Marinellas Italian Restaurant

Came here on a Sunday night. Its my first time here and the server recommended me to try their popular lobster risotto. I didnt regret ordering it at all! m It was absolutely amazing! The texture was extremely smooth and the taste was perfect. Not too sweet or salty and the lobster taste wasn’t too overpowering. I can definitely say that this italian restaurant is one of the best along with Enoteca sociale!

My husband just threw me a surprise party for my 30^th there and the servers were great with our large group of 25! Very patient and accommodating! In our entire group, we probably ordered everything on the menu and everyone was raving about the food! Very good collection of wine on the menu. We are going again for valentine’s day so I can properly try the food. since I was so overwhelmed on my birthday! :)

One of my favourite Italian resto’s in Toronto. Super low key and unpretentious, this place really does make me feel like I am eating in an Italian home.
I’ve taken my fam jam here a few times, and food is always consistent. Their seafood pasta dishes are always jammed with seafood, and you don’t leave hungry. Loved the lobster risotto! Not overly creamy, with perfectly cooked risotto. Simple, but well executed.
If you want solid food, without long line ups and a month wait for reservations, come here.

As a huge fan of Italian cuisine, I’m always looking to explore restaurants during my travels. While in Toronto, I looked up on Unilocal for highly rated restaurants and came across Marinella. The 4.5 rate plus good price got me intrigued so I had to check it out.
I was welcomed to the small and cozy Marinella by the owner John who said «his mom and brother would be cooking dinner for me». While dining there, I noticed John is a hands on owner, who takes a lot of pride not only on the food he’s serving but also on the quality of service. I call it a labor of love.
I followed John’s suggestion and ordered the beet salad as a starter. The dressing was absolutely delicious! But my evening was only starting. When I was served the lobster risotto I was impressed: it was cooked to perfection! Everything tasted fresh and homemade. The Chianti was a perfect combination for my entrée. The risottos are made as you order so it takes a bit of time but there’s no better way to guarantee the freshness. To finish my lovely evening, I had the best crème brûlée ever followed by a shot of limoncello.
2 days after my first experience I had to go back. Had the calamari which was the best I’ve ever had and a replay of the lobster risotto. Now I want to taste very single dish! Can’t wait to come back to Toronto and visit this wonderful family restaurant!

I loved Toronto and loved Marinella’s. This was a very authentic Italian restaurant in little Italy. The staff was friendly and the seafood pasta, salume and spumoni were sensational. The well selected Italian wines only added to the experience. Even the house wines were superb.

Great meal, lovely ambiance, passionate wait staff. Would definitely go again.

Took a friend to this restaurant for her birthday. They must have been having a very bad night. It seemed like it was going to be great, when the owner greeted us and told us that everything was made on site and to order. Two hours later when we still hadn’t been served our meals and had already waited for nearly an hour for an appetizer that was comprised of bread and cold cuts, were told be a frazzled owner that well, it’s made to order you know. We had ordered the specials, I had to send mine back because it was completely terrible. Very small portions all around. And we weren’t properly taken care of on the bill after all. Frustrating and really spoiled my friends birthday.

I have been to this restaurant several times and each time I have the same amazing experience as the last! If you are looking for authentic Italian, this is definitely the place to go. The price is a little bit more than other restaurants on the college street strip but the quality of the food certainly is worth it!
The restaurant prepares every single dish fresh, including the pasta! They have homemade cured meats and cheeses for you to choose from, as well as daily specials.

Came here due to Unilocal review and I have to say their seafood risotto is absolutely amazing! (Does take a while to prepare as per their menu), However, we were kind of upset that another table got their food way before us even though they came after us, despite similar orders. Not much wine selection on whites. Atmosphere was great.

5 stars for service — very attentive and made sure our glasses were always full.
Started off the with the salumeria tasting which was not bad but I wouldn’t say it was something I’d order again for $ 28. We also tried their soup du jour and it was a chicken noodle soup that did not taste very good. Kind of sour/​vinegar-​y, shame it wasn’t a different soup.
The Fettuccine chicken Alfredo was amazing! $ 17 – 20 and it was all made in house. Very impressed as it was rich and savoury. My boyfriend had the veal parmigiana $ 20 – 23 and he enjoyed it but said it was nothing special. He definitely liked my pasta better.
Their crème brûlée is made in house and it is one of the best that I’ve ever had. Perfectly blow torched and creamy, you definitely have to save room for it!
Overall I’d come back just for the pasta and crème brûlée. They’ve got an outdoor patio so you can people watch as you eat :)

Getting out of the cab at this address, you kinda get this unsure feeling — the curb appeal leaves you a little worried. Basically IMO the entrance looks like you could be walking into a hair salon.
That’s where it ends, you breathe a sigh of relief once you’re inside and all is well. The Italian flavour permeates the place, the Risotto was awesome (I’m a risotto freak) as was George, our server. Great experience all around. I recommend.

Was coming up for the night for my boyfriends birthday and was tasked with finding a place for dinner. He loves Italian so
I thought it would be easy. I even remembered seeing a post on Facebook with an article about the best restaurants in Toronto. I finally found the Italian place that was on the list so I looked at their reviews on Unilocal.A majority said service was great but the food was okay… I don’t know why service ranks higher than food but anyways crossed that off the list and kept searching. After reading many reviews and menus I found marinellas and my interest was more than piqued. I loved this place, the food, the atmosphere, the service, everything. We started with the calimari. The breeding was amazing, almost like a beer battered fish fry breading. I had a special for the evening a lamb ragu with lamb meatballs and lamb sausage. The meat was amazing and tender and the homemade pasta superb. Even my favorite Italian places back home don’t make their own fresh pasta on the spot. My boyfriend had the seafood pasta. Again another amazing dish. It was his entrée that caught my eye before I heard about the lamb so next time we come I know what I’m getting. To anyone out there for great Italian, go to this place.

This place is excellent! We had reservations for six and sat at the chefs table. It was a small family owned and run place that takes great pride in treating their customers like family! Momma and son were in the kitchen making handmade pasta and cured meats from scratch… And our charming host (the baby brother) Giovanni explained the whole menu until we ordered nearly one of everything! Seriously though, the beet salad was amazing, I wanted to marry the lobster risotto and the handmade pasta and lamb were greatness!
I asked to be adopted to the family so I could eat like this everyday!
Next time I’m in town, I’ll be sure to come back for more!

I stopped by Marinellas for dinner while I was at the Taste of Italy festival recently. I have never heard of them before, and I must say that I was quite impressed by my experience there. We sat outside on their patio, and enjoyed some sunshine and people-​watching while we waited for our food.
The waitress told us that Marinellas is a family-​owned restaurant, with the family members working in the kitchen and managing the food service. It’s definitely an authentic Italian restaurant! Best of all, all of their pastas are handmade!
I ordered the Penne Alla Vodka, which has prosciutto and mushrooms, cooked in a delicious vodka-​infused tomato sauce. The penne was cooked just right, not too soggy or too dry. I also tried some of their Fettucine Chicken Alfredo, which was very tasty as well. The handmade element definitely made their pastas extra delicious!

Recently did a fam-​jam here with 6 of us on a Tuesday night.
Was really impressed with both the food and service.
The food here is mostly all made in-​house, fresh pasta and they cure their own meats and cheeses. We started with a kind of meat and cheese charcuterie sampler, which was absolutely delicious. They will do a custom order to serve your party. It works out to about $ 10 per person, which I thought was a bit pricey considering we each only got to sample a couple tiny pieces of cheese and meat, but it was all pretty delicious.
They have pizzas on the menu (5 pizzas to be exact) and about 10 – 12 pastas. I tried the beet caprese salad which came with two colours of beets and mozzarella, was quite fresh and light. We also had a primavera pizza. The pizza here is thin crust but it has the doughy yet still flaky type perfect edge crust which I liked.
The server was extremely knowledgeable about the menu and was very attentive with topping up water, making recommendations, etc.
Overall really good spot, one of the only places I can think of on College that knows how to do proper Italian food.

Wow wow et wow. C’est un restaurant qui vaut le détour. Typiquement italien familial, l’accueil et le service sont irréprochables. J’ai pris des pâtes avec la fameuse sauce Marinella, c’était extraordinaire. Les prix sont corrects aussi.
Je vous recommande fortement!

This place was a pleasent surprise. My wife and I took my mother in law here for her birthday. The service was excellent and the food was good as good as the service if not better. Highly recommended.

I’ve having trouble coming up with any reason to not give this place 5 stars.
I can confidently say this is the best italian food I’ve had in Little Italy, maybe even Toronto on the whole. But not only was the food really tasty, the service was on point, the atmosphere is warm and friendly, and even the music (lounge covers of familiar songs) kept sucking me in.
It’s also hard to not appreciate these family restaurants (mother and son in the kitchen while the other son meets and greets customers on arrival). You can see the pride they put into their work.
After 2 apps, 2 mains (one of which was $ 42), a bottle of wine + a glass, and piece of cake for dessert, we were properly wined and dined for around $ 170 post tax pre tip. My only regret was that I didn’t try a pizza. I watched a few of those come out of the kitchen and they looked really tasty which made me wish we got one of those instead of the bruschetta (which I’m generally not a fan of, nothing against this place specifically).

My favourite Italian Restaurant in Little Italy!!!
Took a couple of my friends from out of town and they also loved it. The food was so delicious. They have amazing wine selection. We had 2 bottles lol and the service is impeccable. Looking forward to coming back!

My best friend and I came here to satisfy my carb craving. The service was impeccable. We were promptly seated were briefed on what the menu offered.
We started with the in-​house freshly baked bread with our pepato formaggi and sopressata salumi to go with her gin and tonic and my limoncello. I liked that the olive oil that accompanied the formaggi and salumi had a bit of kick to it. After that, she had the seafood risotto and I had the seafood linguine. The pasta was perfectly al dente and Marinella sauce was so delicious.
Overall, we had a comfortable and relaxing time. The servers were very gracious and laid-​back. I’ll definitely visit again if I’m craving Italian!

Hands down the best dining experience of my life!
Thank you to John (our server) and his family for the exquisite italian cuisine they brought my partner and I on our short stay in Toronto.
The meal was flawless and service exceptional. Loved getting the back story about a true family business/​restaurant and all of the homemade specialities which made the experience one of a kind.
Five stars!