giancarlo toronto

Italian restaurant that's been in Toronto for 30 years is closing its doors forever

Old school Italian restaurants seem to be getting hit especially hard by the pandemic, with yet another one that's been around for over 30 years closing permanently.

Little Italy's Trattoria Giancarlo announced on social media on June 10 that they had decided to close and were saying goodbye.

The team at Trattoria Giancarlo has proudly served our wonderful customers and the Little Italy community for over 30 years. Sadly, the time has come for us to say thank you and goodbye. Built by the Barato family, Giancarlo has always been more of a home than a restaurant as our family and many others were raised here. Great friends have been made along the way and we say thank you to everyone that supported the restaurant over the years. We will miss you all dearly. A special thank you goes out to all of our amazing team members, past and present, who throughout the years contributed to the success of the operation and like our guests; we will also miss you all very much. In the end, a very difficult decision had to be made. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic our business has been severely affected and so like many other wonderful restaurants we have decided to close. After 30 years we are certainly looking forward to a little quiet time but are also excited for what the future holds in store. Our memories will always shine bright and we are very proud of everything the restaurant meant to our guests. Grazie a tutti The Barato family

A post shared by Giancarlo (@trattoriagiancarlo) on

"Sadly, the time has come for us to say thank you and goodbye. Built by the Barato family, Giancarlo has always been more of a home than a restaurant as our family and many others were raised here," reads a message written by the family. 

"In the end, a very difficult decision had to be made. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic our business has been severely affected and so like many other wonderful restaurants we have decided to close. After 30 years we are certainly looking forward to a little quiet time but are also excited for what the future holds in store."

The post on Instagram has garnered over a hundred comments, with people saying they're "crushed," "so sad" and "heartbroken." "So sad to see you go, it was the first restaurant I was thinking of going when everything opened up ... hands down my favourite restaurant in the city," wrote one commenter.

"Absolutely devastated to hear this," wrote another. Even the official Instagram account of nearby Rudy weighed in, commenting, "We're lost for words. This is very sad. The neighbourhood will never be the same."

Lead photo by

@getsomm_wine


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