Artisano Bakery Café

So this place had virtually no items available on a Friday afternoon. The cookies they did have were stale and hard as rocks. Then to top it off the ice machine had a lovely layer of green mold growing on the ice chute. Thanks for nothing!
Avoid at all costs.

We stopped in for a quick bite before heading to the Royal Alexandra Theatre for a show. What a nice café!
The menu is nothing fancy, but it all looks good — pasta, pizza, soups, salads and sandwiches. We sat in a quiet corner, and enjoyed grilled vegetable paninis with cole slaw and a spinach-​beet-​goat cheese salad on the side — all very flavourful!
The panini bread is excellent, and the vegetables were good (not at all greasy like you find at some places). The dressing on the spinach-​beet salad is light and lovely (not oily or vinegary).
We splurged and split a large hunk of carrot cake. It was moist and sweet.
I noticed a few people lingering over wine or coffee. Nobody appeared to be rushing them away after they’d finished their meals.
This is a nice place to stop on your way to the theatre (or even for lunch).

Great place to visit before a show or just meet up with friends. Great service and very friendly staff. The food is fresh and very tastey. I look forward to visiting again.

We stopped in here before our show at the Royal Alex Theatre next door.
The pumpkin soup was amazing! Absolutely delicious. With it I had a chicken panini, which was okay, but had nothing on the soup. The coffee was self serve and tasted slightly old.
It was kind of expensive for what it was. 2 coffees (regular, not fancy), 2 soups, 1 half panini and 1 individual quiche cost $ 30!
Service was good and washrooms were clean.
All in all, I’d come back for the pumpkin soup.

My favorite Café in Toronto as a Backpacker because you get much for little money: come before 11am, get the bagel/​Open cup combo ($ 3.75 or so) ask for the WiFi password, chill on one of the couches. The place is big, comfortable, atmospheric, you can get as much Coffee as you want (5 different sorts), the Avocado — creamchesse bagel is awesome, water is free, sometimes the Softdrinks too, the WiFi is quick enough for Skype or Video streaming, and the waiters are kind. Didn’t try the other foods but the place is popular and in the morning, noon and evening full of people, but in the inbetween times it’s quiet and empty (10 – 12,2−5). Recommended for low budget backpackers definitly!

5 $ for ham & cheese croissant. One slice of cheese and one slice of ham. «Stay hungry my friend».

Had what Canadians called a cloud. I ate it so it most if not been that bad but the description does not match what is. A cloud should be light and fluffy and maybe have some more sugar in it. The cloud was dense and doughy but still tasted full of lemon flavor.

Not really a review since the doors are still locked. Posted hours on website says they open at 9:30 am, 1.5 hours ago. It is, however, a beautiful day so we shall wander around. So many choices in this neighborhood!

First time coming to this place. Ordered the chipotle chicken with avocado sandwich & My Thai soup combo for a bit over $ 12 including tax. The food was fresh & tasty and the server was friendly. Will come back again for lunch!

Honest, caring, and professional service.
The chocolate croissant and iced latte were the best I ever had.
Clean facilities and free internet. What more could a costumer want. I will definitely will be chosen next time over a Tim Hortons or a Starbucks!

Pretty much empty after hours 6pm on Friday. Ordered the My Thai soup and Chipotle Chicken sandwich with avocado. Both were only mildly spicy, had great flavour and were fresh. Casual atmosphere and close to the entertainment in the area. I would eat here again.

Came in for a light fare and the food was yummy. Reasonable prices and friendly service! Ordered the turkey chili, turkey avocado sandwich and kale salad. Will return when we are back visiting our Toronto friends!

Mixed reviews on this place. The servers were decently pleasant. I checked out the place around 4pm on a Friday so it was very empty, therefore lots of seat selection with free wifi! I ordered the chicken Brie apple sandwich. Guys, this sandwich was delish!!! The whole place is over priced. Id pay 10 $ again for that sandwich but no way 5 $ for a piece of cake that is probably frozen from a factory and was meh. Wasn’t too happy that the coffee here is bottomless for the same price of one cup of tea that isn’t bottomless. At least let me have my tea and then have bottomless coffee since I payed the same amount. Overall it was an ok experience. But the sandwich was great!

I went here for lunch on a Saturday and had an extremely negative experience. I ordered the half chicken sandwich/​soup combo. They were short on staff and it took 25 minutes for my order to arrive. The soup was extremely cold and the sandwich WAS NOT FRESH. I am pretty sure the chicken has been out for a while and not stored at the proper temperature. Despite their claim as using «fresh» ingredients, I was very disappointed in quality and value of meal. Because I was running late to a meeting (didn’t think my order would take 25mins), I could not go back to the restaurant to have them fix the issue. Never again.

Daily special from Monday to Sat.
5 dollars a glass of wine.
Cozy place, love the small fountain here.

Avoid for Breakfast!
This was by far one of the saltiest meals I’ve ever eaten. I couldn’t even eat the potatoes. Servers were slower than molasses. I can’t believe I spent $ 20 for 2 meals that we could barely eat.
On a minor note, the «eggs your way» was supposed to come with an orange slice. One came with a wedge, the other with nothing. My dining partner said the orange was the best part of the meal.

Food was pretty good. Had pizza and chicken pesto sandwich. Place is clean and well kept. It is cafeteria service for ordering and then food is delivered to your table. Opposite the toronto symphony orchestra and good for kids.

Croissants buttery… Flakes but a little expensive $$ I give it ⁸⁄₁₀
Hot chocolate … Avoid it bland. Taste mostly of sugar than chocolate ²⁄₁₀
These two items end up costing me $ 7.00

4.5 stars
After one visit, I feel that this is a pretty good place to eat. We came on a Saturday around lunch time. Pretty quiet which is good for us. We ordered at the cashier and took a buzzer and got a seat. I don’t have to pay tip which is wonderful. Drinks are self serve at the machine. They bring the food to your table.
We had a pizza and a pasta. I really like their pizza. I’m not a pizza expert but this pizza is loaded with toppings, and nicely decorated. We had the multigrain bread and it’s one of the best pizza breads I’ve ever had. The bread is not super thick like in Pizza Pizza. Artisano’s is perfect imo in terms of thickness.
The pasta was good too. I absolutely can’t stand pasta at those fancy restaurants who charge you over $ 20 for a pasta dish and put practically nothing on the plate. Artisano’s pasta has plenty of toppings and is very flavorful.
Speaking about prices, their pizzas and pastas are highly reasonable. My pizza was $ 12 and was more than enough for myself. The pasta at $ 12 was also a good deal. I typically only get pasta from Boston Pizza only on their Tuesday specials. I haven’t tried their sandwiches. Maybe next time.
I think Italian restaurants are famous for their romantic atmosphere. This is not one of those restaurants. This is simply a good place to get good food at reasonable prices, which is a VERY welcome change for an Italian restaurant. I hate getting ripped off at those fancy restaurants that expect you to tip a million dollars on top of ridiculous prices. Don’t get me wrong, we need fancy restaurants for those special dates. Just not so many. We need more places like Artisano for Italian food to satisfy foodies.
Why no 5 stars? I think their water tasted funny.

I have been here twice — once for lunch and once for dinner.
I usually base my reviews almost completely on the food, but Artisano loses a full star for being completely disorganized. The system seems to be set up pretty well:
1. Wait in line to make your order
2. Take a buzzer
3a. If you’re taking out, wait for it to buzz and pick up your food at the back
3b. If you’re sitting in, stay at your table and they’ll find you
The problem is that the cashiers are extremely slow and can’t seem to find any items on the computer. Then the kitchen at the back seems to have only one panini press, so if there are multiple sandwich orders you’ll be waiting a while. How often are there multiple sandwich orders? ALWAYS because that’s pretty much ALL they serve (plus pizza).
As for the food, it’s decent.
For lunch I had the grilled chipotle chicken with avocado sandwich. Good bread, fresh ingredients, a solid sandwich when you’re looking for something simple and tasty.
For dinner my date and I split the Hawaiian and Chicken, Brie, & Goat Cheese pizzas. They’re a little small with too much fluffy crust for my liking, but (again) the ingredients were fresh.
Worth a try, but make sure you have enough time and patience to deal with their broken system.

This is a nice change in the king street west financial/​entertainment. One can get tired of the big chains as your only choice. So props to these guys for trying to compete with the big guns.
They offer a varied menu of sandwiches, pastries and other lunch goodies as well as coffee. But what really drew me in was the bread they sold. Grant it I didn’t buy any but it what makes them different from the rest.
On top of that, the setting is a modern café almost cafeteria like if I could say that.
As a place to sit down and chill, I think it serves its purpose well.
The reason I came in was coffee. A nice Americano with a cookie is my Achilles heel.
Terribly disappointed. I only finished it because I didn’t want to waste my money. The drink was such a weak espresso with extra water. It tasted like gas station coffee with extra water. I was deeply disappointed. The cookie would have been alright if it wasn’t rock hard. Bathe flavour profile was there but the follow through not so successful.
I would definitely consider going back to try the bread though.

I’m so excited that this location is finally open after weeks and weeks of walking by and seeing the «opening soon» sign! I don’t know what it is, but I have the GREAT fortune of always having an Artisano’s close by to every office I’ve ever worked in. I’m not sure if I’m following them, or if they’re following me — but either way it’s a love affair.
This location JUST opened, so I haven’t tried their lunch service yet (hence just providing a very respectable 4 stars, because I have faith). I did however stop in this morning for an old favourite — the cranberry cloud. If you haven’t had a cloud yet, you are missing out. Think mid way between a scone and a muffin top sprinkled with sugar. These things melt in your mouth and are a-​maz-​ing! The people at the café were also very nice and relaxed, which is always nice in the morning.
The restaurant itself is pretty big, with plenty of room if you’re planning on eating in. Can’t wait to come back for lunch and get the spinach/​avocado/​gorgonzola salad — another personal favourite.
Tip — their take out containers are great and can be reused over and over again!