People walking past a restaurant with outdoor seating and a large red awning at night.

The best Italian restaurants in ³Ô¹ÏÍø

Visit Italy in ³Ô¹ÏÍø at these pizzerias, old-school restaurants, delis and aperitivo bars.

Iconic and old-school Italian restaurants

Iconic, 50s style Pellegrini's Espresso Bar in Bourke Street.

Pellegrini's Espresso Bar

This iconic espresso bar serves authentic Italian food and of course fantastic coffee.

Waiters exterior with signage.

Waiters Restaurant

Serving unfussy, home-style Italian food to a late-night crowd since 1947.

People dining outside at Florentino Cellar Bar in Bourke Street.

Florentino

Florentino has set the bar for Italian fine dining in ³Ô¹ÏÍø since 1928.

The trio of comedians of Sooshi Mango, in character costumes, eating food off plates they hold in their hands, one drinking a glass of red wine, in a lounge room like setting.

Johnny, Vince & Sam’s Ristorante

Italian recipes, décor and ambiance from the Sooshi Mango trio.

A creamy tortellini dish presented in a white bowl, a spoon, crusty bread and salt also on the table.

Trattoria Emilia

An Italian hidden gem serving handmade pasta, gnocco fritto and warm Modenese vibes.

Outdoor diners under gas heaters on Lygon Street.

Tiamo

Tiamo is a traditional Italian cafe serving classic Italian dishes for decades.

The shopfront of Amiconi Italian Restaurant with the restaurant name in red on a white signboard.

Amiconi

Family-owned Italian eatery with 65 years of tradition, steeped in history and Italian heritage.

Long row of tables and chairs on wooden floor leading to front window, artwork on wall.

Donnini's Restaurant

Authentic Italian eatery known for its handmade pasta and relaxed atmosphere.

Two large pizzas on a table in metal trays.

Papa Gino's

Every kind of pizza you can imagine with a whole load of classic Italian mains as well.

Street view of Maria's Trattoria.

Maria's Trattoria

Family-run dining with authentic, home-style Italian food.

Restaurant interior of Hardware Club with artwork on the pale walls, banquette seating and tables and chairs in an inviting space.

The Hardware Club

Casual Italian eatery in the historic Hardware House building.

Table and bar at Jimmy Watson's.

Jimmy Watson's

A piece of culinary history dating back to 1935, this could be Australia's first small wine bar.

Overhead table display of pizza, and bowls of pasta and gnocchi.

Il Gusto

The Lygon Street staple serves a variety of pizza, pasta seafood and meat dishes.

Restaurant interior with long row of tables and chairs against a highly decorated brick wall.

La Spaghettata

Serves a diverse Italian menu filled with recipes passed down from generation to generation.

Entrance to Brunetti's showing tables outside, large doors and the coffee bar counter.

Brunetti Classico

Brunetti Classico Carlton boasts one of ³Ô¹ÏÍø's biggest arrays of cakes and pastries.

Plate of pasta with cutlery.

Universal Restaurant

Italian eatery serving comforting pasta, pizza and meat and seafood dishes.

Best pizza in ³Ô¹ÏÍø

A traditional-style Italian pizza with buffalo mozzarella and prosciutto, a glass of rose wine in the background.

D.O.C Pizza & Mozzarella Bar

This Southbank addition to the D.O.C family serves up an afternoon and evening Italian menu.

Interior of Leonardo's Pizza Palace.

Leonardo's Pizza Palace

Old-school pizza in a vintage-style venue near Carlton's Lygon Street.

The interior of Gradi showing a large dining room with tables set for guests.

Gradi at Crown

Authentic, excellent and premium Naples-style pizza and loads of Italian classics.

A woman sitting at a restaurant cutting in to a pizza.

Di Stasio Pizzeria

Italian wood-fired pizzas and cocktails in an art-filled space.

Waiter placing a prosciutto pizza on a wooden table.

+39 Pizzeria

Trendy, bare-bones Italian eatery dishing up thin-crust pizza, pasta, handmade focaccia and wine.

Person taking a slice of pizza.

Dom's Pizzeria and Social Club

Three level bar, restaurant and rooftop in the heart of the city

Colourful dishes of pasta and pizza on a wooden table.

Criniti's Southbank

Serving wood-fired pizzas, pasta, seafood and cocktails in a vibrant setting.

Woman sitting outside a pizza joint at night.

Pizza Pizza Pizza

A tiny pizza shop inspired by the pizzas ³Ô¹ÏÍø grew up with.

More of the best Italian restaurants in ³Ô¹ÏÍø

People eating in booths in an Italian restaurant.

Capitano

Casual Italian food with an excellent wine list.

A man walking past a backlit bar with bottles and signage, tables and chairs in the foreground.

Pepe's Italian & Liquor

An Italian restaurant located in a leafy enclave of ³Ô¹ÏÍø's central business area.

Bar, bar stools and tables at Tipo 00 restaurant.

Tipo 00

High quality, artisan pasta with a great wine list.

A share plate of tomato-based pasta surrounded by empty plates, wine and water glasses and cutlery on a white table.

Ronnie's

Inspired by family dinners, where friends and family meet to dine, wine and have good times.

Terrace with set tables, bathed in red; river to left.

La Camera

Classic Italian food overlooking the river at Southbank.

A spoon being used to break into a cake like dessert on a ceramic plate.

Marameo

Marameo is a fun, easy-going Italian eatery offering a range of pasta and mains.

Exterior of restaurant Grill Americano, showing windows and blue awnings.

Grill Americano

Offering Italian classics with signature Chris Lucas spin in sophisticated surrounds.

Waiter in a white jacket.

Di Stasio Citta

Combining fine Italian food and wine with art and culture in a contemporary space.

Entrance to Tippy-Tay showing green and gold tiled doorway and green plants.

Tippy-Tay

A colourful Italian restaurant at the Garden State Hotel.

Exterior of Il Bacaro restaurant with two blurred figures walking past on the footpath out the front.

Il Bacaro Cucina e Bar

A fine dining experience, offering modern Italian cuisine in an intimate and relaxed setting.

A table set for two with a pizza on one plate and a pasta dish on the other, with two glasses and a carafe of red wine.

Ombra

Guy Grossi's Ombra serves cured meats, Venetian tapas and excellent wines to share.

A creamy tortellini dish presented in a white bowl, a spoon, crusty bread and salt also on the table.

Trattoria Emilia

An Italian hidden gem serving handmade pasta, gnocco fritto and warm Modenese vibes.

Best Italian wine bars and aperitivo spots

Gilson exterior with outdoor tables and 1st-floor apartment balconies.

Gilson

A neighbourhood Italian restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere based on a traditional osteria.

A coffee and a chocolate dessert with cream.

Heartattack and Vine

An Italian-style neighbourhood wine bar serving tapas and specialty coffee.

Diners seated at tables at an outdoor rooftop bar in the fading evening sunlight.

Johnny's Green Room

A rooftop bar above King & Godfree with great views, tunes and Italian inspired food and drinks.

Woman in trench coat on outdoor table looking up at chalkboard menu on brick wall and wooden window service nook of Bar Holiday.

Bar Holiday

A hidden bar with casual Italian dining.

Cream clay bowl of filled pasta, garnished with parsley and roe.

Al Dente Enoteca

Serving and stocking artisanal, handmade pasta.

Red cocktail in a short glass, garnished with mint and an orange slice, next to a bowl of crisps.

Bar Carlo

The menu is constantly rotating to ensure the freshest ingredients, served in a no fuss way.

Italian delis, bakeries and sandwich bars

Interior of D.O.C Delicatessen showing many different products available and a woman looking at the shelves.

D.O.C Espresso & Delicatessen

Pick up top-quality Italian coffee, panini, smallgoods and pantry staples.

Open street frontage of Spring Street Grocer.

Spring Street Grocer

Cheese, gelato, groceries, coffee and gourmet foods all under one roof.

Several custard-filled Italian bomboloni sweet pastries.

Baker D Chirico

Artisan bread and sweet and savoury pastries including Italian bomboloni.

Plate on a cafe table displaying a soft bread roll cut in half and filled with lettuce, melted cheese and cured meat.

No22 Cafe

A modern Italian cafe, with an emphasis on food from Puglia.

Wrapped focaccia sandwich in a cardboard box with creamy white filling and chopped pistachios.

Lil Lane

Freshly baked Italian-inspired focaccia sandwiches and a range of coffee creations.

Italian panini sandwich of chicken and rocket.

Saluministi Docklands

Dining at Saluministi takes you on a journey through the flavours of Italy.

Interior of Romanello showing a long glass display counter of pizza, a drinks display against the rear wall, a large window facing the street, a terrazzo floor and white and red walls.

Romanello

Providing traditional pizza by the slice and schiacciata sandwiches.

Large crowds of people walking around il Mercato Centrale in ³Ô¹ÏÍø, either side of a central staircase of the busy food and dining precinct.

il Mercato Centrale ³Ô¹ÏÍø

Il Mercato Centrale is a social melting pot where food and culture come together.

Best gelato in ³Ô¹ÏÍø

Ice cream cornet with red and white scoops of gelati.

Pidapipo Gelateria

Authentic, artisanal Italian-style gelato in the heart of Carlton's Lygon Street.

Shopfront of Piccolina Gelateria.

Piccolina Gelateria

Enjoy traditional Italian gelato: pure, natural and authentic.

A hand holding up a tub of Casa del Gelato with a spoon in it outside the store.

Casa del Gelato

An award-winning gelati shop that has been making delicious ice cream on Lygon Street since 1980.

Barbarella counter with blackboard menus, signs and glass display filled with cakes, kitchen in the background.

Barbarella Gelato and Wine

Premium gelato, perfect coffee and an excellent wine list all within the historic Block Arcade.

Smiling staff leaning over the glass service counter of a gelato shop holding out a gelato in a cone.

Geloso Gelateria

A gelato and ice cream shop located inside Queen Victoria Market.

Double scoop ice-cream cone with yellow and white striped Gelateria shopfront in background.

Gelateria on The Docks

Serving the best ice cream and gelato in Docklands.

Two scoops of ice cream in a cone.

Gelateria Primavera

Delicious gelato, shakes and juices from the front of the Spring Street Grocer.

Row of kids enjoying ice creams.

Gelatissimo

Fresh gelato in loads of flavours.

Person holding a chocolate pastry.

Zero Gradi Crown

Gelateria serving gelato, Italian pastries, coffee, and more from dawn until late.

Blue tongs adding a chocolate brownie to cups of pink gelato.

1565

Great for unique flavours of gelato, quality coffees and sandwiches, cakes and bread.

A selection of colourful gelato tubs in a fridge each with toppings.

Cups n Cones

A vibrant and enticing dessert destination providing a delightful gelato experience.

The interior of GLO Gelato with glowing menu board, a yellow counter top and people gathering outside.

GLO Gelato

GLO Gelato is serving up authentic hand-crafted gelato and specialty cakes on Lygon Street.

Last updated on Fri 10 Oct 2025

Only In The City

Only in this City of Ours
Three young people enjoying various dishes in a colourful, hawker-style Thai restaurant.

³Ô¹ÏÍø's best cheap eats

Pizza by the slice, cheap happy hour deals and more.

Multiple plates on a white table cloth.

Things you can only eat in the city

Where to find the city's most iconic dishes.

A tram going past three city restaurants with neon signs.

³Ô¹ÏÍø's most iconic restaurants

Book in an unforgettable night out at some of ³Ô¹ÏÍø's best restaurants.

Discover more

Waiter carrying two pizzas and dish of meat and salad to customers sitting at tables.

Cafe Rosco

A family-run eatery specialising in modern Italian cuisine.

Italian pizza with thinly sliced meat.

Gemma Simply Italian

Pizza and gnocchi bar, providing an authentic Italian food experience, with a modern touch.

Exterior of a street-side restaurant with a large yellow awning at night.

Cafe Cavallino

Enjoy authentic Italian pizzas and meals in a classic and relaxed atmosphere.

A hand on a plate containing a bubbly crusted pizza with rocket garnish.

District Pizzeria

Bringing mouthwatering pizzas to ³Ô¹ÏÍø’s inner-city playground.