Ice-cream-starved fans, whine no more. Toscanini's is back in business.
The Central Square sweet spot got the keys back from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue yesterday after handing over more than $30,000 it raised from customers over the past five days. Tax authorities shut it down a week ago because the owners had failed to pay more than $167,000 in taxes dating back to 2000.
An ice cream maker created a website last week, savetosci.com, to help raise money so owners Gus and Mimi Rancatore could open Toscanini's while paying the tax bills. Bob Bliss, a revenue department spokesman, said Toscanini's "paid a substantial amount on the taxes owed and came up with a solid repayment plan."
Mimi Rancatore said all money raised has been turned over to the state, and even though the site surpassed its goal of $25,000, she plans to keep it going for awhile. While the site drew praise from fans, a number of people were critical about being asked to pay a business's delinquent taxes.
"I'm incredibly grateful," Rancatore said. "I certainly understand people's issues with helping us, because we're a for-profit business. We're not denying we made a mistake."
Toscanini's hopes to stage a customer-appreciation event when the weather warms up.
A free ice cream day, perhaps?
