Cusina Mediterranean Bistro - Guelph

• A pleasant room• Comfortable seating• Friendly service but a disappointing experience —An old friend from school, who now lives near Guelph, suggested we catch up over dinner and as I was on my way from St. Thomas to Etobicoke it was easy to head up to the Royal City from the 401.Paul suggested an Italian place called Cucina that his friends said is excellent. He gave me directions to meet at the restaurant in a plaza at the corner of Edinburgh and Kortright. As I pulled into the plaza I realized I had been to this restaurant once, a couple of years before and didn’t think it was Italian, but maybe things had changed. Paul clued into the difference as we walked in and a quick phone search confirmed it. But we decided to stay rather than head further into downtown Guelph.No reservation, but it seemed none was needed on this mid-week evening after the busy supper hour. We were welcomed warmly and seated quickly. As we were both driving we ordered coffee and a soft drink and we chatted and looked through the many offerings on the menu. On my previous visit I had enjoyed a salad. I warned my friend that the salads were huge but good, if my recall was accurate. He settled for a salad and a chicken dish and I ordered the veal parmigiana.Our dinners arrived fairly quickly and certainly my buddy's chicken hit the spot. My veal dish was very disappointing. This New York classic can be a real winner with the tender escalopes of veal layered up with tomato sauce and mozzarella and then baked to perfection. What was delivered was one piece of meat, heavily coated and sadly, in my opinion, somewhat overcooked. But was it overcooked? Perhaps not. My expectation was for this classic dish created with Italian finesse and flair whereas we were clearly in a very popular Greek restaurant. Maybe this was exactly how the dish is prepared Greek-style? For fans of Greek food, especially if you have a healthy appetite, then this place should be on your 'to try' list. For lovers of simple but classically prepared Italian fare, perhaps not so.Our mistake, and next time we will head downtown.

The food is great, and the service is efficient. The only thing is that inside is quite fancy compared with the food selection, and it can be kind of uncomfortable to go in for a casual breakfast and they're asking if you have a reservation and seem a bit condescending if you don't. With that being said, the food is great and worth the awkward dynamic.

We eat here with family, and other couples fairly regularly. The food is always good, the restaurant is not all that big so reservations are a good idea. The souvlaki is an excellent choice. The service is great and has a family feel to it.

After dining at some of the best restaurants from Mexico to Italy and lately Costa Rica ,what a great pleasure to come home to this fine establishment. There steak and goat cheese salad is my favourite,but any of their pasta or souvlaki dishes are excellent as well. Eat your heart out "Walters of Costa Rica", cause you could only dream of serving food this good!

The service was great, the food was okay, but it wasn't quite at the level we expected from other reviewers