It may go against instinct, but there are many pasta kitchens in Sydney that don’t really consider texture to be all that important. Sometimes the shells arrive firmer than intended, other dishes go too light (or too heavy) on the sauce. When it comes to good Italian food in Sydney, technique, timing and balance are paramount, and often what separates a decent Italian restaurant from a truly great one.
Sydney has a lot of Italian restaurants. I don’t think I could count, but Rentech Digital implies that there at least 551 Italian restaurants in Sydney. Now I haven’t eaten at all 551 of those Italian restaurants, but I have steadily ticked off the classics throughout the years. It’s pretty much a requisite to becoming a food writer.
Italian immigrants have been coming to Sydney since the 1851 Bathurst gold rush, so it’s no surprise to see the culture so deeply embedded in the city’s appetite. It’s why any new Italian restaurants in Sydney are almost immediately swamped with fussy diners bringing their high standards to the table and analysing each new pasta dish. And it’s why Italian chefs always strive to deliver perfection, given how much competition there is around Sydney.
Below you’ll find my 12 favourite Italian restaurants. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I’ve picked out the ones that have never let me down throughout the years. Some of them are classics, others are new and experimental, yet all of them wave the flag tremendously high for good traditional Italian cooking.
Note that I’ll be focusing mainly on pasta and antipasto. Sydney does pizza exceptionally well, and so pizza deserves its own round-up.
Are these Sydney’s best Italian restaurants?
1. Palazzo Salato, CBD
Rich, unhealthy pasta served to the uncompromising standards of a Roman trattoria. Yes, Palazzo Salato is the real deal, and its seething authenticity is exactly why I keep coming back to this grand, slightly theatrical pasta room.
This is where you go for cacio e pepe, amatriciana, carbonara and nothing watered down for Australian tastes. The sauces are aggressively rich, the seasoning unapologetic, and the pasta cooked with the kind of confidence that only comes from knowing you’re right. My standing order rotates between the cacio e pepe and the carbonara, depending on mood, but the sleeper hit is often the gnocchi, which manages to be both delicate and wildly indulgent.
What to order:
- Trippa alla Romana
- Mafaldine with spanner crab, uni butter, chilli and sea blight
- Spaghetti alla chitarra with clams, bottarga and lemon
Address: 201/203 Clarence St, Sydney NSW 2000
Contact: (02) 9044 2556
2. Ragazzi, CBD
Ragazzi is where I send people who think Italian food is “simple”. The menu changes frequently, but the through-line is precision: handmade pasta, deeply considered sauces and combinations that feel playful without ever tipping into gimmickry. Ragazzi preceded Palazzo Salato. The latter is just like a bigger version of the former, but Ragazzi fits the bill perfectly when you’re looking for an intimate Italian wine bar with good pasta and even better wine.
If there’s a pappardelle, order it. If there’s a filled pasta, order that too. Ragazzi’s genius is restraint; nothing is overloaded, nothing screams for attention, and every dish feels finished. It’s one of the best examples in Sydney of modern Italian cooking that still values tradition above all else. Note that the menu changes far too often for me to list any favourites, but below I’ve listed some of the dishes I’ve fallen in love with at Ragazzi many times over.
What to order:
- Cavatelli with speck, corn and black truffle
- Ricotta with ravioli, melanzane and basil
- Octopus skewers with goat labneh
Address: Shop 3/2-12 Angel Pl, Sydney NSW 2000
Contact: (02) 8964 3062
3. Pellegrino 2000, Surry Hills
I don’t think Taylor Swift’s favourite restaurant in Sydney is the be-all and end-all of Italian food here, but I’d be a fool not to include Pellegrino 2000.
Is there better pasta in Sydney? Absolutely. But Pellegrino understands vibe better than almost anyone. The room hums, the martinis are cold, and the food, particularly the vongole, veal dishes, and the banana cream dessert, is consistently satisfying. It’s Italian food as a social sport.
What to order:
- Veal saltimbocca
- Ravioli di gamberi
- Capellini alle vongole
Address: 80 Campbell St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
Contact: (02) 8593 0114
4. Fratelli Paradiso, Potts Point
A classic for a reason. Fratelli Paradiso feels like the platonic ideal of a neighbourhood Italian restaurant. It’s polished without being precious, opening up onto leafy streets in the backstreets of Potts Point with a truly inviting, communal atmosphere. The friendly service keeps regulars locked in while the pasta is consistently some of the most impressive and generous in the area.
The menu covers northern and southern Italy comfortably, with handmade pasta, beautiful seafood, and one of the better Italian wine lists in Sydney. I never order the same dish whenever I head back, simply because I trust the kitchen enough to stray from my tried-and-trues. Regardless, here’s what I think you should order if you’ve never been to Fratelli Fresh before.
What to order:
- Spaghetti with roast scampi
- Baked lasagna
- Roasted lamb rack with sweet and sour onion
Address: 12-16 Challis Ave, Potts Point NSW 2011
Contact: (02) 9063 8180
5. Neptune’s Grotto, Circular Quay
Neptune’s Grotto is hidden beneath Bridge Street like a private members’ club for people who care deeply about pasta. Run by the Pellegrino 2000 and Clam Bar crew, it leans into a distinctly northern Italian register: rich ragùs, butter-heavy sauces, tajarin, tortellini in brodo. This gives it a bit more focus than Pellegrino 2000, taking care of the boot’s other regions in a moody, subterranean space that feels truly hidden.
The room is half fantasy, half old-world theatre, anchored by leather booths, marble, candlelight and a looming statue of Neptune that sets the tone for what follows. This is the modern alternative to the classic Machevelli, which used to be my favourite Italian restaurant in Sydney before more competition started popping up.
What to order:
- Tagliatelle al Ragù
- Gramigna alla Salsiccia
- Cotoletta alla Bolognese
Address: Lower Ground Floor/44 Bridge St, Sydney NSW 2000
Contact: (02) 9167 6667
6. Pilu at Freshwater, Freshwater
Pilu at Freshwater remains one of Sydney’s most distinctive Italian restaurants because it refuses to dilute its Sardinian identity. Giovanni Pilu’s cooking leans heavily into the flavours of his home island, which means dishes you don’t see elsewhere: culurgiones folded by hand, fregula treated like risotto, and the now-legendary slow-roasted suckling pig, still one of the most assured main courses in the city.
Seafood plays a central role, often accented with bottarga, citrus, or olive oil rather than heavy sauces, letting the produce do the talking. It’s also a fine example of why regionality matters so much when it comes to Italian dining in Sydney. Out of almost all of Sydney’s Italian restaurants, this seaside classic has maintained the most loyal local following. That’s because you can only get these flavours here, framed by that beautiful white cottage overlooking Freshwater Beach.
What to order:
- Refalo free range suckling pig, mirto braised cabbage and sheep yoghurt
- Casarecce pasta with almond pesto, stracciatella and ‘nduja
- Aquna Murray cod with tomato, fennel, broad beans, garlic and parsley
Address: Moore Rd, Freshwater NSW 2096
Contact: (02) 9938 3331
7. a’Mare, Barangaroo
a’Mare is one of Sydney’s most talked-about Italian restaurants for good reason, slotting nicely into Crown Sydney’s luxury dining scene by matching refined Italian technique with a waterfront Barangaroo setting that rarely fails to impress. Pasta and seafood are central: the spaghetti alla chitarra with lobster is my favourite for its freshness and depth, while the tableside-finished trofie pesto (basil and pine nuts crushed in a massive Carrara mortar and then tossed with perfectly textured pasta) is a theatrical favourite that is not at all over-hyped.
Antipasti like crudo with citrus and finger lime, or classics such as vitello tonnato and burrata caprese, showcase a kitchen rooted in Italian tradition but unafraid to embrace big Australian produce. It’s a big dining room, and that largeness sacrifices a bit of soul, but if you’re looking for a cinematic Italian dining experience that actually lives up to the price tag, you can’t go past this Barangaroo favourite.
What to order:
- Trofie pesto
- Spaghetti alla chitarra with lobster
- Tirramisu
Address: Crown Sydney, Level 1/1 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo NSW 2000
Contact: (02) 8029 0887
8. Ormeggio at the Spit, Mosman
Ormeggio at The Spit is one of Sydney’s most distinctive Italian restaurant experiences precisely because it doesn’t pretend to be a trattoria. It feels like an Italian restaurant you could only ever get by the waters of Sydney. Set right on Middle Harbour at D’Albora Marina, this is seafood-forward Italian dining where the produce, invariably fresh, sustainable and hyperlocal, dictates the dynamic menu.
Think handmade tagliolini with steamed pipis and cultured butter, smoked WA scampi with caviar on brioche, or beautifully pan-fried Murray cod paired with kohlrabi and mustard jus; dishes that are as beautiful to look at as the harbour views that frame them. The changing à la carte and sharing menus here aren’t about familiar carbonara or bolognese; they’re about Italian technique applied to Australia’s best seafood with playful edges and precision.
Much like Pilu at Freshwater, Ormeggio is Sydney’s other seaside Italian favourite that’s become so inextricably linked to Sydney dining that it feels like it’s just been there forever.
What to order:
- King prawns with trofie pasta
- Fremantle octopus with flatbread
- Smoked southern calamari with squid ink taglioni
Address: D’Albora Marinas, Spit Rd, Mosman NSW 2088
Contact: (02) 9969 4088
9. 10 William St, Paddington
10 William St is the embodiment of date night in Sydney. It’s communal when it wants to be, private when you need it to be, and always so delicious. It is first and foremost a wine bar, but one that happens to cook some of the most confident classic Italian food in the city. Plus, that signature pretzel with whipped bottarga? Bliss. It’s the kind of non-main that can’t ever be taken off the menu, for the sake of the staff’s safety and sanity.
The menu is deliberately narrow and changes often, though it almost always circles back to deeply satisfying pastas, robust sauces and dishes that feel grounded in regional Italy rather than any fixed rulebook. The pasta tends to be bold and rustic, often rich with pork, anchovy or slow-cooked meat, and built to stand up to the wines rather than politely accompany them. And yes, this really is the best tiramisu in Sydney.
What to order:
- Spaghetti, red mullet and saffron
- Tagliatelle with polpette
- Pretzel with whipped bottarga
Address: 10 William St, Paddington NSW 2021
Contact: (02) 9360 3310
10. Beppi’s, Darlinghurst
Beppi’s is one of those rare Sydney restaurants that feels immune to fashion. Tucked away in Darlinghurst, it has been doing the same thing, the same way, for decades. The city is better for it. Every big city worth its salt needs to have those hardy Italian institutions that have fallen out of the trendy guidebooks but still have loyal followings. Maybe they were more prolific once, but they’ve since fallen largely off the radar and instead have carved out a community that’s self-sustaining: guaranteed bookings, guaranteed quality. That’s Beppi’s in a nutshell.
The menu reads like a greatest hits of classic Italian cooking: handmade pasta, veal in all its forms, rich sauces built on time rather than trend, and a wine cellar that quietly underpins the whole experience. Nothing here is reinvented, and that is precisely the point. I’ve never left Beppi’s feeling shortchanged, and I always exit that door wanting to make my next reservation right away.
What to order:
- Tagliolini allo Zafferano con Salsa di Scampi
- Malfaldine con ragú di Carne e Burratina
- Costoletta di Vitello con Cavolfiore
Address: 21 Yurong St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Contact: (02) 9360 4558
11. Lana, Circular Quay
I never paid too much attention to Lana when it first opened, but that turned out to be a big mistake. As a food writer, you always see it as some kind of moral failing when you overlook a restaurant and the hype surrounding it simply because of circumstance. Lana opened in 2021, in the midst of start-stop lockdowns, and I didn’t get a chance to try it until years later, long after everyone started raving about it.
Lana feels like Italian cooking viewed through a contemporary Sydney lens. Set in the historic Hinchcliff House, it takes familiar foundations and pares them back, favouring clean flavours, seasonal produce and a lighter hand with richness than many of the city’s classic Italian rooms. The pasta is excellent, often built around vegetables as much as meat, and dishes tend to land with clarity rather than excess. When there’s a filled pasta or a vegetable-led main on the menu, that’s usually where the kitchen is having the most fun.
What to order:
- Kingfish crudo, smoked tomato, dashi, yoghurt, caperberry
- Pappardelle alla sorrentina, sambal, thai basil
- Berkshire pork cutlet, green peppercorn, hispi cabbage
Address: Level 1/5-7 Young St, Sydney NSW 2000
Contact: (02) 7228 1400
12. Dear Saint Eloise, Potts Point
Dear Saint Eloise is most certainly a wine bar before it is a restaurant, but the food here is so confoundingly brilliant that I find myself going here more often for dinner, as opposed to working my way through their bookish wine list. Pasta here always hits hard, and there’s typically one or two options that rotate through textures, styles and sauces.
If there’s some sort of casarecce on the menu when you visit, get it. The same goes for any variation of crudo (usually tuna), as the kitchen loves to play around with the natural oils of sashimi-grade fish in interesting ways. A few small dishes and one or two pastas to share should do you just fine, but the kitchen’s perfect steak sizzles exactly how I like it too (and they usually use Jack’s Creek, which is one of Australia’s finest Wagyu farms).
What to order:
- Pasta (non-specific as it changes so often)
- Crudo (again, non-specific as it changes so often)
- Steak (usually served bavette style with cafe de Paris)
Address: 5/29 Orwell St, Potts Point NSW 2011
Contact: (02) 9326 9745
13. Fratteli Fresh, Various Locations
You could eat a big, satisfying meal at a Fratelli Fresh venue for around $50. Yes, it’s pretty much a chain and the preference almost always lies with highly focused, standalone restaurants when it comes to the “best”. But you really can’t go past the value Fratelli Fresh offers at each of their five Sydney locations.
I go through phases. Fratelli Fresh has been around for so long that it’s caked into Sydney’s psyche as an economical Italian restaurant, hardly aligned with the special occasion most people prefer when heading out for some pasta. But writing it off simply because it’s not expensive would be a mistake. The standards have been raised in recent years, whipping fresh produce into a menu of simple, classic Italian dishes that leave you with enough change for two desserts.
What to order:
- Gnocchi Pantelleria with capers and mint pesto
- Piccante pizza
- Pork alla Milanese
Address: Various locations (check website)
