Public Gardens Toronto

I had a lovely birthday dinner date here, everything, from the food, to the service, to the atmosphere, was amazing. To start we got the peach bellini slush and strawberry aperol sour, both of which were tasty and refreshing, and did not taste like alcohol. For an appetizer, we shared a plate of fried calamari rings, which was scrumptious. The marinara dipping sauce paired well and the acidity cut the greasiness of the oils. Onto the main dishes, the vodka rigatoni was exceptional, and the portion was quite big! I loved the sauce and the small chunks of meat, although I did find the cheese on top a bit strange. The mushroom pizza also tasted great, however, I would probably recommend getting pasta over pizza here, since that seems to be their niche. For dessert, we ordered a tiramisu, which was exceptional, probably the best tiramisu I've had from a restaurant. NOTE: be careful when scooping the first bite, because we both choked on the cocoa powder, which was very funny. Overall, I absolutely loved my experience dining here, and I would love to come back with my girl friends on a night out, I feel like that would be an ultimate vibe. I also want to come check out their happy hour so I can try some of their drinks for $10.

The food was very good, but unfortunately the service ruined the experience. We raised our hands multiple times trying to place an order, but the blonde female server with tattoos on both arms continued to ignore us and pretended not to see us. Despite several attempts, we received no response and were eventually assisted by a different server. We were the only Asian customers in the restaurant, which made the situation feel uncomfortable and potentially discriminatory. It’s a real shame, as the food and other staff were fine.

They have a Fabulous rooftop patio. Ordered mozzarella sticks $17. Fried calamari with marinara dipping sauce $21 and Caesar salad $18 as starters. All very good. Entrees were Vodka gnocchi with buffalo mozzarella $24. Amazing. Pepperoni pizza fire baked with spicy honey drizzle $22 also very good. Sausage Sugo Bianco, thicker stracciatella noodle with rapini, garlic and peperocino. Quite good but the favourite hands down was the gnocchi. The peach Bellinis were delicious $20 pitcher and the tiramisu martini. Service was outstanding as was the ambience. Two of the guys who were hosts/managers were fabulous. Love this place.

What an amazing experience at Public Gardens! We strategically arrived early on a Sunday evening to take full advantage of their happy hour specials, and I'm so glad we did. Despite the rainy weather closing the rooftop patio (which looked beautiful, by the way!), we were seated immediately at the bar, and honestly, it turned out to be the perfect spot. We started with several happy hour appetizers before diving into our main courses, and wow, were we blown away! The meatballs are an absolute MUST-TRY—perfectly seasoned, tender, and incredibly flavorful. But the real star of the show was the ricotta with wild honey appetizer. This dish was phenomenal! The combination of creamy ricotta with the sweetness of wild honey was pure perfection. I could have ordered three more plates! For mains, we ordered two dishes including the Vodka Gnocchi. While it wasn't quite my personal favorite (I tend to prefer dishes with a bit of protein), it was clearly well-made and the kids absolutely devoured it, so that says something! I have to give a special shout-out to our bartender—the service was outstanding! They were attentive without being intrusive, checking in on us regularly and making great recommendations. You can tell the staff genuinely cares about creating a great dining experience. Bottom line: I would HIGHLY recommend Public Gardens to anyone looking for delicious food, excellent service, and a great atmosphere. We'll definitely be back, and next time I'm hoping for sunshine so we can try that rooftop patio!

Had an amazing time here yesterday with my friends. We came during happy hour (5pm-7pm) and the prices did no disappoint! We got the pepperoni pizza, zucchini fritte, Caesar salad, bruschetta, Caio Bella and each of us got our own espresso martini which is only $10 during happy hour. The bruschetta was really good, super light and airy. The pasta was very creamy & rich and the pizza was also very cheesy. The staff was also very kind and welcoming. The patio was really nice, prefect on a sunny day! Make sure you make a reservation if you can as they really busy especially on the weekends. The food was good but I don’t know if I would pay the original price for them. For example the usual price for their pepperoni pizza is $24 but $16 during happy hour. So definitely come during their happy hours, super worth it.

Getting a reservation here feels like i’m in the hunger games but somehow managed to snag one on a random tuesday evening. The atmosphere was cozy, felt very instagram oriented with all the mirrors but it makes sense being a social media restaurant- everything was really well curated in terms of the decor. I enjoyed the bellini pitcher and the caesar salad the most. The pizza was ok, a bit salty? but otherwise good, the crust had that good wood fire taste :) My friends got pasta and they said it was good. I think it’s a good place to catch up with friends and take pictures, food was good but there’s definitely better italian in the city. Our server was super nice though and brought out a tiramisu and shots for our birthday girl :)

I had this place in my bucket list for a long time and it appears that the experience did not really live up to the hype online. The food is great but having tried many other authentic Italian places I do not see the need to come here again. There is no phone number to call and no one picks up even if you somehow manage to find one. The service was fine, just very to the point and quick. We had a good time since we were a group of friends but honestly nothing is worth the hype online, however the food does not taste bad. The food is really good just nothing spectacular as we are lead to believe.

Public Gardens is such a great overall spot for pizza and pasta. It hard to find a place that does both good. The mushroom pizza we got was very good. The rigatoni was decent, definitely felt like it was missing a core ingredient maybe? The tiramisu however was the best tiramisu in Toronto by far. It has fun textures like solid hazelnuts, mouse and mascarpone. Still thinking about this The service was great! They gave us new napkins every time and also free Diet Coke refills. Definitely would come back!