Homegrown Eats: Tony's Famous Italian Restaurant

Meet Vince Ianni, the president and general manager for Tony’s Pizza! Located at 980 Dundas Street, this family-owned business has been serving up classic Italian food for over 60 years. With a focus on good food at reasonable prices, Tony has become an Old East Village staple. “Really, it is about personal experience for our customers,” Ianni says. “Our customers, especially our long term customers, they actually end up becoming friends.”

Tony’s was opened by Ianni’s father, the eponymous Tony, in 1961. Tony, an immigrant from Calabria, Italy, had a dream to open an Italian restaurant in his new home, and thanks to family and friends, he was able to fulfil that dream. Pizza was the main item on the menu, but they also offered other Italian staples, like lasagna, spaghetti, veal and chicken. After 10 years, their initial location became too small to handle the huge amount of customers they were now getting. “He bought the existing building that we're in now, and then expanded a little bit over the years as the business grew, and then we opened other locations,” Ianni says. “I took over from my dad probably about 20 years ago, he passed away about 10 years ago, and I've been looking after things ever since.” In addition to their OEV location, Tony’s has a location in South London. 

Vince originally became involved with the restaurant as a chef after finishing culinary school. Once in a while, he gets back into the kitchen to "mix it up with the cooks," but for the most part, he manages day-to-day operations of the restaurant and makes sure customers always leave satisfied. "I see myself becoming my dad, because I love socializing with customers," he says. "After he shifted the day to day business, to me, he still came in every day, because he just loved to see people. And I find that that's becoming slowly over the years, a huge part for me that helps me get up in the morning."

As their website says, Tony’s is all about “making sure our guests leave with a smile on their face and a full belly!” They strive to have good food at reasonable prices, especially these days with ongoing financial challenges. One thing that the restaurant is known for is the size of their panzerottis. “Every single day people will order panzarottis, and we never go a day without that panzerottis being delivered to the table, and they go, ‘wow, that's huge,’” Ianni says. “People are driving in from all over just to pick panzarottis up. I’ve heard people say ‘these are going to Calgary, these are going to Vancouver, or even down to the states.” The restaurant is so dedicated to classic, homemade Italian eats, that prior to our interview, Ianni was actually in the kitchen making lasagna for dinner that night. 

As one of the oldest businesses in OEV, Tony’s history is intertwined with the other businesses in the area. The original location for Tony’s was located beside one of the other oldest businesses in the area, McHardy Vacuum (read the spotlight here!). “We've been close with their family for years, just because we've been neighbors for so long,” says Ianni. He adds that there have been peaks and valleys in Old East Village, but he loves being part of OEV. “People really look out for each other. Some of the neighbors that come in, I'll sit and chat with them about the neighborhood. I like that we are a gathering place, for a lot of people in the old East Village.”

Tony's Famous Italian Restaurant is open Sunday to Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday to Saturday from 11:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.

📍 980 Dundas Street 

☎️ (519) 455-4520

🌐 https://www.tonyspizza.ca/