Terrazza

Frankie Lasagna’s fascination with food started early on. He grew up above Lips, a burger joint at Harbord and Shaw that his father Phil owned. “It was really popular with the high school kids,” he remembers. “There was a pool table and arcade games. It was really fun.” After graduating from high school, Frankie worked as a dishwasher and busboy at the Summerhill seafood eatery Joso’s, where he immersed himself in the restaurant atmosphere, learning about customer interactions and kitchen operations. “I just loved everything about it,” says Frankie, who worked at Joso’s for seven years.

Back at Harbord and Shaw, Phil had closed his burger joint and the family leased the space to a string of tenants over the next decade. But when the last tenant moved out and the space became vacant, the Lasagna family decided to start a restaurant of their own with Frankie at the helm, armed with his years of experience at Joso’s. Named after the sun-filled patio that highlights the restaurant’s vine-covered facade, Terrazza opened for business in November 2008.