Toronto’s Little Italy has grown to become one of the city’s most visited neighbourhoods. In fact, the name might be the only thing little about this big-hearted community. While the neighbourhood is now more Portugese than Italian, it serves as the “spiritual centre” for Italians – and all others who love to celebrate life.

Experience authentic Italian cuisine in one of the neighbourhood’s trendy restaurants, or sit down at a traditional Italian “trattoria”. Known more for their familial, casual-dining style, trattorias such as Bella Vista Trattoria & Wine Bar are as much about the social aspect of dining as the food itself. Speaking of social atmosphere, no visit to Little Italy is complete without spending a few hours on the patio at Café Diplomatico (or as the locals say, “Café Dip). There might be a line-up just to get a seat, but the savoury Italian dishes, reasonable prices and people-watching opportunities make the wait well worth it.
 

Little Italy is also one of Toronto’s best nightspots. There’s no fine line between cafés and bars here, so don’t be surprised to see friends sharing antipasto while meeting for a few drinks. Bar Italia, College Street Bar and Kalendar are just a few examples of such hot spots. Down the street, martinis are in order at Souz Dal while latin dancing heats up at El Convento Rico. Ciao Edie and Andy Poolhall are to the east, and feature different DJs nearly every night of the week.

During the day, small boutiques draw vistors from around the city and around the world. GMB and Tessi feature unique designer threads for women, while Motoretta offers a variety of European clothing labels alongside its vintage Vespa scooters. Urban hipsters flock to Soundscapes to browse their eclectic selection of pop, indie, jazz and reggae music. Across the street, Dragon Lady Paper Nostalgia is not your average comic book shop, with a variety of vintage magazines and collectibles that you’ll be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.