District Oven - Toronto

Attended a Fundraiser at this great spot and was pleasantly surprised by the excellent food, delicious starters to share, lamb shank, bass fish, perfectly done. Service was friendly and attentive. We definitely are adding this restaurant to our go to eatery.

I kept driving by this place everything I went for a coffee in Little Italy. So we finally tried it. The atmosphere was nice. The restaurant is simple, spacious, casual space serving Middle Eastern–Mediterranean food. They have a room in the back for private functions which is good to know. Our server, Dan, was a joy. He was friendly, attentive and knew the menu. When we asked about an item that he hadn't tried he was honest, which was much appreciated. The food was really good. It had a tapas feel. A little pricey for the amount of food that you did get served. I have to admit I was still a little hungry when we left. Only my opinion, and if you like Middle Eastern–Mediterranean food it is really yum.

We have eaten at District Oven many times in the past few years. Their pita baked on site is the best I have tasted and their hummus and labne as good as any I have tasted outside the Middle East. The chicken souvlaki was so moist and citrusy - we ended up ordering more than we originally asked for. The pizza, especially the one with figs was light, tasty and more-ish. The ice cream and apple baklava were an excellent end to the meal. Really it was another great meal. However, we were a large party (20 people) and the food came out slowly and and in small amounts at any one time. For a small group it seems to be much better - in previous visits, with a small group, I would have given this restaurant 5 out of 5

TL;DR — Okay food that's not worth the value. Service is unable to answer your questions and after we received our food service pretty much disappeared. Would not go back, do not recommend (even to try).Pros:• Actually tasty food• Lots of seats• The wineCons:• Small portions• Expensive (no value really)• Service was poor and then non-existent Long Version:We came in Tuesday night to celebrate my sister's homecoming and to meet my newest nephew. I'll start this by saying we actually had a good time, and then an even better one when we came home to laugh at how bad of an experience District Oven is.Looking at the menu, it's pretty obvious the portions are small — a little confused, we asked the server quantities and tried using hand gestures to indicate portion size. He described a skewer by the # that come with it (not indicating at a $10 skewer about a $6 from any other middle eastern / greek resto). For 5 people we ordered 2 meat platters and 1 dip platter and the calamari. Everything on the board was over cooked. The lamb was chewy. The chicken charred. Yet, it was still okay. The server missed a total upsell opportunity too, the calamari only comes with 4 pieces; we would've easily doubled the order so that we didn't have an award sharing situation just to get a piece.We drank our bottle of wine, bottle of water, ate all our food and chatted. We had a great time chatting, the setting is pleasant but the place looks like it still under renovation (? the back area looks like the decor was removed) — and then we waited... and waited... no service. The guy was running back and forth, and making eye contact, then completely disappearing. A few times another server had to help out as we tried to get everything we needed to eat the meal — like ordering more pita.We left happy to spend time with one another, but unsatisfied and still hungry. Thanks -VS

Fun place for a group -- order a few different dishes and share them around. While some things are as expected -- felafel is felafel -- most of the dishes combine middle-eastern ingredients with the chef's (or owner's) creativity. Even the drinks add a "mediterranean" dash, with a "Moroccan Mojito" and an "Old Fashioned Jaleb".This is a great place if some members of your group are vegetarian or vegan as there are numerous options (there are meat, chicken, and lamb dishes as well so everyone is happy).The best dish for our table tonight was the fish.So, here you are, in a casually-cool environment, with friendly, intelligent waiters and interesting, yet good, food with unique and quirky accents and then you go to the bathroom: on the doors of the stalls in the women's room you sit down and find yourself face-to-face with a plastic surgeon's ad plying his trade. Feeling a little chubby after your Istanbul Beer Cocktail and Stone Hearth Fired Flatbread? Not to worry; go see this doctor and he'll tuck your tummy away. The restaurant can't make enough money on its fairly expensive food and drink that it has to sell the stall-door space for advertising? Overall, this was a good experience but the owner needs to recognize that the adverts rob the restaurant of a bit of its hip and welcoming vibe.