Review Marinella - Toronto

Marinella is an amazing family owned Italian restaurant with a great al dente pasta. It has a great selection of food and drinks. The service was amazing, and the waitress was very nice and knew the menu really well. Its a bit pricy but why not if its every once in a while. Food: 1. The pizza margarita was beyond reason, it had every element of a great pizza. The dough was outstandingly soft from the inside and crispy from the outside. And it was Cheeeezzzzyyyyyy. eating this pizza takes on a trip to Italy and back. 10/10 2. The Shrimp Marinella made by their signature in house white sauce was rich in flavour and it was mouth washing. Its a small portion and its a bit pricy but worth it. 9/10 3. Fettuccine Chicken Alfredo Amazing sauce amazing pasta. Its a really unique and good dish. The chicken wasn’t really flavoured or spiced well. 8.5/10 4. Penne Arrabiata Classic dish with a really great spice into the sauce. 7/10 5. Veal Parmigiana Its a great dish because it combines a protein and pasta for those meat lovers like myself. The veal was cooked well but the breading wasn’t crispy enough and it had nothing special. You can customize the pasta sauce that comes with it for additional $2 Good dish overall but nothing special for the price ( 6.8/10 ) 6. Catch of the day It was a fish fillet lemon and herbs spice. I have admit its a dry pasta sauce but was amazing!!! 8/10 7. Mushroom Risotto Well cooked Risotto that is full of flavour and perfectly salted. 8/10 *** Something very odd happened, but they would refuse to give us the vinegar and and oil bottle so we can pour for ourself so that we can dip it with the bread. They get it for you in a small bowl but you cant mix the bread with both oil and vinegar due to their immiscibility so you are basically just soaking the bread with oil and not much liquid. The bread was cold and not really fresh.

Awesome fresh pasta and delicious pasta sauces. The lobster was really good as well as the mushroom and chicken fettuccine. Came here for a birthday celebration and we shared some pickled veggies and a meat and cheese platter. Everything was amazingly delicious. Service was also great, attentive and friendly staff.

I've been here twice and will continue coming here. It's now my favourite Italian restaurant in Toronto, as I can't get enough of their rice croquettes and lobster risotto - divine, the best I've ever had. My partner had the Pappardelle Giovanni both times, which he loved. The place has a jazzy and lively atmosphere, but also has the charm for a nice date. We didn't make reservations ahead of time for our second visit, but the staff was able to squeeze us in the day of. We were kept waiting to be seated for a while when we arrived, but once we did the staff was friendly and attentive. Their risotto takes some time (about 40 mins), so I recommend ordering that as soon as you're seated if you're set on risotto.

Wow what a meal. Service was good and still quite quick for a Saturday evening. The food was outstanding. I ordered the catch of the day which was a grilled sea bass paired with pasta in a lemon cream sauce. The plate looked fairly standard/simple however the taste was phenomenal. Best meal I've had in a while. We can't wait to come back!

Amazing cosy place. Family run. Hence the food is prepared fresh , not pre prepared. All fresh. Pasta is made in house and the sea food is fresh. The food takes time to arrive, it’s prepared fresh. The lady who takes the order will explain to you in detail how the food is made. Loved the ambience !!

Great food served with love. Don't come here if you're in a rush and going to complain about the time. Mama has only one speed and it's just right to make her magical sauce. So don't miss Mama's sauce! Put that S*** on everything!

This little gem was a real treat. We thoroughly enjoyed the croquettes to start and heard all about momma's Marinella sauce. It sounded to good to pass up - so I had to order the Seafood Fettuccine. We were not disappointed.

I came here for the first time with my boyfriend and I thought it was so amazing. The food was authentic just like the people. I thought it was a very nice intimate place. I will for sure come back to this restaurant if I am in the area. Thanks for the great experience.

Great Food & Service<br/><br/>We love this restaurant. Fresh food and great staff, the owner makes sure your experience is a good one. Highly recommend eating here.

Nice atmosphere but very average food and overpriced. Don’t order the surf and turf . 1/2 of a very very small lobster tail all stuck to the shell . It was a disaster. We left disappointed with the waiter and the food.

We’ve been here before and food has been delicious. But tonight sadly even though the flavour of the food was good. The food arrived luke warm my sister was given the wrong dish we would have had to wait or eaten separately had we sent it back. We let the waitress know she said she would let them know. But No Apology of any kind no one came to talk to us!!! Was really looking forward to going to Marinella’s don’t know that I’ll be back!!!<br/>

from the moment we tried to get into the restaurant, they treated us like we couldn't afford the place. we were stopped even before we could enter the restaurant and basically told they didn't have any tables by some indian guy. then a hostess came and told us they had only 1 table which was outside in the corner so we agreed to sit there. we had to pass through the restaurant to sit outside and as we were passing through, almost half the tables inside were empty. after about 5 minutes of sitting and reading the menu, the server comes by and tells us at that point that we can't do any substitutions or modifications of any kind. i tell her that i have an allergy and ask if they can make any accommodations for that and she tells me that there's only one pasta on the menu that i can order if that's the case or a salad. i left and i will never go back. i was so disappointed in all the reviews i saw. it's clear to me that the restaurant must be paying people to write positive reviews online because their customer service is deplorable. stay away. this place SUCKS

Melt in your mouth pasta. I was in town for work and had an intense craving for Italian food, so thought the best place to get it would be in the neighbourhood of Little Italy. I came across Marinella and was immediately taken in by the ambience and charmed by the energy that I felt when I walked in the door. The service was excellent and very attentive and my food was to die for. I consider myself to be pretty well versed in italian cuisine and I have to say that the fettucine pomodoro that was served on the side of my Catch of the Day, was hands down the BEST pasta I have ever had. It was melt in your mouth, fulfill every taste sensation in the book. The owner popped by to quality check and after telling him how much I loved the pasta, he went so far as to give me some pointers as to how to make my pasta sauce taste the same at home. I can't wait to be in Toronto again so that I can go back to Marinella

Friendly and some great Italian entrees. Very friendly staff, without attitude and some great Italian food. I had the Seafood Fettuccine Marinella a house special that was piping hot with a fair amount of seafood and a delicately balanced white wine sauce reduction. My hubby had the special a pork Rigatonne, a rich tomato sauce also piping hot. <br/>However our evening could have turned out poorly as our first dish a Spinach salad with goat cheese arrived limp with mushy rotten leaves and we sent back, but we got some attitude from from a second server (a female was not our original server) who argued that the spinach was fresh when it lay limp on the plate. They graciously replaced it with a Caesar salad which they did not charge us for. <br/>From then on we had two servers a male who was more subtle and the female who hoovered a little too much and having two servers ask about each plate was rating. <br/>The dessert of chocolate cake was touted as home made but it was a boxed cake with a purchased frosting and not an in-house butter cream but it was not overly sweet. Hubby liked it. The best part of the dinner was the main course the worse part of the evening was the smoking on the outdoor patio. Enough to not bring us back to eat on the patio again but we would eat inside and would return.

We went to Marinella last night for dinner. The server and host were very friendly and courteous. Our food did take awhile to come but it was the Taste of Little Italy festival, so it's somewhat understandable. We both had the garden salad as an app, which was fairly disappointing and overpriced. Also, looking at the regular menu online today I see that their special "festival menu" had severely inflated prices, seems dishonest. We had the funghi pizza and parpadelle pasta both were good. Overall, due to the inflated prices and mediocore app, we won't be going back.

Great food!. Having passed by this place so many times, finally decided to try it out and was I ever surprised!! Very attentive staff, with great suggestions and recommendations. All bread and pasta made in house, which definitely adds to your meal. I highly suggest the Shrimp Marinella to start. Overall great customer service and GREAT food!

Best Italian I've had in Toronto! Incredibly friendly atmosphere, and clean decor. Had the salumeria tasting, loved the cured meats and cheeses. Pasta is fresh and made in house, pizza was so good. I got the fettuccine chicken Alfredo which was perfectly creamy and rich, and my boyfriend had the prima Vera pizza which was well sauced and not dry at all. Tiramisu is also homemade and the mascarpone is light. We were served by one of the owners, who informed us that his brother and mother were doing all the cooking that night. I would highly recommend!

Hotheaded owner and terrible service. Went on a weekday with family. Owners seems nice to starts. Waiter had to be waived down to order drinks, food, and the bill, and never came over ONCE over a span of 40min! Food took more than 75min to come and the restaurant was not busy, When we asked the owner where our food was he responded rudely and rolled his eyes, He then avoided our table the rest of the night and never apologized for the long wait. And lastely they ran out of meatballs! Ordered the pasta (minus the meatballs because the had none) and was charged full price for the pasta! Bad service starts from the owner down. Not worth the time and money, Avoid the headache!

Here we are at marinella since shopping in the area we were hungry so sat down we order half litre house red. few app and our main course service was freindly foid was amazing we will be back again with friends and family

Tonight we are trying this restaurant for first time the service was ok and food was good pasta was little salty side.

Great service , very friendly. Food was very tasty. We had the sampler plate which was a great appetizer to share. Food was fresh. Overall a great experience and I would come back.

I went there last night on a whim because a friend and I wanted to try a new restaurant in Little Italy that neither of us had been to. The food was mediocre but the prices were way too high for what we got. It was about $55 for 2 apps, 2 entrées, and a dessert. Their tiramisu, however, was excellent.

Awesome. Been there 3 times with the wife. Food is great and very simple. Not overpriced at all. Other reviewers are weird. that's ok. More room for us when we go. Pizza is my favourite but can't always get it because I won't have room for my fettuccine Alfredo. Wait staff has always been great. No issues. Love it and will be there in 2-3 weeks. Diana

Horrible. I will never go back food was fine service was awful. Although we had a reservation we stiLl had to wait. No apologies or compensation for lenghty wait or poor service. Would rather go to PIZZA PIZZA

Decent food, but would not return.. I went to Marinella last night to use a Groupon voucher that was expiring soon. I had made a reservation, and it was a good thing I had because the restaurant was packed with others who had the same idea. When we arrived we were asked to please be patient, as they were completely booked up and things were running a little slower than usual. That wasn't a big deal, so we ordered an appetizer to keep us satisfied while we waited for our meals. When our food arrived, it was fine. Nothing to write home about, but pretty good. We had the antipasto platter to start, fettucine carbonara, and a margharita pizza. Our server was fine as well - friendly and apologetic for the delays. So far, no problem. <br/><br/>What we did have a problem with were two things. First, the restaurant is terribly overpriced for what you get. As I wrote above, the food was fine, but nothing spectacular. The antipasto plate was $18 for about ten thin slices of prosciutto and salami, four one-inch pieces of cheese, a quartered artichoke heart, some roasted red peppers and a few olives. The "starter-sized" portion of the carbonara was almost twenty bucks. If the food had been outstanding, I would have no complaint about the price, but it seems a bit pricey for "just ok" food. Overall, taking into account the voucher, we paid $25 for the Groupon, plus another $20 for tax and gratuity. $45ish is about what this meal should have cost normally, not $80, which is what it would have been without the voucher.<br/><br/>My second, and larger, complaint is the attitude of the manager (owner?). To us and every other party that walked in he complained very loudly about how the Groupon had been on for six months but that everyone waited until the last minute to come in, so everyone was going to have to wait, be patient, order an appetizer because food was going to take a long time, etc. Ok, fine. I understand that we didn't need to wait so long to use our voucher, and because of this we were understanding about how busy the restaurant was and the long waits (we got our entrees about an hour after we sat down). But, as the owner or manager of the restaurant, first of all, he shouldn't have been so audibly berating all of the guests within hearing range (the majority of whom were using the Groupon themselves) - and I must have heard him complaining about this to no less then five other tables - and second, wouldn't you a) know how many vouchers had been sold and not redeemed yet, and there fore anticipate a rush two days before the expiration, and b) expect that it us human nature that people would wait until the last minute? Loudly complaining to and about the customers bringing business to your restaurant is not a way to earn repeat visits. I certainly won't be returning or recommending to others.

Good food, excellent service. Went with my wife to Marinella tonight. <br/>We ordered: <br/>Minestrone soup, which wasn't exactly minestrone, but was delicious!<br/>Gnocchi, which wasn't exactly gnocchi as I know it, but the sauce that it was in was amazing, which made it pretty good overall<br/>Pizza I forget the name of it-with green olives, tomatoes and a few other veggies; which was also very good.<br/>Also had the fried calamari, which was ok.<br/><br/>Service was excellent, with sociable staff (we spoke to 3 of them that came to see how we are doing and to answer various questions). This was despite the place being pretty-much at capacity.<br/><br/>House red wine was pretty decent, and the home-baked bread was delicious!<br/><br/>two of us ate (with one glass of wine) for ~$90 after tax and tip. Most of the pizza ended up coming home with us, as we over-ordered.<br/><br/>Nice place to go to. you won't regret it.

My veal parm was crap!. My veal parm was completely dried out, I needed a steak knife to eat it... unfortunately, they did not give me one. The tomato sauce was quite good if you prefer it to be on the acidic side.<br/><br/>Service is really good but mid-way through our dinner our server changed without notice... it was strange.

Not merely bad on food - bad on service,prices, ambiance and attitude too!! An abomination... We went there on a Saturday night for the second time. First time was awful but I thought we'd give it another chance. I have to say, I don't understand how this restaurant survives. The service was terrible. We had reservations and when we arrived the restaurant was almost empty. Nonetheless, we were seated at a table right in front of the front door - basically, the worst table in the house. Even though there were at least 10 free tables in the restaurant. When we asked to move tables, the waiter and host were very unfriendly about it. Now on to the food. Overrated. Overcooked. The best thing about the dishes was the preamble - "my authentic mom in the back cooking this authentic italian fare, blah, blah, blah". That's where the expression "the proof is in the pudding" comes from. Or in this case, the pasta. This is a mediocre restaurant, more reliant on posturing and overpricing than quality and courtesy. How about a real family run Italian restaurant. BTW, 25 dollar pastas that taste like they came out of a can. It's a fantastic mix of pretentious, overpriced and food quality that is way below acceptable - even at half the price. Wow. Is Toronto this stupid!!

Not great at all. We went when it first opened and had a fabulous meal. This time we went and not the same experience at all. When the waitress begins by telling us we are going to have to wait a long time for our food because they are busy and should order an appetizer this was our first clue. Our salads were very expensive at $9 each for a garden salad and mediocre at best. my main pasta was overcooked - almost mushy. the veal parmigiana had black around the edges and was overdone as well. we waited a long time for all food and was very expensive for quality of food and service and ambience. will not return.

Slow and terribly overpriced. We've been here before and enjoyed it. However, the menu has changed and the prices are through the roof for a casual, College street joint. The 'lamb 3ways' special turned out to be $49! And the tomato/beet salad with some bocanccini was $18. I think the owners are getting greedy..... we won't be back

Overpriced and disappointing. Nothing genuine or homemade about this place. At the height of summer, ingredients are not fresh and poor quality. Way overpriced-- as expensive as more quality restaurants like Terroni's and Buca-- for extremely disappointing food. I guess that the premium is for the College St. patio experience, but its hardly worth it.

Disappointed. We ordered a few dishes and nothing was particularly good. Waited a long time for the sub par food. The thin crust pizza dough/crust was soggy and too thick to be called thin. They are very stingy on the cheese and the sauce tastes like the one you buy for $0.99 a can but worst. The food isn't very good but it is priced like they are the best. Won't return.

TERRIBLE!. If you go there to eat, you might get yelled at for no reason so ready for it! You can't pay me to go back there to eat!!

Subpar. The food was quite subpar. Got a ceasar salad that tasted like it had Kraft Dressing but it cost $11. The pasta was good, however at $20+, there is much better out there. Seems to be getting ahead of itself on prices<br/><br/>Service was good

Not worth the price. Second time eating here. Rigatoni alla vodka (my fav!) was mediocre both times, noodles overcooked the second. It's not bad but not worth $21 (entree size w/ prosciutto which is crucial to penne alla vodka). Sorry but Spuntini's is better. Pizza was lackluster... dough too thick, toppings sparse, tomato sauce tasted as if from a can. I can make the caesar salad at home easily with store-bought dressing. 1/2 litre of wine ONLY available if you order their house white... seriously? I don't know, doesn't feel like they're making an effort to stand out on College St. Won't return.

Great Evening. On impulse as we were walking by their patio last night, my wife and I decided to have dinner at Marinella's. We were really pleased with our decision as we had great service and wonderful food.<br/><br/>We shared the bruschetta, my wife had the rigatoni and I had the pizza. Everything tasted great and there was definitely a wonderful, home made taste to the food especially the sauces and toppings.<br/><br/>Service was appropriately attentive; not in your face all the time but there when you needed them. As well, we had asked for a couple of modifications to the menu items which they were quite accomodating and pleasant about.<br/><br/>We'll definitely be back.

The tortellini just changed my life. Excellent service, atmosphere and food. Just fantastic.

Very Nice. Nice ambience and great food. Try the Seafood linguine or risotto.

Great pasta, attentive & friendly staff. We went here during the Taste of Little Italy, so it was understandably busy. Our hostess and waiter were very friendly, and took care of all our needs.<br/><br/>The food was fantastic. I had the gnocchi, and it was one of the best I've had (and I love my gnocchi). My wife had a pasta with anchovies, and she said it was the best pasta she's ever had.<br/><br/>The atmosphere and decor were very nice, even with the washrooms up to date and clean (which isn't always easy to find).

It's actually Marinella's.... Seems to be missing an "L".<br/><br/>This is a great Italian restaurant. A bit more expensive than some, but shouldn't break the bank. Family owned and operated (Mamma does all the cooking in the back - ask to meet her!) using fresh and home-made ingredients.<br/><br/>Definitely check it out for your next special occasion.

Disappointed.

"Authentic Italian". Good, clean, homemade Italian food. It's about time you can find food like this on College.<br/>Oh yeah, and the place is beautiful. Cant wait for the patio to open.

In summary, this was a great meal. The waiter was very efficient and deserved the larger tip. The only drawback was that the restaurant owner had turned away at least a dozen people, saying they were booked for the night, yet when we left an hour later it was still mostly empty. He lost possible return customers - I am not a fan of reservations!!<br/>