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Reviews, get directions and information for Italian Centre Shop

Italian Centre Shop

About

Bringing flavours of Italy and Europe to Albertans since 1959 - we're a specialty grocer and gathering place for friends, families & foodies.

Story

For Italians, delicious bountiful meals are a way of life and the dinner table is where we bond. It’s where families come together, friends are found, memories are made and business is done. Come, step into Europe. We are the ultimate pantry, deli, bakery, cafe, specialty grocery and slow made take home meals all under one roof.

The Italian Centre Shop, Willow Park, looks, smells and feels like an Italian street market. A place for family and friends to gather and take in a sensual feast of creamy espresso in the café, fresh bread wafting from the bakery, a European delicatessen, crispy fresh local and imported produce, and over twenty thousand specialty items and everyday pantry staples including Europe’s best known and hard-to-find gourmet items.

Each “department” looks like its own self contained space; each with its own character making up the streetscape as whole. Architect and designer Sid Assaf, from Office of the City Interviewed in Edmonton, describes the philosophy behind the design, “Our store is an exciting place to be. People will be reminded of an old village street from hundreds of years ago. Where vendors preparing and selling their wares is entertainment–a wonderful spectacle”.

There’s theatre the moment you walk in. The heart of the store is Western Canada’s largest European Deli, brimming with over six hundred different types of local & imported cheeses, meats and anti-pasti. Always busy, always something to sample on offer. The red, white and black palette used in the deli gains more elegance with contrasting white antiqued marbled walls, topped off with a hand-crafted metalwork trellis, from which the ornate emblematic signage hangs. Red pendant lights give the whole area a dramatic, theatrical atmosphere, lighting up the bustling prepped-food area below, where chefs handcraft slow-made, take-home meals to go.

The “Cathedral of Cheese” as Assaf calls it, is a guaranteed talking point. Over 13 ft high, 20 ft wide, the ‘wall’ of cheese is actually made up of refrigerated glass units, framed in Ontario birch, displaying over 80 wheels of cheeses like parmesan and piave vechio inside. All topped off with an ornate handcrafted wooden frieze resembling an opulent medieval building. There’s nothing like this in Canada.

By contrast, the bakery is humble. Framed in mismatching patches of barn door wood, all hand painted, with old style Italian factory doors and windows letting customers see the artisans at work behind. The metal work is all custom-made and hand-forged. Baskets of our freshly made famous pagnotta, ciabatta, red fife loaves, torpedo buns and baguettes line the walls.

Italian Centre Shop cafes are usually loud and boisterous. Like Italy. Our Head Barista from Milan demanded a La Marzoccho espresso machine because each outlet has its own boiler, ensuring high enough pressure to make the perfect Latte. Selling coffee, soups, sandwiches, cakes, pastries, Neopolitan style pizza from the oven, pasta and daily entrée specials. Décor wise, you could be in a cool spot in Milan. Trendy chairs, white tiles topped off with industrial metal counter tops and a floor made of old-world classic stone tiles and polished concrete, make this a chic, yet inexpensive place to hang out.

And not forgetting the Italian Centre Shop’s rich history, photos spanning the company’s rich heritage line the walls of the fresh produce area, reminding everyone this is a family business, which prides itself on creating love, community and belonging. From the 1959 black and white photo of founder Frank Spinelli’s first tiny Edmonton store, to owner Teresa Spinelli’s son sitting on a Parmesan wheel, to current Calgary store Manager Gino Marghella’s three generations of family. In many of the photos, the legendary ‘White Jacket’ prevails – the signature uniform hailing back to the old country, that founder Frank brought with him and all staff still wear today.

“We’ve paid so much attention to detail’, promises Assaf, “you’ll notice something new every time you come into the store”.

Address: 9919 Fairmount Dr SE #120, Calgary, AB T2J 0S3, Canada
Phone: (403) 238-4869
ac.ertnecnailati@ofni
State: Alberta
County: Division No. 6
City: Calgary
Zip Code: T2J 0S3


Opening Hours

Monday: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Tuesday: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Wednesday: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Thursday: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Friday: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Saturday: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Sunday: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM


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Reviews
Fairly big with good selections of Italian food items. Great choices of olives and cheese along with local bakery and fresh produces, etc. We can found lots of Italian products here.nnThey also have a in house cafe that serve food, pizza, sandwiches and Italian style coffee and drinks.nnPricing is reasonable. And I found their veggies are more fresh that what I can get from Superstores or Walmart, etcnnWill come back for sure.
This place is incredible. Aside from the large grocery store with good prices you also can visit their cafe. I got a pizza but there are plenty of options like sandwiches and lasagna. Desserts and coffee too!nnThe only thing I can say is a downside is that I live too far away. It would be great to have a place like this in the northwest part of Calgary.
We had a great experience for our first visit. There were plenty of friendly staff to help with all our questions. Some of our purchases were mushrooms, deli meat and cheese, coffee syrup, cinnamon buns, fresh gnocchi, rye bread with sunflower seeds. There’s a huge selection here, can’t wait to revisit.
Huge italian store well stocked with various items. Place is packed with people, nice selection of goodies in the coffee shop area and amazing panini. One thing I noticed: staff is very polite. That is something I don’t see often and I believe the owner or one of the owners made himself available for helping me with a huge 25kg bag of flour. Noticing my family and my grandchildren he offered them a gelato on the house. So far in all these years living in Canada never experienced a store owner acting like him!
Today, we visited your store and bought two pizzas, coffee, and cannelloni. Unfortunately, our expectations for quality food were not met. We tried a few pieces of pizza but ended up having to throw the rest away. The cannelloni were completely inedible, and I threw the whole pack away after the first bite. The same fate befell the coffee, which also ended up in the trash. I sincerely hope that we just had bad luck and that your food is usually good. However, unfortunately, I cannot recommend this place.
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