Toscanini's Ice Cream Company (known simply as Toscanini's or Tosci's) is an

ice cream parlor Ice cream parlors (American English) or ice cream parlours (British English) are parlor that sell ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and/or frozen yogurt to consumers. Ice cream is typically sold as regular ice cream (also called hard-packed or hard- ...

and

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, founded in 1981. It has won the

Best of Boston ''Boston'' (also called "''Boston'' magazine" or referred to by the nickname "BoMag") is a regional monthly magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area, which has been in publication since 1962. History Metrocorp Publishing, a Philad ...

award for best ice cream in 1997, 2009, and 2010, as well as other Best of Boston awards. It has also been highly rated in ''

Gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...

'' magazine, and has been highly rated in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' food section.

History

Toscanini's original location is at 899 Main St. in Central Square. In January 2018, another location opened near Kendall Square at 159 First St while the Main St. store underwent renovations. The Main St. store reopened in January 2022. Other locations in the past have included the Someday Café in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

(closed August 2006), a location in the

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

student center, and a location on Massachusetts Avenue in

Harvard Square Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue (Boston), Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, C ...

(closed December 2006). In 2006, owner Gus Rancatore published an Amazon Short with author Helen Epstein, entitled ''Ice Cream Man: 25 Years at Toscanini's'', presenting a personal story of how Toscanini's came to be.

Seizure by the Massachusetts DOR

On January 17, 2008, the business was seized by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue because of failure to pay more than $167,000 in taxes dating back to 2000. Ice cream maker Samuel Mehr set up a website with a

PayPal PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support E-commerce payment system, online money transfers; it serves as an electronic alter ...

donation link, and an overwhelming amount of support from the local community and beyond provided the owners with more than $30,000 toward satisfying the tax bill. A payment plan was organized with the MA DOR to pay the balance. After being closed for eight days, Toscanini's Ice Cream and Coffee Shop re-opened for business on January 25.

References

External links

* {{coord, 42, 21, 48.6, N, 71, 5, 57.5, W, region:US_scale:500, display=title 1982 establishments in Massachusetts Companies based in Cambridge, Massachusetts Ice cream parlors in the United States Restaurants established in 1982 Restaurants in Cambridge, Massachusetts