Cafe Brio

Cafe Brio has always held the top spot on my restaurant list. Once again, I opted for the duck breast, my tried-and-true favorite. Though it was slightly drier than usual, it remains my go-to dish at Cafe Brio. The meatball was exceptional—tender, juicy, and seasoned to perfection. Fresh oysters added a delightful touch. As for the gnocchi carbonara, the gnocchi itself was soft yet chewy, perfectly complemented by the creamy sauce. While the mushroom risotto was decent in flavor, I found the rice slightly undercooked. However, the biggest disappointment was the tough, stringy sirloin—a far cry from appetizing. Even a homemade version would have fared better. Cocktails didn't quite impress, and service was a tad slow. Despite these setbacks, Cafe Brio will remain a favorite, though perhaps not holding onto the top spot anymore.

Having mixed feelings about this place.

The good:
I’m impressed by the duck breast dish - the duck was cooked on point: tender meat with crispy skin. The potato stick is super crispy on the outside, although a bit salty.
I like that they have wine paring suggestions on the menu, and that they are good.

The not so good:
The rabbit appetizer turns out to be a rabbit ham-ish piece; it’s novel but we didn’t enjoy that much.
The penne dish had good flavor, but the sauce was runny and the pasta itself was meh.
The service was suuuuper slow; I can see that everyone was busy but that didn’t justify the wait for almost 30 minutes for main dish.
The host needs to work on their communication skills. After checked in for our reservation the host mumbled something and seated the people arrived later than us first. Again I could see that everyone was busy but that shouldn’t mean skipping proper communication to customers.

I went here for a group dinner. I recommend making reservations, as the earliest we could get a table on a Saturday night on short notice was 8:30 p.m. Having said that, the wait was totally worth it. The food here was exquisite. We started with oysters which were served with house made sauces.

One thing I really appreciated about this restaurant was that we could order half portions of the main courses. This allowed us to enjoy different things without getting too full.

The server let us know about the daily specials, which all sounded superb. I opted for a half portion of the daily fish special. It was divine.

I finished with cheese, which was served with quince jelly and artisanal crackers.

The server was a total pro and knew just how to manage being attentive without being too much.

This was one of the best restaurant experiences I have had in a long while. I totally recommend this place to anyone who loves good food.

We ordered some garlic sausage, salami, a ribeye steak, spaghetti, halibut, penne bolognese, and a fig and lime sorbet and a vanilla ice cream tonight. The bread was nice and the butter which came with the bread was so flavourful.

The ribeye was very flavourful and delicious (as well as the veg which was served with it). The halibut was absolutely wonderful. The cured meats were delish. The pastas were tasty, too. My FIL thoroughly enjoyed the vanilla ice cream.

Absolute decadence ! Loved their in-house cured meats selections, had the duck pastrami and lamb salami 😋 even their homemade pickled veggies and honey mustards to pair with the meats were scrumptious !

Did half orders of the seared scallop and lamb special - beautifully balanced saltiness with sweetness in both dishes 😋😋

Loved the look and smell of the rose cocktail but was a bit on the sweet side

Atmosphere was lovely, restaurant patio and exterior looked like an Italian cottage in the countryside ! Patio was also accommodating for my puppy which is a big plus 👌🏻👌🏻

Overall, loved the food and can’t wait to come back and try more of everything !

Amazing food with original recipes! We wanted to lick our plates to savor every bit. Service was great as well.
Highly recommended.

Amazing special occasion dinner. Exceeded expectations. We needed a reservation for a weeknight and every chair was filled. We were seated immediately and the greeter was cheerful. Our server did a nice job walking us through the menus and we opted for the chefs selection of six dishes for a fixed price of $69 each which is a good value. The meal was soup, beet salad, charcuterie, gnocchi, chicken confit & halibut. The quantity of food was large but the quality was what shone! The cured duck pastrami was both unexpected and outstanding. Each of the dishes was perfectly prepared and showed creativity and an excellent example of bringing the most from a dish. For example the gnocchi which is a very mild dish was paired with a mushroom pesto. They have bar seating group seating and several intimate couples tables. My only criticism is the bathroom needs a bigger better exhaust fan.