Ivano's on the Whitesands: a short history of our Dumfries takeaway

Ivano's Italiano is a family-run Italian takeaway at 11 Whitesands in Dumfries, on the street that runs along the River Nith, built on the cooking of Ivano, who was born in Lucca, in Tuscany. It has been closed since 2024, and it's reopening soon. This is a short history of how it started, what it became, and what's changing.

If you've lived in Dumfries and Galloway for a while, you may already know the shop: the Italian takeaway beside the bus stop on the Whitesands.

Our story in dates

From Lucca to Dumfries

Ivano was born in Lucca, in Tuscany, in 1957, and later made his home in Dumfries. Our old website put it simply: he loves cooking, and he produces authentic Italian home cooking.

As that website went on to say:

Ivanos Italian Food take-away has become a fixture on the Whitesands in Dumfries. Our family run business continues to make the best tasting pasta dishes, pizza and panini in Dumfries and Galloway.

The Tuscan influence ran through everything, alongside what the site called a full and traditional fish and chips menu and an extensive vegetarian menu.

The early menus

Our earliest menus, from 2009, already show the shape of the food today: pasta under the heading Pasta Pronta, pizza, chicken dishes, vegetarian dishes, panini and Ivano's specials. By 2012 the printed menu promised 30 Italian pasta dishes and 27 thin-crust pizzas.

There were experiments along the way. Around 2010 the shop ran a Daytime Deli at lunchtimes, with free daytime deliveries close to the shop. Haggis found its way onto the menu too, in the haggis lasagne and on pizzas, which is about as Scotland-meets-Tuscany as food gets. Our article on haggis pizza and haggis lasagne has the details.

Becoming Ivano's Italiano

The early name was Ivanos Italian Food. From 2014 the shop traded as Ivano's Italiano, the name on the sign today, written in the script logo many customers will recognise.

The pizza settled into the style it's known for: Romana thin crust, made to Ivano's own recipe. And in 2014 our website described the fish and chips as "REAL homemade chips using the best quality potatoes available", with a crispy batter Ivano made from two different kinds of flour.

Online, a flood and a pandemic

In 2019 the shop started taking orders online through its own website. Over the years it was also on Just Eat, Foodhub, Uber Eats and Deliveroo, with our own drivers doing much of the delivering.

The Whitesands sits right by the River Nith, and that brings floods. After one in February 2020, the shop reopened with 20% off all pasta dishes. Then came the pandemic, when only three customers at a time could wait inside, and the shop asked the council for an awning to keep the queue at the bus stop dry.

Closing, and coming back

In 2024 the shop closed. Now it's coming back, and some things will be different:

• Order direct at ivanos.uk. Pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and follow your order on a status page once it's placed.
• Our own drivers, delivering up to about four miles from the shop, plus collection from the counter.
• Allergen information for every dish, published on our allergens page before you order, and given again with your food.
• New opening hours: Thursday to Sunday, 4pm to 10pm, to start with.

What hasn't changed

The pizza is still Romana style, the pasta list is still long, and the shop is still at 11 Whitesands.

A lot of people ordered from us over the years. Many of you left reviews, and some mentioned dishes by name, the penne Boscaiola and the haggis lasagne among them. We'll be back soon. Until then, have a look at the menu and the about page, and keep an eye on this site.

Have an allergy? Please read our allergen information and tell us before you order.

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