Longtime Campus Corner Italian restaurant owner remembered for his warm character

[The Shadow]

Longtime Campus Corner Italian restaurant owner remembered for his warm character

By Jeff Elkins | Norman Transcript Staff Writer
Mar 12, 2023

For more than four decades, Vittorio Benso, known affectionately as Toto, served authentic Italian recipes on Campus Corner.

Benso, born in Mola di Bari, Italy, died in his hometown Feb. 28. He was 88 years old.

Toto’s Italia Ristorante opened at 315 White St., in 1971. Benso’s menu was a collection of family recipes, including artichoke parmigiana, shrimp scampi, minestrone soup, and fettuccine chicken alfredo in addition to hand-tossed pizza and some of Benso’s favorites — baked meat lasagna and spaghetti with meatballs.

It was said his marinara sauce, a truly traditional recipe, carried a significant portion of the menu.

Vittorio Benso moved to Brooklyn, New York, from Italy in 1959 to play professional soccer at age 26, according to Doug Hill, a Transcript contributor.

Benso’s older brother, Pasquale Benso, was also known as “Patsy.” He was a chef on a passenger ship and would later jump ship in (New York) harbor to live in the states with his brother, former University of Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer told The Transcript.

The two would move to Norman and open their own restaurants on Campus Corner about a decade later.

Vittorio had Toto’s, and Pasquale had Othello’s, just down the street on Buchanan Avenue.

“They ended up being competitors and didn’t have the greatest relationship for years and then they became friends later in life again,” said John Simonelli, a longtime friend of Toto.

Simonelli said Toto had a fun and warm personality. He would often great regulars with a hug and an Italian cheek kiss. He usually had Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin or another quintessential Italian artist playing from the speakers.

Simonelli described Toto’s as a restaurant one might see in an old romantic Italian movie.

John McElhaney worked at several businesses on Campus Corner in the early to mid-1970s before becoming a regular at Toto’s and eventually became his friend.

McElhaney recalled when word got out to the Rolling Stones about Toto’s authentic pizza.

“I think he made 800 pizzas all by hand for the roadies, the work crew and the (band),” he said.

Toto would sometimes travel with friends he met through owning the restaurant, including McElhaney, Simonelli, Toby Keith and Switzer.

“I went to Italy with Patsy and Toto five or six times, and I always enjoyed going with them — they were great friends of mine,” Switzer said.

Jerry Burris, once a regular at Toto’s, described him as a “gregarious man that everybody liked.”

Switzer and Simonelli said both Toto and Patsy at Othello’s would serve regulars and friends authentic food at their respective restaurants that weren’t on the menu.

“He would make a big pot of pasta e ***ioli, fish or whatever he had for dinner, and he would bring it out with wine,” Simonelli said. “It was just a wonderful experience.”

While he had listed business hours, he often stayed open well past closing time. Regulars young and old would be at the restaurant sometimes until 2 a.m. or later chatting with Toto, eating whatever he felt like cooking and drinking wine and low point beer — and many said he wasn’t known for checking IDs.

“English was his second language, so looking at licenses and stuff, he just kind of winged it, but the police all loved him,” Simonelli said. “I mean, he got away with a lot of stuff.”

For a majority of Toto’s time on Campus Corner, it was a 365 days a year operation, Simonelli said.

“As long as there was a customer there, he would stay open,” he said. “He would only go home to sleep. His whole social life was at (the restaurant).”

Joe Gill owned Joe’s Taverna, a bar behind Toto’s at 435 Buchanan Ave., of which Vittorio was the landlord. Gill said Vittorio was friendly and an understanding landlord.

“His place was always open to everybody — sometimes even after closing,” Gill said. “Police officers would go in there late in the evening after closing and he would fix them a pizza or whatever. And he always just had a good heart in that aspect.”

It was also said that Toto was known for helping out students who were broke and needed a meal.

“In the ‘70s and ‘80s, everyone knew Patsy and Toto, because they all ate at (Toto’s and Othello’s), and they were just gathering places,” Switzer said.

When it came time to retire around a decade ago, Vittorio Benso sold his building and moved back to the fishing village in Italy. He died last week, but his memory in Norman continues through the friendships he made here.

[Martin]

i never went to the toto's on campus corner, however there was a pizza place called toto's on sw 104th and santa fe in oklahoma city in the late 1980's or very early 1990's. i've long wondered if it was operated by the same people. it was really good pizza and nothing like the other mom and pop places that i was used to... the detail that sticks in my memory is that their sauce tasted 'fresher' and 'sweeter' than everybody else's. they were only open for a year or two and then renamed to franca's. it wasn't bad but tasted way more like the average local pizza place.

[king183]

I would go to Toto's with my oldest brother often and we would always go late at night. Toto was always there and always extremely friendly and willing to make whatever we wanted, which was usually just a pepperoni pizza. There were always rumors that he was part of the mob, in part because it didn't seem like he did a lot of business, yet stayed open seemingly forever, but I chalk that up to silly Italian stereotypes.