- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Coffee & Tea |
- All
The Mad Italian
Categories: Food Desserts Restaurants Italian Food Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Desserts, Italian, Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt [Edit]
589 College StreetToronto, ON M6G 1B2
Neighbourhoods: Little Italy, Palmerston, Bickford Park
(647) 352-6234
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 11 pm
Fri 11 am - 1 am
Sat 11 am - 3 am
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Dessert, Late Night
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
Becky Y. said: "Must try their green tea shaved ice, I don't think you can find it anywhere in Canada! The nuts flavor waffle was delicious too. I didn't give them 5 stars because the portion is really tiny." read more »
13 reviews for The Mad Italian
13 reviews in English
-
Review from Ayesha A.
1/27/2012
Omg, pizza in a cone?
What a freakin' awesome idea!!!!
It makes to-go pizza a whole new, less messy, experience.
And, I have yet to actually try the gelato but it's the only place I've seen in N. America that actually looks and smells like real gelato in Italy.
The arugula salad was not great, and the lentil soup was alright at best. But it's DEFINITELY worth going to try the Pizza cones!
Go on a Tuesday though - that's when they are cheaper. -
Review from Tessa M.
Roncesvalles, Toronto, ON
Been wanting to try their pizza cones for awhile. Every time I saw them advertise in NOW, I thought they looked like hand-rolled sushi pizza.
I got an email that they had a groupon deal. Sadly by the time I tried to hunt it down, it ha expired. But Groupon also has time sensitive coupons, that I was able to grab.
So for $10 I was able to get 4 different types of pizza cones. They're just so tasty!
It's hard to go wrong with copious cheese.
Also the man working there was super nice. It was the first time I used to Groupon app, and when one of the Cones spilled over with cheese, he offered an extra one free of charge.
When in Little Italy, this is going to be my new drunk food hangout. -
Review from Vivek S.
10/6/2011 3 Check-ins Here
With a creamy location at College and Clinton, The Mad Italian is an excellent choice for dessert after dinner or drinks in Little Italy. You can't miss their black and white sign, and they're open pretty late on weeknights to satisfy your late-night cravings.
There is a seriously waist-devastating amount of gelato behind the counter. How are the lasses that work here so thin? I didn't ask any followup questions on this point (that would be skeezy, yo) so I dove in head first to the glistening selections.
The staff will let you sample an option first. I tried the Blood Orange and found it too sweet. The Tiramisù was really rich, but not what I was looking for. I settled on a mix of sugar-free chocolate and raspberry. Smart. There are three cone types, but I usually get a cup. I'll tell you right now, my double-scoop was a lot of gelato. I could barely finish it.
You're probably going to take your gelato to go (because I know you, and you're so like that) but if you wanted to you could stick around. There is lots of seating in the back, free Wi-Fi so you can Instagram your scoops or download cone-related torrents, and a back patio.
Two cones set me back $10, so it's kind of pricy. And there was no Mad Italian as promised. But I shall return and add to my girth.
Obligatory Title Pun: Ice CREAM yourself. You deserve it.
Menu Readability: Helvetica. I approve.
Need to mention: They offer dairy- and sugar-free options!
What this place teaches me about myself: I could not work at a gelato shop, without gaining 137 lbs.Listed in: That's Amore!, Little Italy, Where to get fat in Toronto
-
Review from Americo G.
Toronto, ON
3/17/2012
Interesting idea.... But,
-
Review from Laura C.
Toronto, ON
8/4/2011
Yum yum yum. Wow this gelato just shot to the top of my list passing Dolce.
Among their dozens of flavours is a whole case full of sorbets 12 of them that do not use dater (water based) including a dairy free chocolate. The best part was that they tastes just as creamy , I can only imagine what the Gelato tasted like.
Flavourful and creamy what more can you ask for.
Small 2 or 1 flavour at $3.75 is good for one person.
However, the staff here could stand to smile a little and not look annoyed and want to go home. The sitting area could have more and plastic ikea furniture and trash cans higher and more accessible ( that's still no reason to not clean up after yourselves!!!! ).
There s also a patio outside. -
Review from Jay M.
Toronto, ON
10/21/2011
You certainly can't fault the place for its location, or the sweet back patio they have to work with which is pretty nice. This is in the spot that used to be Harmony Lounge back a year or two ago. After the lounge closed, it sat under construction for a good long while. So long in fact I assumed the people that bought the place had given up, but eventually this place did finally open up. Fast forward a few months later, when on a lovely summer evening after a great meal across the street we decided to get some dessert.
The first red flag was the cashier. When trying to give him the change after originally just handing him a $20 bill, apparently the math was too hard to calculate after punching in the bill and he looked at me like I was asking his mother on a date, and made a comment I couldn`t quite catch wind of to the scooping guy down the counter from him. Not exactly a good impression for customer service.
Flavour selection wasn`t bad, but the gelato was mediocre and no better than any other place I`ve tried on College Street.
Lastly, something that weirded me out was how they had a seperate area for the plastic spoons to go to be recycled. Technically, shouldn't the bowl be recyclable anyways? Why do they have a seperate area to recycle the spoons? Do they literally wash and re-use the spoons in the place? Why segregate the two areas?
Overall, while the gelato is maybe a 3, the attitude of the server, the sketchy spoon thing, and the fact that there are better places within a block of walking, I'm going with a 2 on the Yelp scale as "Meh, I've had better" is exactly how I feel about this place. -
Review from Prakit D.
7/12/2011
Delicious gelato and so many flavors to choose from (both milk based and water based). Are they mad? How can they torture me like this? If you like espresso, I suggest vanilla or hazelnut gelato combined with shots of espresso. The consistency of the gelato holds up pretty well against espresso yielding a softer gelato and awesomer flavor!
A great dessert place to stop by if you are in Toronto. -
Review from Toronto L.
Toronto, ON
8/10/2011
The Toronto Lover system:
5 stars = Must visit!
4 stars = Really good. I take my friends here.
3 stars = Somewhat worth it... if you have nowhere better to go.
2 stars = Below average. Attend only when necessary.
1 star = Do not visit!
It's hard to imagine anything more pleasant than a refreshing sweet treat on a beautiful day in Little Italy. One of my first recommendations for any tourist would be to check out this part of the city, and stop at a patio for a drink. Before or after, step into The Mad Italian and take a cupped dessert for a walk.
Their treats are fresh and tasty. Gelatos and Sorbettos are offered in traditional and creative flavours, priced in the $4-6 range. The interior is clean and modern, and some customers choose this location for the full bar and seating. It's hard for me to imagine a Gelato place as a hangout, but this would probably be it.
4 stars -
Review from Rick Y.
Toronto, ON
8/30/2011
Love this place! Their gelato is _low_fat_ and tastes amazing. My fav so far is the spicy chocolate. I could eat waaay to much of that stuff.
-
Review from Jane M.
6/19/2011
This location seems to be fairly new (if it's not on Yelp, it has to be new, right?) but it definitely didn't disappoint.
The first thing I noticed is that this place has a full bar. Having not been to the Bayview Ave location, I'm not sure if this out of the ordinary. Either way, there is whiskey, there is vodka, there is beer, there is ample opportunity for, "Gimme choclit.. Choclit, b'nana 'nd freroche!" And you know drunk people and anything that melts is always a good combination.
It was pretty crowded when I was here, but there was plenty of seating and there's a little patio out back for enjoying your dessert in the sun. I will say the line was insanely long, but with the Taste of Little Italy event going on, this was to be expected.
They serve three sizes, small, medium and large. Small will get you two flavours, medium is three and large is four. I say flavours because these are NOT scoops. If you go in here thinking, "I don't know if I can handle three scoops of ice cream ... Maybe I should get a small?" you will change your mind as soon as you see the little cups on the top of the counter. You probably get a half scoop per flavour, so the medium isn't that big at all.
Between the three of us we had blood orange, lemon, pistachio, Ferrero Rocher, coffee, Nutella, chocolate and coffee.
-- The Nutella isn't as rich as you would think. They opted for a plain ice cream base with Nutella swirled through it, sort of like a rasberry ripple, so it's definitely easy going.
-- The pistachio is actually their best selling flavour, along with chocolate, and it's insanely good. I say this as someone with an honest to God *problem* with nuts/peanuts in desserts. It toes the line, for sure, but it's on the right side of wrong, in my opinion.
-- The blood orange and lemon were both refreshing and zesty. I would say the blood orange was nicer than the lemon, but really, they were equal.
-- It's hard to screw up chocolate, but they do have numerous different kinds (including sugar free), so if you want something specific, make sure to check out all the flavours they have. Similar to the way I order coffee at Starbucks, I just ordered "chocolate" and let the girl behind the counter figure it out for herself. It was rich and creamy but there was no compromising of the chocolatey flavour.
-- The Ferrero Rocher was similar to the Nutella, what with it being a chocolatey hazelnut affair. I can't really elaborate on that. It tasted like the fancy chocolates everyone but me seems to have a hard on for.
One thing I like about this place is that they have a dedicated cashier who just hands out 'small' 'medium' or 'large' receipts. Do not tell this man your flavours, he does not care. All he wants to know is if you're having a small, medium or large and whether you want it in a cup or a cone. It makes it feel more efficient, and it means the person scooping your ice cream isn't also handling money (hello, pet peeve! Want to go for a walk?). You just give the scooper your ticket once you've paid and tell her what flavours you want.
The scoopers are pretty happy too. They like to sing and dance in unison to the radio. It was pretty cute! -
Review from Tara Z.
7/19/2011
The small--two flavours--is just the right size for a taste of gelato on a hot day. There are a lot of gelato places on this strip of College, and this place doesn't really distinguish itself by offering anything different, but the gelato is on par with the excellent offerings nearby. Definitely worth a visit!
-
Review from jocelyn l.
7/10/2011
Amazing Affogatos! I've been here twice in a week with different people and we're all in love with the Ferrero Rocher Affogatos...love that the gelato doesn't melt the moment you plop it into the hot espresso. It makes the espresso So creamy and i could eat 10 of them in a row...YUM
Listed in: Faves in TO
-
Review from Ray L.
Waterloo, ON
1/9/2012
We came in around 1230 pm (lunch hour) after being lured in by the sandwich board sign boasting pizza in a cone! Excited, my boyfriend and I waltzed into the place. There was no customers in there at all, and no servers to be seen anywhere. I guess if we wanted we couldve scooped ourselves some gelato and took off! Haha. After about 5 minutes of checking out the menu and wandering around the shop, we are like "where the hell is the people who work here??"
I kicked the top stair a bit and a couple mins later an uninterested guy ran up the stairs. After giving our orders, we were informed the cones were not ready, and wouldnt be for another half hour. This left me wondering what the hell he had been doing all this time, since the place was clearly deserted for a while. He told us we could order gelato while we wait, as if that would be a suitable option for lunch. Having nothing else to offer, and no genuine effort to keep us or have us come back in a bit, we found somewhere else to eat.
