I was born and raised in Italy, so trust me, I know good Italian food very very well: I tried Da Sergio and will not go back.
Food is fine, but not at all great.
Prices are very high, given the quality and portions (both not impressive).
The ambiance is both tacky and depressing: dark basement room with bad-taste decor.
Most of all the place is incredibly pretentious, they clearly think they are much much better than they really are...
This is NOT a family-friendly place. We showed up with our daugther, 18 months: the welcome was less than warm to say the least. No high chair, just a dangerous unstable booster which could not be anchored to the chair (what??); the host/waiter (maybe owner? a very pompous guy, overly-dressy suite, tacky bling, and loads of attitude...) seems annoyed when we ask for a table [in hindsight, we shoudl have left right there and then] then takes an eternity to set it. Towards the end, our daughter was walking around exploring the room (with our close supervision of course): the owner walks in the room, no plates in his hands, has to go around her, so he turns to me and very abruptly says: "she's gonna get hurt. you're gonn have to keep her at the table!"....
If the point was her safety, there are other, more civilized, ways to make it.
Not to mention that we are not talking about a crazy-crowded place with a dozen waiters flying around. And I was right behind her!
Obnoxiously pretentious attitude, depressing tacky environment, and food that is good but not great, and definitely incredibly overpriced.
Not recommended...
A PRESTON STREET GEM---discovered this resto by accident---it has now become my favourite Italian restaurant because all specials are made fresh on site; owner shops DAILY for ingredients; you can hear the veal being freshly "hammered" into scallopines shortly after you place an order!!
i HAVE NEVER BEEN DISAPPOINTED
--the ambience is so warm and the service so attentive and unpretentious that It's like going into an italian family's kitchen!
ONE OF THE FEW RESTAURANTS IN OTTAWA WHERE YOU CAN HAVE A QUIET CONVERSATION (AT LUNCH OR DINNER) WITHOUT THE NOISE AND BUZZ OF MOST OTHER RESTAURANTS