I'm slowly venturing north of Bloor on a more frequent basis, plus the area of Yonge & St. Clair has seen changes over the past years.
My first time at Capocaccia and I was happy that they had an Italian Aperitivo (happy hour) from 4pm - 7pm Monday to Friday where all food items are under $7, plus $5 house wines and $5 beer. It was definitely a great deal and makes my wallet happy.
Service was friendly and attentive as soon as I walked into the restaurant. My friends were already seated at the bar since it's always fun and entertaining and we never know who we'll encounter. We definitely had a good time chatting up with some regular customers. Good thing we managed seats at the bar because being a Friday, the place was pretty busy. The noise level was a little loud for my liking that I had a bit of trouble hearing my friends.
The place had a comfortable and homey feel to it with friendly staff and the manager took time to walk around checking on everyone. It was definitely very welcoming and nice to see the manager engaging with customers ensuring that everything was good.
I found the place a little crowded as the tables and chairs in the dining area were close to one another making it a little difficult to head to the washroom. Plus the washroom was tight and I almost got knocked out by the door while washing my hands when another woman was trying to enter. I guess due to configuration it was odd and the stalls were already awkwardly shaped, but they did make good use of the space they have.
They also have a decent size patio, which I'm sure would be very busy in the warmer weather. Since it was raining that evening is was covered by tarp.
Now to the food:
Free rosemary bread was served with a plate of olive oil. The bread tasted great alone, but even better with the olive oil. I practically had the whole basket and probably could have had more. I was carbo loading for my weekend's race, so the more bread the better.
Polpette $6: 3 traditional meatballs served in a bowl of homemade tomato sauce. It was very flavourful with a nice blend of herbs and not salty at all. The tomato sauce was so delicious I used the bread to dip into the sauce. I can probably eat the sauce by the spoonful like a soup as it was that good.
Crostone $5: two slices of bread served with bufala, ricotta, tomatoes and olives. It was definitely crusty, but it was indeed fried bread with a nice blend of cheesy goodness topped with a few tomatoes and olives. Nice presentation and taste was quite nice as well, but just a bit too hard for my liking.
Prosciutto and melon $7: three slices of cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto served with a fig also wrapped in prosciutto. Melon was lovely, not too ripe and it was just sweet and the saltiness of the prosciutto added a nice blend of flavours. Probably the best cantaloupe and prosciutto I've tasted other than when I was in Tuscany.
Calamari fritti $7: fried calamari served with fresh salsa. Although it was lightly fried, it tasted a bit chewy and bland to me. But I added the tomato sauce from the polpette which gave it a nice flavour.
Margherita pizza $7: classic thin crusted pizza with bufala, sprig of basil and drizzled with olive oil. I had two slices as I just love the simplicity and flavours of the margherita pizza, but could probably eat the whole pizza myself as it was pretty good. When I'm carbo loading, I can generally eat a lot and I blame the running for that.
We also shared the flourless chocolate cake ($8) and it was probably the best flourless cake I had. The texture was smooth and flavourful and the chocolate just melted in my mouth with every bite. It was so good that I wanted to order another one just for myself, but had to refrain because I was quite full at this time. I blame all that bread I ate!
Wish I took photos of the food, but I was too hungry and too busy catching up with friends that I forgot. My friends thought it was odd since I always take photos of the food, but I'm sure I'll return and will definitely take lots of photos. A definite must try if you're in the area.
Buon appetito!
P.S. We were also wished a nice farewell and evening by the wait staff and the manager himself with a receiving line on our way out. A definite nice touch or was it a coincidence they were all by the entrance at that time?