Pizzeria Libretto

I wanted pizza for my birthday so I decided to try this place out and I was not disappointed. I got the Nduja pizza and it did have a lovely kick to it. I thought it was weird that everyone was eating their pizza with a fork and knife at first. With my pizza, the middle part was pretty soggy due to the crust being thin and having all that tomato sauce on top. So I pretty much had no choice but to use a fork and knife to eat it. That is probably my only complaint. The middle part could have had a thicker crust to avoid any sogginess. Despite that, I still enjoyed my pizza.
My boyfriend got the duck confit pizza and that was yummy as well. It didn’t have tomato sauce on it so his pizza held up better than mine. Would have liked more duck on the pizza and it was a bit too salty for my liking but my boyfriend thought it was just right. I also tasted a slight ginger flavour to his pizza which I liked a lot.

Met up with friends here on Saturday for an early dinner. Getting a reservation was a bit difficult, but it was definitely worth it.
Started off with Beef Carpaccio (good, but not outstanding), Ricotta Gnocchi Fritti (spectacular; crispy and pillowy at the same time, sauce was a fantastic match), Buttermilk Fried Calamari (incredibly crispy, and not all batter, and the accompanying red pepper almond sauce was quite nice), and Libretto Meatballs (can’t speak to as I didn’t try them, but the plate was clean when we were done)
For pizzas, ordered two of the Cremini Mushroom and a House-​Made Sausage. Crust was thin, crispy, and flavourful. Pizza toppings were fresh & tasty.
Absolutely enjoyed everything, and wouldn’t think twice about coming back the next time we make it into town!

Awesome service and cool environment. We ordered 4 different pizzas and the crusts were slightly burnt. (Prosciutto with arugula, eggplant, margharita, and funghi with sausage). Otherwise it was really tasty. Dip the crust in the chili oil that is provided! Super good!

I’ve been here a few times and every single time, I haven’t been disappointed yet. I arrived with my dad kinda late. We’re running on some jet lagged time but they were able to seat us quickly. The service in itself is actually very speedy. I’ve never been here when the place wasn’t bustling but even then, our server was attentive and on the ball with serving us. He was around to refill our waters and taking our orders etc. Very friendly which got him a very hefty tip from me!
We first got bread with some spiced vinegar. I don’t know what it was exactly but it was delicious. It wasn’t filling but it definitely lit up my hunger. The spices are heavy though so don’t expect anything bland.
Our appetizers were grilled octopus and beef carpaccio. Both are recommended. The beef though is cooked rare to medium rare so it is tough to cut which such thin slices but it’s worth it. The octopus is served with potatoes which evens everything out perfectly. My only issue was that some pieces of the octopus were a little more cooked than others so my mouth was left with a little ashy taste. :s
These appetizers were dubbed as small plates. Though the octopus fit the bill, the carpaccio was huge. It was more like huge place or the portion was on the Italian side.
Pizza is Pizza Libretto’s deal! The pizza here is always superb! We order eggplant pizza and nduja sausage (without the spice) (I loved how having the pizza not spicy was an option, never happens if I go anywhere else). The fact that this is made traditionally with those built in wall ovens stole my heart! I love this and it’s one of the best features of the restaurant.
All in all, these plates are from medium to large sized. It’s kinda a gamble with what you get. I think if you wanted small, share a pizza and/​or grab a small plate but ask about the sizes because though the octopus plate was small, the carpaccio plate took up half our table. The desserts are smaller too so always be sure to see if the size fits your appetite even if the food sounds good.
If you have room for dessert, try the tiramisu! I couldn’t eat it this time but boy, was that dessert smooth!

great service and great pizza.
i think the menu could be better
more pizza varieties therefore more appeal. but happy and great environment.

The pizza is one of the best I’ve ever had. They offer different types of cocktails. They get you in and out as quickly as you want. Staff is very attentive!

While on a quest for good Italian food in the Danforth/​Beaches area on a Sunday afternoon (~1:30pm), we ended up at Pizzeria Libretto because all other Italian restaurants in the area were closed. This ended up being a blessing in disguise…
THE GOOD:
— So many options to choose from! We opted for a basic margherita pizza and the special of the day: spicy pepperoni. They also have pizzas with sausage, prosciutto, and a number of «white pizzas» without tomato sauce that sounded delicious. It’s a great place to bring a group — there’s something for everyone.
— When our first of two pizzas arrived, a young gentleman (may have been the owner) informed us that the other pizza would be another five minutes because it «wasn’t up to their standards». I actually see this as a positive — it’s good to see that they hold their pies to a certain standard of quality. Sure enough, our second pizza came in less than 5 minutes (and was absolutely delicious).
— For extra mozzarella on your pizza (who can say no to that?), ask for it to be «doppio» — an extra $ 3. We went «doppio» for both our margherita and spicy pepperoni pizzas, and every morsel of extra cheese was worth it.
— These pizzas have a thin, airy crust that really let the toppings take centre stage. I highly recommend using a fork and knife, or if you’re feeling brave, try folding a slice in half — all of the ingredients cave in on each other and it’s double the tomatoey, cheesy and meaty goodness.
THE BAD:
— I’ve got no downsides to mention here — we had a 5-​star experience and I would definitely return.
P. S. If you visit, be sure to scope out the large pizza ovens in the back — that’s where all the magic happens!

Like its sister location off Ossington, Pizzeria Libretto is serving up delicious Italian food and showing no signs of stopping. Unlike Ossington, here there is a raucous upstairs and a more intimate basement dining area. It fills up quickly.
Like many people, Libretto pizza reminds me of the pizza I had in the heart of Italy. While Libretto takes toppings to another level, the spirit is the same. I live for their blackened, thin crust pizza, even though I’m almost too impatient to bother with the knife and fork. I just want to dig right in… It’s that good.
We ordered the margherita and the excellent nduja sausage pizzas. The latter is my weakness, and the homemade spicy sausage is delicious. I can never eat a full pizza (it is deceptively big), but they will graciously wrap it up for you to take home.
We saved some room for dessert this time, and ordered the pillowy and indulgent sfingi (Italian doughnuts), which were topped with a lemon curd and strawberry coulis. It was a last glimpse of summer, and a lovely end to a meal.
Before I forget, one of my favourite things about Libretto is the complementary plate of warm rosemary focaccia and chili oil. It’s the little pleasures in life, you know?
Make reservations online or call in! You won’t regret it.

I’ve been here a few times — I live right off Danforth, so this is my local pizzeria. I switch between this one and Il Fornello when I want a good pizza.
However, yesterday, I was very disappointed withe the ‘Prosciutto and Arugula’ pizza. The menu said it has cheese, but it did not specify that it was grated after the baking, not melted, and a tiny little amount (you can see from the attached picture).
I want the pizza to be overflowing with melted cheese and was mislead by the description in the menu, which mentioned the grated cheese in the same manner it mentions the melted ones for other pizzas. The arugula was too much as well, and the prosciutto was really bad. I love good Italian prosciutto — dry, aged, thinly sliced so the slices are transparent and tangy. This prosciutto was wet, that’s the best word, wet, pink meat, chewy and stringy. Hint: hop over to Sobeys, few blocks west, to see what good prosciutto looks and tastes like.
The dough and the sauce was good, which is the main reason I come here, but the rest was lacking.
My girlfriend decided to take a break from her vegetarianism for the pizza, but after one bite — she didn’t want anymore, saying the prosciutto was weird and too little cheese.
One reason to pay Libretto’s premium pizza prices is for the top quality of the ingredients. However, that seems not to be uniform.

My cousin took us here on a Thursday night. The place was semi packed with a bar and sitting area that oozed a trendy and hipster vibe.
We ordered…
–Caprese salad: I am a sucker for anything with fresh basil so this was a great start. Mozzarella was also nice and creamy. Simple yet tasty.
–Calamari: Crispy but a tad heavy on the batter for me. Romesco sauce was okay.
–Daily special: white pizza with speck, figs, mozzarella, a drizzle of honey topped off with arugula and walnuts. This was definitely our table fav! Balance of the sweet and salty was so unique and delish!
–Mushroom pizza: too much rosemary for my liking
–Duck confit pizza: pear slices was a nice and sweet touch
–Nduja sausage pizza: spicy and salty
The pizza dough was really good. However all the centres of our pizzas were soft making it a challenge to keep all the toppings in place if we were to use our hands.
Overall good experience and unique pizza combinations. Props for the complimentary housemade foccacia, sourdough and balsamic, olive and chilli oil dip.

My uncle and I were feelin’ some delicious pizza, and delicious pizza we received. I’ve been to both locations multiple times and the food is consistently amazing.
We ordered:
–The pizza with arugula and prosciutto (i’m too lazy to google the menu for the name of it)
–arugula salad
–calamari
–400 plates of bread and oil. figuratively speaking
all perfect and wonderful! I highly recommend the salad. Get whatever pizza you like, but the salad, you NEED to get the arugula salad. It’s life changing.
Ok that’s enough about the food…
The service was SO fantastic! Our hostess/​server, Margret was super friendly and hilarious. My uncle has a very silly sense of humour so it was nice to not get any pretentious «we never laugh or show we are slightly human» attitude. I want to only go there when she is working. Is it creepy as hell if I call the restaurant and ask if she’s working? Probably.
My uncle kept making a joke about the pH of the water and one of the bartenders came out with pH strips and we tested it at the table… I thought it was funny, and a nice touch.
Also the bus boy who brought our bread was friendly and a babe.
If you want amazing service, good looking staff (everyone, not just the bread boy) and great food, please go here. The danforth ain’t all about the Greek food (and I’m a Greek lady who eats olives and feta cheese 365 days a year)

Took my parents out for dinner here and it was a good experience overall. We shared two pizzas and a charcuterie platter with some appetizers. I would try again for another dish but italian seems to be better in little Italy or vaughan.
Food: 3/​5, toronto isn’t the best for this type of meat platters unfortunately. It’s not bad but not amazing compared to montreal. The pizzas however were very tasty.
Service: 3/​5, average, no complaints
Ambience: 3/​5, very glad we were seated downstairs because upstairs was mayhem and typical italian restaurant where you can’t hear anything.
Price: 3/​5, typical, a bit overpriced as usual for Toronto but fair. It came to $ 150ish for four people.

Pizza is very thin. Most people seem to like that about this place, bit I prefer pizza crust to be a bit thicker. The pizzas are very mediocre, but I know some Italians who say it’s the best in town for authentic Italian pizza

The Danforth location looks great. Love the cosy basement bar. But this is not what I want in a Neapolitan pizza. We ordered the margarite and a «white anchovy» pizza. These two pies were so similar that I’m surprised the the waiter didn’t caution us. But the reverse was true. I started hedging on the sardine pie in favour a sauceless special but our waiter said the two were great together. Whatever.
More disappointingly, the pizzas crusts were very soggy. I dont know whether the sauce was too cold or applied too thickly, but either way the crust was undercooked and underwhelming. It took about 30 minutes for the pizzas to arrive, and I suspect that may have had something to do with it.

Calling all thin curst pizza lovers!
Went here for a lunch on a weekend with a group of 6 and getting a seat was no problem. We shared a Piatto Grande as a starter with a variety of cheeses, charcuterie, pickled veggies and a bit of salad. and the best part — it comes with a big fluffy inflated bread — it looked like a shower cap! When you rip into the warm bread it deflates and it was so good!
For pizzas we went with Duck Confit with pear, which was my favourite. Anchovy pizza was nice and garlicy and Ontario Prosciutto & Arugula were also good as well. We finished with the tiramisu and it comes in cute little jars.
The service was friendly and the décor was modern as well. No complaints for this place!

I’ve been to this location three times, the most recent being last month. I didn’t have a pizza last visit, but my favourite is the cremini mushroom. This last visit I had a couple appetizers; the Flank Steak Spiedini and the Ricotta Gnocchi Fritti. I would not order the Spiedini again. It was three tiny skewers of beef, almost 50% fat. I prefer my meat without chunks of fat there. The Ricotta balls however were sooo good. I also had the Chocolate Affogato for dessert. It was yummy, but I feel it would have been better with Vanilla gelato instead. I’ve had their Chocolate-​Amaretto Budino before which is absolutely delicious. Next time I think I’ll try the Sfingi (Italian doughnuts).
I would recommend this place for date night, girls’ night, even just a quick, casual lunch or dinner among friends and co-​workers. I haven’t been to other locations, but I really like this location and it’s convenient for me. I’ll definitely be returning.

I took my boyfriend here this past weekend for his birthday dinner. I had heard great things from friends and it’s rated the #1 pizza place on Blog TO.
I made our reservation about a month in advance and we had to wait about 5 minutes when we got there because the people at the table they had for us decided to order another bottle of wine. They ended up giving us a table downstairs.
I had told the restaurant over the phone that it was my boyfriends birthday and they said they would do some kind of dessert for it.
We decided to order some apps before the meal. We got the gnocchi and Roccos salad. Both very delicious!
For the main I got the duck confit pizza which had no sauce and pear on it. It was absolutely unreal. Probably one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. My boyfriend got some spicy pepperoni pizza, it wasn’t listed on the menu because it was the special of the day.
During the meal I got up to remind our waiter it was my boyfriends birthday and he said he would bring something over.
After we finished the waiter came over with the dessert menu. I was hoping my boyfriend wouldn’t order anything because we were gonna get something for free. He ended up ordering an espresso and a gelato, and I ordered a chocolate affogato.
The waiter ended up bringing a wooden plate that said happy birthday in nutella and had both our desserts on it. I figured since he picked a dessert off the menu it would not be included on the bill. Turns out it was and that’s the reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5. I don’t mind paying but if they said they would include something they should. Oh well!
Overall it was great. Good service, amazing food and a cool environment! Would definitely go back.

Enjoyed a nice lunch here after a few medical appointments. It was busy, but making a reservation was not needed. I have been to their other two locations in the city so I knew that the food was going to be good. Location wise, it’s convenient as it’s steps away from the subway station. I went to the washroom in the basement and noticed that there’s a party room. It looks like it’s a great place to have a gathering. The only downside was the service; it took such a long time to get water or the bill, which made me super tired. I’m not impatient, but I actually found myself tapping my fingers on the table. I hope this was purely due to the fact that our server felt overwhelmed? I love the food and ambiance here (along with the other locations) so I’ll be back should Libretto Danforth is the most convenient.
A couple of details:
— Reservations can be made on-​line
— $ 15 Lunch Set (appetizer, pizza, and dessert)
Good for: lunch, dinner, pizza, wine

I’m a bit of a pizza noob. So when my friend suggested it I didn’t know what to expect. Ordered the Njuda Sausage pizza and the Gorgonzola one and goodness, that sausage one is spicy! But Gorgonzola perfection was fantastic. I couldn’t leave it alone!
Throw in a bottle of champagne, some girly gossip and perfect ambient noise in the background and you’ve got a perfect Tuesday night. Yes. A bottle of champagne in a Tuesday :)

When I began my search for pizza similar to the kind I eat when visiting Italy, many people recommended Pizzeria Libretto. Not wanting to be disappointed, I decided to try this restaurant during lunch because their lunch special was very tempting:
Lunch Prix Fixe Monday — Friday $ 15
Primi
Arugula Salad or Beet Caprese Salad
Pizza
Margherita D.O.P or Marinara D.O.P.
Substitute any pizza on the menu $ 5
Dolci
Biscotti or Gelato (one scoop)
And what can I say? I fell in love with both salads-​the arugula salad has walnuts and pear! I love pears in my salad. I also love beets and mozarella. So the salads alone had me loving the restaurant. But now to the pizza. When it comes to pizza, I am a big believer that if you can make a simple pizza well (my favorite pizza is Margherita-​with only three ingredients), then you have proven yourself as a pizza maker. It’s easy to mask a pizza with sauces, cheese, ingredients, herbs, etc. But how many can make a pizza taste delicious with 3 toppings? Well, Pizzeria Libretto certainly knows how to create a delicious pizza that transported me back to Italy. The three toppings on the Margherita pizza is tomato, basil, mozzarella and after the first bite, I could taste each individual ingredient; the cheese, the fresh basil and the homemade tomato sauce. I was a happy camper.
Another item that I always order but it is a hit or miss for me is the Ricotta Gnocchi Fritti. How can you go wrong with house-​made gnocchi with crema fresca, lemon, chives, rosemary? Well, it goes wrong when it lacks seasoning and the gnocchi is not fried enough so rather than having a crispy texture, you get soft pieces of gnocchi (I like my gnocchi crispy on the outside with a soft and fluffy interior). And yet, I always order it because when it is done right, it is phenomenal!
And…
Always remind the staff about the free bread. Their bread is moist, flavored with rosemary, and worth the trip to Pizzaria Libretto. Now if I could only get the recipe!