Classic: Toronto: Laterna Dining Room

Way, way, way back in 2001, I went to Laterna Dining Room (which I identified in my then-blog as Laterna's Family Restaurant). I didn't want to go there. At the time, all I wanted to know about was downtown Toronto, where the pretty people were. However, I was assured that the souvlaki-on-pita was fantastic and should not be missed.

When I got there, I discoved that only one (1) of the people I was out with had ever been there before. The place was greasy, smelled stale and looked horrible. I can still remember the souvlaki: it was chewy, gigantic and hard-to-eat. And it was one of the first occasions when I broke with my vegetarianism.

It was one of my first restaurant experiences in North Toronto (it's at Yonge and Steeles, near CentrePoint Mall) and it made me swear up and down to move to the downtown core, where food was good and people weren't loud, fat families.

Now, it's 5 years later and I still live in North Toronto. The food up here is, remarkably, really, really, really fantastic! I think it's due to the fact that most of the "multi" in Toronto's multiculturalism resides in the outskirts of the city.

It's because there is so much fantastic food up here that I'm surprised -- nay, dismayed! -- that Laterna's is still open and that it even gets half decent reviews.

Then again, I haven't been there in 5 years, so it may have improved.

In any case, here, for your reading pleasure, is my original review of Laterna's from 2001:

Laterna's Family Restaurant

Yet another restaurant i did not choose. This place is near Yonge and Finch i think, across the street from CentrePoint "mall" on Yonge. So the funny thing about this place is that it's Italian and the best thing on the menu is a souvlaki. The less funny thing is the smell, the decor and the washrooms. Oi! The decor is late-70's, John-Travolta-And-Karen-Lynn-Gorney-In-The-Saturday-Night-Fever-Resto-Scene, wood panelling, bar chairs, musty smell, cramped space that would send Debbie Travis running for the hills. The same decor as Bar Des Pins in Montreal and The Pine Tavern in The Bronx (NY). The place smelled like mold, oil and gross. The tablecloths were plastic. The place was crowded with tacky families speaking loudly and eating too much. The coffee sucked. The souvlaki was really good, but it was too big and heavy and so chewy that after about half your jaw started to hurt. A return visit is not an option.