Popular Italian restaurant forced to close, leaving Toronto diners shocked and saddened

A hugely popular Italian restaurant that’s been serving patrons in Toronto’s east end for more than 14 years has been forced to close–but the owner hopes it’s not the end for the beloved eatery. 

News about Ascari Enoteca’s–part of the Ascari Hospitality Group–closure hit local Facebook groups earlier today, leaving diners accustomed to seeing its packed dining room and bustling patio shocked.

The indefinite closure has been confirmed by Erik Joyal, president of the Ascari Hospitality Group.

“I’m trying to resolve it, but I don’t know if there will be a path,” Joyal tells YourCityWithIN.com. 

Joyal said the restaurant has closed in response to the company’s bank requiring immediate repayment of its HASCAP loan, which it secured during the pandemic. 

HASCAP loans, implemented by the federal government, were designed to provide guaranteed, low-interest loans between $25,000 and $1 million to Canadian small businesses that were impacted by COVID-19.

Joyal says the company still had a substantial balance on the loan and that while pandemic restrictions are long over, challenges have continued to plague the industry post-pandemic. 

“I tried to figure out a path and wasn’t able to,” he says, adding that even though the restaurant was doing well, closing–at least for now–is unavoidable at this juncture.  

“The bank got jittery about our risk level, so they called the loan. We have all kinds of COVID debt, and that’s been the case for years.” 

Ascari is far from the only culinary casualty of the pandemic. 

Earlier this year, Restaurants Canada president Kelly Higginson told YourCityWithIN.com that the foodservice advocacy group began noticing an uptick in bankruptcies last year. The organization said that in the first three months of 2024, 357 businesses called it quits–significantly more than the 184 restaurants that declared bankruptcy in the first few months of 2023. 

Last year, the organization recorded 882 bankruptcies nationally, more than double the number of bankruptcies in 2020. 

“Our industry obviously came out of the pandemic in a very vulnerable situation and a lot of our operators had high levels of debt that they had to manage,” Higginson said in an earlier interview. 

Local diners have expressed shock and dismay on social media. 

“That is a huge loss. What a great place and it always looked busy,” one poster said. 

The news also comes as a blow for fans of the brand overall, as the hospitality company closed its King West location in February 2023. In April of this year, the company sold Mercatino E Vini, a wine bar and shop located on Queen Street East that offered a variety of frozen and prepared foods, pasta, pastries, wine, coffee, and more.

Joyal says the sale of Mercatino E Vini–now home to the new Kidultland Cafe–is unrelated to the current Ascari Enoteca closure. 

Joyal’s disappointment in the unwelcome turn of events for (arguably) one of Leslieville’s busiest hotspots is impossible to miss. 

“Fourteen and a half years it’s been there. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into that business.”

As for whether the resto will reopen, Joyal is hopeful this isn’t the end for the rustic wine bar known for its elevated Italian fare.

“Never say never. We’re working on it, but it could be a long process. I’m not sure how much fight I have left in me. This is not what I wanted to happen.” 

Cover photo from Ascari Enoteca’s official Facebook page