Vizavi Restaurant

Attended my dad's 60th birthday there recently. I was really impressed with the food. I'm not a fan of Eastern European restaurants/banquet halls as they tend to serve bad quality/cheap food, but this one was delicious and fresh. Friendly staff, cozy setting, nice music. Had a great time!

Vizavi serves absolutely delicious Russian food that keeps coming and coming for hours. We attended a birthday dinner here, showed up at 6 and were continuously well fed until 10pm. The staff is friendly and attentive, ensuring drink jugs, alcohol bottles, and food platters are always full. The restaurant is quite cozy and can only accommodate up to about 40 people. There is a small area for dancing and the MC is great at feeling the vibe and putting the right songs on next. Definitely a great choice for a birthday party.

It's a best culinary experience that I had ever. Great food, wonderful and genteel staff. The feeling like at home.

Good food and atmosphere. Great for intimate parties.

Before giving my 2 cents on Vizavi, I would like to explain (for the uninitiated) how the vast majority of Russian restaurants in Toronto function. Most are open for lunch and dinner and will have a menu from which you can order a meal. However, their primary source of business (and validation from the Russian community) is the "full-cover" option where the patrons order a number of seats paying a set fee (depending on the menu options and the time of day) per seat. With a full-cover, your table will be layered with dozens of dishes, with new ones added in a span of 4-6 hour. Most Russian restaurants have some live music in the evenings along with a dance floor. Although the full-cover option is available to smaller groups, it is usually utilized by larger parties. It is common for a larger group to book the entire restaurant for a wedding, a birthday party or a work function. To larger groups, the restaurant functions as a banquet hall. Most of these restaraunts serve alcohol but BYOB is a very popular option. I would recommend three basic rules you will need to follow in order to enjoy your full-cover experience: 1. There will always be more food on the table than you can enjoy at any point in time; 2. The best food usually comes later so don't over-eat earlier (see rule number 1); and 3. If there is music, don't be shy about doing a little dancing between courses (it helps burn calories). Most of the Russian restaurants offer similar dishes in their full-cover options. They are usually judged by the handful of dishes that is unique to a particular restaurant and by the quality/freshness of the food. With this in mind, here is the review of my full-cover experience at Vizavis. I have been there several times since many members of my Russian-speaking family like to book it for their birthday parties. Overall, my experience as relayed in this review has been consistent. The restaurant is a comparatively small space. A group of 30-40 people might be enough to book the entire venue. It doesn't have the tacky, over-the-top décor like faux gold high ceilings and giant chandleries (which is either good or bad depending on what you like). You won't get married here but you can have an intimate birthday party with 30 of your close friends and family. There is a decent-size dance floor and the music is pretty good, with some English and French songs mixed into the usual lineup of Russian restaurant songs. The staff is good at re-filling drinks, setting tables, replacing dishes and catering to the dozens of minor requests for new cutlery, extra napkins, etc.... With the full-cover option everyone is on the same clock and you don't have to worry about your orders being mixed up. The food is excellent. Everything is prepared fresh and you don't feel like you are eating yesterday's leftovers (which is more than I can say about some other Russian restaurants I won't name here). The braised veal ribs are fall-of-the bone delicious and the grilled meat platter served towards the end is solid. The restaurant serves some unique dishes including an avocado-mango salad, potato latkes and the house-specialty varenyky (a type of Ukrainian pierogi stuffed with strawberries). Honestly, I would go back just for the varenyky and would recommend this dish, to anyone just ordering from the menu. Overall, Vizavis is a great experience.