were occupied. So not sure why this place was quieter than I expected, but it worked out. :)
Menu is a do-​able size, consisting of Antipasto (Apps), Pastas, & Pizzas. I ordered Insalata Caprese ($ 14), and 2 pizzas, Pecorella ($ 18), the classic, Margherita ($ 13), & Tiramisu ($ 8) for dessert. I also ordered a Negroni which was more a martini than a sweeter cocktail. No biggie, I drank it anyway!
The Caprese was saltier in some spots than others, but was beautifully presented and fresh tasting! Loved the buffalo moz. And although the Pecorella sounds and is fancier, I like the more simpler Margherita better. Pizzas are a fair portion and I was only able to eat only half, above my app. Crust was thin and it was not overdone or soggy (esp. towards the middle) at all like other places!
Staff were chill and seemed genuinely happy to work there. All of the staff checked in throughout various stages of our meal. Loved the non-​pretentiousness of the entire place.
The food was great, but the service was even better!