Impasto's owners, Stefano Faita and Michele Forgione are bringing their culinary skills to their new pizzeria called GEMA (an acronym for their children's names). The establishment serves fresh pizzas and decadent desserts.
Overall, reviews describe Gema Pizzeria as a warm neighborhood spot with a welcoming vibe, solid wine selection, and very good pizza, though experiences vary. The crust is frequently praised as delicious and blistered, while a few visits note undercooked centers or pizzas that feel oily and where the toppings don’t always come together. Pizzas such as Apennine, Ruliano, Capricciosa and Vetri get strong praise for the crust and balance, though some diners find certain toppings or additions like balsamic on fior di latte to be overpowering. The Jean Talon market salad is consistently highlighted for freshness and brightness, with several calls to its standout vinaigrette. Calamari and some antipasti can disappoint when not crispy or sufficiently flavorful, and tiramisu often lacks intensity. The atmosphere is described as casual and convivial, with some reviews noting it can be noisy and the space crowded; service ranges from outstanding to slow or inattentive, and a few readers question tipping defaults on the machine. Still, the consensus leans toward returning for the quality and charm.
A good little pizza spot with tasty food, a solid wine selection & friendly staff.
The crust was delicious & nicely blistered, however the toppings didn't quite come together for me. The balsamic vinegar on the fior di latte, micro arugula, & prosciutto pizza felt like a note that pulled the balance off, at least for me.
The Jean Talon market salad however, had me singing. It was fresh & vibrant - especially impressive in the middle of January. I would absolutely recommend the salad.
The tiramisu fell a bit flat for me. I was really hoping for more intensity & flavor.
The atmosphere hit all the markers of a casual neighborhood pizza spot. Overall, it was a very enjoyable stop.
We'll be visiting again.
Feb 6, 2026
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A good little pizza spot with tasty food, a solid wine selection & friendly staff.
The crust was delicious & nicely blistered, but the toppings didn't quite come together, leaving the pizza pleasant rather than memorable. The balsamic vinegar on the fior di latte, micro arugula, & prosciutto pizza felt like a note that pulled the balance off, at least for me.
The Jean Talon market salad however, had me singing. It was fresh & vibrant - especially impressive in the middle of January. I would absolutely recommend the salad.
The tiramisu fell a bit flat for me. I was really hoping for more intensity & flavor.
The atmosphere hit all the markers of a casual neighborhood pizza spot. Overall, it was a very enjoyable stop.
Stopped in for a bite, no reservations. They were able to squeeze us in. Ordered their pizza of the month: thin crust with pesto, micro arugula, prosciutto, burrata, & carmalized peaches. So tasty we ordered another pizza! 2nd one had prosciutto, melted leaks, buratta. Also delicious. Staff was friendly & efficient. For drinks we had espresso martinis, amoretto sour & two types of wine. All marvelous & the amoretto sour was the best I had so far on our vacation. For dessert, pistachio gelato with roasted peanuts. My wife thought she was in heaven. The server was wonderful & treated us as though we were family.
Salads : the good & the bad & the not so ugly. Fantastic, best of the late summer tomato salad , fresh, tasty & daring in big savoury chunks with great buratta — & the worst fennel potato octopus salad ever - potato from the day before yesterday back of the fridge tasteless fennel & onion - so so sad— although the octopus (pieuvre) was good
Sep 2, 2023
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I don't normally comment on restaurants etc but I had to leave a comment about Gema, it's absolutly amazing!! My boyfriend & I recently went & it was my first time, it's by far the best pizza I've had!!!!!! I love the restaurant it's a great ambiance, great service & delicious tasty pizza!
I defiantly recommend this place to anyone who wants a really good pizza this is the place to be! Love it!
Having seen Stefano Faita's cooking show on CBC & now co-owner of Gema, I had high hopes for this restaurant. Unfortunately, I left very disappointed.
This is why...
Being a foodie, I've tasted quite a few of the top restaurants in Montreal, & always looking into exploring good food in Montreal. Gema's meals tasted quite ordinary, nothing extraordinary or tastier than most Italian restaurants I've been to. Which are quite a few!
The pizza I had, was just "Ok" Yes, I ordered a tomato & cheese pizza.Nothing fancy about this. Which the pizza on the menu is called "1889" The crust was crusty & well cooked. Great! The cheese, well.. I'm still looking for it. I'm not a fan of greasy super cheesy pizzas, but I'm also not a fan of pizzas that are mostly tomato sauce with little to no flavour & I have to search for the cheese. Mine only had four spots of cheese throughout the entire pizza. Along with three very fresh & tasty basil leaves, yet only three. On the menu, it said the cheese is Quebec Mozzarella di Bufala(Buffalo Mozzarella)Wonderful, I love local products! The taste was not creamy, or silky as it should be. Instead it was overcooked & crispy. The little bit of cheese that I was able to taste. All this for $13.00
The service was Ok. Not bad or anything to very happy with. Simply just Ok.
The siting chairs, that was my biggest issue of the entire restaurant. When you pay $50+ for a meal, you'd expect something better than the very simple metal chairs you often see in school gyms. Yes, they fit with their theme of the decor, yet I cannot believe they never thought about comfort. These chairs are flat, no cushion or a nice back rest. Much less an arm rest. Just a simple piece of metal shaped into a chair. After 30 minutes, I was past the level of discomfort. The chair was simply unbearable. Yet, I couldn't leave in the middle of my dinner. Out of respect for my guests.
Now onto their desserts. Overall not a large or impressive variety. Yes, they are known for their "custard" ice cream($5.00) with different sauces($1.50) extra each. Their ice cream had a lovely vanilla bean flavour, & not too sweet. I chose chocolate sauce as an extra, I only received a very small drizzle. Disappointing again! Their ice cream, well nothing out of the ordinary from a texture of a soft serve ice cream, except that it's more flavorful.
The waitress specified that we received a child size portion at a discounted price. Thank-you! (I did not order that size!) due to the small amount of ice cream they had. The discount, was only 20 cents! A discount not even worth mentioning after paying in total of $50+ for the entire night.
Overall very disappointing. I will think twice whether to give it a second chance or to return at all.
Went to the newly opened GEMA pizzeria this Friday what a disappointment. All was not lost, the flavor indicated fresh genuine products, the dough was quite tasty if you like to eat dough but the toppings were scarce.
The rapini & sausage pizza had a sprinkling of rapini, very much like a sprinkling of parsley & a few bits of sausage & no olives.
The zucchini flower pizza was tasty but with too much dough & few toppings.
The porchetta ( Impasto )pizza quite original & tasty but at $17, all daugh & a few bits of porchetta at the center.
For appetizers ( $9 a pop) we had the classic fried calamari which were OK. The sausage with peperonata again a disappointment 4 pieces (I counted them)of sausage one inch in length that comes to $2.25 an inch. I happened to look at the next table which also had an order of sausage & to my surprise the appetizer plate was filled to the rim with sausage. Maybe one has to know someone to get a larger portion !
We ended the meal with the home made ice cream, which was very good.
Would I go back? Probably not, costs too much dough for a lot of dough.
I haven't tried GEMA yet but plan to, are you the Nicola Travaglini of said store next to the JTM? If so you shouldn't be talking about price of pizza as you wayyyy over charge for your slap pizza. It's very good but very overpriced.
Hello Mr. Stew, Thank you for the comment. Let me assure you that I am not the Nicola Travaglini with the store by the Jean-Talon market we just share a common name and yes I share your views about how expensive his pizza is. His pizza is original and tasty but a little heavy on the price. Did u try his porchetta sandwich good value for the price. Ciao
