Toto's Pizza House (Toto's) was the first
pizzeria
A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta.
Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then t ...
established in Melbourne, Australia, now a small chain of Pizza stores. Toto's opened for business on 7 July 1961 in
Lygon Street
Lygon Street is located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, running through the inner northern suburbs of Carlton, Carlton North, Princes Hill and Brunswick East. Lygon Street is synonymous with the Italian community of Melbourne, forming ...
,
Carlton, Victoria
Carlton is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. Carlton recorded a population of 16,055 at the 2021 census.
Im ...
, where the business remained until closing in 2020 due to Melbourne’s COVID lockdowns. Toto's was originally owned by Salvatore Della Bruna, who operated the business in partnership with Franco Fera and in 1968 with Silvio Tuli and Salvatore Mercogliano. Successful, and well respected, business man Mario Bandera also played a large part. In 1983 the business was purchased by the most recent owner and Managing Director, Sami Mazloum.
Silvana Mercogliano, the wife of former owner Salvatore Mercogliano, credited Toto's with changing the image of Lygon Street from an area with primary appeal to European migrants, commonly referred to as
New Australians
New Australians were non-British migrants to Australia who arrived in the wave of immigration following World War II. The term initially referred to newly arrived immigrants, generally refugees, who were expected to eventually become mainstream ...
in the 1950s, to an eating destination of mainstream Australians in the 1960s. Professional historians have credited Toto's Pizza House with contributing to the development of pizza as an Australian fast-food staple.
In 2007 Toto's Pizza House was inducted as the second member of the World Pizza Hall of Fame, after
Lombardi's Pizza
Lombardi's is a pizzeria located at 32 Spring Street on the corner of Mott Street in the Nolita neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1905, it has been recognized by the Pizza Hall of Fame as the first pizzeria in t ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
,
New York. Although the accolade was given on the basis that Toto's Pizza House was the first pizza bar in Australia, it is more likely that
Lucia's Pizza and Spaghetti Bar of Adelaide should hold this title having opened its doors before 1959.
See also
*
List of pizzerias in Australia
This is a list of notable pizzerias in Australia.
Chain restaurants
Current
* Crust Pizza – Australian pizza chain specialising in gourmet pizza, has over 120 stores across Australia, as well as locations in New Zealand and Singapore.
* ...
References
Further reading
*Michael Harden (2008). ''Lygon Street: stories and recipes from Melbourne's melting pot'', Millers Point, NSW, Murdoch Books Australia.
*Peter Yule (ed.) (2004). ''Carlton. A History'', Carlton, Victoria, Melbourne University Press and Carlton Residents Association. {{ISBN, 0-522-85204-1
1961 establishments in Australia
Restaurants established in 1961
Pizzerias in Australia
Companies based in Victoria (Australia)
Italian-Australian culture in Melbourne