I have finally found the best pizza in the city! Falasca SPQR serves some of the most authentic pizza I’ve ever had. This pizzeria specializes in their award-winning (world and Italian competitions) traditional Roman-style pizza. The crust is perfection. Chef Falasca clearly knows the secret to making delicious pizza dough. The golden pizza crusts are thin, but not too thin (about a centimetre thick) and crispy, but not too crispy. (Perfection). You hear the crunch when you bite into your slice, and then you smile as you swallow it.

SPQR stands for Specialita Pizza Quadrata Rotonda, which in Italian means specialty pizza square and round. (Don’t worry, I was a bit stumped too when I first tried to figure out what the four letters stood for.) The square pizzas are served at lunch al taglio (meaning that it is sold by weight). I walked in for the first time on a Thursday afternoon right after the lunch rush, I’ve heard the place gets pretty busy. They have different rectangular pizzas to choose from. You specify how much you’d like and pay for it by weight. The prices range from around $1.30-$2.60/100 grams. Round pizzas are served for dinner. The restaurant is made up of two rooms and a nice little patio area out front. The decor is clean and simple and definitely has an Italian feel to it. The walls are adorned with chalkboard menus and framed Roman prints. During lunch hours, the dining room is sort of self-serve. You buy your food at the front counter, seat yourself, enjoy your meal, and try to keep things tidy. During dinner hours, I think the dining room is full service. I haven’t been to Falasca for dinner, but I definitely will be going more often now that I’ve discovered it! What took me so long!?

For those of you, like me, that LOVE really traditional home-cooked Italian meals, but don’t have a traditional Italian mama- or papa-cook at home…this is the place for you! It’s as Italian as it gets. I walked through the door and was greeted by the most delicious aromas. There was an Italian man (clearly a regular customer) at the counter pointing out which pizzas he wanted. He spoke Italian and was chatting with the server and cooks in the kitchen. I stood there listening to them, trying to pretend I knew exactly what they were saying (kind of wishing I did know, I guess). What a gorgeous language! For a second, with the menus written in Italian and the Italian radio station playing in the background, I almost thought I was in Italy, and that it wasn’t a rainy summer workday in Toronto. The man turned to me and asked if I had eaten at Falasca before. I said no, it was my first time. He looked me straight in the eye with a big smile and said, “You are about to have the best pizza you have ever had! Your mind will be blown! This is made traditionally, exactly how it is made in Rome. You will love it!” He also told me where I could find very delicious, authentic, Italian gelato. With a smile and a “Ciao! Arrivederci!” he was gone, taking his pizza with him.

He was right. I was SO pleased with everything I ate. The best pizza I’ve had in a long time!

They offer a list of Italian beverages including a lovely Italian wine list and Peroni beers. I love San Pellegrino’s sparkling limonata drink, but I tried the sparkling pompelmo (grapefruit) aranciata rosso (blood orange) for the first time. Yum! 🙂

They don’t only make good pizza, they’ve got lots of authentic Italian yummies on the menu! (I’ve posted a link to their website at the end of this post.) Sadly, I couldn’t try everything in one sitting. We decided on the margherita pizza, always a personal favourite. There was a fresh margherita about to come out of the oven which was a plus! The simplicity of the margherita pizza is what makes it so wonderful. The perfect dough, fresh tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella cheese is all you need. My second pizza choice was a pizza bianca (white pizza, no tomato sauce) carciofi e crudo: fresh mozzarella, artichokes and diced prosciutto di Parma. Pizza heaven.

I couldn’t stop at just pizza though, I really wanted to try their pasta too. We got an order each of their daily specials: gnocchi al pomodoro (gnocchi with tomato sauce, basil and parmigiano) and ravioli burro e salvia (ravioli with butter and sage), both simply delicious. They serve different pastas daily. The gnocchi was cooked perfectly and the pomodoro sauce was delicious and classic. I’m a sucker for a simple, authentic tomato sauce.

I loved the ravioli. It was a cheese ravioli served with a bit of butter and sage. Wonderful.

We devoured everything we ordered…and had two squares of pizza to take home with us. (Could not eat another bite!) The pizza is light, and the pasta portion is just enough to satisfy!

There are a few things I’d love to try on the dinner menu. They offer items like bruschetta, salads, and fried delicacies. They do a variety of different types of bruschetta including bianca, pomodoro, prosciutto, olive, and a daily chef’s special. I would love to try the arancini (fried rice balls) or the filetto di baccala (fried cod fillet) sounds like an Italian version of fish and chips.

My photos didn’t turn out as gorgeous as I had hoped for, but I hope I’ve inspired you to try this fantastic restaurant. We are in the midst of a Neapolitan pizza obsession here in the city. All I’ve been hearing about about are restaurants like Pizza Libretto or Queen Margherita Pizza. Falasca is my personal fave. It’s got everything I look for in a great restaurant: great food, great staff, authenticity, personality and enthusiasm. The server and cooks were so helpful and friendly. If you haven’t been to Falasca, then be there! Soon!

Molte grazie, Falasca! Many thanks for a great meal!

Falasca is located at 2059 Yonge St., Toronto, Ontario. It’s right near Yonge & Eglinton, just south of Eglinton. Check out their website to look at their menu.