Italian – Page 3 – Michael Eats

Seriously Good Sandwiches at Alfie’s Sandwiches & Market

Published on September 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 36 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.alfies.ca/

Alfie’s is part of the recent wave of Italian sandwich shops sweeping the city. And hey, if all the sandwich shops can be this good, sure — open a million of them.

It’s hard to pick here. The menu is split into two halves (“classic” and “signature”) with 10 sandwiches each. And they all sound extremely tasty.

After some deliberation, I went with the Parma Classico: “24 Month Prosciutto Di Parma, Lemon basil Pesto, Artichoke in Oil, Truffle Aioli.”

Wow, it’s good. I mean, if you put a decent amount of high-quality prosciutto in pretty much any sandwich, it’s going to be tasty. And yeah, the prosciutto here is pretty fantastic.

But everything else in the sandwich complements it so well, from the zippy pesto to the generous amount of tender artichoke to the creamy aioli. I’m not really a fan of truffle oil, but it’s used sparingly enough that I didn’t find it particularly objectionable. Everything here just works.

It’s all served on some pretty great quality sourdough flatbread (“Alfie,” in this case, is the name of their sourdough starter). It’s crispy, chewy, and flavourful, and stands up quite well to the generously filled sandwich.

On another visit, I tried the Alfie’s Roast Beef (“House-smoked Roast beef, Sliced tomato, Chilli oil, Roasted Pepper, Baby Arugula, Rosemary and Roasted Aioli”), and it was just as good; the chili oil, in particular, really makes the roast beef sing.

Tasty Roman Pizza at Ciao Roma

Published on August 9, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 28 Roytec Road, Woodbridge
Website: https://crpizza.ca/

Ciao Roma is a delightful take-out joint (though they have a couple of tables) that specializes in Roman-style pizza (which features a thick crust cooked in a square pan, also known as pizza al taglio).

I tried a couple of slices: margherita, and another one featuring salami, mushrooms, olives, and peppers.

Both were quite tasty. In particular, the crust is great, with a delicate crispiness on the bottom and a good balance of chewiness and fluffiness within.

As for the slices themselves, the margherita was tasty for all the usual reasons that margherita is tasty, and the other one was salty, meaty, and satisfying. This place has been around for several years (I originally discovered it thanks to an episode of You’ve Gotta Eat Here from 2014), and I can definitely see why.

Tasty Sandwiches at Tutto Panino

Published on July 5, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 Sorauren Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.tuttopanino.com/

In case you haven’t noticed, Toronto is in the grips of an Italian sandwich obsession. It seems like every other new restaurant these days is serving up a variety of Italian cold cut sandwiches.

Enter: Tutto Panino. They’ve got the usual assortment of cold salami and mortadella sandwiches, though their specialty — the Bolito (“beef brisket, salsa verde, chili oil”) — is a hot one.

It’s a solid sandwich. It comes crammed with a healthy amount of ultra-tender braised beef brisket, and is topped with a zippy salsa verde. You can get it mild or hot — I went with hot, and yeah, it’s got a decent kick. It’s nothing too aggressive, but it’ll give you a bit of a tingle.

The lightly crispy bun does a good job of holding up to the meaty sandwich, though I wish it were either a bit crustier, or lightly toasted. Everything here is quite soft, so some extra texture would be nice.

Similarly, the salsa verde is tasty, but I really think the sandwich needs some pickles or something a bit more acidic to cut through the richness of the beef.

Still, I didn’t love it, but am I mad that I ate this sandwich? Absolutely not. Would I eat it again? I absolutely would.

Stellar Pizza at Cowabunga+ in Hamilton

Published on January 30, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 30 Vine Street, Hamilton
Website: https://www.cowabungapizzeria.ca/

Apparently, Cowabunga+ serves the best slice of cheese pizza in the world. Well, okay, I’m listening.

When I found myself in Hamilton recently, a stop was a must.

They have a few different pizzas available by the slice, but obviously, I had to go with the award winning, best-in-the-world cheese.

The cheese pizza, per their menu: “marinara, mozzarella blend, fior di latte, oregano.”

It’s a very tasty slice of pizza. Is it the best in the world? No, but I’d be shocked if it weren’t the best in Hamilton, and it’s up there with the better slices in the GTA.

The crust has a bit more heft than the norm, with a good level of exterior crispiness, a satisfying dense chewiness, and a very pronounced sourdough flavour that’s actually quite delightful.

It’s very, very cheesy, but that substantial crust mostly holds up to it (though it was buckling and tearing a bit under the weight of the deluge of cheese). It might have been too much cheese on a different slice of pizza, but here, there was a good balance between the crust and cheese.

Unique Pizza at Venga Cucina

Published on December 27, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3076 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.vengacucina.ca/

Venga Cucina is a really unique pizza place in the Junction that serves a style of pizza called pinsa, which their menu describes as a cross between focaccia and pizza.

The menu also features a variety of antipasti and pasta, but clearly the pinsa is where it’s at. I tried a couple: the margherita (“pomodoro, mozzarella, basil”) and the gino picante (“calabrian nduja, cured hot sausage, pepperonata, fior di latte, sundried tomatoes”).

Apparently the crust here is made with a combination of rice and soya flour along with regular flour, and is fermented for 96 hours. This gives it a texture that’s actually quite different from any pizza I’ve had before, with a very crispy exterior and a super light and fluffy interior.

I wouldn’t want this to replace normal pizza (I did miss the chewiness you get from a more traditional dough), but as something that’s almost in a category of its own, it’s quite tasty.

Both pinsas were very good, though as usual, the tasty simplicity of the margherita won out. Still, both featured a really satisfying contrast between the good quality toppings and the crispy/airy crust, and both were kicked up a notch by the tasty chili oil they had on the table.