Lil'Baci

I know I know...I tend to go on about Terroni, but how can I help it? It's always good and who doesn't love a good thin crust southern style pizza?

So when I noticed that Lil' Baci opened in the Leslieville neighborhood I couldn't be happier.
Somewhere different to go for our weekly pizza fix.
Situated right next to Kubo Radio (same owner- Leslie Ng) the minute I walked in the front door I felt at home.

Steamed up windows, a nice level of good music playing, a nice homey decor consisting of eclectic gold gilded picture frames and mirrors, ornate chandeliers, warm dark wood tables and booths (perfect for 2 year olds) and a nice crowd with other families and locals- yet not over the top kiddie-ville. So we settled into a comfy corner booth and got pretty excited when we perused the lengthy list of antipasti listed on the big chalkboard on the beautifully restored exposed brick wall.
Things were looking good.
That's about when things took a bit of a negative turn.
Our waitress had a bit of attitude and though I'm not a mind reader I got the vibe that she was thinking " I hope these "breeders" hurry up and eat so I can turn this table and get some "cool" people instead"
Now I could be wrong....but the service really wasn't great- and I noticed how different she was with the young couple on a date beside us.
Fortunately another waitress recognized us from Terroni (she used to work there) and took over and fortunately was super sweet and much much better.
So onto the food.
I started with the Shaved Fennel Salad $7.95
It was a nice pile of thinly shaved fresh fennel drizzled with olive oil and 8 year old balsamic, but unfortunately it was also covered in a powdered parma cheese.
I really think freshly grated parmigiana cheese would have been much better.
Cutting corners I guess, which is unfortunate because otherwise it would have been a nice salad.
I also ordered the Napoli Pizza $10.95
with tomato, white anchovies, capers, olives and wild oregano.
It was in a word- really horrible.
It was dry, I think there were a total of two olives on it, six capers and the anchovies were definitely not white anchovies- they were a standard canned variety. nothing special at all.
The pizzas come un-cut -a la Terroni- but the difference is that I had a hard time cutting through the dry crust.
Lulu wasn't even keen on her Pizza Marinara $ 9.95.
pretty bad when a two year old won't even eat a plain tomato and cheese pizza.
She even said  "I like Terroni better"
Out of the mouth of babes.
The chef was hanging out on the floor talking to some customers at the bar which I though was kind of strange for a busy Friday night.
I was also kind of grossed out by the state of his tomato stained apron, dirty hands and button strained chef's "whites".
maybe that's kind of catty...but if this is the guy preparing my food....shudder...
One good thing besides the decor- a really great wine list.
We enjoyed a couple of glasses of Dolcetto d'Alba Gigi Rosso at $10 per glass.
We decided to skip dessert for obvious reasons.
I'd love to think this was just a bad night or that maybe we just chose the wrong menu items.
Then again shouldn't everything on the menu be good?
I feel like I should eventually give it another go- because in most cases I usually do.
Call me an optimist..
But until I muster up the courage to give it another try, I'll be at Terroni.

Lil'Baci
892 Queen street east
toronto
416.465.4888

Comments

[Gabriella]

Gross chef, no thanks!!! I still have yet to try Terroni, I keep hearing so many good things.

[metro mama]

I haven't tried this one yet--I'll let you know how our experience goes when we finally get around to it!

[mama drama]

I'm a Terroni fan through and through.

[Tina]

Try Mangia and Bevi on Ontario Street (King and Ontario). This little spot has my vote for the best pizza in Toronto. The owner has something over Terroni. I have been to both Lil'Baci and Terroni (Terroni more than Lil'Baci) and I guarantee the M&B is tops.