That should offer at least some indication as to what type of restaurant Famoso is for those who haven't heard of it. As one Edmonton Sun columnist put it, these franchises are kind of like an upscale, Neapolitan-style version of Boston Pizza, complete with corporate branding and sights on national domination. In other words, a perfect fit at Yorkdale — but what about the Annex? Not to be an asshole, but there are obviously just a few more options for Neapolitan pizza in downtown Toronto than there are in Jasper.

No doubt some will bemoan the further corporatization of the neighbourhood — though, in truth, that happened long ago and has ebbed and flowed for the last half decade or so — but one wonders if that attitude will carry much weight should the pizza prove as authentic as the company claims it is. Will the cookie-cutter interior and family-friendly atmosphere lead the Annex crowd to venture outward for its pizza fix (sorry, Hey Lucy)? Or is Famoso's just what the neighbourhood's been waiting for?

Thanks to reader Daniel Alter for the tip

Hiromi wouldn't say what the cost of the chauffeur service would be, how many drivers they might have available on a typical night or if there would be a limit to the geographic area in the city the chauffeur would travel but any excuse to indulge in more over-sized mugs of Sapporo seems like a good one to me.

Update: Hiromi has confirmed that the service is "for people who have driven their cars to the restaurant; instead of having to leave your car overnight, someone from the restaurant
will drive your car and you home."

Crema owner Geoff Polci tells me that the new location should be up and running in a few weeks. Based on some photos posted to their Facebook wall it looks like they still have quite a bit of work to do on the space.

Crema joins Dolce Gelato and Pizzeria Libretto as impending arrivals to the stretch of Danforth between Broadview and Pape.

Crema is one of a number of local "indie cafes" that now has multiple Toronto locations. Take our Facebook poll and let us know which cafe you think will get to four locations first.

No word yet on when Dolce will be opening its Danforth doors. But there's no rush given reports today that cold weather in this city might last longer than we'd like.

While last year's opening of Queen Margherita Pizza brought authentic Neopolitan pizza to the east end, given the success of the first location and its sister restaurant, Enoteca Sociale -- voted number one and two in 2008 and 2010 on our annual best of lists, respectively -- one would expect that packed tables and long wait times lie on the horizon for Libretto II. As for why they chose the neighbourhood, Agostino told Andrew D'Cruz that the Danforth is "a great area. There's a lot of foot traffic, a lot of families. It's a real neighbourhood. We're all about neighbourhoods."

No word yet on an exact address or exactly what the menu will look like, but we'll keep tabs on this most exciting development.

Photo by Jen Chan on Flickr.

And why Scoops + Tees? That's because the Drake is once again collaborating with the team behind the Shared clothing brand and will be selling their t-shirts in the new shop. So, go for ice cream and buy a t-shirt. Get it? Not sure I do either but they'll be serving Metropolitan (a local brand) so we know that at least there's a local theme tying the two things together.

In Liberty Village, in the long shuttered Atelier Thuet space behind the Liberty Market Building the neighbourhood will be welcoming its first cheese store. The Village Cheesemonger will be opening imminently and according to their Facebook will sell more than 150 varieties of gourmet cheeses from around the world.

A few doors down from the cheesemonger, a new bar is expected to open sometime this Spring. A sign on the door says it will be called Locus 144 but I wasn't able to track down any other details.

On Eastern Avenue, high end furniture store Avenue Road (currently hidden away on Booth) will be moving to much larger digs. I'm not sure what this means for this sleepy industrial corridor but there are plenty of more buildings like this one which could turn out pretty well in a retail makeover.

On Queen St, in Leslieville, a new tea shop will be opening soon meaning competition for nearby Steeped and Infused. Their web site doesn't have much information, but the sign on the window says Majesteas will be a purveyor of loose tea.

Finally, near the corner of Bloor and Lansdowne, a new restaurant called the Bloordale Pantry is getting set to join the burgeoning 'hood. Not many details are being shared via Twitter just yet but owners Rose and Anthony promise a mid April opening and support of local artists in the area.

Meanwhile, at Queen and Tecumseth, the corner space once home to Vdara and Habitat has shockingly been leased to a sports bar. Hoops Sports Bar and Grill which some might know from its location at Yonge and Carlton is movin' in. I'm sure Downward Dog didn't see this coming. Now they're sandwiched between a sports bar and a massive billiard stick (Rack and Whack).

On King West at Brant, the massive corner space formerly home to a big fur outlet will be transformed into Alimento Fine Food Emporium. Signs out front suggest the new spot will feature a cafe, cheese, meats, pizza, panini, pasta, bread and other baked goods.

In Leslieville, in the old Blu Salon space, a second location for Cafe Florentin is expected to sprout soon. The original location is further east in the Beach.

Also in Leslieville, the Six Shooter Records space that became vacant a few months ago will soon be home to Frankly Eatery.

What happened to Goodfoot? The high end sneaker store has closed all its locations including the one on Bay. The original Richmond West store now has a liquor license application on its window indicating that a bar or restaurant called Goodnight will be opening on some yet to be disclosed date.

Back on Queen, on the east side of town, custom furniture maker/seller Kimberley Jackson is moving in next to the newish Pizzaiolo near Jilly's. Their previous store closed last year in the Beach.

And finally, chocolate lovers rejoice! A second location for Delight Chocolate will be opening at the end of March on West Queen West in the space that was until recently home to The Spice Trader and the Olive Pit (they moved further west). Now some of the city's best hot chocolate and fair trade, organic chocolate can be found a bit more central than the Junction.

A few blocks west a new bar called Lab 651 is opening at 651 College St. where Bite Noodles and Rice never seemed to draw much of a crowd.

And still on College, sandwiched between the Pizza Nova and Churrasquiera O Sardinha will be a new cafe and bakery called Creme. They're currently hiring (in case anyone's looking).

On Dundas, just west of Ossington, City Store Groceries hints that a nice convenience store or small grocer might be on its way but my attempts to find more information about what's coming proved unsuccessful.

At Queen and Dovercourt, the old Slavic Pentecostal Church may or may not be transforming into a bar called the Saxony. Earlier this month there was a liquor license application on the front door but it seems to have come down in the past few days while the building appears to still be for sale and/or lease.

At 1095 Queen, next to Thrush Holmes Empire, a sign on the front window suggests a FIBA participating establishment will be opening in the Spring. Two points for anyone who can tell me what FBIA is since their web site doesn't seem to exist.

In the old Madras Pantry space across the street from Trinity Bellwoods, long time Queen West resident The Spice Trader and the Olive Pit are moving in. I guess the bonus with this new location is that the store will no longer be split over two floors.

Still on Queen, it looks like chicken wings aren't just for the Annex. Hot Wings will be moving into the large space once uglified by Miami Subs.

In Parkdale, paper has been covering the window of 1235 Queen St. West for some time now, but word on the internets is that the spot between Alexandria Falafel and Salvador Darling will be a new bar called Motel Breeze.

And, finally, the long-anticipated Parts & Labour looks to be finally coming to fruition. The web site is now up. Although an opening date has not been announced, expect this to be the new Parkdale hot spot given that the owners of Oddfellows are among those involved.

On Yorkville, in the old location of Sushi Bada, a new Korean/Japanese share bar called Koko! has scheduled its grand opening for Valentine's Day. According to Yonge Street Media, one of the owners of the under construction spot is Sang Kim (part owned of Blowfish) who feels Koreatown is too cheap. Watch for Yorkville prices in the range of $40 for lunch for two, or $100 for dinner.

In the far reaches of Leslieville, the space home to the I Deal Coffee that closed last November has found a new tenant. A new sign in the window announces that Voulez Vous Cafe will be opening here soon.

Further west on Queen East, The Citizen is no more. Chef Rodney Bowers has sold the restaurant to celebrity chef Lynn Crawford (from Restaurant Makeover fame) who plans to turn it into Ruby Watchco with a menu featuring seasonal, local food that showcases Ontario growers. Crawford is working toward a March opening.

And finally, on Davenport, the Amaya empire continues to expand, this time in the form of another Amaya Express. This will be the fourth Amaya Express location, but I'd expect at least six of them to eventually surface if the web site design is any indication.

On Dundas West, the opening of coffee shops is showing no signs of abating as here comes Full of Beans. Found just west of Ossington it's actually a great location with I Deal being the nearest competition at the corner of Oss and Foxley. Peaking through the window, I saw a fairly raw space so don't expect any Americanos to be served here before the end of the decade.

In Yorkville, the shuttered Flow is being reinvented by the Liberty Group into something called Ciao Wine Bar. Their new venture is scheduled to open January 15th.

And finally, on the Danforth, a cafe and eatery called Teatree has announced its impending arrival. Found just a few doors west from Square Boys the cafe - if done right - will bring a much needed indie option to this part of the street.

On Portland north of King, Jimmy's Coffee will be opening this week in a formerly rundown house by Devil's Martini. With La Merceria, SpiceSafar, Nook and Zoe's Bakery Cafe all within a block or so I'm not entirely convinced the area needs a new cafe but a spy tells me it will be an "amazing space for espresso lovers".

The Terroni empire is expanding. The latest outpost will be right next door to Osteria Ciceri e Tria on Victoria St. Vince Mammoliti told Toronto Life that it will be "an informal space where exclusive wines can be enjoyed at an enoteca featuring rustic food along with some Terroni classics."

In Parkdale, the Taste of Tibet is no more and will be replaced by something called Om Restaurant. A sign on the door promises the menu will feature Indian and Tibetan food.

And finally, on Dundas East near Jarvis, Smokin' Bones will be serving up southern comfort food to Ryerson students and others in the area. Seems like this stretch is suddenly on its way to becoming a bit of a comfort food mecca.

A few blocks away on Portland just north of King, Gusto at 101 has applied for a liquor license. But don't expect this place to open any time this year. Lot's of work is still to be done on this cube shaped one-story down the alleyway from Devil's Martini.

At the corner of Commissioner's Road and Cherry St., the aptly named Cherry Restaurant might bring more life to the Port Lands. Like Gusto at 101, there's still plenty of construction to be done at this long abandoned building but at least there were crews busily working away when I stopped by.

Origin is the long anticipated production of Colborne Lane's Claudio Aprile. The large space at the corner of King and Church has been under construction for quite some time but has a soft opening tonight. Looks like Origin will also give nearby Le Petit Dejeuner some heat for the breakfast and brunch crowd. A menu currently listed on Origin's web site is heavy on the biscuits, hashbrowns and omelets. They'll also be serving grits!

Nearby, on Victoria St. near Adelaide Duggan's Brewery will be opening soon in the building that once housed Denison's Brewery Co. According to the site Great Canadian Pubs and Beer, the owner is Michael Duggan who was a recent champion of Bar Volo's Ontario Cask IPA Challenge. Duggan told the site:

"I am going to try to have 8 beers on tap all the time, trying being the key word. I'll have the #9, a Pale Ale and seasonal products like an Oktoberfest, Pilsner, Weiss and more. I like the idea of rotating seasonals, so I'll be rotating the line-up four times a year." There will also be casks available, which is great news for fans of real ale."

Lastly, near Queen and Coxwell, Pertino Restaurant has taken over the space formerly home to Pachira Asian Cuisine. No word yet on exactly what to expect here but they are looking for waiters!

Nearby on College St., Vinny Massimo's apparently isn't content with a single location on Queen. Construction is well under way for their second outpost which will mark their return to College St. following the fire that closed their original location a couple of blocks east.

On Manning, at the corner of Harbord, the much discussed Ici Bistro finally has their liquor license but are still waiting on another permit or two before they open in what chef/owner Jean Pierre Challet told me will be 2-3 weeks. Expect upscale French bistro fare for dinner, as well as a weekend brunch.

On the so-called Eglinton Way, between Avenue Rd and Yonge St., The Designer Cookie is jumping on the trend started by Bloor West Village's Sweet Flour Bake Shop. Opening day is scheduled for November 15th.

In a tiny strip mall on Church St., Vancouver's Guu Izakaya is hoping to make a December debut. Chef Masaru Ogasawara told Toronto Life that the new restaurant will seat 76 and feature wood finishes and communal tables.

Former Rosewater and Spoke Club chef Paul Boehmer has been working away at his new Ossington destination for what seems like ages. But poking my head through the door this week it looks like things are slowly coming along. The massive space still has much construction ahead of it but at least they've settled on a logo.

In Liberty Village, there has been quite a bit of turnover on the clustered lunch strip that is Atlantic Avenue. Famous BBQ Express and their cheap veggie thali disappeared some time ago and in its place Saigon Bistro is set to open soon.

A couple of doors north, in the space formerly home to the Korean/Japanese restaurant Dilly Delicious, Chuck & Co. will be bringing the, uh, gourmet burger trend to the area.

And finally, at the corner of Queen St. and Givens (a block east of Ossington), the mysterious-sounding Cloud Free Agent Espresso Bar is taking over a former gallery space that's been empty for quite some time. According to their Facebook Page they've just installed their countertops.