Menu
Everything fine but we asked twice to be relocated to rear room and were declined twice.rear tables were empty for rest of night while we were there.we are regulars and first time we have not been accommodated.
I came in on a Thursday night ... Benjamin was playing his guitar - he’s incredible ! I love the Mediterranean Spanish feel . A great old coach house turned into a fabulous And delicious tapas restaurant. In addition to all this greatness , we love our camarera ... Vanessa !! She rocks !! She’s very professional , warm and engaging. Great personality ( Gemini) . I will definitely ask for her section again and again . Thank you all for being a great team .
~ Jorge
I love this restaurant ... amazing tapas and excellent service. We did the tasting menu this time and the food just kept coming - fresh and creative dishes. Great atmosphere in a historic building with modern touches and great music!
The tapas style food at Barsa was well prepared and well presented. The flavours, though well balanced and inviting, were not as rich and full as had been expected. The size of the portions was commensurate with the pricing, a good balance permitting the guest to choose more options for the same overall price. The menu selection was adequate though a few more options would be welcome. The selection of wines by the glass was somewhat limited. The ambiance was very pleasant; the set up of the dining area being spread over three rooms is a good arrangement and provides an improved level of intimacy. The raw undressed stone work of the walls were a contrast with the vibrant colours of the floor and furniture Rustic warmth complemented with visual vibrancy. As the evening developed, and the rooms and tables became occupied, the speed of the service noticeably reduced. One extra hand would have made a big difference: with a tapas based presentation, timing between courses becomes critical. The owners would do well to keep larger groups off to the side where louder patrons would be less noticable. One reason to choose Barsa Taberna is its small rooms and mostly quiet though animated setting, so a few loud voices can damage what might be an intimate evening. The guests were all ages though mostly young professionals. Having more restaurants like Barsa Taberna would be a welcome addition to Toronto down-town scene.
The octopus and cocktails were great. Love the atmosphere!
Only 3 tables were occupied, including us, and it was rather on the noisy side. Not bad, but certainly not a quiet dinner. I can see it being loud if it had been a busy night.
Food was fantastic with a little bit of flair to change things up from traditional Spanish cooking. Staff were attentive but not overbearing, and very helpful. All in all a great experience and I would definitely return
Great ambience, food and service. It is one of the few places that serve authentic Spanish food with great quality and inventive presentation. Service was great too. It is pricey though.
Great food, very noisy table beside us that had alot of wine :)
Also waiter was friendly enough but the guy (Ali) didnt crack a smile all night, very stiff
Food was delicious, but our server was extremely condescending and put a damper on my birthday dinner. From the very beginning we expressed interest in the tasting menu but have never had a tasting menu before, so we asked her to explain it. She was very misleading and vague, and did not explain the tasting menu accurately, despite us asking a bunch of questions. We were led to believe that each person would get one of each course, and she literally said that she would tailor the meal to our requests and sub out options for those who have dietary restrictions. We had one friend who doesn’t eat pork and another who doesn’t eat shellfish, yet there were 2 pork dishes and a shellfish paella - that doesn’t sound very tailored to me! We didn’t realize that by “sub out” she really meant that my friends with dietary restrictions would just have to eat more of the other food in the other courses!
After waiting over an hour from when we were seated, the first course came. Then the small cheese plate. We were a party of 9 and were only given 8 half slices of toasted bread to accompany the cheese. I asked if we could get one more half slice so that everyone at the table had one, and our server looked visibly annoyed and gave a very dismissive explanation about how we’re “not paying for the bread” and how they can only cut it into slices of 4... my only question is if we are collectively paying almost $900 as a table, how is one extra slice of bread an issue? The servers attitude and rude explanation was extremely unwarranted since we had asked extensively about the tasting menu ahead of time and never did she mention that we would have to be rationing our meal between the 9 of us...
After this encounter, our server did not return. Her replacement was a blonde server and she was lovely. The meal overall was delicious but the whole experience was soured by our initial interaction with our waitress. We felt that the automatic 18% tip was was undeserved. Would not return.
Great atmosphere, friendly and knowledgeable staff, and delicious food. Yes, it's pricey, but you don't leave feeling that you overpaid; the food and drink quality matches the price. Highly recommend!
Food was good. Nothing blew us away. Service was a bit slow, and it seemed like everyone was going through the motions, but there was no passion, no it factor. Had a good meal, but would not return or recommend. To nit pick, Small issues we had were watching the bartender eating while making our martini’s, then pretend to be busy when he noticed we had saw him. Waiter took our Margherita pitcher with still 3/4 of a drink left in it. No place to hang coats. Debit machine starting @ 20% tip option and going up. Waiters name on the receipt was ‘parrrttttayyyyy!’ Again, good was good. Not spectacular. Just seemed like no one in there had any sort of investment. Just a place to work.
As good as it gets. Great menu with a Middle Eastern fusion. Very well executed. Great staff in a stunning building. Well done!
Food was delicious, live music was really nice - but service was really bad.
Our reservation was for 8pm and the kitchen “closed” at 8:15 and last call for drinks 9:30
Early meal. We were well received at this hour and seated graciously. Very attentive service. Tapas choices were varied and well thought out. Would go back in a flash. Well priced. Drinks were a bit underpowered but tasted good; margeritas well balanced. Clevery ambiance in a nifty bodega. Well done.
Was decent overall but pretty expensive for what you get
Noisy to the point where we couldn't have a normal conversation. We asked for a wine list that never came. We had to ask twice. Food was very good.
We have been there several times. The food is flavorful, the atmosphere is warm, the service is excellent. Can get noisy!
Food and atmosphere were both outstanding. We really appreciated our server giving us her honest opinion on food choices. We particularly loved the ceviche.
Cool little tapas joint built into the base of a heritage building. Cozy, almost cave-like atmosphere. Wide variety of tasty tapas (garlic shrimp is my favourite dish), and there are daily drink specials. Nice patio, too.
Would recommend for the food, our experience with the service wasn't good. Inattentive and distracted staff, had to wait long to order second round of plates, and lots of audible private conversations between servers and bartenders took away from the experience. The food was great, but service was poor.
Dinner is their forte, not brunch. Very weak brunch menu.
Food was excellent. Service was off, incorrect orders received on several choice dishes
Lovely restaurant and food presentation! The civiche was delicious, but the other dishes tended to be over-salted/seasoned. Considering it was a nice restaurant I also would have expected the service to be better, especially considering it was a slow weeknight. The waitress was pleasant, but hardly checked on us. The food runners were also nice, but were unable to explain the dish components. Overall the experience was made by the decor in the restaurant and the lovely food presentation, not by the feeling of hospitality.
We went there last Saturday afternoon. We want try seafood paella, but it’s only available in everyday dinner. So we would like to come again.
I have been to Barsa a number of times and have always enjoyed it. I have brought many friends for the experience. The food is excellent. I will always come back.
Although Barsa Taberna has a beautiful interior and a great atmosphere, the food and service did not meet up to expectations. The food portion was extremely small even for a tapas place, and the service was not only slow, but our waiter was rude and impatient. There are definitely better tapas options out there in Toronto.
The food was quite good but the service was very very slow. We had the smaller of the two tasting menus and it took 3 hours.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend going unless you have all night.
As most reviewers mentioned, food is very good, but super overpriced.
The best paella ever!
Best prawns I've ever eaten - cooked to perfection and the sauce was to die for.
Barsa is one of my favourite restaurants in Toronto. The sharing of small plates is so great when you are there with friends. The octopus is absolutely fantastic. We generally sit on the patio and do some people watching. Great food, great atmosphere and so much fun with friends trying all of the different, and so well prepared, food choices. Highly recommend Barsa.
Thank you to Mateo and team for a delicious meal! Will definitely be back very very soon!
Fantastic service, vibe and awesome tapas. Great for groups or a nice date
Great! Excellent food
The food was so good that our rapture was apparently influencing other tables’ orders. I wish the portions were a little smaller so we could have experienced more plates, but everything was excellent. Great staff as well. We sat outside as for some reason they weren’t seating indoors nor taking walkins. Inside is a great setting that reminded me of underground dining rooms in Spain. Highly recommend this restaurant.
Our server (Vanessa) was friendly, attentive and very professional. She helped make our dining experience extra special! We’ll be back. Thank you :)
Everything was good, except for the reservation experience. Looks like they don’t reserve a specific table, even if you ask that. When you ask to reserve a table outside, the chance you’ll get it is very low, and even if they promise to move you outside whenever they have a spot, they simply forget about that and you have to go there in person and check the table availability.
It was our friends’ 38th wedding anniversary. What a spectacular way to celebrate the occasion! The tasting menu was beyond anything we could have imagined and the servers were excellent. We felt like we had the “royal treatment”. Thank you for a memorable evening. We will be back and will be sure to recommend Barsa to our friends!
Perfect spot for a date or to catch up with old friends. Food was outstanding, we did a tasting menu where the server/kitchen choose a selection of plates for you and we were not disappointed. Such a lovely variety and perfect portions to share between 2 people. For the amount of food, price was reasonable - definitely not an every day dinner but perfect for special occasions.
It’s the worse place. They are not open on weekends but they let us to reserve on weekends. When we arrived the door was closed and no one answered the call.
For a dinner reservation, they canceled us for no reason. Just emailed me said canceled my booking. Are you serious?!!!
