Tappo Wine Bar and Restaurant – Toronto, ON Located in the heart of the historic Distillery District in Toronto, Ontario, Tappo Wine Bar fits in perfectly. It is perhaps the only Italian restaurant in Toronto built in part of an old distillery that has been converted. It is touted as being THE place to be, and to be seen in the Distillery. Does it have what it takes to be Fantastic Bombastic? Let’s see.

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The place is part quaint, part gorgeous, and definitely attractive. So much so that while we were walking around the distillery during the day, we saw their sign stating “wine bar and restaurant”, and when we took a peek, one look and we knew that it was a place that we just had to try.

We got their card and called the next day to make reservations. We had to call them three times – the first time I got their voice mail, the second time was the same though I left a message asking them to call back, the next morning we called for a third time (they had never called back) and asked if they had my reservation. They didn’t. Though they did make the requested reservation then.

We headed to Tappo Wine Bar the next evening at around 8, where we found the place not even half-full (normally not a good sign, especially when the reservation process was as long winded as it was).

The interior was of the smart elegant variety, with mood lighting that complemented the bricked walls and massive old-style wooden doors. Tables were covered with a simple white tablecloth and the seats were classy wooden chairs that screamed “classic.” At least the ambience helped to pick up our spirits.

We started with a bottle of Champagne (ok it was sparkling wine, given that it was from Italy). The first two bottles we tried to order, they did not have. When we did find something they did have and one that we never tried before, one sip and we decided to never try it again. The wine list was nice and decent, though it would do well with a little updating. I would understand a restaurant not having an up-to-date wine menu, but for a wine bar to have an outdated wine list? Blasphemy.

Now, the food. We had the Penne Alla Vodka, penne noodles tossed in a vodka cream sauce with double smoked bacon and a hint of tomato sauce ($18). We also had the Ravioli Ai Funghi Di Bosco, which consisted of wild mushroom ravioli with sun dried tomatoes in a creamy parmigiano cream sauce ($24). Our third dish was the Osso Bucco di Vitello, which was braised veal shank with saffron risotto, seasonal vegetables and a veal reduction ($32). We all thought the food was average at best and definitely not worth the price of admission.

For dessert, we had our all-time favorite Italian dessert, Tiramisu. Again, it was a let down.

Service? It was fair. There are some things I expect when dining at a restaurant of this caliber - pouring our wine, timely delivery of everyone’s orders, follow-up to see how we are doing, etc. Here it was more a “take order, deliver order, bring bill” kind of thing. Fine, I might be exaggerating a bit here, but it was not much better than that for sure.

In all, Tappo Wine Bar had just too many flaws for us to give it an Almost Bombastic rating. The place was a beauty, no doubt about it, but as the saying goes, “never judge a book by its cover.” This was a classic example of that truism. Our rating? A well-deserved Almost Not Bombastic.

What I liked: The ambience

What I didn’t like: The service, the food, the outdated wine list

Rating: AAlmost Not Bombastic

Address and Telephone Number:
Tappo Wine Bar & Restaurant
55 Mill Street
Toronto, ON M5A 3C4
Neighbourhood: Distillery District
(647) 430-1111

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