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 places 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 s ...

and

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, founded in 1981. It has won the

Best of Boston ''Boston'' is a monthly magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area and has been in publication since 1805. History and profile ''Boston'' magazine was started in 1805. Metrocorp, Inc. bought the magazine in 1970. The company also owns ...

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 refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, of ...

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

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 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 land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

student center, and a location on Massachusetts Avenue in

Harvard Square Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the busin ...

(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 online money transfers, and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper ...

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