Pizzeria Libretto

A large group of friends went here in on a week night. The server was attentive so we never lacked for anything. The consensus was that the salads and appetizers were well above the norm and the pizzas were enjoyed by all!
The desserts were so delicious, I recommend you get some to share.

The space is warm with lots of wood. Seating is a bit cramped due to all of the coats and close quarters.
They have a variety of small plate appetizers, salads, pizzas, and drinks. For the pizzas, they have a few sauce choices and a few sauceless bianca choices.
They have some bread to start and the texture and lightness of the bread is great. It would’ve been a lot better if they hear it and serve the bread warm– oh well.
Our server Selena was excellent. Super sweet and friendly and knowledgable about the menu. We had the eggplant pizza and the napoletana. Napoletana was a bit sour and pretty salty and also comes with no cheese. Selena actually suggested the eggplant pizza and it was delicious! It came out warm and fresh and sliced into four pieces. I would definitely order that again.
We were too stuffed for dessert but Selena highly recommended them and said that all the desserts are made in-​house so I will try to make my way back to check it out. I would go back again

This is one of the newest locations of the Toronto pizza chain. Definitely not expecting it to be in some dark alley way but that’s okay. The food was great. They sat us at the bar because my friend and I didn’t have a reservation. Place is clean, lights were a bit dim from my preference but I think that’s part of the cozy ambience they want to portray of the place.
We weren’t very hungry but I really wanted to try their pizza. We got one to share: Ontario proscuitto and arugula. Pizza dough is good. Too much arugula on top but that’s okay since they’re just greens that you can eat separately. That chili oil though. Just drizzle that in the pizza! Definitely good pizza and I’ll eat here again!

I’m writing a review for Pizzeria Libretto… Again. Why? 2 reasons.
1) I am obsessed with their pizza and you will be too, very soon (are you making a reservation yet?). Love their thin, chewy crusts… fresh, tangy tomato sauce… and their chili oil! The calamari and their Nduja Sausage pizza are my must-​haves when I come here.
2) The entrance of this location is kind of tucked in a small alleyway so keep your eyes peeled. It’s right by Porchetta (look out for the neon pig sign!)
Also… Did anyone else notice the quality of their napkins? #Legit

I’ve been to the Libretto on University and Pearl and my wife has been to the location on the Danforth but this location besides the original on Ossington is the one neither of us have been to. I was told it just recently opened a couple months back and as far as parking it’s probably more friendly that the one on University and it’s closer than the Danforth. The original on Ossington I wan’t sure if they took reservations or not so I was OK with booking with the King street location on the day of about 5 hours in advance. I was lucky to be able to get a table for 530pm.
The address is 545 King West but the entrance to this restaurant is at the side of the building down a well lit alley on the west side. There’s a sign «Pizzeria Libretto» right at the north west corner of the building and the entrance is a red awning covered door.
The space compared to the University Ave location has less natural lighting being that it’s at the side of a building and the internal lighting has what can only be described as individual desk lamps at each table. The décor is simple yet it has the feeling of a older building which is what it is with an exposed slatted wood ceiling.
The service and hospitality is still top notch and our server, Justin seemed like he couldn’t do enough for us. We were asked if everything was fine, our drinks were being looked after and it truly felt we were getting a healthy dose of attention.
Much like our previous visits to Libretto the food as well as the service was excellent. We started off with the arancini which is a serving of 3, a plate of prosciutto di Parma and an order of the buttermilk calamari. All 3 appetizers were great. The arancini comes with a marinara and parsley sauce and the flavors mix so well. The balls themselves are a nice size and cooked properly. The prosciutto came with oiled and dressed flat bread sticks (grissini) and the calamari is served in a pyramid shape on top of a pepper and almond sauce which is very different.
I ordered the nduja pizza and my wife had the cremini (mushroom) which is a white pizza without tomato sauce. Both pizzas were great. I can’t remember if they cut the pizza last time or not as some places that are certified VPN don’t cut the pizza but either way it makes for easier eating. I can’t say if I’ve had authentic nduja before or not (my friend from Long Island would know for sure) but this sausage was very flavorful and spicy. I really enjoyed the bite this meat had but I can’t say it’s for everybody like my wife wouldn’t like it because for her it would probably be too hot. For me it was great, I even added some of the spiced olive oil.
The cremini was very rich and is drier than nduja because it doesn’t have sauce on it. My wife ordered it with blue cheese on it as well as it was offered and it had a strong flavor to it because of the strong cheese.
The food as well as the service at Libretto are both wonderful. They only have pizza as main dishes and there is no pasta but they do have a good variety of small plates, salads and other starters to compliment their pizzas.
Libretto is now my new favorite authentic Neapolitan place, more so than Pizza e Pazzi now. This new location on King just east of Portland is somewhat hidden but a great new location.

The front door is hard to find; they to put a sign on the street. I went there last night with some friends on our way to see Star Wars. The place was pretty busy, but we’d made a reservation and were seated right away. We had a great server, he was attentive and prompt but the location they seated us made it difficult to server us. The place is pretty tight and the servers had to keep squeezing through. It’s not a big deal but a bit annoying when it keeps happening over and over.
We ordered the calamari and fried sausage as appetizers. Of the two I would say the sausage was better. I don’t like really calamari when someone messed with the tzatziki sauce or tries to make it different. The sausage however was excellent with goat cheese and sauteed rapini it was a lovely little dish. A larger plate of that and the foccacia bread and I could be very happy indeed.
Everyone ordered different pizzas but we didn’t share. Not that kind of group. If it has been with my family we would have been swapping pieces for sure. I almost recommend that more. I had the Libretto Margherita which was ok. Honestly I would give it a 3/3.5 out of 5 it’s okay but not spectacular and the whole tomatoes made the pizza soggy.
The saving grace was the tiramisu. It was lovely. The sabion (sp?) cream was light and thick, with lots of cocoa and rum. The lady fingers were very moist without falling apart. In fact I would put this tiramisu up against Marcelo’s on St. Clair, it’s that good.

OK. Yet again — thank you King west for bringing what I want and love to me.
Built upon the same great za from ossington, the food doesn’t disappoint. I dunno if they have a wider appetizer menu at this location, but we ordered literally every one and it was a treat to such an array of taste buds adventures.
Solid drafts. Nut darks to Muskoka ales. I’ll keep coming back. Such a great place for a party or group!
Cheers Libretto!!!