4.5 stars - extra half for beer selection.
Easily the best Italian restaurant in Markham. Excellent food and fantastic service in historic Unionville - all makes for a great evening.
Like most of the establishments in the area, the restaurant is a beautiful old home converted into a restaurant. Huge patio in front is a real bonus. The only negative is that the tables are very close together and it got rather loud. For a while, it felt like I was part of 3 different conversations.
Service was excellent. Our server was very friendly and eager to answer our questions. She checked in on us multiple times even though they were super busy. The owner checked in on us as well to make sure we enjoyed our meal.
I'm not a wine drinker so I was incredibly pleased to see they had a decent beer selection, I certainly didn't see that coming. On tap: Leffe Brune, Leffe Blonde and Hoegarden. That's better than 99% of Markham pubs!
Food was excellent. For starters we had the Bruschetta and Grilled Calamari. The bruschetta was very good, they used fresh sweet cherry tomatoes. The grilled calamari was cooked perfectly and served on a bed of small potato / pork pieces.
The Mains were also top notch. The seafood linguini included al dente home made linguini and the freshest seafood (shrimp, mussels, calamari and scallops). The farfalle with grilled chicken was really good - I love the combo of Black olives and sun dried tomatoes.
The desserts are recommended. Amazing Tiramisu and chocolate torte with homemade Banana Gelato. Portions are light, a nice way to finish the meal.
A great overall experience and I will be back for sure. Prices are on the higher end, $30 - $40 for mains but they use the freshest ingredients and everything is prepared from scratch - the way it should be. Highly recommended.
BK