Strada 241

This is a nice addition to Chinatown. The interior décor is what makes it. Very modern and chique design. You have the option of a selection of great oven made pizzas that are thin crust. It was a great place for an event in my book! Will return.

The calamari was good, but not enough. The display was very nice. Been there before, and the pizza was better then. But the sea food soup was amazing. Finished it off with one of the best tasting cappacino

This was definitely an A-​OK experience, but mostly driven by how excited my boyfriend was about having Gluten Free Pasta and Pizza so close to home. I ordered regular pizza and it was pretty good, and I tried his GF pizza and it was thin-​crust and crunch — which I really like in a pizza. It either had too much sauce or gluten free dough can’t absorb sauce well, and therefore the crust got soggy pretty quickly.
I would go back again, but if it were’t for the gluten free stuff, I’d probably skip it.

I never go to chinatown but now I have reason to. this place is a GEM randomly in the heart of that area. The inside is super cute with exposed brick and an open kitchen. Started with the calamari which was nothing outstanding, but presentation was cool because the pieces are placed individually onto sticks.
ok so HANDS DOWN the best pizza ever! I am going to dare to say that it is better than Terronis pizza by A LOT. I tried the Gianpaolo –tomato, wild boar cacciatore, funghi, spinach. The fresh tomato sauce was heavenly, the toppings were fantastic (and I don’t normally like salami), the crust was amazing, it was just GRAND. Excellent service by a cute waiter too. Legit my new fav italian resturant.

Do not have tea at Strada!
I know, why would you?
Well I did one fateful Sunday morning. My green tea arrived as a empty mug and small tea pot. I looked into the mug was surprised to see a ring of brown markings– coffee stains. I thought, fair enough, this is a coffee place. I took it up to the barista and he said he would get me a new one. I watched him look at all his mugs, not able to find one that was not stained. He then said he would «give it a polish.» He sprayed a liquid from a bottle into it and wiped it with a cloth. He returned it to me, smelling like vinegar. I was fed up and didn’t bother to protest. SOoooo grossed out and unimpressed!

Went here for my birthday lunch with some colleagues.
I had the Zia Rita pizza which seems like a very popular option. It comes with «nduja sausage», fire roasted onion, and rapini. I have recently discovered that I really love rapini. Especially on pizzas and in Italian sandwiches. It adds such a delicious bitter green note and it remains firm unlike a standard lettuce green.
The crust was perfect Neopolitan style, chewy and thin. The sausage was very tasty, I love when sausage on a pizza is not sliced from a casing but rather freely presented around the za.
I’d put this pizza up against a Terroni, Libretto, or Piola pizza any day. Service left a little to be desired, it wasn’t busy at all that day and yet it took awhile to be seated, order, receive drinks, and receive our food. Almost as though because it wasn’t busy the servers were in no rush at all.
If the food is what matters most however, they are a great option in a part of town where Chinese dumplings, Vietnamese subs/​phở dominate. If you’re feeling like some casual Italian I’d recommend Strada 241.

I’m writing this review as I’m nibbling on the Luca pizza $ 16 that has cured meat and leeks. The crust is delicious. I find the overall the sauce may be a little too savoury just for my taste. However, I can see this pizza going down really well with an Italian beer.
I actually just stopped by here because of the gorgeous building and was pulled in because I was really looking for a café joint to hangout and push out my project paper and didn’t want to try to squeeze in with the crowd at Dark Horse.
It’s a café bar resto with open kitchen concept. I enjoy the vibe of the place but have mixed feelings on it being a bit of everything. However the staff is friendly and make me feel welcomed even though I initially came in just for the freshly baked goods. The walnut choco chip cookie is delish.
Great place to chill with your friends for lunch or if you’re looking for a more relaxing and less crowded atmosphere to be on your laptop. I will try the nutella latte next time.

3.5 /​5
Strada 241 is a strange little place. Situated in the heart of Chinatown, this Italian restaurant sticks out like a sore thumb, but is a welcome departure from the other shops in it’s vicinity.
I went here for dinner with a friend and overall the experience was pretty good. The interior of the place has a nice oldschool Italian vibe to it, with an open café/​bar at the front side and an actual dining area at the back. Nothing overly special but still unique and enjoyable.
The food itself was pretty good, I’ve had both better and worse pasta before. I had a Linguini dish with an interesting lemon and garlic based sauce. The lemon flavor was a bit overpowering but it still tasted pretty good, certainly not the worst thing I’ve had at an Italian restaurant. A surprising treat that I experienced here was their nutella latte. Normally I don’t get excited about these sorts of things but this was pretty darn good. The price for the food was a bit much in relation to the quality. For my pasta and latte in addition to her pizza and ice cream, the total was around $ 60 with everything included. Not insane by any means but a bit overpriced. I must mention though that the service was fantastic, very quick, caring and reliable.
Overall this is a pretty good place that you should give a shot, although it’s nothing mind blowing.

Having come here for a Unilocal event, but arriving late and therefore not getting much to eat (our own fault), my friend and I decided to have a proper carb feast here last night. It’s easy to do here, as they don’t have any mains that aren’t pizza or pasta.
I made a reservation for 7 pm, thinking it might be really busy. When I arrived a little early, the place looked like it was just opening. There was a lone man sitting in the middle of the dining room whom I thought was a staff member finishing his shift, and a few people occupying the banquettes. I took the back banquet, and waited for my friend, keeping company with a tequila caesar, that was tasty, but felt like a watered down version of my empty belly favourite.
When my friend arrived we ordered a bottle of white, the calamari, a thin crust pizza with guincale, leek and gorgonzola and a linguine dish with mushroom and lemon.
The calamari was nice– very crispy with a slightly spicy marinara sauce and each piece was stabbed on it’s own little spike attached to a wooden board. Props for cool presentation.
The pasta was wonderfully al dente and the sauce had a creamy yet identifiable lemon flavour. Mushrooms could have been a better seasonal choice being that it’s May and there are lots of wild ones growing. I think they were simple creminis.
Pizza was tasty, but this not a great crust. It’s impossible to cut and the part that holds the toppings was super soggy. The topping combination was nice, but they all slid off then we tried to cut slices and pull the pizza. Definitely not my favourite in the city.
Service was super efficient and our server was friendly, offering her favourites from the menu when we asked. Our wine and water glasses were never empty, but curiously, the restaurant was.
During our dinner two more tables came in, but this is not an intimate space. With the warehouse ceilings and sprawling space between the front bar, chef’s table and the dining room, it felt very empty for a Thursday night in downtown Toronto and very different from the Unilocal Party!
I don’t think I’d come back to Strada 241. Pizza is definitely better at Libretto and the pasta at Enoteca Sociale eclipses Strada’s for a comparable price. If I’m craving carbs, this won’t be my place.

Okay — so we tried Strada 241 the other day. I have to say there were some things that they did very well, but they did fall down on the main meal. Décor is hip and casual. Food is largely Pizza, Pastas, Mains and Appetizers/​Salad.
Highly recommend calarmari as a starter. The white pizza with potato/​rosemary is excellent. My hubby had the pasta with clams BUT the clams were stone cold. He said the pasta itself was good, but when he told the waiter that the clams were stone cold, the waiter went to the kitchen to advise and then — nothing happened!
What??? Really!!! We expected he might come back with warm clams, but no such thing.
It wasn’t until the main was over that he came back + said the clams should have been warm — ya think?
I mean, would you eat them being cold — we worried they had not been cooked properly and no one wants to get sick on bad shellfish.
Anyway the manager did come over and give us some gift card for us to come back and use another time. Not sure how much is on it — but still not sure about this place — I mean — if you didn’t impress us the first time — why would we return. Candidly as a note to the restaurant — it is better to comp someone right there for a screw up. Shows you are investing in the long term dining relationship.
On top of it all meal is not inexpensive. So for (2 people) sharing an appetizer, a couple of mains and 2 glasses of wine with tax and tip — expect between $ 75 – 85.

First time coming here for a recent Unilocal event with my sister, was extremely busy but of course it was an event, I really enjoyed the mozzarella basil pizza, especially the very thin crust! Was a little hard to cut but we managed it anyways.
I would definitely like to come back during a normal night to try some of the other dishes which looked so super nummy!

I went here for a Unilocal event and it was really really busy. Since we were hungry, we decided to just eat dinner at the back instead.
Overall the service was REALLY good. The staff were excellent.
The pizza was lacking some flavour. We had a number of dishes and all of them just left us with a ‘meh’ in response. I couldn’t help compare it to Pizza Libreto, which in my opinion has very good pizza.
The restaurant itself is very nice. I would recommend this for after work dinner with friends.

This place is located in the heart of Chinatown. Literally sandwiched between asian shops and restos, you will find this Italian trendy joint with super high ceilings.
I went there for the first time for a Unilocal Elite event. The front was rammed with people. I don’t think that they were ready for the hoards of people that the event was expected to bring in.
So we watched them with interest and intensity as they rolled out pre-​prepared trays of fresh dough, prepared the pizzas in a production line fashion and slid them into 2 high speed ovens. They were able to prepare 10 pizzas at a time. Swarms of people hovered by the bar where the pizzas were being served waiting with empty plates like a pack of vultures. We waited with anticipation as we watched them slide in the pizzas with a long wooden paddle. Some people held out their plates to be served.
We were able to taste two kinds of pizzas after a long wait. Margherita pizza — tomato sauce, fresh buffalo mozarella, drizzle of fresh olive oil and basil. The pizza was de-​li-​cious!!! The crust was thin, the cheese was melt-​in-​your mouth, and the basil was fresh. The second pizza was roasted potatoes with olives, buffalo mozarella and tomatoes. The potatoes tasted like scallopped potatoes and the pizza was very tasty though we all agreed it needed something extra like spinach or sauce.
Slices of pizza were flying off plates and people were drawn in like moths to a flame when the pizzas were plated.
The guy who was making the pizza looked extremely serious. Intense gazing and concentration was trepidating through the kitchen. One Unilocaled dared joke he was like the pizza nazi — «no pizza for you!».
Near the end of the night, there was one more remaining slice of margherita pizza. It sat there on its own. My friend was tapped on the shoulder by a woman to find out if anyone wanted that last lone slice. He told her that it looked as though someone had taken a bite out of it but put it back on the plate. She grabbed the slice yelling out «I’ll take my chances».
It was a great event and a great turnout! Thanks Evelyn for organizing. And thanks Unilocal for the red Elite socks. They are knee high and of good quality not to mention cute!

been here a few times
love the design. Location was a formerly a grocery store .
pizzas are neapolitan style (900 degrees for 90 sec), dough is bit drier than libretto, which is my standard for neapolitan style. strada’s dough is more like queen margherita and pizzaria via mercanti’s.
stand out item is the Italian custard dessert, it is served with a scoop of lemone gelato, and topped with shaved lemon and some crispy graham bits for texture, served in a glass jar. It’s amazing! lemon lovers gone to heaven with this one.

I was ultra excited to come here considering the Rubino brothers had opened this up, and I had an AMAZING time at AME. I booked this place for about 10 people for my farewell party. The ambiance is okay– a little loud, but nice.
Here are some of the things that we had ordered:
1) CALAMARI FRITTI: Delectable — cute too as they serve it on a bed of nails, similar to that at AME.
2) SQUASH FRITTI: Didn’t get to try it, but I’m sure it’s similar to that of AME.
3) TUNA CARPACCIO?: I can’t exactly remember what fish it was, but it was definitely a carpaccio of some sort. It was the special — highly recommend this as a starter.
4) ZIA RITA PIZZA: Sorry, Rubino brothers, but this pizza is incomparable to Pizzeria Libretto and Terroni.
5) LIMONE: Lemon custard. Can you go wrong?. However…
6) CHOCOLATE & HAZELNUT SEMIFREDDO: I was SO jealous of my friends who had ordered this. Usually, I’m not a huge nut on chocolate desserts (it’s usually too sweet for me). However, this was TO DIE FOR. I would definitely recommend this if you ever end up at Strada 241.

Had coffee with my buddy here a few weeks ago. Very lovely décor — the usual exposed brick walls, hardwood, high ceilings and huge marble counters.
My americano was nicely done, no complaints there. Staff was very friendly and let us linger for a really long time, bringing us water a few separate times. There wasn’t really a good area to sit and have coffee, but we sat up at the bar.
Will have to go back and try the pizzas sometime!

Just realized my review is posted under ‘Strada’ when the full name of this resto is ‘Strada 241′. Here is my original review:
This place was a total surprise. It has been open since October but somehow snuck by me on my walks through Chinatown. It is located towards the southern end of Chinatown where the ambience becomes a little more upscale (think Dark Horse, Hotel Ocho).
Walking by, we were enticed by the lovely high ceilings we could see through the front door. The interior is beautiful-​exposed brick wall, hanging light bulbs and comfy wooden tables. Having a quick glance at the menu we decided to stay and try out one of their pizza’s.
t was ~9pm on Saturday and the place was packed! But they did manage to find a table for us with no wait time. Our servers (two of them) were both extremely friendly and attentive. The menu was explained to us in detail-​we decided to go with the charred casear salad ($ 9), a meat platter ($ 12) and then share the meatball pizza ($ 16). I was informed that all their meats come from local farms, where the animals are free range and organic (very important for low-​meat consumer like myself).
I loved the charred salad! What a great idea, would never of thought of it myself. Crispy leaves and sensual creamy parmesan dressing. Gah… I will come back just for the salad. This was followed by the meat plate-​salami and prosciutto. The pizza was delicious-​thin crusted with just enough cheese. The meatballs were not too greasy.
With a glass of wine, our meal came to around $ 70 with tax and tip. After paying I noticed i had been overcharged for 2 salads instead of one. What took my rating from 4 to 5 stars is that the waitress was kind enough to refund me out of her own $, so I wouldn’t have to wait around while her manager sorted out the error. Now you know what I mean when I mentioned the service was excellent!
If you are looking for a new venue comparable to Terroni’s or Kalendar, try here!

Stopped in for a coffee with a friend today – the place looks beautiful, in the style of most of the new places in the city now: exposed brick walls, weathered hardwood floors, lots of reclaimed wood and marble counters. The café area is unfortunately small, so we ended up sitting at the bar because there wasn’t any table space, and the bar stools aren’t the most comfortable. The coffees were lovely, though (I had the nutella latte – delicious!), and the service was excellent. Even after we’d finished our coffees, the barista refilled our water glasses quickly and without prompting.

Who would’ve thought that the Rubino brothers, owners of the now-​defunct upscale Rain and Ame, would open up a casual Italian restaurant serving up pizza and pasta?
What went in my belly:
Bellini ($ 9) — A darn good one made with real peach purée.
Strada 241 Caesar Salad ($ 9) — This certainly isn’t your run-​of-​the-​mill Caesar salad. Romaine and radicchio leaves were lightly grilled with the leaves still crispy and juicy. The salad was lightly dressed and had a subtle lemon flavour. My only complaint would have to be the «croutons» which came out a little burnt. I also would’ve preferred them bite-​size as I had to eat them with my hands like a cracker.
Zia Rita Pizza — tomato, nduja sausage, fire roasted onions, rapini, parmigiano ($ 15): I really enjoyed their tomato sauce and their nduja sausage was a stand-​out for me. The spiciness of the sausage was balanced out by the slight bitterness of the rapini. As for their crust, while it was chewier than I would’ve preferred, it was not bad. Overall, a pretty solid pizza!
Overall, I had a great experience at Strada 241. Sure, I still think Libretto does a better pizza, but Strada’s Italian fare is pretty solid. I can only hope that it doesn’t suffer the same fate as the Rubino brothers’ previous ventures.

I quite like this place. The combination of the converted warehouse setting and the comforting Italian food make it a winner. The menu is short and simple with a heavy emphasis on the pizzas. As mentioned in another review, the pizza is comparable to Libretto without the over-​hyped wait times.
I have been back to Strada a number of times since it opened and I see no reason why I would not continue to frequent it regularly.