É«É«À²

I decided to visit the shop at 307 Queen St. W. on a rainy Friday morning when it was quiet, save for staff chatting in Italian and the occasional espresso order. Nearby, a large bucket of chopped mango was loaded into a machine to make sorbetto,Ìýin anticipation for the weekend crowd.

Being able to taste the gelato and sorbetto without the distraction of a queue, I understood the buzz. Churned into a light, buttery wisp, the gelato carries both classic flavours — pistachio and chocolate-hazelnut, of course — and newer ones like mango cheesecake and, in the fall, pumpkin spice. The shop has earned international acclaim, landing back-to-back top-three finishes at Italian gelato festivals, yet it remains a small, independent operation run by a married couple who’ve lived in the neighbourhood for a decade. Both have worked with gelato since their teens.

My favourite was the Sicilia — a ricotta-based gelato studded with chocolate chips and crushed pistachios, topped with a layer of pistachio crème (think Nutella, but nutty and green). It’s like a cannolo filling, elevated by the savoury depth of pistachios and the crunch of chocolate, all in a cone. The popular pistachio flavour — cliché as it may be to highlight — is like extra-nutty avocado butter. Don’t be put off by its taupe hue; it comes from roasting the pistachios to deepen the flavour, rather than aiming for that bright, artificial green.

While sorbettos often get overlooked — typically seen as the vegan alternative in É«É«À² — the ones here deserve just as much attention as the gelato. When I visited, the lineup included mango, guava, dragon fruit-kiwi, watermelon, and raspberry, with peach and Concord grape coming later in the summer. The watermelon is like biting into an icy wedge on the hottest day, while the mango, tasting like whipped purée, is best savoured slowly to appreciate the fleeting season. The dragon fruit-kiwi, a jarringly vivid highlighter magenta, surprises with a refreshingly subtle flavour — the mellow pear notes of pink dragon fruit brightened by a tart kiwi finish.

Mizzica Gelateria is the creation of Denise Pisani and Paolo Di Lallo, who both grew up scooping gelato in Italy — she in Ragusa, Sicily; he in Roccamorice, Abruzzo. They met in É«É«À² in 2012, bonding over a disagreement about pistachio gelato’s colour and quality.

“I moved to É«É«À² in 2010 to improve my English,” said Di Lallo. “I was training people at gelato shops and I’d check out the other shops to see what they’re doing. In 2012, I met Denise at the shop she was working at.”

“We started arguing because he was like, ‘Why is this pistachio gelato so bright?’” Pisani laughs.

The couple had long dreamed of opening their own gelato shop — a place where Di Lallo could control the ingredients and create the flavours he felt were missing, like a pistachio with enough actual nuts. In August 2020, they opened Mizzica, a 400-square-foot shop on McCaul Street. The name comes from an Italian expression of amazement, derived from Greek.

To celebrate their wedding in 2022, Di Lallo crafted the Zafferano di Navelli e Pistacchio Siciliano tostato, combining saffron from Abruzzo with roasted Sicilian pistachios — a floral, nutty gelato available only on weekends. This flavour helped them clinch third place at the ,Ìýan international gelato festival where 33 competitors vied for top bragging rights (Mizzica, who also placed third the year before, was the only North American winner in the top three). “It was a unity of our lands,” said Di Lallo on the extra special feeling of having this particular flavour score well with the judges.

Word spread. Lineups formed. And the couple needed a larger space. When a Second Cup closed at Queen Street West and John Street, they moved in, taking over the corner spot in 2022. The intersection has long attracted crowds, from MuchMusic-era dance parties to the now-closed Café Crêpe across the street. While many miss Queen West’s peak, Mizzica brings back a bit of that early-aughts late-night energy. In Italy, Di Lallo notes, gelato shops often stay open into the early morning — but here, weekend hours stop at midnight to support staff well-being.

“We have 60 to 70 people outside at night,” Pisani said. “Even when it’s -20C, people will come.” 

The GTA has no shortage of gelato, from mainstay Italian scoop shops lining St. Clair West to suburban staples in Woodbridge and Etobicoke. There are cultural mashups too, like Nani’s Gelato, a food truck-turned-franchise, and the now-shuttered Kekou Gelato, which helped usher in a wave of soft serve and ice cream shops bringing flavours like pandan, ube, and soursop to the mainstream a decade ago. Experimental local flavours — think sweet red pepper or crabapple — have even surfaced at spots like Punto Gelato. Mizzica brings the classics from two lifelong gelato-makers who are always searching for new flavours to keep things interesting (Di Lallo once tested a sakura gelato made with dried blossoms brought back from a trip). We’re well past the point where the average É«É«À²nian can’t tell the difference between ice cream, gelato, and sorbetto. People know what they like — and they’re discerning.

“We didn’t open Mizzica just for Italians. We want people from all over the world to try it,” said Pisani, adding they live around the corner from the shop. “We moved to Canada to be around people from all over the world.”

For those hoping to skip the Queen West lines, a second location opened last summer near Yonge and Eglinton. But for Pisani and Di Lallo, it’s the Queen West shop that feels like home.

5 gelato spots to try in the GTA

The GTA is rich in gelato spots that range from having the requisite pistachio and espresso flavours as well as pushing the envelope when it comes to what snacks, drinks or even dishes can translate into gelato format. Here are five spots worth stopping for. 

,Ìý1418 Dundas St. W.

Out of all the gelato places that have come and gone over the years, Death In Venice owner Kaya Ogruce still stands out for consistently creating the most inventive — and sometimes daring — flavours. I still think back to the Pad Thai-flavoured gelato he released years ago and how eerily accurate it was. Equally creative, but perhaps less divisive, flavours that have appeared on the menu include saffron-cardamom-ginger, Turkish delight, and goat cheese with vanilla bean.

,ÌýVarious locations

It’s hard to believe it’s only been five years since the South Asian-inspired gelato place opened its first store in 2020. Now there are multiple locations in the GTA, still leaning into refreshing tropical flavours that include mango-lychee, toasted coconut and mango. Since kulfi, the frozen dairy dessert from the Indian subcontinent, is like the less airy cousin of gelato, the South Asian flavours seamlessly translate to gelato form.

,Ìý5510 Yonge St.

I still think about this little gelato shops’ signature flavour, the yuzu cheesecake, which secured Gelato North a spot in the 2023 Gelato Festivals World Masters competition. Ribbons of tangy, slightly bitter yuzu intertwine with a base of ricotta and mascarpone, topped with amaretti cookies for a sweet almond crunch.

,Ìý1640 Bayview Ave.

As one of the older dedicated gelaterias in the city, this is where I had my first taste of pistachio gelato decades ago. The mainstay midtown spot does all the big hits (including Lotus Biscoff, the Nutella of the 2020s) but also some creative takes like coconut cream pie, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and key lime pie.

, 6 Markham St. 

Part gelato shop, part wine bar, the dessert spot specializes in sorbettos and gelato made from non-dairy milks and doesn’t contain nuts, gluten, eggs, soy or sesame so that allergies don’t spoil the fun. The shop also does gelato and wine flights, Prosecco pour-overs (there’s also the classic affogato) as well as cocktails. 

Correction - June 16, 2025

This article was updated from a previous version to note that sweet red pepper or crabapple flavour gelato are available at Punto Gelato. The previous version mistakenly said they were available at Aura Gelato Artigianale at Gemma Gelateria.