Toni's love for cooking started at an early age. Being raised in a large Italian household full of family, relatives and friends there was something always cooking on the stove, baking in the oven or veggies being picked from the garden. With trips to Italy you could always find Toni in the kitchen cooking with her Mom and Grandma learning new recipes. The family would also enjoy the local outdoor Cafes birth the idea that one day she would open up her own place.

Toni started her first Bakery and Cafe at the young age of twenty two, and has been in the business or helping others start their own for years. She came to Merced to help open Wired Internet Cafe and decided to stay and start a place of her own, Toni's Courtyard Cafe. Her first year in business she was voted "Best Lunch" in Merced and Awarded "Best Small Business of the Year" Come in for breakfast or lunch and taste the difference, from delicious egg scrambes to great juicy burger, organic green salads or gourmet sandwiches!