From ‘Little Italy’ to Corydon Village

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This article was published 19/06/2024 (476 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s ‘Little Italy’ of the 1980s has seen considerable change over the years. Despite numerous transformations, people and places coming and going, Corydon Village remains the heart of an iconic neighbourhood. The busy street, chock-full of patios big and small, is a place to people-watch, enjoy good food and beverages, and experience some of Winnipeg’s finest sights and sounds.

There’s only a handful of businesses that can say they’ve been around for 40 years to witness its evolution. One of those is Bar Italia, opened in 1981 by Tony Foderaro. His business partner, general manager Rhea Collison, still loves working on the famous Corydon strip even decades after she started.

“I really do enjoy the work. It makes me sincerely happy to see people and have great conversations,” Collison said.

“Customers can just show up on their own, and here you have your Bar Italia friends… best friends, some for 30 or 35 years, who never see each other outside of Bar Italia. We have a lot of different ages, generations of customers,” she explained, noting that ‘Bar I’, as it’s known, is a place people return to visit even after they’ve moved away from the city.

Forty years ago, Collison was a teen and remembers happening upon the place that would become an integral part of her professional life.

“It started off as an Italian cultural club. You go in, there’s a gentleman behind the bar making coffee. You could get an actual Italian canned drink from Italy. There were club members. It was a not-for-profit, something you’d find in Italy,” she said, adding that the coffee was authentic.

When she started working at the club, it slowly became more of a local hangout for people in the neighbourhood.

“There used to be a laundromat. People would come in and do laundry, play pinball, have coffee. Through the ’90s it became more popular. Some of the up-and-comers, people doing film. It was the glory days. There were lots of Hollywood films being filmed here… Robin Williams came by, Patrick Swayze, Dan Aykroyd… many others. We had a good base of great of customers, local regulars, people that have been there through the years. Some of them pre-date me, which is alarming to me,” she chuckled.

Even when Winnipeggers moving around the world or within Canada, Collison said they come back for a cappuccino when they can

“The loyalty; people enjoy it— something where they can just show up. My staff are all long-term. There’s very little turnover.”

The Bar Italia patio was added in 1999, when the Pan Am Games were held in Winnipeg.

“That was a big deal for the city and for us. Since then, we’ve had that patio. It’s a nice place to sit. There are real trees we planted that year. They’re nice and full now.”

Collison and her staff are excited that patio season has arrived. They’re planning some events, and starting to organize a monthly karaoke night, hosted by local personalities. On Canada Day, Bar Italia will be hosting a fundraiser for Manitoba Underdogs.

“They do incredible work,” said Collison. “They’re just the hardest-working people… they also need money to help the dogs.”

Collison says the long-standing success of Bar Italia can be attributed to a number of factors including the fact that the business is open seven days a week, from 8:30 a.m. until 2 a.m.

“It’s everything from the customers to the staff, to the community. We have the park across the street, a lot of great people in the area. We are looking forward to seeing everybody. It’s all about seeing laughing, happy faces.”