An Italian restaurant in Toronto that was a cornerstone of its neighbourhood has officially closed down after two decades in business.
It should come as no surprise that, in Toronto’s Little Italy neighbourhood, there’s no shortage of Italian restaurants and businesses. That said, there are fewer today than there once were, when the neighbourhood was a magnet for waves of Italian newcomers eager to make their mark on Toronto. Just look at this year’s Taste of Little Italy — if scores of attendees are to be believed, there was nary a cannoli or tortellini in sight.
Even though the neighbourhood’s concentration of Italian businesses has been on the downturn, a handful of long-standing businesses have managed to stick around while groovy fusion spots and farm-to-table concepts fill in the gaps between them. We’re talking about places like Sotto Voce, San Francesco Foods, and Riviera Bakery, the kind of places you wouldn’t be afraid to drag your Nonna to.
Though it wasn’t around for a half-century like, say, Riviera Bakery, Vivoli, which occupied the corner of College and Beatrice streets for 20 years, was one such place, too.
For two decades, the restaurant churned out a reliable menu featuring all the usual suspects, like pizzas, pastas and whichever antipasti suited your fancy. Let’s face it, 20 years in business doesn’t just happen to a restaurant in Toronto, especially not one in a neighbourhood so densely populated with ever-changing competition. It was a certifiable staple in the neighbourhood among those who still went to Little Italy for Italian food, and it did Italian food well.
It did, that is, until July 6, 2025, when the restaurant closed its doors permanently following an announcement posted to the restaurant’s Instagram account just days prior.
“The end is here…” the post reads. “With sad hearts, after two decades of business, Vivoli will be closing their doors.”
The post goes on to thank everyone who supported the restaurant over the years, promising to all of its many fans that the Vivoli team “will miss” them, despite offering no explanation as to why the restaurant is closing down.
Fans flooded the comments of the post to express their profound sadness at the loss of such an iconic local restaurant and share memories of their own trips to Vivoli.
“I’ll always think of Vivoli on the best day of our lives, the day we became parents. On July 19, 2007, we decided to stop and sit on the patio for lunch after our son (that we were adopting) was born. We had just pulled an all-nighter and was coming home from St. Joes. What a day, and we’ll always have fond memories of that lunch,” one person comments.
“Sad times. Will always remember the memories here,” writes another, simply.
Dished Toronto reached out to Vivoli for comment on the reasons behind the closure, but, as of the time of publication, has not yet received a response.
Vivoli was formerly located at 665 College St.
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