New restaurant opens where one just closed after decades in Toronto

A brand new restaurant is swinging open its doors where an iconic one shut down after decades of business in Toronto.

Fortunately for fans of the previous spot, the new restaurant opening in the space won’t be straying far from what used to be served on the menu there.

Alba is now opening in the well-known corner spot where Vivoli used to take up residence for over 20 years, boasting a rooftop patio, a menu of accessible favourites and a welcoming atmosphere where regulars always felt comfortable hanging out casually.

The restaurant sadly closed down in July 2025 in Toronto. The restaurant announced the sudden end to their many long years in business with a short but sweet post to social media reading, “The end is here…with sad hearts, after two decades of business, Vivoli will be closing their doors.”

Alba is sprucing up the space a bit with a shiny new look and a menu of Italian classics centred around a wood fire oven that should be warmly received by fans of Vivoli. However, it will also have lots to sample for those who are a little adventurous and are looking to branch out from the typical Italian restaurant offerings.

The menu starts off with a selection of antipasti, followed by salads, pasta, pizza, larger plates and contorni (sides).

Antipasti include more usual Italian restaurant starter options such as carpaccio, calamari and arancini, but those curveballs come in when it comes to other items like saganaki, pate and a house-cured salmon dish. Salads include a Tuscan black kale salad, a Caesar and a burrata salad.

The pastas at Alba are a signature, and everything revolves around their house-made gnudi. There are two options for the gnudi, which are all’Amatriciana (with a slightly spicy tomato sauce with guanciale), and ai funghi (with a mushroom truffle cream sauce).

They also serve standard rigatoni alla vodka and fettuccine alla bolognese, but you can also kick it up a notch with two options for seafood pasta. There’s an with jumbo black tiger shrimp, alamari, mussels, anchovy, and another with fresh half East Coast lobster swimming in a lobster rosé bisque sauce infused with lobster meat. Take care to note that the lobster pasta will set you back a pretty penny $67.

Their pizza options include mushroom, sausage rapini, pesto pancetta and mortadella pistachio. Larger plates on the menu are branzino, chicken parm, lamb chops and a 16-ounce prime strip loin steak that rings in at over $100. Accompany everything with sides of broccolini, potatoes and mushrooms.

Alba is now open at 665 College St.