Bar Vendetta: An Incredible Table on Dundas Street West

Jen Agg opened Bar Vendetta in September 2019 in the old Black Hoof space on Dundas West — and from the start, the idea was to be a neighborhood place, not a weekend destination. The pasta is house-made daily, and if you show up late enough, there are nachos until 2 AM.

A Teenage Bedroom on Dundas West

Jen designed the room herself, and this one might be the most personal of all her spaces. She describes it as “an ode to my childhood teenage bedroom” — indie rock posters line the walls, the color scheme nods to the 70s, and a Douglas fir glass canopy gives the room a warmth that feels both retro and alive.

“It’s young, it’s casual, it’s cool,” she says. “The room just feels warm and inviting.”

There’s a big bar where you can pull up without a reservation — especially on weeknights — and just have a glass of wine and a plate of pasta. No ceremony, no wait list. It’s the kind of flexibility that makes a restaurant feel like it belongs to the neighborhood rather than just existing in it.

The Treehouse Out Back

In the warmer months, the back patio becomes one of the best-kept secrets on Dundas West. It has the feel of a hidden treehouse — elevated, leafy, and tucked away from the street. Jen is clearly proud of it.

“The beautiful little treehouse patio in the summer is such a nice place to be,” she says.

It’s the kind of space that turns a Tuesday night glass of wine into something that feels like a small escape — intimate without being precious, and just removed enough from the sidewalk to make you forget you’re steps from one of the busiest strips in the west end.

Pasta That Has No Business Being This Good

The kitchen is led by long-time chef Annalisa Latavo, who makes all the pasta in-house daily. The menu is Italian-leaning, wine bar-inflected, and built around comfort — tagliatelle alfredo, pappardelle with oxtail ragù, a cacio e pepe-inspired coil of ricotta-stuffed pasta that has become a signature. Rosemary focaccia starts things off. The cooking is precise without being fussy, rich without being heavy.

Jen’s assessment is characteristically direct: “A great neighborhood restaurant with pasta that is so much better than a neighborhood restaurant ever has to be. It’s really excellent pasta.”

And then there are the bookends. Between 3 and 5 PM, before the dinner menu kicks in, Bar Vendetta serves muffuletta sandwiches — a nod to the New Orleans classic. And from midnight until close, it’s nachos only — a deliberate late-night move for the service industry crowd and the night owls who’ve made Bar Vendetta a second living room.

Wine, Weeknights, and No Pretence

The wine list fits the room: approachable, interesting, and priced to drink rather than admire. It’s a proper wine bar in that respect — bottles chosen to pair with pasta and conversation, not to impress a sommelier. Cocktails from David Greig’s broader program round out the drinks.

Bar Vendetta holds a Michelin Recommended designation, a recognition that confirms what regulars already know: this is serious cooking in an unserious setting. This isn’t where you go to celebrate. This is where you go because it’s Wednesday and you want to eat well and feel good and not think about it too much.

In Jen’s expanding constellation of Toronto restaurants — Gray Gardens, Le Swan, Cocktail Bar, General Public, Rum Corner — Bar Vendetta is the one that feels the most like home. Not her home. Yours.

Written by Daniel Neuhaus
Photography by Scott Usheroff

Updated on July 09, 2026

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