Restaurants
Spacco
Spacco literally means a long narrow opening, and if you venture down the long corridor just off Yonge street that's just what you'll find. Visitors are greeted by seven pool tables ($18/hr), decent lounge décor, a wood burning pizza oven, and an extensive Italian-dominated menu. The huge courtyard patio is a draw during warmer months, and there's plenty of room in the dining room and bar for those not into billiards. They feature DJs and dancing on weekends, although, strictly speaking, there's no official dance floor.
A Yonge and Eglinton institution, Spacco has been around for ages. Locals not up for the trek downtown often wind up here for drinks and pool. With a couple beers on tap (Mill Street Organic, Coors light, etc) and the standard bar rail, most people will find something to suit them, though the drinks certainly aren't a draw in and of themselves. There's no official drink menu so it's likely best to stick to the classics here and save your trendy cocktail cravings for other destinations.
Saving the billiards for later, we were tempted by the pub fare classic, battered calamari ($13). Flash fried, these chewy rings came in a bountiful portion, we didn't even finish half of the dish. Accompanied by a massive lemon wedge and a ramekin of caper aioli for dipping, the variations in texture were just right. The batter was well seasoned to boot, with obvious flakes of spicy black pepper.
The Beet Salad ($13) is a lovely blend of red and gold beets sitting atop a mound of baby spinach and accompanied by a sliced chicken breast and finished with a generous helping of creamy goat cheese. The white balsamic dressing played nicely with the rich goat cheese, and took the edge off the baby spinach, which can sometimes taste bitter.
While we were off to a good start, the porcini mushroom risotto ($19) missed its mark. Chock full of field and porcini mushrooms, the risotto was oozy and cooked well enough; it's just too bad it was swimming in olive oil. The fresh rosemary garnish promised on the menu was conspicuously absent, replaced by a smattering of extra parmesan cheese.
The Tutto Carne pizza ($16) proves a meat-lovers fantasy; pepperoni, Italian sausage, pancetta and cappicollo liberally spread over a mozzarella and tomato sauce. Cooked in a wood oven, I was hoping for a more charred and bubbly crust. This pie definitely could have used a few more minutes getting fired up so as to avoid the doughy crust.
While the food occasionally leaves something to be desired (hello rosemary!), on the whole Spacco is a decent alternative to what you'll find at a typical pub and the patio alone is worth checking out this summer.
Spacco takes reservations and can accomodate large groups. Visit their website for more details.
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I quiet honestly would much rather trust Yelp review over BlogTO (no offence)
This place is such a rip off for food. My friends did the bday special where you get an 'italian buffet for 40$' I think it included some calamarie, and bland pasta for the options.
No Thanks
If you're looking for a place to dance and you don't like R&B or really loud hip-hop dont go here.
Unprofessional management and staff, losing dinner reservations, overly greasy food, and no customer service whatsoever leads me to never come back here and not recommend this place to anyone.
And to Jona; If you work there i'd find a new place make a dollar asap.
Candice Anderson
POS Hardware
Used to go to Spacco on a regular frequency. Salad with grilled steak was excellent. Bought a dealfind coupon to bring us back for a special night with my wife. Wishing we never went. Our old memories were better than it has become. Shrimp appetizer excellent. Mussels cracked shells and broken shells meant that the mussels were dead, one or two could slip by, I stopped counting at six and sent it back. No apology, no offering a replacement, or something else. I had to ask for drink refills, but they didn't bother to ask my wife, rude. Didn't ask for it but the waiter said he would bring bread for the mussels, it never showed up. Good pizza, but the rissotto was swimming in butter, quarter inch deep at the bottom of the bowl. Get the bill, don't worry sir, we've taken care of the mussels. However, they still thought it approprate to add a 15% tip. First time that I have left a restaurant without paying the full bill. Extremely disappointing considering that it used to be so good.
I guess the sign that it was only half full on a Friday night is the tell all. Been in business since 1993, won't see their twenty year anniversary unless serious change happens. Toronto is a big city with lots of great restaurants. Don't waste your time with this one
I guess they shouldn't have screwed around with some people eh?
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