If you are looking for something in the neighbourhood with a private room, I would look at Ciao Wine Bar, Mistura, Malena or C5. Good luck!

Speachless.

Trust me, you didnt miss out on anything. This place is wayyyyyyyyyy over rated!

Scaramouche, Splendido or Auberge du Pommier are going to be your best options. I would cancel C5, Opus and ToCa from that list. Stock will probably need more time to become polished.

Would not recommend F'Amelia. Noisy, tight, awkward and cold. I would definitely go for Le Select.

Have had great brunch experiences at L'Ouvrier on Dundas. Would be perfect for a group of fun girls!

This place is supposedly owned by the same guy who owns Bravi on Wellington East. 'Nuff said.

I would say neither. If you are looking for that 'vibe' I would check out Campagnolo or L'Ouvrier. But if I had to pick, I would go with Acadia.

Interestingly enough, I was also there this past weekend and had a similarly poor experience. Service was quite awkward from the owner to the server and other staff running food. The room was cold, way too bright and seemed like it was built out of plywood. Tables and chairs were disproportionate to each other and uncomfortable. The plates we were given to share with were about 14" in diameter. They did not fit anywhere on the table. Our rather expensive wine was served in cheap thick glass wine goblets (not polished and covered in film). Drinks from the bar were way over priced ($9 house vodka, $11 Amaro Montenegro). The vodka costs more than the Amaro....so this makes no sense. The food...terrible attempt at focaccia (gummy taste of flour and stale) sous-vide calamari (why????) great roasted root veg salad but too small a portion for the price. The 'seafood risotto' looked like a buffet rice pilaf with one seared scallop in the centre and tiny morsels of indistinguishable bits of other seafood. Bland, tiny and not my idea of a main course. The chestnut pasta with venison was a disaster. Barely blanched and tasteless pasta (still hard) with ground venison. Not braised and pulled beautiful venison, but ground meat!
Desserts were fairly better with an amazing panettone bread pudding but back to not so good with an overly poached and overly spiced with cloves, red wine poached pear. The room was full of fun, interesting people who I'm sure were able to feel the many weak steps in food and service in this fairly new restaurant. Our section of the room shared our experiences towards the end of the night. I hear the pizza is amazing. The rest of the menu should be forgotten...for now.

My 10 best meals of 2011 were...in no particular order:

Cava
Campagnolo
Omi
George
Kaji
Bymark
Grace
Harbord Room
Malena
Origin
Biffs

In retrospect...my 10 most forgettable meals were...in no particular order:

Keriwa
Fishbar
Libretto
ToCa
Bohmer
Splendido
Lee
Buca
Fabbrica
Noce

Cava all the way for me.

Oscar has been doing a great job with the new Il Mulino. I would definitely give it a try. Best dining room at Eglinton.

Both Malena and Mistura have great private dining rooms. Ciao has smaller rooms downstairs, but I find them a bit cold with inferior food to both Mistura and Malena.

The Black Hoof is not closed. The Hoof Cafe had closed and will be re-born as The Black Hoof & Company.

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The Black Hoof
928 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON M6J, CA

Five Guys is THE real deal. 10,000 times better than South Street...(whats that owned by Tim Hortons or something?)

If you're shopping in the Yorkville area, I would definitely look at Malena. Great wine list too. If you're downtown, I would go to Buca. Both are fun, lively cool vibe places.

Way more value associated with Chiado. Service, ambiance, service, service and better cooking in general.

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Chiado
864 College Street West, Toronto, ON M6H 1A3, CA

Definitely second Malena as a great seafood and whole fish option. Starfish, Vertical and Chiado would be my other suggestions. Joso's is just too old fashioned and way too expensive for my tastes anymore.

I too had a recently bizarre experience at this place. I really just don't get it. I would not call this a 'restaurant' at all...more of a snack bar. The place just had a weird feel to it. Food was mediocre, and I still can't get over the 3-4 dishes on the menu. Even with just one guy in the kitchen (talented or not), they should be able to come up with at least 5-6 dishes! The place is about 18-20 seats. I would have been more content with a choice of 2-3 appetizers, 2-3 mains and 1 dessert and cheese (which they did have). How this place has gotten so much attention by critics and guests is way beyond me. Finally, the service was fine, but nothing special. I think that if you don't know the young owners or are considered a 'hipster', they really don't know how to act around you. The wine selection was also extremely poor with about 8-10 choices. The wines were of good quality...just wanted more choice. Or at least offer the BYOW program. I agree that if they had a web site stating what their menu is and how many dishes they have on offer, would be a great help. I think they may (or may not be) smart enough to know that if they indeed had a website stating the above that no one would come! I know I wouldn't. Just my thoughts on this place.

First off, Claudio is not Italian. Not that this should have anything do to with anything! Secondly, a 'classic' and/or 'traditional' pesto incorporates BASIL, PINENUTS, GARLIC, PARMIGIANO and OLIVE OIL. So lets see...presuming the 'pesto' in question was made with basil, I think we can all agree that Mozzarella and Basil are pretty much in love with eachother (with tomatoes or not). Just my rant of that day!

I'll throw my hat into the ring...

In no particular order,

George
Scaramouche
Lee
The Black Hoof
Mistura
Nota Bene
Sushi Kaji
Jacob's & Co.
Malena
C5

The new Pizzeria Libretto is definitely going into the Trapezzi space. I think it will totally work. Feta and Kalamata pizza anyone?

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Trapezzi
505 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 1P5, CA

Pizzeria Libretto
221 Ossington Ave, Toronto, ON M6J, CA

Similar to Mistura would be Noce (and just as expensive). Romagna Mia, Zucca, Il Mulino and now Carisma are all places that would be in the same idea as classic solid Italian. I would not recommend Enoteca Sociale if you are looking for something along the lines of Mistura.

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Romagna Mia
106 Front Street East, Toronto, ON M5A 1E1, CA

Il Mulino
1060 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto, ON M6C 2C9, CA

Mistura
265 Davenport Rd, Toronto, ON M5R1J9, CA

Noce
875 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6J1G5, CA

Enoteca Sociale
1288 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON M6J, CA

Carisma Restaurant
73 King St E, Toronto, ON M5C 2V8, CA

My favourites of late for private dining in the area have been Mistura and Malena. Both offer great rooms, with excellent food and service. Spuntini also offers a space for that many, but not totally private.

Colborne Lane would definitely be more lively...but George will definitely be better for food quality, value and service.

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Colborne Lane
45 Colborne Street, Toronto, ON M5E 1P8, CA

What part of town are you hoping for? What atmosphere are you looking for? Help us narrow the choices! Does the room have to be private? Or will you sit as a big group in a main dining room?

Recently attended a great dinner party at Malena on Avenue Road in their private dining room. The room at Origin is nice but I think it seats up to 12 or something like that. Any particular type of cuisine or atmosphere you looking for?

You may want to try a gastro pub like The Queen and Beaver. Otherwise, all the top hotels will have turkey dinners. I remember having a very good yet fairly priced dinner at Annona in The Park Hyatt a few years back.

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Park Hyatt
Toronto, ON, Toronto, ON , CA

If you are looking for Yorkville / Rosehill specifically, you may want to look at Sopra (more modern feel) or Malena (which is in a really nice old building). They can both accomodate up to 20 and I have attended events there recently. The Rosehill is a great space but both food and service can be very spotty. Also in Yorkville would be Il Posto Nuovo (though haven't been there in years)

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Sopra
265 Davenport Rd, Toronto, ON M5R1J9, CA

Il Posto
148 Yorkville Ave, Toronto, ON M5R1C2, CA

100% Biffs!