Villa Toscana

Funny story, we were actually headed to another Italian restaurant when we mistakenly popped into Villa Toscana, but we greeted right away and quickly made the plan to have appetizers here.
After checking out the menu I knew right away what I wanted, a nice warm bowl of minestrone soup. I was a little chilly and the soup warmed me up quickly. The broth had great flavor and the texture of the soup was perfect.
Also had a large glass of the house’s Rosé, which went perfect with the soup. Even if we entered by mistake this was a great place to stop at to start the night off.

A drench night before a gig at the Hydro and with most places rammed full we thought we’d try here because they had a table available for the three of us.
That should maybe have been our clue…
Inside it’s a bit ‘70s traditional Italian’ which I’m sure they think makes it feel authentic but just makes it feel a bit cold (not helped by being seated at the door with the freezing cold draft on my back throughout the meal!).
The menu is pretty bog standard Italian fare, but the pre-​theatre menu had plenty of options. I opted for the garlic mushrooms to start, and the lasagne for my main.
The food arrived promptly enough, and my garlic mushrooms were good, if not spectacular, they weren’t sautéed in cream or anything, just seemed to be heated mushrooms with some garlic on a couple of pieces of slightly over toasted ciabatta.
Main course for me was lasagne which arrived in a reasonable portion size, still bubbling hot, and smelt good.
Unfortunately, once I’d let it cool enough to eat, it was a bit bland with little meat involved, and a lot of fairly basic tomato sauce that would’ve benefited from some/​any seasoning or even some herbs!
Clare & Kirsty both had the spinach and risotto cannelloni, I had a mouthful and confirmed what they both thought. Bland. Very very bland. Even the tomato sauce provided with it seemed like a thin version of Heinz tomato soup?
The service was nondescript, they delivered food and took orders without even a smile.
So, overall, edible but not tasty, and a reasonably cheap meal as we ate from the pre-​theatre menu.
Next time I think we’ll book somewhere…

Been here before but can’t remember the food but I remember a woman arguing with the staff and throwing a glass of wine at the owner. Now on to our visit last night, it was a last minute decision and we wanted pizza so decided to pop in here without booking as we couldn’t get in to our original choice. We got a table quickly as it wasn’t busy, only two other tables seated. Being pregnant I couldn’t go for my usual pâté or seafood starters so got the garlic mushrooms which tbh had more cream than garlic, still ok but wouldn’t order again. The salad that came with it couldn’t have been anymore plain jane, a cpl of chopped iceberg lettuce leaves and a teaspoon of diced tomatoes. My husband got the scallops which came in a creamy type sauce and he specifically asked for no balsamic on the side salad, he got balsamic all around the plate but said the scallops and sauce tasted delicious and cooked perfectly. I then opted for a salami, red onion and rocket pizza which was very average, toppings came off the pizza as soon as I tried to cut a slice and it had some raw white onion all over it too which wasn’t on the menu and I had to take off. My husband got the calzone, can’t recall which one or even if they have different ones but he loved it but again he had a plain side salad with balsamic all over it which I had to take off his plate (he hates it). It is a cozy authentically decorated little italian restaurant but I wouldn’t rush back at all. The service let me down, no smiles, hardly anyone spoke and we didn’t get asked how our meal was. They also hover around the bar/​till which is right in the middle of this small space which makes you feel they are watching you and waiting to clear the table. I’ve had a million times better food and service in the plentiful Italian eateries we have around the city. Try other places before here.

We stumbled on Villa Toscana by accident. It is without a doubt the best Italian food we have ever eaten. And we have eaten a lot of Italian food. Over the course of 10 days we ate there 4 times and I had the pleasure of sampling chicken, steak, pasta and pizza. All were excellent. We enjoyed our meals so much that we invited 2 families we were traveling with to join us on separate occasions. They too were very satisfied with their meals. The service was top notch, friendly and fast. I would recommend making a booking (reservation) as the restaurant fills up especially on a Saturday night.
If I am ever in Glasgow again I will make a point of eating here and would not hesitate to recommend it to family, friends or strangers alike. I really can’t say enough about what a wonderful dining experience we had on every visit.

Italian is a funny thing with me. I usually tend to go for the pizza option in most places as I have something in my brain telling me that paying money for pasta is a bad, bad thing to do. Maybe this has something to do with being a student at some point and eating pasta for a number of years. night after night.
So, with a small voice in my head telling me ‘go for the pizza’ i ended up going for the past. Meh. I’m pretty sure that the description of my dish mentioned a creamy pesto sauce with pan seared chicken. I got v oily pesto with wee chunks of chicken. Although it was not bad, it was certainly a long way off me letting out a ‘ooh, that was tasty’.
Yeah, so the in addition to this, the Mrs ordered a salad that was supposed to come with poached eggs. Salad arrived. Nae eggs. Although this was remedied, it still added to the feeling that all was not as smooth as it should be in the kitchen.
In addition, service was a little scarse. All very small things on their own, but added together makes for a far from satisfying experience.
The only reason we went here was because we had a toddler and a wean in a pram. This unfortunately will be the only reason behind any return visit.

Tend to get take aways from here which are always really good. The Pizza’s are what I think of as italian pizzas.

Ate at Villa Toscana a while back after reading a favourable review. It is a traditional family Italian eaterie with a fairly basic rustic look, and the sort of acoustics that come when there are hard surfaces everywhere. Easy to wipe clean I suppose but not very warm and cosy.
Villa Toscana is not the sort of place to while away the hours with a glass of wine. More the sort of place to grab a bite and be on your way. The pizzas looked nice but I decided to go for the scampi for a change. Mistake!
I was expecting fresh scampi, but this particular scampi had said goodbye to the sea long ago and spent a good deal of time getting cosy in the deep freezer. I didn’t make a fuss as I didn’t want to spoil the ambience for my fellow diner, so kept schtum. At least I can let everyone else know through the power of the internet. If you must go here, stick to the pizza and make it pronto.