The heart of Little Italy on College St is arguably "Cafe Diplomatico" which was opened in 1968 by 2 brothers with the intention of starting a typical Italian bar for morning coffee and gossip. They opened a patio (which was unheard of in Toronto at the time) and the rest is history. It became so popular that it evolved into a full restaurant, is run by the same family, and the patio still remains the most popular (and hardest to get a seat at) along the strip with its delicious Italian food and wonderful atmosphere. With the sun warming the patio it will be busy like this all weekend and every other sunny day until the snow flies!
17 comments:
I do prefer going to traditional places like this, I think they have much more personality. ;-)
I love a restaurant like that and the story is wonderful -- that it is still in the family -- wonderful.
My niece used to live at the window facing College - the one immediately beside the traffic lights. It was not the quietest place, but it was cool to say "I live above The Dip"!
I love sitting and having lunch or dinner alfresco and people watching. Looks to be the perfect .
In 1968 sitting on a patio enjoying yourself was sinful in Toronto! :D
Times have sure changed.....
Enjoy it while you can, RedPat. It is snowing down here, and the power keeps flickering. Going to be a long, cold night . . .
Looks like my kind of place... meet you there for a cuppa!
lovely post...one of my top 5 for the week on my blog...just loved Toronto as have visited twice. need to again, have a great weekend!!
The hubs and I had breakfast there on our first "look and see" trip to Toronto. We've been back since too. It's nice and homey. This is a good shot of it. :)
Cool colors!
I think places such as this have such wonderful atmosphere.
Bet they have great pizza!
Love the name! Looks like a great place to sit and while away some time. Nice shot Red.
Looks like a great place to enjoy a sunny day! In Arizona, we have many places with outdoor patios. The difference is that we are just now seeing the patios being used. It the summer it's just too hot to sit outside to eat.
Love places like that, what a great story. Story fits so well with your yesterday post.
Inviting spot. It sure looks that way.
This sure beats all of the chain restaurants we have here. We don't have very many of what I call "authentic" cafes.
I don't imagine the patio will be used too much longer though! :-)
Thanks for the info on CHIN, and I hope you have a great day!
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