Taverna Italian Kitchen + Bar

Brooke Dirk

Feb 12, 2026

My favourite restaurant in Saskatoon. We had the gamberi alla busara and tagliatelle all’alfredo with prawns, Caesar salad, and the Pinot Grigio. Everything is so good.

Diana D

Jan 8, 2026

A great, casual Italian restaurant in the downtown area of Saskatoon. Portion sizes are huge …take a look at that seafood plate with all the mussels!! Pizza was good and thin crust.

Mintz

Dec 28, 2025

If you’re considering Taverna for a family meal, do yourself a favour and run the other way—preferably to a fast-food joint where at least the expectations are low and the prices match the mediocrity. For context I spent $400 for two adults and three kids, only to endure what can only be described as a culinary catastrophe wrapped in incompetence. This place isn’t just bad; it’s an insult to anyone who’s ever paid for food. Let’s start with the service, which was an absolute travesty from the moment we walked in. Our server seemed more interested in chatting with colleagues than attending to us, leading to long waits for everything from water refills to the check. It felt like we were invisible, except when it came time to overcharge us. And the ambiance? Forget about it. The tables were bare—no tablecloths in sight—and looked like they were lifted straight from a Denny’s during its off-hours. For $400, I expect at least a pretense of elegance, not sticky surfaces and wobbly chairs that scream “budget diner.” The food was where things truly went off the rails. Hair in not one, but two of our dishes? That’s not just gross; it’s a health hazard that should have the inspectors shutting this place down. The drinks were bland and forgettable—watered-down concoctions that tasted like they were mixed by someone who’d never heard of flavor profiles. But the real low point was my Vongole, one of my all-time favourite dishes that I foolishly thought couldn’t be botched. Wrong. The pasta was clearly straight out of a box, limp and lifeless like it had been boiled in yesterday’s dishwater. The sauce? A watery, flavorless sludge that wouldn’t pass muster at a college dorm microwave session. And to top it off, there were sealed clams scattered throughout—any half-decent chef knows those are dangerous and shouldn’t be served, yet here they were, risking our health for what? Laziness? Incompetence? It’s unforgivable. We left feeling ripped off, disgusted, and vowing never to return. Save your money and your sanity Taverna isn’t worth a dime, let alone $400. One star, and that’s generous.

The woodmansk

Nov 16, 2025

After traveling to Italy to visit my daughter that was living there, I had a love for everything Italian. This is the closest I’ve felt to being back in Italy. The atmosphere takes me back to the lake Garda region with the family run vibes felt throughout. The flavours ugh the flavours of the food, the care and the love that is seemingly put into each dish took me back to where I fell in love with the Italian culture. The service only adds to the experience with a warm smile and genuine care in everyone having a great experience. I can’t recommend Taverna enough.

Kaitlyn McDade

Sep 14, 2025

We were extremely disappointed after trying to eat here. We first ordered their no cheese pizza as an appetizer. It just tomato sauce on pizza dough. No flavour at all. They did remake us a pizza that was more flavourful and I do appreciate them for rectifying that for us. We then got our entrees I got the gnocchi pesto dish and I got it without the cheese and it was 7 lbs of olive oil with pesto. I ate maybe 3 pieces but all I could taste was oil and it was so bland. My boyfriend got their cannoli dish and it had 7 lbs of cheese on it, again no flavour and three bites in he couldn't eat it. All the oil and the cheese was all that dish was. We paid $105 for the meal and ended up throwing away the food. That pains me to say with how expensive this meal was. It was inedible, bland, and not the Italian experience we had hoped for. Would not recommend eating here.

Vikki Pink

Aug 23, 2025

I had looked for Reddit recommendations for authentic Italian restaurants that were highly recommended and this was one of the top ones. We did do reservation through OpenTable but they weren’t full when we got there. Looks like sometimes this isn’t the case and reservations are usually recommended. The decor is great. Trendy, clean and modern. Nice lounge vibes. I picked here because it has a HUGE menu to pick from. The serve staff was professional and kind but we didn’t vibe either, it felt like we weren’t of the right crowd shall we say. He was great at his job it just didn’t feel comfortable. The menu being written in Italian with English descriptions felt overwhelming. It does add to the experience. The drink menu is huge, but somehow didn’t have stuff I wanted. My partner liked their white peach lemonade with added vodka. We got arancini balls. They were excellent. A little spicy but they were a great appetizer. We also enjoyed the bread which I believe was focaccia with some garlic butter patty. My meal was a pomodoro tagliatelle with Sicilian meatballs. They are able to sub pasta types which is great. My partner got the cannelloni. He really enjoyed his dish. I on the other hand found it underwhelming. I’m used to authentic. Italian restaurants with great flavour profiles and a solid pasta sauce. I had to ask for salt for mine. The tagliatelle was great though- thick and excellent texture in the mouth. The meatball didn’t strike me as being noticeable either. It reminded me why I don’t frequent Italian restaurants outside of my hometown. For the majority of people who aren’t as picky I do believe this would be a great Italian experience. I just need more bodied flavours & to feel like it’s authentic which I did not. To be fair- it’s hard to find. So I give it a graceful four star. Parking is street parking. Can be difficult to find. Likely need to walk. Sometimes need to pay if you’re within pay hours.

Ethan

May 21, 2025

The food? Meh. Half-decent at best, with all the flavor of salt and garlic. Not exactly what you’d expect from a place which calls itself premium. The sauces didn’t taste in house and you can tell most non meat ingredients are not sourced locally or with care. But the real disaster? The service. Not once were we asked how our meal was. Drinks? Forgotten. Water? Refilled once . And the cherry on top? We waited 20 minutes for the bill while three servers stood around doing Olympic-level nothing. No check-ins. No follow-ups. No effort from any of the service staff. Now for the grand finale: a 20% automatic gratuity slapped on because we had a group of 7. You read that right. They served us like we were invisible and then charged us like we were dining at Gordon Ramsay’s flagship or some restaurant with private service. My $32 pizza magically became a $44 disappointment. The whole point in such a gratuity is usually because the server is taken away from other tables due to a large group size, yet we only saw our server 3 times the entire evening. To take the order for food and drink (half of which never got brought out), to bring us food and fill water, and to deliver a bill. If you enjoy average food, overpriced disappointment, and service that makes you question your will to tip; then congratulations, you’ve found your spot.