Introducing: Mr. Ciao, a new Italian restaurant on Gerrard from the owners of AAA Bar
Introducing: Mr. Ciao, a new Italian restaurant on Gerrard from the owners of AAA Bar
Name: Mr. Ciao
Neighbourhood: Riverdale
Contact Info: 598 Gerrard St. E., 416-901-8711, mrciao.ca, @MrCiaoTo
Owners/Chefs: Racquel Youtzy and Tiziano Pivetta, who also own AAA Bar on Adelaide
The Food: Situated smack in the middle of Chinatown East, the pizza-pasta joint offers a handful of homey Italian dishes—deep-fried olives, seafood linguini—as well as less conventional items, like mozzarella-stuffed “egg rolls” and Peking-duck pizza topped with wasabi peas. The restaurant’s specialty is pizza fritta, a Neapolitan street snack that takes all the gooey decadence of regular pizza and adds a crunchy, deep-fried crust (the Mr. Ciao version is hand-stretched, flash-fried and finished in a stone oven). For dessert, there’s an Italian take on churros: sticks of fried pizza dough rolled in cinnamon sugar and topped with scoops of maple ice cream.
The Drinks: There are two wines on tap, including a Mike Weir Cabernet-Merlot and a Stoney Ridge Chardonnay.
The Place: The casual room has a long copper bar up front and a surprisingly large dining area in the back. The enormous raised patio, which curls around the entire west side of the building, is a great people-watching perch.
Read More
- 282167
- <strong>Mr. Ciao</strong> is located at 598 Gerrard Street, east of Broadview
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Mr. Ciao
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-01-200x200.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-01.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-01.jpg
- 1000
- 667
- https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-01/
- mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-01
- 0
- 0
- 282168
- The owners designed and renovated the space themselves (they had a little help opening up the ceiling to expose the beams and pipes). There’s a long copper bar up front and a surprisingly large dining area in the back
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Mr. Ciao
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-02-200x200.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-02.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-02.jpg
- 1000
- 667
- https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-02/
- mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-02
- 0
- 0
- 282169
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Mr. Ciao
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-03-200x200.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-03.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-03.jpg
- 1000
- 667
- https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-03/
- mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-03
- 0
- 0
- 282170
- Beef carpaccio is sprinkled with salt, rosemary and olive oil ($14)
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Mr. Ciao
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-04-200x200.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-04.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-04.jpg
- 1000
- 667
- https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-04/
- mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-04
- 0
- 0
- 282171
- Deep-fried olives with red-pepper dip ($6)
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Mr. Ciao
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-05-200x200.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-05.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-05.jpg
- 1000
- 667
- https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-05/
- mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-05
- 0
- 0
- 282172
- All the pizzas at Mr. Ciao come on a crunchy, deep-fried crust. The tomato pizza is topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, arugula and pesto ($14)
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Mr. Ciao
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-06-200x200.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-06.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-06.jpg
- 1000
- 667
- https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-06/
- mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-06
- 0
- 0
- 282173
- The cheese-free Peking duck pizza is topped with black-bean sauce, wasabi peas, scallions, barbecued pork (<em>char siu</em>) and, of course, roast duck ($17)
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Mr. Ciao
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-07-200x200.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-07.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-07.jpg
- 1000
- 667
- https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-07/
- mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-07
- 0
- 0
- 282176
- Linguine with mussels, shrimp, calamari and scallops ($18)
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Mr. Ciao
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-10-200x200.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-10.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-10.jpg
- 1000
- 667
- https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-10/
- mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-10
- 0
- 0
- 282174
- Pappardelle is made in-house and tossed in truffled cream sauce with cremini, portobello and oyster mushrooms ($17)
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Mr. Ciao
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-08-200x200.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-08.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-08.jpg
- 1000
- 667
- https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-08/
- mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-08
- 0
- 0
- 282175
- A family-friendly zone at the back of the restaurant is set up with toys and chalkboards
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Mr. Ciao
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-09-200x200.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-09.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-09.jpg
- 667
- 1000
- https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/slide/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-09/
- mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-09
- 0
- 0
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurants/&title=Introducing: Mr. Ciao, a new Italian restaurant on Gerrard from the owners of AAA Bar&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mr-ciao-toronto-restaurant-08-intro-624x395.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_282177" align="aligncenter" width="656"]Click to view gallery[/caption]
Name: Mr. Ciao
Neighbourhood: Riverdale
Contact Info: 598 Gerrard St. E., 416-901-8711, mrciao.ca, @MrCiaoTo
Owners/Chefs: Racquel Youtzy and Tiziano Pivetta, who also own AAA Bar on Adelaide
The Food: Situated smack in the middle of Chinatown East, the pizza-pasta joint offers a handful of homey Italian dishes—deep-fried olives, seafood linguini—as well as less conventional items, like mozzarella-stuffed "egg rolls" and Peking-duck pizza topped with wasabi peas. The restaurant's specialty is pizza fritta, a Neapolitan street snack that takes all the gooey decadence of regular pizza and adds a crunchy, deep-fried crust (the Mr. Ciao version is hand-stretched, flash-fried and finished in a stone oven). For dessert, there's an Italian take on churros: sticks of fried pizza dough rolled in cinnamon sugar and topped with scoops of maple ice cream.
The Drinks: There are two wines on tap, including a Mike Weir Cabernet-Merlot and a Stoney Ridge Chardonnay.
The Place: The casual room has a long copper bar up front and a surprisingly large dining area in the back. The enormous raised patio, which curls around the entire west side of the building, is a great people-watching perch.
[gallery columns="6" ids="282167,282168,282169,282170,282171,282172,282173,282176,282174,282175"]){kind=link}