Eataly

55 Bloor St W,
Toronto, ON M4W 1A6
About the Restaurant

Get ready carb-lovers: this is not a drill! Canada’s first Eataly outpost is opening its doors on Nov. 13 in the Manulife Centre at Bay and Bloor. Food fiends who have visited one of Eataly’s 40 other locations worldwide have been counting down the days until the beloved brand arrives in Canada. Eataly Toronto does not disappoint with its three-storey, 50,000-square-foot space dedicated to Italian cuisine.

Nicola Farinetti, Eataly's Global CEO, gave us a sneak peek at the culinary wonderland ahead of its official opening next week. The space includes a whopping four restaurants, three bars, seven food counters, a cooking school, and a marketplace with more than 10,000 products.

Most of the action is concentrated on Floor 1, which is ringed by a trio of open concept restaurants (a fourth is set to launch in 2020). La Pizza & La Pasta restaurant specializes in (you guessed it!) Neapolitan pizza and pasta. Head here to sample Eataly’s signature lo spaghetto al pomodoro, a five-ingredient dish that showcases the brand’s focus on simple, high-quality eats.

A second restaurant, La Piazza, serves shareable meat-and-cheese boards and pizza alla pala, which is Roman-style pizza (in total Eataly offers three different types of pizza, with Torino-style pizza available at another counter). The third restaurant, La Pesceria, focuses on seafood and doubles as a fishmonger.

Between the restaurants, you’ll find a staggering selection of sweet and savoury quick-service stations and market stalls, from a bakery with a custom-built wood-fired oven; to shelves stocked with dozens of imported olive oils and vinegars; to a counter where gelato and cannoli are made on-site.

As you might expect given the clear Italian theme, much of what you’ll find inside the walls of Eataly comes straight from the beautiful Boot herself; but the brand also partners with local farmers and producers to stock fresh ingredients and – in the case of Eataly Toronto – beer!

They’ve partnered with Indie Ale House to create a brewery and tasting room, which dominates the space’s lower level.

Eataly completes its multifaceted celebration of Italian food with cooking classes, demos and tastings. As you walk through the space, you’ll see experts shaping fresh pasta and making mozzarella by hand. You can also sign up for classes in the on-site cooking school, La Scuola di Eataly, to learn how to prepare various regional Italian dishes.

Eataly opens its doors at 5 p.m. on Nov. 13. Bring a big appetite, comfortable walking shoes and stretchy pants.