Toronto’s Little Italy: My Foodie Secrets

Updated: 2026-06-17 | Real-time information should be confirmed against official announcements

Lots of people planning a Toronto itinerary put Kensington Market or downtown’s Chinatown as their first stop, and Little Italy tends to get treated as just “a place you pass through on the way.” But after living here for a few years myself, I’ve found that this stretch of College Street is actually the one I come back to most often—not because any particular restaurant is mind-blowing, but because the pace here feels just right: patio seats that catch the sun during the day, bars that start filling up in the evening, and a relaxed feeling like “a little European town transplanted into North America.” This isn’t meant to be a “top ten must-eats” list; instead it’s my rundown of the spots I’ve actually walked through and can find solid information on, and along the way I’ll clear up a few common bits of misinformation you see online—especially about transit, since a lot of guides get the station names wrong, and following them sends you on a big detour.

First, let’s get the area straight. The core of Toronto’s Little Italy is on College Street, between Bathurst Street and Shaw Street (and further west toward the Ossington Avenue area). This was once the most concentrated community of Italian immigrants in Toronto. Although the Italian population has now dispersed and the street has taken in shops run by Portuguese, Spanish, Mexican, Vietnamese and other ethnic groups, the atmosphere of Italian cafés, pizzerias and patio seating is still the dominant note of this street. Worth noting: Toronto actually has another, more “old-school Italian” community, Corso Italia (around St. Clair Avenue West), and the two places are different; this article is about the Little Italy on College Street, the more urban one with a lively nightlife.

Transit: take the 506 streetcar, and don’t go looking for the wrong subway station

This is where the most guides get it wrong, so let me make it clear. There’s no subway station that takes you directly to Little Italy; the online claims that you should “get off at Dupont Station or Bathurst Station” will actually steer you off course—those stations are still a fair distance from College Street. The correct way is very simple:

For the actual routes and fares, please go by the announcements on the TTC official website; the streetcar occasionally gets rerouted or adjusted due to construction.

A few places I go back to (with addresses, so you can save them to Google Maps)

Rather than handing you a list crammed with thirty spots, I’d rather pick out a few with character and verifiable addresses to talk about; prices are for reference only, please go by what the shop charges on site. Café Diplomatico (594 College St) is an old landmark here, an Italian café-restaurant that’s been open since 1968 and is said to be one of the pioneers that brought patio-seating culture to Toronto; for soccer fans, the key point is that its outdoor patio has a large broadcast screen installed, normally showing the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A, and during major tournaments it becomes the liveliest match-watching spot on the whole street. During the 2026 World Cup, Toronto is one of the host cities, and Italian cafés like the ones on College Street that have both a patio and a screen will usually develop a natural fan-gathering vibe—if you want to watch the match alongside locals, this is worth putting on your list; a coffee plus a light meal starts at around 15 Canadian dollars. Further west, Sicilian Sidewalk Café (712 College St) is often described by local media as a long-established Italian dessert café on the street, with espresso, gelato and freshly made cannoli all being signatures; when you’re tired from wandering, sitting down to order an espresso with a cannoli is a very standard Little Italy afternoon, with a serving of gelato running about 5 to 8 Canadian dollars.

Bar Raval (505 College St) is actually a Spanish tapas bar, with interior décor that pays tribute to the architect Gaudí; for years it’s been a regular on Canada’s top-bar rankings and has also made the “World’s 50 Best Bars” list. It perfectly illustrates what Little Italy is now: the name is Italian, but the content has long since gone international. It’s suited to an evening drink with a few small plates to go with it, and when it’s busy you have to drink standing up—the atmosphere is very European. If you want pizza or ice cream, Bitondo Pizzeria (572 College St) does traditional Italian pizza with a neighbourhood-shop feel, while Dolce Gelato (697 College St) is authentic Italian gelato. There’s also Quetzal, a modern Mexican restaurant on the street that has earned a Michelin star—once again proving that the “Italian” of this street is more of a historical label than a menu restriction.

If you want to feel the energy of this street all at once, Taste of Little Italy (the Little Italy food festival) is the best time. The 2026 edition falls on June 12 (Fri) to June 14 (Sun), with the street closure covering College Street from Bathurst to Shaw; the organizers estimate around 500,000 attendances, with food stalls, live music, extended patios, amusement rides and more on site. According to the road-closure notice issued by the Toronto Police Service, College Street is closed from 10 a.m. on June 12 and doesn’t reopen to traffic until the early hours of June 15; the event hours run roughly Friday 15:00 to late night, Saturday 11:00 to late night, and Sunday 11:00 to 22:00. The exact times, stalls and closure area are tweaked slightly each year, so please check the event’s official announcements before you head out.

Overall, this street suits people who love patio seating, coffee and slowly wandering a neighbourhood, and it also suits those who want to watch a match, have a drink, aren’t rushing an itinerary, and are willing to spend half a day soaking in one street. On weekday mornings or afternoons there are fewer people and you can sit comfortably; on weekend afternoons the crowds are heavy and good seats are hard to grab; if you want the buzz, go for the Taste of Little Italy in June. As for budgeting, just coffee and gelato will leave one person quite satisfied for 10 to 15 Canadian dollars, while sitting down for a proper meal runs about 40 to 80 Canadian dollars per person—and you have to factor in the 15 to 20% tip that’s standard for dining in Canada. Heading east toward Bathurst, you can then go on to explore Kensington Market and Chinatown, and arranging it as “one subway plus streetcar line, eating all day” works out smoothly—compared with Little Italy, Chinatown and Kensington Market lean toward a dense, chaotic-yet-lively market feel, while Little Italy is a “sit-down” type of neighbourhood with wide sidewalks and patio seating, weighted more heavily toward coffee and nightlife; the three areas are actually within walking distance of one another, so you don’t have to pick just one.

If you want to fit Toronto’s other areas into your itinerary, you can refer to our Toronto travel guide; if you’re coming specifically for the 2026 World Cup, for match-watching spots and fixture information we recommend going straight to the Canada World Cup viewing guide, and plan around the official announcements. More local Toronto articles are also gathered on the Toronto category page.