ViVetha Bistro

My go-​to place for a weekday breakfast! Good ‘healthy’ serving of breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, fruit and salad! At a decent price! Dinners have also never let me down. Small quaint place, and my only complaints are that they don’t open earlier (say, 7am instead of 8), and they open their second level more often on the weekends to allow the large influx of Beachers coming for their breakfast.

I love this place!
Breakfast lunch or dinner. The weekend waitress Mo is a hoot! She never writes down an order and pretty much tells you what your order is and is rarely wrong.
The portions have decreased a bit but I can still take half my breakfast home and have it for lunch!
I really like the Prix Fix menu on Mon/​Tues evenings. The lamb is my go-​to. And like breakfast I only eat half the order and have the rest for lunch, the next day.
You can’t beat this secret, in the Beaches. Well worth the trip to the far east end of the 501 streetcar ride.

A lovely intimate place with great service, good portions and delicious choices. We have been here for both brunch and dinner. It has been consistently great. The seafood pasta dishes are my favorite. This was one of the first restaurants we went to as a couple and it was wonderful. Even on a rainy day, the food and atmosphere was great. So glad a friend recommended it to us!

I will start off by saying that i have in fact been to this place before. Before, being prior to me being a bored Unilocaler. My previous visits were great. The service and food were what i expected based off word on the street. However… Today i brought my parents and wife in for brunch and the story is not so good. Our server was new, had a great personality and was doing her best. Unfortunately the experience we all had today was not so good. I have 15 years in the restaurant/​bar business. I was a corporate trainer for a few of the 15 years. I was very disappointed today with the guidance of our new server. I almost feel as though she was thrown under the bus. Unless she lied on her resume, there is no way any manager/​training server would not realize that she could do this job without shadowing her. We were not the easiest of tables as some of us were not ready to order at the same time. A rule of thumb for me and has always been while training a new server is… Write everything down! Not writing things down doesn’t make you look more smart. In fact it will help you for many different reasons. Mainly because you have enough to do let alone remembering 8 tables of food and drink. Write it down and then you can focus on anticipating the guests needs before they have to ask you. Guess what happens then… You get a bigger tip. The only reason why i tipped generously today is because i remember all those years ago being a new server and it was NOT easy. new servers need help. MANAGERS & TRAINERS — please don’t forget what it is like to be a brand new server. Train your staff properly… (Side note) The food was still awesome!

Excellent food, friendly staff (thanks, Dasia!), charming place. Three of us had dinner on a summer Saturday evening and by 7:30PM the place was very busy. Large (but not enormous) servings of food, and all dishes had a myriad of vegetables accompanying the meat portion. Vegetables included squash, red carrots, potatoes, green beans, zucchini, giant yellow beets, and roasted cucumber. All three meat dishes were extremely flavourful and well-​prepared … beef tenderloin medallions, a wonderful Roasted Garlic Pepper Crusted Salmon, and the bourbon and smoky Secret Ribs. The Caprese salad starer was perfect and quite large, allowing two of us to share, with a nice vinaigrette and lovely tomatoes. Decent but not large selection of wine (the French pinot noir on offer was excellent), nice atmosphere. We’d definitely visit again when back in Toronto. Recommended.

After many more meals since my original review, it’s time to revisit my rating. I’m bumping it up to 5 stars, ’cause really, how many restaurants do all meals well? Today’s breakfast of wild blueberry pancakes with caramelized apples, and real maple syrup, put me over the edge. It was fantastic. It comes with bacon and sausage, which they were happy to substitute with scrambled eggs for me. The orders in my group were equally happy with their meals. This place is a gem in the middle of a neighbourhood not known for it’s restaurants.

I moved right across from Vivetha about seven years ago and would go in there often for take out. Their shrimp linguini is decent. Some of the other dishes I’ve tried are too oily. In terms of staff, turn over is very high and most of them look like they would rather be somewhere else. During the summer the place is constantly packed, however: their patio is very quaint, overlooking Queen Street.

This was my first time at the place. This was my first time in the neighborhood. The inside of this place was comfortable and welcoming. The staff was nice and friendly. The food for brunch is good. The portion size is big. However, I would have to say the food option is what most brunch places tend to offer. This place is very busy but I have yo say the staff tend to be forgetful. We asked for coffee three times before they came back to refill our coffee. It was the same when we asked for a take out box, we had to asked three times, each time a different server before we got the take out box. I might come back if I was in the area. This place I would say is average.

GREAT FOOD! Amazing service… after dinner drinks are a must try!

One of my favourite brunch spots.
I love the fresh fruit and always a big portion of food on the plate !
My servers name was Stephanie and she was so pleasant and a great server! Helped me with what to decide on getting and always tentative to me and my friends.
Great service really makes the whole experience!

Great italian food, sufficient wine choices, great service dining in or taking out. Just an easy, local joint for dinner with family or friends. Reasonable for quality and options. They’ll even switch the pasta choice from penne to linguini or leave out the bacon, for example, if you have picky eaters. The Caesar or grilled veggies are great starters.

We went for a family dinner the other night and we a had a really good time. Service was slower then what we are used however and the waitstaff could be a bit more attentive… If there were more staff members working. I order the medallions. My meal was cooked perfectly and they were kind enough to give me extras (sauce, lemons etc). Prices are a tad higher then other places in the area however well worth it as the portion sizes and food quality are amazing.

Hands down my favourite Beaches brunch spot. I almost always get the potato pancakes, which magnificently come with sausage AND bacon. It never disappoints.
Amazing and fast service. Quaint bistro atmosphere. Extremely reasonable prices.
Definitely worth trekking out to this end of Queen Street for!

Great little Italian place: pasta. Reasonable prices. Love how they serve bread with cream of balsamic (my fav). Word of note this place is always packed so it’s safest to make reservations come dinner time.
Bonus: Cute little patio in front overlooking Queen street

I have a really good friend who takes me every time I visit her to some nice restaurant in Queen East Beaches area. My first visit there was a to a place ViVetha, followed with The Beaches and then to Green Eggplant.
ViVetha is intimate, dark and busy place in the end of Queen Street. During our few visits there it has always been busy, but we have managed to be seated pretty fast. Menu is interesting and filled with so many goodies that it is hard to choose. Whatever we have had, has arrived very fast, smelled and looked and most importantly, tasted great. Portions are quite big, so I always end up taking something with me. If you have appetizer as we had, then your order probably will make it home with you after you have been struggling to finish it with no luck ;)
While the savoury food tastes good, I can’t say the same about their desserts. Have had nice cakes twice and both times they have tasted like nothing and the worst part, they have had the taste of fridge to them… yaiks! The least I expect when munching my well-​waited dessert, you know. BUT this haven’t turned me off from ViVetha, as I will go back there, but just won’t order a desert :)

I’m not sure why I came back to this place tonight. I know the food is mediocre at best. And Paul’s Spaghetti house — where the food so much better — isn’t any further from my house. I guess I like this little neighbourhood and the patio.
Three plates of pasta of differing descriptions, yet somehow, all of them in an unattractive brown colour. Seafood on the pasta was a nice portion size, but terribly overcooked. Salads were similar — a wild mushroom salad had a great portion of mushrooms in it, but the dressing was the same balsamic reduction that comes with the bread. These guys could probably spend a bit less on ingredients if they were better at cooking.
I overheard other diners that were very pleased with their meals and the place was very full. What is it about this neighbourhood that makes it attract uninspiring restaurants? Apparently, if you’re a beach resident, you can safely ignore this review and just enjoy the ingredients.

I’ve been here ALOT. I used to be in love with this place. They do a great breakfast for cheap. ($ 7) that includes, eggs, sausage, bacon, toast and fruit. I really enjoy the tri colour tortellini and the angry chicken. However, I did get a big black hair tightly wrapped around my pasta last time I was there. I just can’t go back now.
The staff here are quite rude, that’s the big thing that let’s this place down. It is a cute little premises right on the end of Queen St E (by Vic Park) and the food is good but the people they hire just are not friendly to customers. It is always very busy but it’s still inexcusable. If you’re in this area (I live here btw) there are so many great little restaurants where they are very welcoming. I’d give this a miss tbh.

If you live in the beach, Vivetha is that restaurant that the locals have been raving about for a few years. As a beacher, I was late to the party going there only last year for the first time… it’s at the very east end on Queen which is like going to the moon for most people and also feels like a time warp with the hodge podge of shops and dodgey looking laundromats.
I thought it was going to look more homey, but the décor like they got a deal on the remnants of a Moxie’s or some other chain.
Also I don’t really like massive menus where there are 12 types of pasta. When did this happen anyway? When I was young, we had spaghetti and fat spaghetti, then came angel hair spaghetti and all hell broke loose.
The food is consistently been good (been there 3 times now) but yes! Humungous portions which they can’t change now because they set a precedent. If you are thinking of starting a restaurant, don’t do this. Heaps of food is a turn off because you end up feeling bad when you don’t eat the salad.
The best part of Vivetha is that if you are a local, you will always run into someone you know and it’s almost always somebody who is having an affair.

I only ate at this place one time but heard nothing but great things about it so when I was visiting friends in the neighbour hood we decided to order takeout from them.
The place itself is small, nessled at the very end of Queen st east… it’s a cozy little bistro with a quaint patio that fills up fast with regulars who love the delicious italian inspired cuisine. They offer reasonably healthy options and some fairly hefty portions but the price point is rather high considering they are not a bistro downtown with $ 16 + plates they really should be doing something to make it a little more reasonable.
But I will say the food was excellent, I ordered the wild mushroom chicken entrée and my friend ordered the tri colored tortellini and both were absolutely delicious and cooked to perfection. I myself prefered her dish as it tasted authentically italian and very rich but my chicken dish was well done, served with perfectly grilled asparagas, eggplant and sweet potato a dish I would certainly order again.
The service was fairly pleasant and fast I cannot comment much as we were only grabbing takeout but they were prompt in dealing with us and amiable as well.
I have been told they also serve a delectable brunch menu that is only available between certain times but apparently it is something special…
Parking once again is a bit tricky here and it all depends on the time of day and which day of the week… toronto can be so bad for parking but if you can grab a spot on a side street like Neville Park Blvd you should have 3 good hrs to park free from worries and within walking distance of the restaurant.
Definitely a cozy little bistro I would recommend to anyone nearby who’s looking for a good italian inspired meal

Pasta Beach
Had dinner with a friend last week. We arrived for an early dinner (5:00 ish) and took a side table inside. The wine by the glass list was meh, in that the selections were dull, pedestrian entries, but the pricing and volume served were quite good and unexpected. Nice surprise.
I asked for a small garden salad with a simple bit of oil and vinegar, not from the menu, and what I was served was good. Good balance of oil and acid. Only thing odd was LOTS of julienned bits of citrus peel. I mean, like, all the garnish for the seafood for the week kind of amount. Kind of annoying to move them out of the way, but once I did the salad was good.
We each had a main course and nothing else. Deciding on the «specials» was easy, as they were an amalgam of other dishes on the menu, just a few ingredients rotated to sort of come up with something different. Blah.
Bread was kind of a sorry affair. Still not sure what it was, but it wasn’t good.
I wasn’t in the mood for pasta, but when I saw the menu, I realized this is what they do. So pasta it was. I had Seafood Delight, I believe, with scallops, smoked salmon, shrimp, garlic. Spaghetti I think was the noodle, and I opted for the white wine sauce, as opposed to the red. It was good. Probably something along the lines of what I might whip up in 20 mins at home during the week. Simple but good. If I had any expectations going into this place beforehand, I might have been mildly disappointed.
My friend (who suggested this place, as it was close by) ordered a pepper crusted salmon. The fish was a very average quality piece of fish, and cooked OK, not succulent, but not dry. Was most likely frozen originally, so… but the vegetables that came with it made the dish worthwhile. They were well seasoned, not over-​done, and a generous portion. Probably the best part of the meal.
Sum: I wouldn’t drive out here to eat from another part of town, but if you’re nearby, by all means go. When the check came I actually had reverse sticker shock. It was less that I had expected! So for this I’m being generous and giving it 4 stars. This is an inflated rating. It is because the prices are more than fair for what you get, not because this is 4 star food or service. Make sense?
Cin cin!