North Italia

Pros: fantastic mocktails, great bartender, delicious brunch, huge portions, plenty of seating, covered/shaded outdoor seating available Cons: expensive, slow service TLDR; come here for the experience, view, and sweets. This is a lovely place to eat on the patio when the weather is nice; you have a great view of the waterway, and all the hanging plants make it a particularly enjoyable experience. For brunch, their banana coffee cake is phenomenal (moist and delicate cake, pleasantly crunchy streusel, rich sauce, perfectly bruleed bananas), and the Italian donuts are ok, but I can't recommend anything else on the brunch menu. Even their bacon is lackluster. The only saving grace is that their savory food tastes ok and there's a lot of it. They have some great mocktails, and their desserts are yummy (and also huge!). Their salted caramel budino in particular is rich and creamy without being too sweet. Their seasonal butter cake was also a pleasant treat, though not remarkable. Outside of brunch and dessert, they're a bog-standard, overpriced Italian place. Also, it always takes a really long time to get to-go boxes and the bill. It seems that the only fast service here is the bartender.

a week ago

I went when it wasn’t too busy during lunch time. Food was great. It was a really welcoming atmosphere. I enjoyed all of my food. The garlic bread was amazing. I would recommend for anyone liking spice, to add the spicy vodka sauce. That sauce was amazing and I used it to dip my pizzas and pour some over my chicken parm. The prices were not the greatest, but I did expect that with now a day pricing.

a month ago

The best dessert menu. We ordered the hazelnut torta, Tiramisu, latte and the Affogato. All weren't too sweet and really airy and creamy. Nice staff, waitress was attentive and gave us a good recommendation. Hostess were annoyed. One of them was sweet but long black hair lady gave us bad vibes. Other than that, I would like to order again maybe to go.

a month ago

Taste of the food are based off the dishes I’ve ordered. They were all very good. Pasta was not overly flooded with sauce. Portions were just right with good amount of protein. Looking at customers photos of the dishes, you might think the portions are small, but they do fill me up whereby I don’t feel stuffed to the brim. Service was always great. My servers were always friendly and attentive. Atmosphere is beautiful, clean and relaxed. The four star rating instead of five that I gave is due to a pet peeve of mine regarding food handling hygiene I see in most restaurants here. One I have not understood. You’ll notice food handlers behind the butcher counter having hair net covers over their hair and beards(if present), handling raw meats. Yet you won’t see this for handlers in the restaurant kitchen when delivering cooked food that is served directly to customers. For those with full facial hair, they would be left uncovered. Imagine the food runner (those with facial hair) leaning over your plate to ensure they are clean and ready for service while talking to other staffs. Can they guarantee none of their hair or saliva will get to the food that’s right in front of them. I believe food handlers should have mouth coverings at least for hygiene purposes.

5 months ago

My wife and I came here for a date night on a busy Friday evening. Despite the crowd, we were seated quickly, and our server arrived shortly after to take our drink order. She was knowledgeable about the cocktail menu and offered a couple of great suggestions for my wife. The drinks took a little time to arrive, but considering how busy it was, that’s understandable—and they were worth the wait. Both cocktails were spot on. We started with the Chef's Board as an appetizer, and it was excellent. Beautiful presentation and packed with flavor. For our entrees, I had the Caesar Salad with salmon, and it was fantastic. The salmon had a great crust and was perfectly cooked in the center—exactly how it should be. My wife had the roasted salmon and hers was also perfect—tender, flavorful, and beautifully plated. Overall, this is a really solid spot with good service, great food, and a comfortable atmosphere. We’ll definitely be back.

7 months ago