What Part Of The City Earns The Best Pass-Fail Restaurant Rating? Part IV

Some think it’s the be-all and end-all of restaurant reviews.

Others say it leaves them hungry for something far more satisfying.

All week long we’ve been bringing you a closer look at Toronto’s green, yellow and red pass-fail restaurant rating system and the positives and negatives associated with it.

It has a lot of boosters at Toronto City Hall, but outspoken Rob Ford isn’t one of them. He calls it a “farce” and claims it needs to be “overhauled.” And he cites a previous CityNews exclusive as proof.

“The latest episode down in Chinatown when you have rats in the window and they give them a pass – how is it an acceptable program?” he wonders. “I don’t think it is.”

But Board of Health Chair John Filion begs to differ. He notes the system has been in place since 2001 and he calls it “wildly successful.”

“Since we brought it in, the number of the percentages that get a clean bill of health on first inspection has gone up from 42 per cent to approximately 90 per cent,” he notes.

And to prove his contention, he points at Little Italy. Since 2006, the area’s 67 restaurants have received just 10 conditional passes and only one for pest violations.

Those who run the eateries claim the spirit of the community leads them to help each other – even though they’re in competition. Keeping pests out is one of the bigger challenges and they’re up to it.

“It’s definitely a community effort because if your neighbour’s not up to par there’s a bigger chance that they’re going to come in to your place as well,” explains Connie Mastrangelo, who owns Sorriso.

Lenny Lombardi, long associated with CHIN Radio, is also the chair of Little Italy’s Business Improvement Association. He agrees there’s a family feel amongst the business types. “We have a sense of ownership about our neighbourhood and we’re very proud of it,” he beams.

But despite Filion’s assurance that the system works, even he agrees it could be better. Among the problems: those in charge are reluctant to permanently shut down a repeated offender for long.

“The way it’s set up now it has to go before the Toronto Licensing Tribunal,” he outlines. “They have in the past been reluctant to remove licences.”

But if everyone else achieved the same degree of success as Little Italy, no licences would ever have to be pulled.

See part one of this series here.

See part two of this series here.

See part three of this series here.

Here’s a look at City records from its Dine Safe Program. It lists those establishments – including diners and grocery stores – that have received “RED” violations resulting in closures, and “YELLOW” violations, which led to sanctions from the Toronto Department of Health and Safety.

Please note: All information is supplied from the City of Toronto’s DineSafe site.  CityNews is not responsible for discrepancies between information posted here and inspection reports posted at the food premise, or the DineSafe site.

And it’s also important to remember that businesses that received a sanction may only have been found to have an isolated instance of problems that were immediately cleaned up, and the restaurant or store was reopened with no further troubles.

Litle Italy

(College Street – from Markham St. to Roxton Rd.)

KALENDAR – OK

546 COLLEGE STREET

FRIENDLY Magnolia Fine Foods – OK

548 COLLEGE STREET

Midtown

552 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Duffs famous wings

558 COLLEGE STREET – OK

College street bar

574 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Riviera bakery

COLLEGE STREET – OK

Bar Italia

582 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Riva supper lounge

584 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Utopia cafe and grill

586 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Sorriso sputini bar

588 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Cafe diplomatico

594 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Mini market

596 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Cafe Bar Azzuri

598 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Coco Lezzone

602 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Ali baba’s

Sutra Tikki Bar

612 COLLEGE STREET – OK

I’ll centro del formaggio

614 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Cupps coffee house

622 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Urban thai

638 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Grace meat market

644 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Eat my martini.

648 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Veni Vidi Vici

650 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Golden wheat

652 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Li’ly resto

656 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Bella vista

660 COLLEGE STREET – OK

College fruit and flower

680 COLLEGE STREET

Conditional – May 22, 2008                              INADEQUATE PEST CONTROL

Vecchio frak

690 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Sicilian sidewalk cafe

710 COLLEGE STREET – OK

I’ll gatto nero

720 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Nova Era Bakery

770 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Super model pizza

772 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Regina pizzaria

782 COLLEGE STREET – OK

I’ll gusto

796 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Grappa

797 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Sit in bangkok

713 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Brazil portugal butcher

705 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Dolce gelato

697 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Sushi bon

695 COLLEGE STREET

Conditional – Feb 20, 2007

Sushi D

671 COLLEGE STREET

Conditional – March 12, 2007

Tou-che Martini Bar & Champagne Lounge

669 COLLEGE STREET – OK

The Standard, Pizza & Pasta Bar

667 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Vivoli

665 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Ghazale

661 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Bite Noodle & Rice

651 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Festival (Fine Foods)

649 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Giovanna trattoria

637-639 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Sushi haru.

635 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Burro burrito

611 COLLEGE STREET – OK

La forchetta

613 COLLEGE STREET

Conditional – Nov 28, 2007

Wild indigo.

607 COLLEGE STREET – OK

I Feel Like Crepe/ creperie and martini bar

605 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Capitol cafe & Restaurant

597 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Sottovoce Wine & Pasta

595 COLLEGE STREET

Conditional – April 8, 2008

John’s classic italian pzza

591 COLLEGE STREET – OK

The Harmony Restaurant

589 college street – OK

Strangelove

587 college street- OK

Southside Louie’s ]

583 college street – OK

Sidecar

577 college street – OK

Toi bar

Conditional – Dec 1, 2007

Ted’s collision

573 college street

Conditional – June 25, 2008

Conditional – May 14, 2007

Sushi island

571 college street – OK

Paaeez

569 college street

Conditonal – April 11, 2007

Shallow groove

559 college street – OK

Perla Restaurant

539 College Street – OK

Cornerstone pub

537 College Street – OK

Teatro

505 college street

Conditional – Dec 12, 2006

Grace Restaurant

503 COLLEGE STREET – OK

Andy Poolhall

489 COLLEGE STREET – OK