Mercato Mission - Restaurant

Stopped in during happy hour for some snacks with a lovely lady in her 90s. We ordered the antipasti I would have hoped that they gave us a choice to avoid the spicy salami in place of something else. I was excited to see green olives though they locked in flavor what they made up for in color. We received three cheeses one was very very hard and difficult for both of us to enjoy. All the while the service was excellent. We ordered the pork ribs with spinach I imagined they would have been more tender but the flavor was outstanding. We finish off with a gluten-free chocolate hazelnut slice from the market. It was Delicious and flavorful and plenty left over.

Had a great time at Mercato! I've been wanting to try the restaurant for a while and the opportunity finally arose. Firstly, a reservation is a must, even if you go early you're going to sit at the bar most likely otherwise. We had a large mushroom risotto and the carota (carrots). I had an amaretto sour and my dinner partner had the margarita Italiano. The service was prompt and professional, with great directions. I liked that there are different sizes of pasta available, makes sharing much easier! The risotto was delicious, very creamy with lots mushrooms, and tons of parmesan. Some pieces of rice were slightly underdone but we ate it all so I don't think it affected anything. The carrots were also a great side, light charring with yummy ricotta underneath. Personally I wish the ricotta was slightly more seasoned but again we ate it all! I'll definitely be back and I recommend it 😊

Wonderful Italian restaurant! The ribs were tender and full of flavor, and the chocolate cake was rich and delicious. The tiramisu was perfectly balanced, and the ice cream was creamy and refreshing. Everything was amazing — we truly enjoyed our meal!

Good Italian food coming in generous portions. The texture of the 4 pasta we tried was great. The accompanying sauces were tasty. Mussels and polpo were worth. The bruschetta wasn’t. The ambiance was way too loud, killing the appetite. Tim did his best to accommodate us but it was one of these busy nights. We will circle back later on a quieter evening to really enjoy the food. This is not a place to celebrate special occasions. No mention or acknowledgment was made for the bday we celebrated. Update: On another visit, in a more relaxed environment, the restaurant delivered both excellent food and service. And we left just before it got too loud, so perfect. PS: takeout is great

What a lovely restaurant!! Our family of 6 was planning on lunch at Mercato before going to the Alberta Ballet's Nutcracker - unfortunately we were running behind. The staff was amazing and rescheduled us for 4:00 pm. There was no spaces available in the main dining area but they created a table for us in the market area - not the same ambiance but still much appreciated. Our server went above and beyond to ensure we had a wonderful time. Our meal was fantastic!!

Yes to the beeeef. Mushrooms and green bean sides were a great top off. Tagliatelle was delightful. Carrot cake was also good. Tip: if you can wait to eat the carrot cake at home, you can buy the Togo tub from the deli, and for one dollar more, you get double the portion. Also, the deli takeout salad was delicious, very crisp lettuces.

Amazing experience. Place is beautiful in the heart of the city and those city lights make it even more stunning. Beautiful ambience, delicious food and very hygienic as we could see in their clean open kitchen and the way the Chef was making sure himself that everything went out well. Excellent customer service by our wonderful Server Fabrizio and the lovely hostess as well. Definitely worth the spend. Thank you.

First time here and we were very excited. The service was all around excellent, everyone were very pleasant. The atmosphere is also pleasant but don't expect it to be quiet nor much privacy as it was open concept. Loved the bar/open kitchen type of thing, very interesting to observe the pros :) The food is where we had issues a bit. The antipasti plate was very mediocre. The pasta was decent but the meat in the sauce was super grounded and not a lot of taste of lamb which is what I was looking forward to. The texture of pasta itself was good and so was the sauce. Just wished there was more texture. The chicken took forever to get to us and imo it wasn't super worth it. For almost $50 and it wasn't even a full bird. Husband said the skin was seasoned way too heavily for his liking. The tiramisu we had it compensated because they made a mistake with it and our portion didn't have all the layers of lady fingers. A shame because the custard and everything about it was delicious! All in all an ok experience. The food was a bit disappointing but we would love to come back to try their steak because as they kept serving it to others it looked absolutely delicious! The drinks were great too!

A must try when in Calgary. Make sure you try the bistecca (steak) and the funghi as well. Pasta was also cooked to perfection. I would go back just for the funghi. It's got the perfect smokey flavours but it's just mushrooms!

Boy. Disappointing. Yelp reviews...friends recommending? Whats wrong here? Is my cooking and our local LA restaurants THAT much better? Yes. They are. The service and wine suggestion were good. No issues there. But 2 people doing family style here? No bueno. Now the real problem: the food was mediocre at best: a flat, bland Caprese; a salty Pomodoro (but tasty pasta) and the biggest disappointment, the steak...WAY undercooked, meh flavor and plenty of gristle. And The whole chabang was $400. Calgary: is this the best you got?

It pains me to leave a bad review of a restaurant I have loved so well in the past. This has to do with Pizza Mercato and the sad decline in quality in recent months. The pizza blanco (salsiccia) ordered this evening was inedible, everything from crust (undercooked and metallic-tasting), tasteless red sauce (on a "white" pizza?), to cheese (runny) and sparse toppings (definitely not the original products). So very disappointing, not only for Mercao but for any pizza.

Loved everything!! Came with a team of coworkers and the experience was memorable. Would come back 1000%

wow somebody's making a lot of money! would you believe $9 for three tomatoes, seriously.... came in for coffee and to grab a few items and won't be back, sad in this current struggling time of food prithat the owners feel the need to jack the prices so high

Probably the best consistent quality of italian in the city! Service is always great and a good vibe. Bit expensive but the experiece is well worth for a special dinner outing! Could use new menu items once in awhile.

5 stars for service, especially from the lovely Hannah who was so personable and provided authentic friendly service. The hostess who sat us and offered to move us to a different table was also great and can't leave out the gentleman server who was helping us out before shift change. Food was well prepared as usual. Pasta al dente. Bistecca slightly more medium than would've preferred but still nice. Asparagus was chewy and stringy on some ends but otherwise grilled well. 1 star deducted due to overall cost of meal. Would happily come back though when in town.

Sat at the kitchen bar. Had the capresi salad which was the best I've had anywhere. My linguini clam pasta dish was a bit disappointing not enough clams. Extensive wine list great atmosphere and excellent service.

Delicious food. Great for sharing. The bruschetta is a must. And then the pasta. And the wine. Great service. Highly recommend.

Great place to eat and socialize with friends. Food menu is delicious. Pricey but worthwhile. Atmosphere is very conducive to eating and catching up with old friends. A great place to take adult friends. Service is very good and try their coffees. Yummy. Don't forget to visit and pick up something at their deli next door. Always leave hear satisfied.

The lovely K had been to this establishment previously so we decided to give it a go on our free evening in Calgary, and boy are we happy we did. The atmosphere is electric, it's loud with lots of activity going on and best of all, the fantastic food is cooked in front of you. There is no hiding when you have your food on display, on the grill or in the pan a few feet away from you. For foodies like us it doesn't get any better than that. We ordered the half Risotto and the grilled Orata along with a bottle of Tiefenbrunner Sauvignon Blanc. We watched the Risotto go into the pan and the fish on the grill. Our waiter even grabbed the corkscrew as he brought the bottle of wine and then realized it was a screw top, all three of us had a good laugh over that. Watching our own order hit the pan to make the Risotto and our gilt head bream hit the grill we watched the entire meal unfold. Pretty cool experience from our point of view. The dinner itself was top quality! Our waiter was informative and entertaining as well as a great storyteller. Our dinner was excellent, the service on point during a very busy night, what more could your ask for ? We will return without question

My favourite restaurant in Calgary. The freshest and best food. You must try the calamari - different than anywhere else.

I Was in Calgary for one night after a trip in Banff and in the mood for some hearty Italian. My girlfriend recommended Mercato and it did not disappoint. We had the pleasure of sitting around the bar, where we got to watch the chefs execute every dish from beginning to end. Absolutely impressed by the efficiency, cleanliness, and skill that came out of that kitchen. I could have watched that chef line for hours! It was great that I got to see most of the dishes before I even ordered! To start, I had the Polpo. It's grilled octopus that they finely slice.They top it off with some Marsdon salt, olive oil, purple onion and lemon. Fantastic. I've never had octopus like this and it blew my mind. My husband and I shared two 1/2 orders of pasta dishes, the pappardelle and the gnocchi (I asked for the simple marinara sauce on the gnocchi). The pappardelle tasted like a big hug. It was warm, flavorful, and like it had been cooked for hours. The gnocchi was perfect little delicious pillows of love. I was so full by the end, I could only bring myself to order the gelato. The other desserts looked large. I crushed the gelato, no problem. It was the perfect ending to a beautiful meal. Shout out to Daniel, the sous chef, who ran that chef line with so much ease and confidence. Impressive.

Not my fav. You decide for yourself. Generally overprice. The owner is cranky - hey but you decide.

Yum is all I can say! When it comes to carbs any italian restaurant is the place to be! Pasta and bread.. perfect! I had their meatballs with foccaccio bread here during lilac festival and it was so delicious. It was only $5 and you got 2 huge meatballs that were made up of a combination of pork and beef dripping and sitting in tomato sauce and then you were also served a piece of foccacio bread to eat the tomato sauce with. It was delicious and amazing!

My family took me to Mercato for my birthday which turned out to be a wonderful present. The food, service, and atmosphere was exquisite. I live just around the corner but for some reason had only been there one other time in the last 5 years. I definitely made a mistake by not making this place a regular dining choice for me. Sure it seems a tad expensive when you're looking at the menu but when you compare the price to the portion size it's not as bad as it looks. We all shared the Caprese and Polpo for appetizers and for main courses we had the Gnocchi, Tagliatelle, Seafood Linguine, and the Tonno (Tuna). Everything was outstanding. The weakest dish of the bunch was the Polpo (Octopus) but was not bad by any means. I was just expecting a larger piece of octopus with a hard char on it. Very hard to pick the best dish but it was probably the Tuna or Gnocchi. Most of my family would not eat rare tuna but I forced it upon them because it was so delicious lol.... they were glad that I did. I wanted the steak because it looked amazing but with two young children with us it would have been a poor decision because it takes a minimum 30 mins to prepare. It was a great birthday dinner and I'll for sure be back many times.

It was so busy there, even though we walked in at 530pm, which is when they open. We snagged a table because there just so happened to be a last minute cancellation, otherwise we would have had to sit at the bar. I hate sitting at bars, because it's hard to have actual conversation, and plus i'm short, so getting up and down on the stools is quite a pain. We quickly ordered because I was hungry. We ordered a mushroom pasta, octopus pasta, the bistecca with a side of mixed mushrooms. The pastas were great! Even though pastas tend to me heavy, both these pastas were light and flavourful. I guess its because it was a oil based sauce instead of a heavy cream or tomato sauce. From both these pastas, the octopus was my favourite. Very tender! The main was the steak. It took FOREVER to come. I know people like to sit and chat and enjoy their meals slowly. But I was hungry, borderline getting to be HANGRY. I just wanted my steak damn it. We kept asking them how much longer, and they kept saying soon, it's just resting etc. It finally arrived, and unfortunately I don't think it was worth waiting for. I find the steaks I have in Toronto are much better. There just wasn't much flavour. Alberta is known for their beef, but yet, the beef I've had in Alberta, is well just meh. Do they ship out all their beef to other parts of Canada instead? The pasta was good, so good I would come back just for the pasta if i'm in Calgary again. And I will make sure to make reservations next time, because I definitely don't want to sit at bar.

This place is pricy but you have to give it a try if you are here in Calgary. Their steaks beat Caesar. Best steak in Calgary. Not bad. It was delicious and juicy for sure. Service was awesome. The place is family style dishes. I also tried the tiramisu cake and wow its big portion. Very good food here. Service was wonderful. Funny how the server thought we forgot our takeout and went to the back to look for us but it was the wrong table he was looking for.

I don't know why but Mercato reminds me so much of Vivo Ristorante in Edmonton. They could be brother restaurants. Same high end, expensive concept. Same family style dishes. Heck, even the menu design/layout looks identical. Better make a reso if you want a spot here on Friday and the weekends. We came here Sunday evening and it was pretty packed. The cool thing about Mercato is that they have their own market inside the restaurant. The layout inside is very cool as there's a couple different areas to sit at - the bar, tables, or right along the open kitchen. This seems to be a trend in Calgary, Pigeonhole is another spot that comes to mind. The menu is split into four: antipasti, primi, second and contorni. - Bread - Olives - Polpo ($23.00) - Gnocchi ($19.00) - Risotto ($23.00) - Bistecca ($97.00 double cut) - Asparagi ($16.00) - Broccoletti ($16.00) - Caffè latte - Panna cotta ($12.00) Mercato knows what they're doing and it shows in the food. We rolled out of the restaurant fully satisfied but this is definitely one of those "special" occasion/splurge places. Happy to have tried it!

The best steak you can have in town, and the best pasta, well all they do is awesome. We always seat at the bar where all the action happens. Do not forget to check their wines

Mercato's atmosphere is upscale dining with extremely soft lighting at dinner, a bar area, and an open kitchen with bar seating to watch the chefs at work. The menus must be ever-changing as this restaurant is too posh to have skimped and only purchased paper menus. If you are unaccustomed to fancy food items the menu might seem a bit daunting unless you use Google. My husband and I settles on the Brushetta sampler of 3 different large crustini brushettas pre-cut to share for $20, the Gnocchi in a yellow beet pesto sauce with crushed pistachios for $34, and the Bistecka which was an 18oz sliced and bone in perfectly medium cooked steak served on a think cutting board with a small arugala garnish salad for $55. Everything was amazing! (though neither of us were fans of the marscapone bruschetta...it was just too much marscapone) The bit of spice to the Gnocchi and the incredible smoked sear on the steak were delicious! My only critique would be that it would have been nice if we were greeting at our table sooner than 5mins and explained some of the highlights of the menu. Someone did swing by quickly to get our drink order and when the serve finally arrived she simply asked what we'd like to order -no hello, my name is have you dined with us before, here are our specialties, etc. (I was a server for 15yrs on and off and always asked or explained certain aspects of the dining experience especoally in nicer establishments) We had to slow her down (the restaurant was not full by ANY means) and explain we had never been here and would like to know some recommendations, etc. Overall it was a delicious experience and if you're looking for a fantastically flavored, romantic or special occasion meal I'd definitely recommend Mercato. If you're on a budget or not wanting to pay an average of upwards of $50 per person though then this wouldn't be my go-to recommendation as Calgary is filled with deliciously affordable cuisine.

Too bad the menu has been cut in half!! The pasta dish was nothing to write home about! But the bistecca, mmmm , you can never go wrong!!!

We had such an amazing dinner, Suzzie knew her stuff about all the food. There was no Barolo on the wine list and she pulled one out of the wine cellars just for us! We had so much fun and everything was so amazing, best service and so excited to recommend her to all our friends

Came here for my uncles birthday. We ordered the Arrosto misto ( huge meat platter), orata (sea bream) and buccatini (pasta) to share. Every dish was very good but my favourite was the pasta. The pasta was light and fresh; the scallops were perfectly cooked. The sea bream fish had a nice marinated sauce and the fish was very moist. The highlight platter of meat was so filling; we couldn't finish it. The sausage has a nice spicy kick, the steak was perfectly cooked and taste great with the smoked salt. Overall it was a great meal and our server was fantastic!

Every time I know I'm going to Meracato, I starve myself a bit and get super excited. Only because I know the food will be AMAZING and don't want to fill up on anything before I get there. The food and service is so top notch. Honestly I have never had anything at Meracato that wasn't fantastic. I will continue going there and sing their praises to everyone who hasn't been yet. Worth the visit and price tag.

After bring introduced to this place last year I couldn't wait to return. Everything is delicious and you want to keep eating and trying every dish. Salads proteins and wines with a view of the kitchen if you need something to look at or possibly have some time to study how to handle these dishes on the fire. This rating is for the restaurant as I think there might be a deli here as well

The limited selection of goods and prices in the deli are almost pure rip-off. Perhaps a reflection of the late Victor's temperament, I don't go there anymore. Buying a few small cooking tomatoes for a pasta sauce and paying an arm and a leg, whew. Prices aside, I sense that the open kitchen puts out some good Italian food but the deli so put us off that we've never bothered to eat there. Not sure what else to say, but an owner's attitude does influence the buying patterns of discerning consumers. In contrast, the Scarpone patriarch is so obviously pleasant in his old country way, and even a non-Italian can feel his warmth in his daughters and staff. But at Mercato? Nah, make room for a 15 minute drive from the city centre, and go to Spinelli on south Fairmount Drive and be drawn in by the selection and commensurate prices.

Mercato is exactly what you would come to expect from a solid Italian restaurant. I think the question anyone should ask here is what's not good? Leftovers what leftovers? Thanks for the hospitality!

So loud it just wasn't enjoyable. Don't go there to engage with friends as you won't be able to hear them. It has a nice atmosphere if you caught it on a quiet day, but the servers were pretentious and the food was frankly not that great. I would not recommend.

Mercato is hands down my favorite restaurant. We were gifted a gift card years ago and at our first visit we were hooked. We always start with caprese salad, followed by tagliatelle and last but not least the bistecca. Those are 3 items that never leave the ever changing menu. The salad will morph depending on the season but it remains phenomenal each time. I love the atmosphere of the Mission location and I hope it never changes.

The ambiance is nice but a little too noisy if you want to have a discussion with a group. I was underwhelmed by the entire meal and experience. The food is average and hence over priced. My appetizer of charbroiled octopus shavings and grilled broccoli was decent. I decided to try a bowl of tagliatelle in a cherry tomato sauce with parmigiana topping. The pasta was a little over cooked and the sauce just did not hit the mark. And the main reason is obviously the tomato selection. If the dish is going to rely on predominately tomatoes, then they better be top notch delicious. Instead there was almost no odor to it and an after taste that I can't quite describe. On the positive side, the service was excellent.

Italian is probably one of my fave cuisines because I LOVE pasta. When you go somewhere like Mercato, you can always expect beautifully crafted dishes made with the freshest ingredients. Nothing beats chef made gnocchi, so naturally I went with the calabrese sausage & apricot gnocchi and the bruschetta to start. The portions here are perfect, enough to satisfy but not so much that you feel overly full. I think they do this so you have room for dessert I'm not usually one for sweets, but you can't deny yourself the tiramisu at Mercato - it's light yet full of flavor!

I have tried their products from their Italian market, and it is absolutely the best market in Calgary, hands down! Their bread is freshly baked every morning and I love their quality pastas, sauces, cheeses, condiments and Italian sodas. This is the one place I found that sells Orangina in Calgary. Their produce is locally sourced and some of their cheeses are as well. I can't wait to try their restaurant too someday!

Update Nov 2017 Even with having a reservation, parties that came after us (with no reservation) were sat ahead of us... extremely rude! --

Make no mistake, this place is spendy. But you definitely get what you pay for. Wine selection fantastic meal preparation fantastic. For lunch this can be loud for business but for romance this place is amazing located in Mission this restaurant is ideally suited for people looking for a fantastic authentic Italian meal paired with an amazing wine highly recommend.

The only thing I enjoyed at Mercado last night was the service. We ordered and sent back the Foccacia bread, it was very stale. The Bruschetta was good, not for $19.but it was okay I guess. The gnocchi starter portion $25 was mediocre as was the tagliatelle starter portion $21. The wait staff wore masks but no one in the open kitchen wore masks, gloves or hair nets and some in the kitchen had very long hair. I will never go back, it was likely the worse Italian food I have ever had and certainly the highest priced.

Just finished dinner here and being back in several years. Great Italian restaurant in south downtown. The menu is sorted to 4 courses which cover appetizers, pasta, main protein and a side accompanying vegetable. All are designed to be shared or be a main course. We had the linguine followed with the Bistecca Rib steak with a side of seared mushrooms. Everything was done to perfection and accompanied with a bottle of Petrolo Torrione!! (2016). Highly recommend and the service was oustanding. Love the open kitchen concept so that you can see everything being prepared

Sadly, didn't live up to the hype. I'm baffled by the fact that it's always full, and you can never seem to make reservations for normal dinner times The pasta didn't taste like 'fresh, home-made' pasta :( Menu was pricey Claims ' voted best steak in Calgary'.... nope me thinks not. Lamb was ok. And the thing I hate the most.... everything was wayyyyyyy over salted.... soooooo salty.... almost intolerably salty... :( Overrated. Still on the hunt for good fresh pasta in Calgary...

I hate to say this buy our dinner last night wasn't as good as it used to be. We've been going to Mercato for several years now and since it had been a while since we've gone we thought we'd give it a taste to make sure it was still our fave italian restaurant in Calgary. We ordered the tagliatelle, bistecca, and green beans. Tagliatelle was fantastic, simple and delicious but could have used a little more bite - in other words a touch on the soft side. Sauce is beautiful and simple. Bistecca was medium and not the typical medium rare!!! We even mentioned it to our server and he didn't even offer to do anything about it or explained if it was supposed to be like that (even though we knew it isn't). We usually just end it there for our meal but thought we'd add some green beans. Never had them before and oh gosh tasted salty!! I had to wash my palate everytime I took a bite. Ok maybe a little exaggeration but it wasn't "add salt to taste" it was more like "salt is the taste" Anyway, giving this a deserving 3 stars as we still did enjoy our time there watching the chefs, the server was nice just didn't handle the one situation well, and the overall flavors were wonderful! Some tweaks and they would have had 5 stars. As for it being my fave Italian in Calgary....I dunno I'm willing to try other places, any suggestions??

Mercato is a definite must for dining in Calgary and my family has been going there for over 20 years!!! There has been a few changes though. The prices have increased and the portions are getting smaller. For instance, the Scallops are quite a bit smaller than in previous years. $44 for 3 small scallops and some pasta is quite a stretch! The pasta and sauce were quite tasteless. As well, The pollo was so small and it was placed on a hodgepodge of radicchio and grapes??? It did not look pretty or appealing. The chef should rethink this combination. Some things are still outstanding. The bread and coffee are fabulous. The tagliatelle, caprese salad and the fagioli are still outstanding! But you could qualify for five stars!!

Once upon a time, there was a place called "the Italian Centre" that existed in Bridgeland. And one day it moved far, far away, classed up and became the beautiful restaurant/grocery store called Mercato on Calgary's hip Beltline. It also had some of the best authentic, traditional Italian food outside of Italy, and certainly in Calgary. So one day, old friends of the Italian Centre trekked down to Mercato to see how much it had changed. But behold, the insides were still the same! They were pleased to find that the grocery side was as well-stocked and delicious as always, the staff as friendly and laughing as always. And the new adjoining restaurant quickly became an addiction, a gourmet realization of all of their Italian hopes and dreams. It was full of light woods and an open kitchen, with tables scattered around the edges. And because Mercato had become so beautiful, it had new friends filling it almost every day of the week! These old friends found that while the lunches were cheaper and delicious, dinner was where it was at! Just last night, they visited their new haunt once again. Delicious food was to be had all around. A "small" starter of Ahi Tuna Carpaccio was excellently prepared, light and delicious but flavorful with the addition of a light aioli and sea salt. Also amazing was the stuffed cuttlefish. Then came the pastas and risotto. The risotto was flavorful and filling, and surprisingly light. The gnocchi was covered in marscapone and a light lemon sauce, adding a refreshing spin to a dense dish. Throw in a dry prosecco, some excellent service and a lovely atmosphere for a night out, and it became the stuff of delicious history. The story ends happily, as the old friends parted stuffed full of delicious food, and promising to come back soon.

Never ever go back there!! My husband and I were here for lunch 3 days ago and we paid 130$ for the food that it wasn't special to worth the money and both of us got food poisoning!! We still aren't ok. Don't wast your time and your money to get sick. One more thing, all the menu is in Italian language and you have to figure it out. Low quality, small space

Just a hop skip and a jump from my home, Mercato Italian Gourmet. I have lunched here twice and in two different ways, first of all with a friend indoors and by myself outdoors. The two seating options have two different menus and prices. Outside on the patio one can get an option of about 5 light lunch dishes all under $10. This is a great place for me to write and I can get a lot of work done here, while watching the colourful 4th avenue populace walk by. I believe I had a prosciutto sandwich, and a well brewed Italian coffee. My lunch was delicious and the service was impeccable but I had to resume it indoors because an umbrella caught wind and almost knocked over myself and my laptop. Indoor seating is reminiscent of a very fancy New York diner with an open main kitchen with high stools surrounding the Chef action. To give the Mission elite a chance to watch their Italian dishes prepared, garnished and served. I always get a kick of watching the business women in their Prada and Gucci pencil skirts shimmy up the high stools. The menu indoors is incredibly pricey but well worth it around 20 dollars and up for a main course. I have also seen many patrons enjoying full bottles of wine at lunchtime. I have had the mushroom appetizer as well as one of the main pasta dishes and they are presented in very large portions plus are accompanied by fresh focaccia bread complimentary with every meal. The decor is very chic and expect the service to be top notch, the Italian delicatessen reminds me of the ones in Little Italy in Montreal. Huge variety of meats and cheeses and everything from the best olive oils to the most decadent of deserts. 5 stars without a question, if you don't mind paying for such a privilege.

As usual a fantastic meal, ribeye steak, linguine vongole, asparagus(wrapped in prosciutto) bought a bottle of wonderful Merlot, recommended by our beautiful server ( Roxy), brought my only bottle of brunello, for a small corsage fee. Everything was excellent from the chef to the wonderful young lady at the door.

My boyfriend and I try and come here at least once a month - preferably on a Sunday at lunch time. We find it's not as busy during lunch like it is for dinner, and we get excellent service and amazing quality food. We enjoy having the special of the day pasta, but will order the Bistecca (steak) or Agnello (lamb) to switch things up here and there. Everything is cooked to perfection! When we have guests visiting out of town, I always recommend or take them here as it's a "MUST TRY". Keep up the amazing work! xo

We enjoyed a pleasant dinner at Mercato the other night. We found the staff to be accommodating, knowledgable, pleasant, and professional. The food was fresh and delicious. The atmosphere was vibrant. And the bill didn't send us into sticker-schock. We arrived for our Thursday night reservation to find Mercato in full swing. The place was packed and quite lively. We asked to move to the kitchen counter as our table was quite low and close to dinners sitting on the counter. Close proximity to strangers' butts, practically in our faces, is not our idea of a pleasant dining experience. They moved us without question. As it was our first time there, our waiter walked us through the menu and made suggestions without trying to oversell. My GF and I shared a Caprese salad, an appetizer-size pasta, and a bifsteca Florantine with a side order of grill eggplant. The water-buffalo mozzarella in the salad was amazing. It's flown in regularly from Italy. It's smooth and creamy, you think you're eating a cheese ice cream. The pasta was delicious and just the right portion for us. The linguini was loaded with clams and pancetta. My only quibble is that they could've given us spoons to eat the pasta with. Knife and fork just doesn't cut it. No pun intended. We ordered the smaller of the two steaks which turned out to be more than enough, as we were getting full at this point. The dry-aged ribeye was grilled over an open flame and served simply with a little olive oil and sea salt. It was lip-smacking good even though it was a tad over-cooked for medium rare. I'd order it rare in the future. With a couple of glasses of wine, the bill came to $120 before tip. Not bad. Given the quality of the service, food, and ambiance, it's surprising that we haven't eaten here sooner but we'll definitely be back before too long.

Mercato is the best restaurant in Calgary. Always delicious with impeccable food and service. Highly recommend it for a truly amazing experience.

Amazing pasta! Super cozy, you will feel like you're in a bistro in Italy. Great bar as well and affordable.

Sat at the bar with my 14 year old son last weekend for a boy's night out. Went out for pizza but no pizza at Mercato. We shared three appetizers and I had two glasses of wine - over $100 with tip. Alot of money but the food was spectacular. Service at the bar was excellent and all the staff were pleasant and hustling. Crowd was a great mix of young couples, afterwork crowd and families with young children. A great experience, if you can afford it.

A bit disappointed in the service here on Sunday, July 10. We sat on the patio and it took a while for the server to bring us menus and he wasn't overly attentive or friendly until it came time to pay the bill. We had the risotto, which was fabulous and the cannelloni - average and a little greasy. My Pinot Grigio was excellent and I recommend it, if you don't mind the 16$ price tag. Will return as I love this restaurant......one average experience hasn't changed that.