Mercatto

Love their chocolate pudding. I have tried their pastas twice now and they do a really good job. I got a fettuccini with basil cream, asparagus and beans and it was delicious. I like the ambience of this place as well. Went there on a Friday and surprisingly there weren’t a lot of people there. Would still love to go back and this time try their pizzas

Very busy but patrons are happy to accommodate. Their pasta dishes and pizzas are all delicious. Great value and quality. A go to place for an authentic Italian pizza.

This restaurant has everything going for me.
I came here a few hours early for a meeting and ended up working on my laptop while sipping on their lattes.
I really like the layout of the restaurant. It certainly isn’t as glam as their sister store Taverna Mercatto on York Street, but it is still really cozy and comfortable, especially during dinner time. The vibe you get here is really different from Bay or York St as well. Most patrons work at the MaRS building or U of T, so many have notebooks or laptops out for meetings.
I personally find that this Mercatto is a lot more laid back than its counterparts.
Unfortunately, for some odd reason the couches seemed kind of worn out, with the fabric flaying on the ends. It was kind of uncomfortable to look at.
I became way too hungry viewing other people’s dishes, so ended up ordering their seafood linguini, which I am happy to say is extremely delicious. This is the first time I’ve had spicey pescatore linguini. Despite having a low tolerance for spice, I thoroughly enjoyed the dish. It was so appetizing. I also tried their frutti di mare dish, which was very fresh and seasoned perfectly.
After this dining experience, I vote Mercatto on college as the best of the sister stores. Bay St is way too sassy, the crowd is annoying and the layout is not as nice. York St is great if you live downtown but it’s always packed with obnoxious tourists from the games. College St has an amazing atmosphere, laid back crowd, extremely friendly manager (shout out to Jordan, if you are reading this) and excellent food.

Went for a quick lunch and it was packed! Shared the pancetta pizza and the duck ragu with my friend and both were yummy. It made for a great meal but was not breathtakingly good. I would eat the ragu again, even if it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. My friend and I agreed it was a very nice, light pasta witch was a refreshing change. The pizza was nothing special IMO. Still, I could see myself coming back here for lunch another time, even if I’ll try somewhere else for an Italian dinner.

Man do I love this place. When I am at Mars I am usually there about 3 times a day. Morning coffee and croissant, lunch, and then late afternoon coffee. Service is great, food is awesome. It gets slammed at lunch time so be ready for that.

Very happy every time I visit.
It’s a great place for a note formal setting in the area which can suffice for business meetings, work lunches etc.
My usual is the pappardelle but I have now taken a looking to the thin crust pizzas. Very generous portions for the pizza without a doubt.
Coffee is also quite spectacular. I would definitely recommend.

Mercatto. Two people eat and shortly afterward get sick. Ravioli with carrots (from lunch)??? Really, is that the best you can do for a meatless ravioli plate? Impossible to believe restaurant felt it all right to serve this horrid dish. Have had trouble here before — -not returning.

This is the only quality restaurant to have a business meeting in this area.
Food is usual good quality offerings from Mercatto, service is good.
Highest value is the fantastic reservation function right off their website, really helpful for setting up meetings.
I even tweeted them asking about lunch specials at 9am and got a response. Saved me time in my meeting, more time to talk business.
It’s also located right near the Mars parking area. Just a gem for a meeting.
My new go-​to in this area.

Wow– went here for a business lunch– not only was the service quick, efficient, and friendly, but the food was great– had the fish special, which was cooked perfectly throughout, with crispy skin. Best piece of fish I can remember eating in recent memory!

Good food, no complaints. Main fish was overcooked and dry though.
Cons: Outside seating has atrocious lighting at night (very cold blue lightning, maybe the hospital crowd is a fan…), otherwise the ambience is great, as is the setting for indoors and outdoors.

Came here for lunch and was SO pleasantly surprised. I’ve been here before and didn’t have a good experience but they have totally redeemed themselves. Shared a pizza (proscuitto — arugula, fior di latte, san marzano) and pasta (Garganelli –beef short rib, honey mushrooms, green onion, lemon panna fresca) and the waiter asked if we wanted to have the portions split for us. Um yes thank you!
The pasta was really delicious. A very light lemony sauce and the beef was super tender. The pizza was so good! I normally don’t like prosucitto but it was perfect on the pizza with the arugula. Though I have to say I wasn’t impressed with the crust. Ample toppings and great portion sizes all around. I could have used a bit more cheese on everything, but who doesn’t haha.

Very good standard Italian… I was starving and they delivered — good beer on tap. The place was empty on Canada day long weekend saturday night, but there was a group of ridiculously loud people (thankfully they left) — being empty the though service could have been a little snappier. The scallops were delicious and the appetizer was well rounded out with some potatoes.
I think it’s more of a lunch time hot spot.

i only and always take the handmade ravioli, stuffed with ricotta… and will never try anything else! ravioli are so good, sauce is so good!
staff is ok, asking a lot of time if everything is fine, although not always filling for water
the place is really functional and full of workers, researchers, admins from the mars building. not the ideal place for fun or intimacy, but still, a pretty decent place

I’ve been here for birthday parties, and they definitely have the room to accommodate large groups. This place serves good, competent Italian food – lots of pizzas and pastas. The crust on the pizzas is very thin (toppings soak through really easily), but the toppings are generous and well balanced (had the prosciutto pizza last night, and the salty fattiness of the prosciutto was nicely complemented by the liberal heaping of arugula on top).
Desserts were a mixed bag – they’ve got the usual chocolate tart and tiramisu, but they also offer something called a caramel copetta (a mason jar with caramel ice cream topped with salted peanuts and marshmallow cream) that was truly incredible. It’s definitely rich, but as a once-​in-​a-​while treat it’s a wonderful indulgence.

The food is average. The pizza had a crust that was super thin and soggy. The toppings were scarce. The flavour was there but barely since they appeared to skimp on the unevenly distributed toppings.
I asked the server to recommend a wine and he picked one out. I said i would get that. It was a $ 10 glass. It turns out they charged me for a $ 17 glass of wine and unfortunately I only realized this on the drive home. I looked it up on their menu online and indeed the wine is on their (outdated but comparable) wine list online and it’s $ 10.
The feeling of being ripped off after consuming soggy mediocre pizza left a bad impression. Maybe if the wine and pizza were amazing I wouldn’t feel so gypped.
It’s too bad because this is a nice-​looking restaurant. If only they didn’t make costly errors like that. It left a bad impression. I can’t say I am in any hurry to return. I will definitely be more careful to review the itemized receipts at restaurants from now on…

Was kind of nervous when (on a Saturday night) it looked like the only people in here were staff, but had a great time.
Service throughout the night was great, and it was a large enough place that you felt like you were the only people in there. Could use touching up here and there (some of the seat cushions were taped together), but overall was very clean and classy atmosphere.
The food was where this place shined though! Our salad appetizer and pizza were delicious. Dessert was especially amazing, I had the tiramisu and was thoroughly impressed (if you like the taste of coffee/​espresso, you’ll definitely love it). Also was pleasantly surprised at the bill too, very reasonable.
Beautiful looking patio seating/​area, but unfortunately it was raining when we went.

Out of all the Mercatto’s, this is the one that you want to bring a larger group to.
It’s nice as being part of the Mars building, but other than that, the food is just ok.

This is basically Terroni: basically same concept, basically same menu, basically same ambiance.
I really loved the flavours in my soup of the day (sweet pepper and chicken), but the temperature was inconsistent. I thought my duck confit pizza was really good, but somehow the portion seemed small for a pizza? Especially a $ 20 pizza. The highlight of the meal was the caramel dessert with marshmallow and salted caramel topping, served in a mason jar — I don’t usually order desserts in restaurants, but this was outstanding and a «not to miss» for sure.
Service was friendly but amateurish, especially for the price point. Great wine list.

I’ve visited this Mercatto about five or six times; while my experiences with the food have ranged marginally in quality, the service, ambience, and general quality of the experience have been reliably good.
The meat and cheese boards are mix-​and-​match, feature lots of Canadian selections, and have never disappointed. The fresh pasta dishes are the standout for me –goat-​cheese ravioli, spicy tagliatelle, etc. Their specials can be worth the gamble – a fried sardine appetizer was a memorable addition to a meal a few months ago.
I’ve never had even questionable service at this location. A complaint about a too-​charred pizza yielded a comped entrée, and free desserts with wine – pretty generous for a non-​dire complaint. It’s also got a significant dining room, so getting a table has rarely been a dinnertime issue.
Overall, Mercatto is far from being a runaway mouth adventure, but it’s consistently good. I think it’s wise to value the «nice dependable guys» of the restaurant world lest we find ourselves stuck at home whining about why all those exciting rebel restaurants never take our reservations anymore.

It’s not bad, not spectacular either. At the same time, you’re out of luck to find anything other than a food court in the area.
I was able to make a last minute same day reservation for lunch. Recommended, as it was quite busy.
Menu is mainly pastas and pizzas, Be prepared to spend $ 20 for your lunch.
I usually get the Orrecheti with Rapini and Pancetta. I opted for their ‘Carbonara’ (which I am not sure why it’s in quote. Creamy and cheesy, comes with Pancetta (but disappointed it was mostly fat, not the meat), with Brussel Sprouts.
You get bread with olive oil (no vinegar) prior to the meal, but the guy only brought it to us minutes before the meal was served.
We sat on the back couches, and not a fan that my couch made me taller than my partner sitting on the chair. It was a weird angle.
I’d come back, but sparingly. They also have panini’s available for take out only.