Top 5 Pasta in Mississauga
Published July 9, 2015 at 6:18 pm
When you’re super hungry, nothing hits the spot like an exceptional bowl of pasta — and luckily for us, Mississauga has some great options. The best pasta is always the fresh kind that is made right inside the restaurant. So whether you like fusilli, rigatoni, tortellini or good old spaghetti, these places have got you covered.
Here are the top five places to get pasta in Mississauga:
5 – Grano Ristorante (City Centre)
Grano is definitely one of our city’s hidden gems, as it’s tucked away in Enfield Place in City Centre. This is one of those restaurants that’s perfect for a romantic dinner or a girl’s night out. It is a small space, so I suggest making a reservation. Grano Ristorante is family owned and operated and all the pasta is made in-house.
4 – Aielli Ristorante (Port Credit)
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Mark your calendar or book your next night out to Aielli Restaurant. It is one of the finer Italian restaurants in Mississauga that caters to its customers and is a great place to dine. Its 30 year history in Port Credit is a testament to what they do best – food and wine. It was the perfect night for a hearty Italian meal created by Chef/Proprietor Luigi Macerola. Aielli has a beautiful wine room that holds over 10,000 bottles. This area can also host small and intimate private functions. Aielli also has some bragging rights, winning multiple Awards of Excellence from the Wine Spectator — a highly revered resource for the world’s finest wines.
3 – Goodfellas (Streetsville)
Once you walk in, you can tell this place did not spare a dime. It feels like you are walking into a rustic Italian home to have some authentic Italian grub. Goodfellas in Streetsville is Mississauga’s very first restaurant offering authentic Neapolitan wood oven pizza. The menu offers authentic Romano pizza and homemade pastas that are all freshly made in-house. The menu also includes appetizers, salads, fish and meat entrees and desserts. The mozzarealla di bufala and parmigiano-reggiano are directly imported from Italy. Goodfellas boasts an extensive Italian wine selection that was specifically chosen to pair beautifully with the dishes on the menu. This place has a small patio that overlooks the new Streetsville Square, so if you are lucky you can catch a free show from your seat.
2 – Casalinga Ristorante (Clarkson)
Located in a plaza in the southwest corner of Mississauga on Royal Windsor and Southdown (yes that is still Mississauga) is one of the best Italian restaurants in the city called Casalinga. This place can’t be any bigger than 40 seats and gets packed pretty fast, especially on weekends. They offer house-made gnocchi (small dumplings made from potato, semolina or flour that are usually served with sauce) and house-made gnocchi is usually hard to find, especially in Mississauga. That right there said a lot about the restaurant. We ordered the potato gnocchi with lamb, caramelized onions, cherry tomatoes, roasted garlic, mushrooms and tomato sauce. The dish was absolutely delicious and the gnocchi melted in our mouths. You won’t be hungry after eating something this generously portioned. They also have thin crust pizza cooked in a stone oven. Casalinga has been around for just over three years and if they keep serving this hearty Italian food, they will be here for generations to come.
1 – Michael’s Back Door (Clarkson)
Before we start talking about the food and the restaurant, we’ve got to say that we love the name and where Michael’s is located. The setup is so unlike anything else in Mississauga, as it is located at the back of a building in Clarkson off Lakeshore Road and is almost a secret because it’s completely hidden from public view. As you park in the back alley, you will find a glass solarium protruding from the back. It’s almost like you are walking into a secret location. The server was very pleasant and knowledgeable and gave recommendations, as any good server should. This isn’t a big place, so make reservations — especially on Friday and Saturday nights. This would be a perfect place for a date and they even have a piano room that can accommodate 40 people, which is great for a corporate dinner. They recently introduced a wine room for up to 16, which is great for family parties when you just don’t want to cook at home. Michael’s is expanding so much that it might have a front door one day. Also, Michael’s Back Door has been around since 1981, so you know they’re doing something right.
BONUS:
Papa Giuseppe’s (Port Credit)
You can’t really miss this quaint little restaurant that’s located in the heart of Port Credit. If you are one of the lucky people to actually get a seat, you are in for a treat. This place has a rustic Italian-inspired dining room and is a great spot to enjoy your pizza, which is cooked in a stone oven. Papa Giuseppe’s also serves house-made gnocchi and I can never say no to that. They also serve a selection of antipasti (including insalata caprese), and a wide selection of pastas including Nona’s Pasta Campania or carbonara (marche). If you are lucky enough, try to get a seat directly in front of the kitchen so you can eat and watch the chef and cooking staff do their thing. In the summer months, they have a really nice patio they open up at the back of the restaurant. If you are on a date and you get into this place, you look like a Don Juan!
- Michael’s Back Door Restaurant
- Casalinga Ristorante
- Goodfellas Pizza
- Aielli Ristorante
- Grano Ristorante