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    Italian Centre Shop

    4.6 (172 reviews)
    Open 9:00 am - 9:00 pm

    Italian Centre Shop Photos

    Business Info

    ITALIAN CENTRE SHOP ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Outdoor seating
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Italian Centre Shop

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    a pizza on a table
    Jennie L.

    So I love this place, but I spend too much money here! If you are looking for old world food products or hard to find ingrediants this is the place for you. The produce is amazing. Super fresh and often they have unique things that you can't find anywhere else. The meat and cheese selection is phenominal. And often they have samples which I find fun :) Best staff. Friendly and will help you find what you need and refer you if they don't have it. They don't have just Italian things, they have many other things from Europe including Romania, Serbia, Poland, and Ukrainain. But we stopped to have pizzas today (okay I may of have picked up a few things) but I wanted to try these. Even though there was only two of us, we decided on three pizzas. Pizza makes good leftovers - Classic Margherita (cheese and fresh basil) , Massimo (mozza, sausage, and capicollo), and the feature pizza of the month inverno pizza - zucchini, mushrooms, smoked beef, mozza, and gruyere cheese. The place is a cafe so not much for atmosphere. However, a great place to grab lunch if you are already shopping. Friendly staff but the pizzas took quite a while to get to our table. I am going to say half and hour. Pizza were excellent. Amazing chewy crust. A great mix of cheese to topping ratio, and really for me, I only ate half of mine. Hubby ate everything but one piece. I liked them all but the pizza of the month with the mushrooms and smoked beef was the best. If pizzas aren't your thing, they also have sandwiches and soup. Definately worth checking out.

    a man cooking food on a grill
    Erika G.

    Institution of institutions, the Italian Centre has been around since 1959. That's 63 years. Opened by Italian immigrant Frank Spinelli, the roots of this store couldn't be more authentic. The original shop is located in Edmonton's Little Italy (in the McCauley neighbourhood) and there are now a total of four stores in and around Edmonton and one in Calgary. "My store" is the southside one because it's only a few blocks away from my house and I frequent the shop often! When EDify Magazine named the Italian Centre for having the Best Sandwich 2022 no one was surprised. Edmontonians have known this for many years. It's a classic and everyone knows about it. The Italian Centre Shop is mostly a specialty grocery store that focuses on Italian and European ingredients. It's a wonderful store and you are always met with a strong sense of community during each visit. Attached to each store is a Spinelli Bar Italia, named in honour of the store's founder. This cafe was the first place to ever serve lattes and cappuccinos in Edmonton. These restaurant areas of each store location serve coffee, pastries, and light fare. It's a really lovely way to round out the entire experience and to make the shop more than just a "grocery store." I decided to visit the original Little Italy location (for the first time!) on a Sunday afternoon and was prepared to take in all of the sights and sounds. I was also curious to compare the OG store to the southside one, which I'm much more familiar with. It was immediately apparent to me that the Little Italy shop is a type of mecca. It's the mothership. The store itself is larger than the southside one and the buzz is palpable. Packed with the same incredible products and ingredients, the impressive deli, cheese, and bakery departments were firing on all cylinders. So the sandwich. THEE SANDWICH. You will find it within the grocery store, wrapped in brown paper, in one of the coolers. Once you learn the location of the sandwiches in each individual store, you will always find it in the same place. There are three types available; mild, hot, and vegetarian. (In my opinion, "hot" is the only acceptable choice, but to each their own.) They don't sell this sandwich in the cafe. I'm not sure why they don't, but they don't. You have to grab one, pre-made and wrapped, from the cooler and then you can either take it home or take it to the cafe to sit down and eat it. You can pay for it in the cafe though. Once I secured my sandwich, I went into Spinelli Bar Italia to order other items so that I could make a whole meal out of it. The staff is friendly and helpful, quickly gathering all of the requested food. The cafe has a nice feeling to it, bustling with energy. There are old photographs on the walls which add a nice touch. In addition to the indoor seating, each cafe also has an outdoor patio area that I especially enjoy. It reminds me of Italy, sitting outside on a terrazza, sipping cappuccino. (But only before 11am.) I picked up my order and found a table. I will say that the outdoor patio area of the Little Italy location was quite noisy, mainly because of the "colourful" people hanging around the storefront. The southside location is more peaceful and laidback. It also seems a bit more put together, in general. For those reasons I favour it. A coffee is a must. Italian Centre offers a really delicious crema caffe in the summer months and I had to get my hands on one before they're off the menu for the winter. There are three types to choose from and I went for the classic Crema Caffe Original ($3.00) made with Kimbo crema. What a delight!!! This little 4oz glass is filled with a creamy and refreshing dream! It's sort of like an iced cappuccino, except actually done properly. Cool and smooth, it tastes like a high-quality coffee and feels like an ideal treat for a hot summer's day. Highly recommend trying this before it gets too cold out! Next, lets get straight down to business with THE SANDWICH. Spinelli's Original Hot Panino Sandwich (Layers of Italian-style deli meats, provolone, Gloria spread, olive oil and dried oregano - $10.00), to be exact. This is it. The famous sandwich that serves as an old stand-by to many an Edmontonian. You can unwrap it and eat it as-is, or you can take it home and pop it in the oven for a few minutes to get the cheese all melty. Either way makes for a good time. The Italian bread is soft yet crusty, the perfect hug for the sandwich's contents. The array of delicious meats within are generously piled and your tastebuds will definitely meet like likes of spicy salami and mortadella. The cheese is mild and sprinkled with herbs. And the Gloria spread (which has slightly mystified me for years - is this a product in a jar that can be purchased??) is made up of a tasty mix of red pepper and eggplant. It's a classic Italian sandwich and everything about it is just right. Not only is it Italian, but it's Edmontonian. Hot tip! An old friend taught me this. "Pani

    Andrea W.

    I think that everything has been said already about the amazing Italian Centre. Today let me write about their pizzas! During these months, we have ordered so many of these delicious pizzas! Like many, we were not ready to take risks, but we allowed ourselves to drive to the Italian center, get in, order a pizza, wait outside for it, go back in and take the pizza home to enjoy a movie.. well, not every time we were able to do that. A couple of times, my husband and I went back to the car and while still in the parking lot we enjoyed our pizza! It was like a date night in the middle of the pandemic! We have tried Calabrese, Margherita, Calabrese, Diavola, Prosciutto, Roma, Marinara, and more, they are always delicious, with perfect ingredients, the dough is perfectly cooked and the cheese una delicia!

    Took a chance in their $12 fruit cake.  Mistake.  It's not very good.

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    4 months ago

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    9 months ago

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    2 years ago

    Incredible!! The best place ever! Have been going since I was a little girl the best food and grocery in the city!

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Good food and great ambience at the original location in Little Italy. Service is efficient and friendly.

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    4 years ago

    A city of Edmonton staple. No question, always the absolute best. . Easter is my favourite time but all year round is recommended.

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

    The best deli in the city and not to expensive. Also in my mind, the best Italian sandwich.

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    6 years ago

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    4 years ago

    Great selection of ethnic foods and customer service. Very clean and organized. Great deli and produce.

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    3 years ago

    Good place to shop: choice and great bread.

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    4 years ago

    Always great place to get your deli meat and cheese. Baked goods are also a must. This is a usual stop for us to get good Italian products.

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    3 years ago

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    12 years ago

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    18 years ago

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    5 years ago

    It's been far too long since I've been there. I really MUST go again soon to check out the bakery.

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    8 years ago

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    Page 1 of 5

    Review Highlights - Italian Centre Shop

    A visit to any location of the Italian Center is always a special treat, something I always look forward to.

    Mentioned in 7 reviews

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    Polonia Sausage & Deli - Satisfy your Kielbasa craving.

    Polonia Sausage & Deli

    2.9(8 reviews)
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    This store is great. The ladies who work there are very friendly and highly likable. With one of…read morethem, Wanda (pron. Vanda), who is super-nice, I am on first name basis. My girlfriend, Cynthia, is a Philipina who grew up in Canada - she always stresses how pleasantly the ladies at the Polonia Deli treat her. I am a Canadian-Polish who is proudly Canadian, yet I would never tolerate any signs of ugliness towards non-Polish clients at that store. I go there often enough to assure any one who'd ask me that the clients who are not of Polish extraction are treated very politely, as they should be. Yes, the store sometimes turns into a little agora of Polish gossip and friendly banter, but this is quite common: all these small "ethnic" stores are alike, be it African, German, Greek, Indian, Italian, Pakistani - you name it. As for the products sold there: We have never experienced any problems. We do not eat pork so I cannot vouch for their pork-based cold cuts, yet they have chicken and turkey items, which are always fresh and excellent. We also like their preserves, pierogi (pierogi is already plural, no need to say "pierogies" :-) ), and yummy chocolate products. It is a great little store that could. Cynthia and I recommend it wholeheartedly!

    I was very excited to see what was offered here in terms of the deli. Not impressed…read more I bought two (2) rings of dry sausage. I should have have followed my gut when the rings were different colors. The first ring I tried was meh, but the second ring was sour and greenish in color and I ended up spitting the meat out and throwing it in the garbage. I also bought a smoked Turkey leg which I am now VERY apprehensive about eating as I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the rotten and sour sausage. I'm sure that this place can do much better than this but I won't be back to find out. Also, the lady that was working the till seemed annoyed that an older gentleman had taken up a conversation with me - giving one word directions. Sad....

    The Italian Centre

    The Italian Centre

    3.8(11 reviews)
    14.0 km

    This place is always bumping! A very busy spot whenever I've come here. But it's such a fun grocery…read moreand food spot nonetheless. It's hard to resist all the pastry goodies lined up so pretty at the window so of course we got a few. My personal favourites are the cannoli's. But this time we also had a very delightful danish, a rich cream horn and a jelly filled donut. We stopped and had lunch and ordered 2 different pizza's, which came out pretty quickly considered how busy it was. The Margarita pizza $14.00 (tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil) was delicious. The house made pizza dough is cooked perfectly by the way! And we also got the feature pizza. Nice clean bathrooms near the back of the store, plenty of parking out front. Overall a fun outing with the family that we all enjoyed.

    Great first time impression going into the newest of the Italian Centres tonight. Bright, spacious,…read moreflows well from section to section. It still feels welcoming like the smaller store layouts with how they designed extra areas to display items. Smartly located north of Greenland Garden Centre, the hospital and the newer shopping common in Emerald Drive & Cloverbar Road. Easy to access going on and off Yellowhead from this location and plenty of room for whatever vehicle size you have. Handicap (several stalls) is right up along the building and not mixed amongst other parking spots. I need to applaud the staff. I've always thought the Italian Centre has friendly and helpful staff but tonight they were incredibly thoughtful. For someone like myself that is mobility limited, I use what I know at that time is going to give me the least amount of pain while shopping (that's 9 out of 10 times a shopping basket). Not only did the cashier bag the groceries well enough for me to carry with one hand, but while she was doing that, she asked another to grab me a cart. Both noticing my cane and how many bags I was about to try and carry did that favour before my shopping order was finished being scanned. I was very impressed she went a step further and offered to assist with the remaining groceries I was yet to load when she spotted I was still in the parking lot (colder weather means I move slower). This is definitely a first for me to experience that at an Italian Centre. Greatly appreciated as reaching into the cart for unbagged items is sometimes tricky for me (pumpkin was the culprit tonight). The layout of this place left me feeling impressed from the spacing of the aisles and the thought that went behind allowing extra room where there most likely would be more people gathered waiting (like at the deli). With the amount of items in there, I'm confident there was a lot more specialty items than at other locations. Even the kitchenwares was displayed in a such a way along the windows that I could actually see what was all there (and reach it easier if I did want to buy anything from an assortment of spoons, rolling pins, pans, pasta press, coffee perks and even icing applicators). I wasn't surprised to see they had a very large layout for all the vinaigrette and olive oil but the way it's showcased makes you feel like you're shopping in a wine store but you're definitely not. As directly to the right there's a very large display of cheese rounds attractively lit beside the deli. The deli and bakery counters seem longer than at the other locations (or maybe it's because again it's very well lit in key areas?). Definitely lots of choices for packaged or freshly cut meat and cheeses. The bakery area probably took me the longest in the store. As I needed to narrow down the options (as there's so many wonderful looking desserts!). Spinelli's café that has its own entrance and looks like during this time it is kept separate from the grocery area with the rope barrier. Looks like a generous amount of tables and next time I'll go earlier with the thought to check out that side too. Overall, The store impressed me. It's definitely worth the extra bit of driving time home if you're out that way already for other things or in need of a place to visit friends and grab a good coffee.

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    The Italian Centre - Outside of heaven

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    Careit Urban Deli - The Vietnamese

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    3.9(9 reviews)
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    This place makes great HUMAN food . DO NOT BUY DOG TREATS FROM THEM, THEY ARE DANGEROUSLY HARD EVEN…read moreFOR A STAFFIE. They earned their 1 star from me after I contacted them about my dog breaking her tooth on one of their in-house made dog treats and her subsequently needing dental surgery that came at the hefty price tag of $1350. I called and spoke with one of the owners Louis. Louis didn't ask how my dog was, told me that this kind of thing sometimes happens and that there is nothing he could do about , nor was it their responsibility. He was not apologetic that this happened(until I called him out about it), then he asked me how he didnt know I was lying. Just spoke with Anita the office manager after asking to speak to Louis , she again Implied that I was lying, I was told that this has never happened before that she gives these treats to hwr own dogs, still no acceptance of responsibility. Then I heard Louis speaking in the background, I asked to speak with him because he was now there and I was hung up on

    Being just down the road from where I live, I figured I should give it a try…read more The menu doesn't have an extensive amount of options but everything looked amazing. They have quite a lot of detail as to what each item consists of and they will happily customize. We ordered three sandwiches (one of which was a poor attempt at a kids grilled cheese - if you dont offer it please dont attempt it). The sandwiches were good but not anything overly special. The thing that got me was the bill, it cost us almost $50 for 3 sandwiches and one of them was a 'childs' option. I think the prices may be a little over the top. The nice thing about this place is they offer a small refrigerated section of local goods! Also, the staff is incredibly friendly and the cafe is incredibly clean.

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    Careit Urban Deli - The Vietnamese

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    Italian Centre Shop - bakeries - Updated May 2026

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