Best Casual Restaurants in Little Italy / College St.

La Bartola has an ambient atmosphere perfect for intimate dates or more lively dinners with colleagues and friends. The staff are attentive and friendly, willing to offer recommendations and explanations of menu items without hesitation. I had their white mole dish, followed by the chocolate cake, and was blown away by how incredible everything tasted. For cocktails, the Oaxacan (pronounced "Wa-ha-kan") Old Fashioned is an unmissable classic, combining the flavours of an Old Fashioned with the unmistakeable smokiness of mescal, which is a Oaxacan specialty. I've been to Bartola twice now and, as a non-vegan, find their menu exciting, intriguing, and, above all, outstanding. I will be back!

Delightful and speedy service. Very delicious whiskey sour! would definitely be back if ever in the area again.

Spectacular! I felt like a Nonna was in the back cooking up all the food. No complaints here

The value for what we had was outstanding - sashimi dishes were very fresh, very nice quality, and the rolls were delicious. The karaage was great as well. We ordered around 8:45pm and several dishes were sold out: all of the wagyu dishes, the spring rolls, and the hapa pockets; the sushi bites sold out after our first order, so when we asked for a second we weren’t able to get more. Sapporo on tap was great. Half of our party doesn’t drink and the mocktails were delicious. It was extremely loud inside - I think if you want a quieter meal, try to get an earlier seating, toward the back of the restaurant. Our server was lovely, but service was a bit slow at times. Over all, a good experience for a fun relaxed atmosphere.

Thank you to Bella Vista for a very nice Valentine’s Day dinner. Our reservation was promptly honoured, the service was wonderful and the food was very good. Overall a great night.