Toronto's new pizza window will only sell 100 slices per day — here's everything to know
A groovy Toronto Italian restaurant is celebrating summer by selling slices out of a window all summer long.
Raffaella, formerly Raff’s Pizza, has sure come a long way since owner and Head Chef Simon Vickerson’s early days of selling late-night slices to weary club-goers on Toronto sidewalks.
The Toronto chef’s journey began when he started popping up at venues across the city with his mobile pizza oven, whipping up pies for passersby and updating social media with his whereabouts. Using his grandmother’s (the titular Raffaella) recipes and techniques, Raff’s Pizza Stand became one of Toronto’s ultimate secrets for a quick slice.
Nowadays, he’s heading up the kitchen at Raffaella’s brick-and-mortar restaurant inside the Annex Hotel, which opened to a fair amount of buzz in early 2025, thanks to its palate-pleasing menu of American-Italian classics, like spaghetti Bolognaise, arancini, chicken parm, and, of course, pizza.
An accessible blend of trendy and classic, the restaurant has certainly cemented its spot in the Annex (and Simon’s spot as a legitimate player on the city’s food scene) in the months since it opened. This summer, though, Rafaella will be embarking on a homecoming of sorts, returning to the single-slice origins that made the local pizza a hit in the first place.
Starting Saturday, June 28, Rafaella will be opening a new pizza window, where you can pick up a single slice of the pie du jour to take on the road with you for your summertime adventures.
The idea for the slice window came from the desire to offer people in the city a more casual way to enjoy Raff’s Pizza, Simon tells Dished Toronto, harkening back to the early days when he’d set up outside of bars and sling slices into the wee hours of the morning.
The restaurant is great, of course, and it’s not terribly formal or stuffy, but the ease of eating a Raff’s slice in open air is baked into the entire concept’s success, so the window feels like a natural progression.
“We are also always trying to make the best slice in Toronto, so wanted to give people the opportunity to just try a slice on its own,” he adds.
Thus, the slice window was born. Located, just like Raffaella’s brick-and-mortar, at the Annex Hotel (296 Brunswick Ave.,) this Saturday marks the concept’s first day in business, and you’ll want to get there quickly if you hope to score a slice: they’ll only be selling 100.
For now, Simon tells Dished Toronto, the window will only be open for business every Saturday starting at noon and will sell slices until all 100 have been claimed.
Simon tells Dished Toronto that, depending on how the concept is received by the pizza-loving public, there’s potential that they’ll expand the window’s hours, or even consider making it a full-time thing, which partygoers stumbling in from nearby haunts like Lee’s Palace would surely appreciate.
Here’s the catch: they’ll only be serving one type of pizza on any given day, so, before you set your heart on a Hawaiian slice, just know that it’s a you-get-what-you-get-type situation. That said, since it’s Raff’s Pizza we’re talking about, you can rest assured knowing it’ll hit the spot.
“We will rotate through our hit pizzas, so if you want a different kind, you will just have to wait,” Simon says.
The window will also be serving up soft-serve ice cream, mozzarella sticks, and spritzes during its in-business days, though, so, regardless of whether the pizza flavour of the day suits your fancy or not, there’s guaranteed to be something that will. Who doesn’t like soft-serve and a spritz?
Raff’s Slice Window officially opens for business at noon on Saturday, June 28, and to celebrate, the first 100 customers will walk away with a free slice and beer. What could be more delicious?
Raff’s Slice Window
Address: 296 Brunswick Ave., Toronto
Still hungry? Discover Dished Toronto on TikTok