Montecito Restaurant

I went for dinner on a Thursday night around 9pm. We didn’t have a reservation and were seated in the dining room right away. Order the Kale Salad and a side of their potatoes. Both were delicious. Highly recommend the salad. Also had the eggplant caviar as an appetizer which was yummy but small. My friend ordered the ricotta pasta which was extremely rich. Too heavy for my liking. Our server was very friendly and attentive. Looking forward to returning!

Every Sunday, Montecito offers a brunch buffet starting at 11 am to 3 pm. Brunch isn’t new at Montecito, but they recently revamped their brunch buffet, and added several new items to the menu. The 12,000-square-foot Montecito opened up its doors late 2014, and is a partnership between Hollywood director Ivan Reitman and Chef Jonathan Waxman. The intricately designed 2-​floors space is very California-​inspired with several Hollywood motifs throughout the restaurant including Stay Puft from Ghostbusters, and film clips from Ivan Reitman’s directorial. Additionally, navigating through the different food stations was made easy as the buffet station was set in one large area. It also overlooked the open kitchen, so you can see the staff cooking away.
Although, the daily menu at Montecito is inspired by both owners’ California roots, they are focused on using seasonal, fresh ingredients that are locally sourced from Canadian farms. The Sunday brunch buffet is $ 39 per person including unlimited coffee and tea, but patrons do have the option to add $ 5 for either a Caesar’s or mimosa. Montecito’s Sunday brunch buffet offers a selections of made to order omelettes, and pancakes, fresh breakfast and brunch items, an inventive carving station (not your traditional roast beef), charcuterie, assorted salad, chilled seafood, and an impressive spread of desserts. [I have posted several photos and an in-​dept look on my food blog.]
I had an enjoyable Sunday buffet brunch at Montecito, and I noticed that the buffet was always being replenished. I really liked the variety of food, especially the addition of the seafood table. I was too busy taking a lot of photos of the food the first time around, so I am looking forward to returning to fully enjoy my experience (sans photo taking).

This is a very place a little tucked away from the main stream. The venue is classy enough to make you feel comfortable but the food is more on the comfort than gourmet. Service was top notch and staff was very friendly. I would have given it a 4, but the food is still the main goal of a restaurant I think.
I had the prix fixe for lunch and took the entrée, main, dessert combination.
The entrée was a onion soup. I was expecting a French style onion while the presentation was nice, cheese and some chopped green onion on top, the soup was on the blend side.
I then had the Orrechiette with fontina (pardon my Italian) and another dish on the blend side. The fontina was tasteless and altogether it was a bunch of pasta in cream.
The dessert was a banana bread with latte dulce. Not to sweet and just right.
Overall, pleasant place, dished well presented and very good service but lacking taste in my opinion. I imagine that if you are looking for expensive comfort food, it will do the trick.

Given that Montecito is super close to both the Lightbox and the Scotiabank, I’m surprised it took me this long to check it out.
We arrived at around noon on a Saturday and the place was completely empty. I perused the menu and quickly decided on Joe’s Special, which is advertised as «chopped sirloin, wild mushrooms, greens, onions, eggs, parmesan, grilled toast.»
As I’ve made clear many times before, my biggest beef with restaurants is food that arrives at the table warm. This was absolutely the case here. The food tasted as though it had been sitting out for several minutes and was barely even warm let alone hot. The cheese was, as a result, one big piece (rather than the stringy, gooey mess I was expecting).
Far more egregious was the fact that the two sunnyside-​up eggs were overcooked. The yolks were completely hard, which is totally unacceptable in any scenario (let alone in a place where I’m paying $ 18 for a simple dish). The meat was chewy and overcooked, as well.
I feel like the cook was recovering from a Friday-​night hangover and consequently didn’t put even a modicum of effort into the dish. What a disappointment.

Great food, excellent service! We booked a large table for my friend’s birthday and we were so well taken care of. The food was delicious. I would definitely recommend this spot to someone else!

Went for dinner with friends here last night. The service wasn’t bad and our server was okay, but the food wasn’t great. I ordered the classic chicken Caesar and when it came it was loaded with anchovies. Now, anchovies are a strong specific flavor that completely overpowered the salad. It wasn’t mentioned in the menu that thy were there. When I told the waiter about it she was completely apathetic. I’ve never heard of a class is Caesar having anchovies in it, on top of bacon bits and chicken. That’s too many types of meat I you ask me.
My friend had the mushroom pizza and didn’t finish it, we had the Pappardelle, which was also a forgettable dish. The cheeseboard was nothing special. He only dish that was good at all was the spaghetti and meat balls.
Meh, wouldn’t go back here.

The Charcuterie board (which we didn’t post a photo of) was forgettable, actually, we wanted the proper board, but they only brought us the meat board. We couldn’t wave our waiter down to get it corrected.
The tomahawk steak was absolutely delicious. Right at the beginning of the meal, we asked for more gravy, and asked another server for it mid-​meal. But at the end of the meal, we still didn’t get it.
JW potato was ok, the roasted potato was superb.
We were celebrating a birthday and the waiter said he can bring over a dessert on a nice board with the message written in chocolate. My husband decided there wasn’t anything on the dessert menu that he was interested in. We asked for the bill, the waiter brought us two dessert on a board and charged us $ 22 for it, when each dessert was about $ 8 – 10.

I went to Montecito on Saturday night with a group of 4. We all Loved the ambience. There are screens above the windows showing moving images of gardens, ocean, trees and other lovely sights one doesn’t get to see in Toronto at the end of November. The restaurant is spacious with high ceilings and 2 floors.
The service was great but there were some curiosities:
They only brought 2 side plates for a pizza we were all sharing
No plates or butter with the bread
The by the glass wine selection could be improved.
The food was excellent! We had:
Pizza with basil and Buffalo mozorella — ⁵⁄₅ flavourful with plenty of basil and delicious crust.
Lamb sirloin — ⁵⁄₅ lamb was cooked to perfection and beautifully seasoned. This dish came with a very complex potato side which I loved.
Root vegetable salad — ⁵⁄₅ this is served chilled. Honey glazed root vegetables atop labneh and a cranberry jelly.
I did not get to try the other dishes, but my friend who had the pasta with meat balls really enjoyed it.
For Desert we had:
Cheese cake — ³⁄₅ this was a small whipped cheese cake with the crumble on the side. There was a citrus glaze that I didn’t care for.
Peanut butter parfait — ³⁄₅ this was like a cool chocolate peanut butter moose. I loved the contrast of the salty peanuts on the side but overall I found this dish a bit too sweet and rich.
Please keep in mind I am generally not a lover of desert, so you may enjoy these more than I did.
The portions are small ish, but I thought they were perfect. I don’t love feeling too full.
We all agreed we would return to Montecito!

Went to montecito for brunch and it was overall a great experience. Service was attentive and food was great.
I had the pork belly kimchi burger, it was a bit messy to eat but it was so delicious! The brunch pizza with a fried egg on top was also excellent. I would recommend the kale salad, it’s perfect to share as an appetizer.
Only complaint: drinks were on the expensive side, mimosas and Caesars were $ 14. Food was reasonably priced. Will probably be coming back!

Came here for dinner one night and the place wasn’t that busy but for some reason service was extremely slow. We asked to be seated outside and that seemed to be a huge task for the waitress as she actually went to find another waiter to move us… She was extremely slow as she was too busy socializing with the people a table over like Im HANGRY!
I believe the menu changes often but I got the fresh spaghetti dish and it was tastey although the serving wasn’t huge and there are many other Italian places I’d rather go to since they offer larger servings and better service. We came here because it was on a list of the best patios in Toronto and although it was a nice patio I’m sure there are better. I also got the chocolate bar dessert and it was good as well but again not the biggest serving.
I probably will not return.

Amazing amazing food! Pork chop was big and juicy, vet flavourful vegetable base. The individual mains are great! But if you are coming in a group of 4, go for one of the group menus. Comes with sides and fantastic presentation.
Also check out the menu before deciding when to come. There are specials each day of the week. ½ off pizza is a great appetizer for a group. Since its was Tiff week we almost didn’t get the ½ off pizza, but they gave it to our group since then said the special was available when I called to reserve a table.

This is a strikingly decorated, spacious restaurant in the heart of the entertainment district. Inspired by Ivan Reitman of Ghostbusters fame, you will find an assortment of memorabilia covering much of the works of Reitman and Dan Ackroyd. Just short of opulent, this is a very comfortable place to enjoy food and drink.
An extended business meeting led to drinks and snacks. I ordered the meatball appetizer on polenta for $ 19. This is a fairly small dish, with 3 golf ball sized meatballs with a tomato sauce on a polenta base. Nicely done, but not worthy of the price. An associate had the lamb sausage for a similar price; it too was a small portion.
I didn’t order a meal, since my craving for a ribeye was met with a $ 120 price for two diners. The other meals did not seem substantial or enticing. I’ll bet they were good, but my value radar was not confirming.
It’s a spendy, trendy place if you feel like a splurge.

We came to Montecito as a party of six for a birthday, and the food and service were excellent. We were seated immediately, and (spoiler alert!) given custom menus with a ‘Happy Birthday’ message on them — great start!
The cocktail menu was comprehensive, leaning toward ‘artsy’ and away from ‘sweet’. The wine list couldn’t be much bigger. There is a small selection of beer on tap and in bottle.
Everyone at the table had trouble ordering due to the great selection of dishes. Appetizer winners were the Charcuterie board (amazing foie gras) and the house staple Kale Salad.
Entrees were equally amazing and every plate was clean by the end. Mushroom tagliatelle was flavorful and full of mushrooms. Trout was perfectly prepared and super crispy. Steak was done perfectly and came with neat little onion cups.
Dessert was equally great — I had the ‘Chocolate Bar’ which blew away my expectations — very delicate flavors and textures for a simple dessert. Ice cream and parfait was also well enjoyed at the table.
Service remained excellent throughout the meal and very fast. All dishes were always brought out together by a team of four, and the table was cleaned and reset after every serving.
Décor is great here as well, especially if you like movies. Even if you don’t, there’s an awesome fake ‘window’ that changes scenes throughout your meal.
Highly recommended.

Terrible service, really slow and if you flag down a random person they take really long to get your actual server. Skip the gnocchi, and the panna cotta because those were terrible.
The ambience of the place is nice and upscale, and their pasta was tasty. It could be a good date place. Oh and the washrooms are impressive single stalled beauties, +1 star for that.

Had an amazing experience here!!! Great food and atmosphere. Great place for a date night! I went there for there steam whistle promotion where they brought in steam whistle steam weaver (1970 dodge tradesmen). Had my romantic dinner in the back seat lol Washrooms are super clean!

— Meatballs were my fav.
— pizza was very tasty.
— tuna was nice.
— prosciutto soup was awful.
— the curry eggplant app had a really nice flavor.
— loved the wine menu.
— ambience was really nice.
— was sat immediately.
— service was great.

Came here for lunch today with a group of 5 and was looking forward to trying the JW/​Jonathan Waxman dishes. I wanted to like this place. Really.
The décor is nice and typically Finance District-​feel: Spacious, modern and open kitchen, high ceilings shared by a dual-​leveled dining area, with large hung prints of the Ghostbusters cast and a retro-​cute figure of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man that greets you at the door (I high-​fived it on the way in, because I’m just *that* classy).
The food, which I believe should be at the forefront of any dining establishment, was OK. Had the 3-​course prix fixe lunch for $ 25, where I chose a French onion soup, a grilled squid on salad, and a chocolate budino. I found the onion soup to taste like a beef consommé, and one of my dining companions found it overly salted. The squid looked like chicken, and lacked the bouncy «spring» that one might expect. The chocolate budino, served in an espresso cup, was pretty good.
Based on the details above, I would’ve probably rated it at about an OK 2 or 3 stars.
Here’s where it all went downhill for me: the awful, awful service.
The waiter, whom another of my dining companions had immediately described as «apathetic» (very apropros, by the way) was visibly annoyed that we didn’t order wine or drinks. I could’ve looked past this; but it was the service that followed which really cheesed me off. Er, rather, the service which *didn’t* follow.
We were served the first course after about 10 minutes, which is fine. Our entrees? We waited 50 minutes for our entrees while the 2-​person table next to us was served at least 20 minutes before us. When our waiter noticed our entire table looking to wave him down to inquire about the status of our dishes, he went to the kitchen to ask them about it, without ever coming over to our table to give us an update. Another 10 minutes later, we waved down another wait staff to ask about it. She followed up with him, and I suppose upon realizing we would ask eventually, he came to our table with a very nonchalant, «Your dishes will be ready shortly.» No apologies, and no mention that something had clearly gone awry.
He never once asked us if we’d like a refill of water (after an hour long wait? Yeah, water would’ve been nice). Never asked us how the appetizers were, nor even glanced at us to recognize we were hungry as heck since we’d been sitting there long enough to dry up like The Cryptkeeper. At the end of our two hour endeavour, there was zero mention of the fact that we waited, zero compensation for the super long wait (uh, even Starbucks gives you a free drink coupon after waiting ~10 minutes), no question of whether we enjoyed the food, and worst of all, two of our companions had to leave to go back to work where one of them paid for a dessert but never had the chance to eat it (but was still charged for it nonetheless).
It’s a known faux-​pas to name competitor names in reviews, but this experience left such a sour taste that I’m straight-​up calling them out (oh snaps, can’t take the Malvern out of the girl). Montecito is a dime-​a-​dozen, and I highly recommend that you avoid Montecito and go other restaurants in the area: Gusto 101, Buca, Tutti Matti, Byblos… any of these places would be better than this. Some of these places are also a bit on the pricier side, but at least at those places you’re not paying to be ignored!

I had low expectations going in, and they were met.
There’s nothing unique about this place. If you are touting yourself (Ivan Reitman, Jonathan Waxman) as filling a void that Toronto has, or coming in to do something interesting for Toronto, than you have to deliver. You can’t just bring an expensive room with boring food, uninspired cocktails, and expensive to boot.
I thought the service was adequate to pleasant. Sat at the bar on the main level. Seats were uncomfortable. They have coat check, that’s always nice. Bartender was nice, but the drink list and choices were so boring, and nothing was very good. They give you some cheap popcorn to munch on in a little bowl. Nothing on the menu looked good, so I decided to order the baked alaska «stay puffed marshmallow man» deal. It was so not interesting and I would expect the level of taste from a Loblaws purchased dessert.
I would never go back and couldnt recommend it to any person I know.

A friend discovered this fine California dining restaurant and we came here for a birthday celebration. I like the food was all natural, fresh and used seasonal ingredients.
The food was really delicious. I had the duck confit and my friend had the trout. We had the jw* potatoes on the side and I never knew potatoes could be that delicious!
Service was outstanding!!! After learning we were here for a birthday celebration, they offered us a special dessert platter that includes EVERYTHING on the dessert menu. We had the lemon brule tarte, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Baked Alaska, chocolate chip ice cream sandwich, chocolate torte, 2 scoops of house made ice cream and sorbet. They were all excellent. Our waitress explained to us how their chocolate torte is different than other places, and their ice creams were extraordinary smooth and were unique in flavours. The lemon brule tarte wasn’t too sweet, and the baked alaska was amazing!
I’m in love with the dining experience and the food!

If you’re a food fan you come for the Jonathan Waxman experience. If you’re a movie fan you come for the Ivan Reitman experience.
I came for the former. Although I was exposed to countless reminders of Reitman’s illustrious career (posters of Danny DeVito and Bill Murray stared at me the whole time), I was left disappointment by the food:
1. The chopped salad ($ 12) was pedestrian (although the blue cheese was magical).
2. The JW chicken and potatoes were worthy of the name (I would hope so at $ 24 and $ 9 respectively).
3. The halibut was $ 32 of horrible.
4. The Stay Puft baked Alaska dessert ($ 12) was sweeter and almost as intolerable as Beethoven.
Montecito is big and bold and loud. The service is as mediocre as the food. It reminded me of an expensive Moxie’s with a little star power (that’s not a compliment).
In the end, this restaurant was more like Stop! Or my Mom will Shoot than it was Animal House. In the end, I have to give it two stars in the Waxman world and two thumbs down in Reitman’s.