Retro Gusto: Trattoria and Roman-Style Pizza in Little Italy

In Italian, Retro Gusto means “aftertaste,” and this Roman-style pie leaves a lasting one, having made its mark on Preston Street and the Ottawa pizza scene since opening in 2022. Around it, you’ll find a short list of Italian snacks, salads, a seasonal cutlet and pasta al forno. An all-Italian drinks menu sets the tone for aperitivo, or for turning a quick slice into a long evening.

Behind Retro Gusto are siblings Nina and Cesare Agostini, also the founders of Farinella, the Roman bakery and pizzeria known for pizza by the metre, focaccia and sourdough. Here, Cesare develops the recipes, and head chef Michael Ison brings them to the plate. “Retro Gusto was a place my brother and I opened because it was the place that we wanted to eat at,” says Nina Agostini.

Two Roman Pizzas, Two Ends of the Spectrum

Farinella’s counters are built to keep up with a steady rush, while Retro Gusto’s sit-down format lets the team take its time with every plate. As Agostini puts it, it’s “more about the fun and pretty stuff.” Farinella’s al taglio pizza leans toward a flatbread; here, it is “very, very, very thin,” closer to a cracker. The smaller scale lets the kitchen pour a finer olive oil, buy its mushrooms from a local producer and roast its own peppers.

The pizzas mix classics, house creations and frequent specials. Alongside a margherita or funghi, you’ll find pies exclusive to the house, like one with roasted pepper crema, Kalamata olives and sausage from Luciano’s, the legendary deli right next door. Every pizza gets a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil from Puglia before leaving the kitchen.

The rest of the menu follows the family’s cravings and roots. “Our family is from Abruzzo, so the arosticini are big for us,” Agostini says. With no grill on site, the team fries these classic lamb skewers instead and serves them with the very mandatory salsa verde. Other fried bites are always in rotation, from Roman supplì to recurring specials like fried artichokes or mozzarella in carrozza. Vodka rigatoni al forno, baked and topped with burrata, rounds out the menu.

Classic Drinks and Niche Grapes

The bar mostly sticks to drinks “you can get at a train station stop in Italy”: Aperol spritz, Campari spritz, Campari soda. The focus is on bitter liqueurs, amari and vermouth, and the few house cocktails follow the same rule.

The wine list is entirely Italian, and Nina insists on going off the beaten path with lesser-known grapes and regions. “I want people to know about my culture,” she says. She wants guests to try something new, with options for every palate. Among her favourites are an Aglianico for reds and a Pecorino for whites.

Nonna’s Basement 

Inside this Little Italy spot, the wraparound bar copies the one in the Agostinis’ grandmother’s basement, recreated by the uncle who made the original. Their family has been in the restaurant business for decades, and Retro Gusto pulls from that lineage directly: the plates come from the family’s former restaurants, the cutlery from their father’s 1980s club, and Nina drew the striped walls herself with three pencils screwed into a two-by-four. “We basically just stole the entire design from my grandmother’s basement,” she jokes.

With 38 seats, it plays the neighbourhood spot, hosting after-work pizza nights and the odd wedding alike. “It’s nothing fancy, but when you go there, I hope people feel like they’ve been really taken care of,” Agostini says. Her favourite part of the job? The “little conversations with people.”

Stop by for a crisp Roman pie, an aperitivo or a glass of something Italian you may never have tried: long after the last slice, what lingers at Retro Gusto is exactly what the name promises. If you’re staying in, the pizzas are also available for takeout, with supplì, Caesar salad and cannoli to complete the spread

Written by Marie-Ève Godin
Photography by Maryn Devine

Updated on October 26, 2026

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