The best Italian restaurants in London

What is it? Highbury’s star Italian has been combining irresistible food with spot-on service and some of London’s best pasta since 2010.

Why we love it: For the pappardelle with slow-cooked beef-shin ragù (a silky delight) and brilliant stuff from the charcoal grill, like whole Cornish mackerel with panzanella. The menu changes daily and the comprehensive all-Italian wine list only serves to emphasise Trullo’s calibre.

Time Out tip: There’s a Trullo wine bar next door, where you can drop in for nibbles and a glass of something delicious if you’re not in the mood for a full feast (and you don’t need to book, either). 

Address: 300-302 St Paul's Road, Highbury, N1 2LH.

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 12.30-3pm & 6-10.30pm, Sat 12.30-3pm & 5.30-10.30pm, Sun 12-3pm & 5.30-9.30pm.

Expect to pay: Antipasti £5-17, pasta £14-22, grill mains £30-40, pudding around £10. 

What is it? A lovely neighbourhood pasta spot in Peckham. 

Why we love it: This honest-to-goodness Italian is just about the most perfect local restaurant you can imagine: smart but low-key, cool without being pretentious and brilliant value despite its sky-high quality. Come for a concise, market-led chalkboard menu that offers constantly changing seasonal dishes such as crispy ox tongue, roasted sprouts with homemade ricotta and hazelnuts, and leg of lamb with bagna cauda, borlotti beans and kale. 

Time Out tip: Don't live anywhere near Peckham? There’s now a Soho outpost of Artusi. 

Address: 161 Bellenden Road, Peckham, SE15 4DH.

Opening hours: Mon 6-9.30pm, Tue-Thu 12-2.30pm & 6-9.30pm, Fri-Sat 12-2.30pm & 6-10pm, Sun 12-4pm.

Expect to pay: Starters about £10, pasta around £15-18, mains around £20. 

What is it? A gorgeous, Tuscan-inspired trattoria.

Why we love it: From the marvellous mind of the late, great restaurateur Russell Norman (who founded Soho's equally game-changing Venetian small plates spot Polpo), at Brutto the portions are large, service is glorious and food is outstanding. If the £5 Negronis don't swing if for you, then their signature opening snack – 'cuddles' of deep fried dough which come served with prosciutto and stracchino cheese – will bring a smile to even the grumpiest of faces. 

Time Out tip: Brutto loves dogs. Bring your pup to dinner and it will be showered with treats. 

Address: 35-37 Greenhill Rents, Clerkenwell, EC1M 6BN.

Opening hours: Mon 5.30-10pm, Tue-Sat 12-2.45pm & 5.30-10pm.

Expect to pay: Starters £7-15, pasta £15-20, mains around £20-25. 

What is it? A south London sibling of Trullo.

Why we love it? This sleek, speedy pasta joint serves up dishes that are small enough and cheap enough to let you overindulge horribly. You can’t book, so you'll probably have to queue, but it’s worth it for the nifty daily menu. It might run from tagliarini with crab, lemon and chilli, to fettuccine with Scottish girolles, although the pappardelle with eight-hour beef-shin ragù is a fixture. 

Time Out tip: There is now a Shoreditch version and you can actually book a table here! No more waiting in line for your carb-fix. 

Address: 6 Southwark Street, Borough, SE1 1TQ.

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 11.30am-3.45pm, Mon-Wed 5-10pm, Thu-Sat 5-10.30pm, Sun 11.30am-3.45pm & 5-9pm. 

Expect to pay: Antipasti £4-11, pasta £9-16, pudding around £8.

What is it? An all-day Italian cafe-restaurant in Clapton.

Why we love it: Think E Pellicci’s as stage managed by Grand Designs’ Kevin McCloud. Wood-panelled walls, masterfully tiled flooring and 1960s posters for Italian vermouth brands. From 9am until 3pm, Leo’s offers cafe classics with an Italianate twist. In the back room in the evenings, the menu goes deeper and harder. We’re talking grilled pork neck layered with sheets of glistening lardo and crispy sage leaves; the twirliest of spaghetti with lemon and bottarga; and fresh corn polenta with earthy girolles. Class. 

Time Out tip: This is lowkey the best spot for breakfast in east London. Swing by from Wed-Sun from 9am for boiled eggs with anchovy butter and soldiers and the morning papers.

Address: 59 Chatsworth Road, Lower Clapton, E5 0LH.

Opening hours: Tue 6-10pm, Wed-Sat 9am-3pm & 6-11pm, Sun 9am-3pm.

Expect to pay: Cafe menu dishes £2-13, restaurant menu offers £4-19 starters and £20-40 mains. 

What is it? A family-run trattoria so authentic you’ll think you’re actually in Italy.

Why we love it: This much-loved joint has been serving up classico dishes for decades (since 1983), and ‘La Dolce Vita’ is the vibe, with framed black-and-white pics of Italian actors lining the walls. Big bowls of pasta and bigger glasses of chianti are the recommended order of the day at this always lively neighbourhood favourite.   

Time Out tip: Always, and we mean always, insist on sitting upstairs. The basement is a little too crowded for our liking, and the vibes just aren’t the same.  

Address: 86-90 Lamb's Conduit Street, Bloomsbury, WC1N 3LZ.

Opening hours: Sun-Tue 12-10pm, Wed-Sat 12-10.30pm. 

Expect to pay: Starters £7.50-15, pizza £12-17, pasta £11-19.50, meat and fish around £20.

What is it? A hidden, rustic-style Italian spot inside a clothing factory on an industrial estate.

Why we love it: Part of the joy of Polentina is in tracking it down. The staff canteen space in an east London garment factory (you can see the machinists at work through a glass screen during lunch service), dining at Polentina is a truly unique experience. Which wouldn’t mean anything were the food not utterly exceptional. This is old school, nonna-style cookery with banging bagna cauda, occasional offal and hand-cut pasta from the heavens.  

Time Out tip: The blackboard menu changes by the week and is rarely posted online, so go with an open mind and order something you might not have ever heard of before.

Address: 1 Bowood House, Empson St, Bow, E3 3LT.

Opening hours: Wed 6-11pm, Thu-Sat 12.30-4pm & 6-11pm.

Expect to pay: Snacks and starters £3-12, mains £16-21.

What is it? Before Smokestak founder David Carter launched great Greek duo Oma and Agora, came this classy ‘nose-to-tail’ Italian restaurant with Chris Leach.

Why we love it: Because of the elegant hand-rolled pasta and a sustainable cooking ethic. At last look, the mind-blowing menu included ’nduja-steamed mussels with cream and parsley, fazzoletti with duck ragù and duck-fat pangrattato, and Tamworth pork chop with grilled peaches. Woof. 

Time Out tip: Order something offally. They do it very well here. Mafaldine with beef offal ragu, for example.

Address: 49-51 Curtain Road, Shoreditch, EC2A 3PT.

Opening hours: Daily 12-3pm & 5.30-11pm.

Expect to pay: Starters £4-14, pastas around £15, mains £20-60.

What is it? Cecconi’s has been a London favourite since the 1970s.

Why we love it: Now under the watchful eye of the Soho House Group, this Shoreditch branch is a super slick space, and prides itself on northern Italian cicchetti. Due to the Soho House link there's some lowkey star-spotting to be done alongside the punchy menu of pizza, pasta and big trad-leaning dishes such as saltimbocca alla romana, veal milanese, and whole sea bream. Equally, a few plates of zucchini fritti, beef carpaccio, tuna tartare and that warm, fluffy focaccia is a perfectly respectable order. 

Time Out tip: Unlike most Italian spots in town, it’s open all though the day. Come at 7.30am for a breakfast focaccia stuffed with mortadella, fried egg and burrata. 

Address: 58-60 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, E2 7DP.

Opening hours: Sun-Thu 7.30am-10pm, Sat-Sun 7.30am-11pm.

Expect to pay: Starters £8-12, pasta £15-20, pizza around £15, mains £20-35. 

What is it? This upscale venture channels Riviera-style glamour and primi-secondi decadence. 

Why we love it: From the creators of Shoreditch’s Michelin star supremo The Clove Club, this Italian restaurant is a world away from Lady and the Tramp trattoria set-pieces. Book yourself into the lovely patio area for extra romance. In 2023 it was awarded a Michelin star of its own, so you know you're in for a treat. Luca is billed as a ‘Britalian’ eatery, so expect Italian dishes using UK ingredients – as in Scottish halibut with sweetcorn, tarragon, girolles and white balsamic vinegar. Pricey but worth it – try the prix fixe four course meal for £110.

Time Out tip: Their parmesan fries are a staple for a reason, no order to complete without a serving.

Address: 88 St John Street, Clerkenwell, EC1M 4EH.

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 12-2pm & 6-10pm.

Expect to pay: Lots! Antipasti is £25-36, pasta is £25-46, mains £38-68.

What is it? A historic Soho café.

Why we love it: Bar Italia was established in 1949 by Lou and Caterina Polledri, and quickly became a social hub for the Italian community in London. Now it attracts eccentric locals, bikers, mods and a variety of counter cultural tribes. Despite several upgrades to the decor, much of the original fixtures still remain, from the red and white formica to the Gaggia espresso machine and the flooring. Open until very, very late, it remains one of the best places in London. 

Time Out tip: Basic pasta dishes and sarnies are on offer, but the only real order is this: a coffee and a cannoli. 

Address: 22 Frith Street, Soho, W1D 4RF.

Opening hours: Daily 7am-4am. 

Expect to pay: Coffee around £4-5, cannoli around £5, pizza and pasta around £15. 

What is it? A sleek pasta bar in Covent Garden.

Why we love it: Come for a short, simple menu that’s split into three sections: antipasti, pasta and dessert. There are generally around eight plates of pasta on the menu and half of them are usually suitable for veggies. Proper al dente pasta is slightly undercooked, and hard to get right, but the chefs here nail it. The best is the poetically named ‘silk handkerchiefs’ (technically called fazzoletti) with walnut butter and confit egg yolk. Simple, but delicious: soft sheets swimming in a rich sauce, with little chunks of walnut for texture. There are also sites in Soho, Borough Yards and Kensington.

Time Out tip: It’s obvious, isn’t it? Order the silk handkerchiefs.

Address: 39 William IV Street, Covent Garden, WC2N 4DD.

Opening hours: Mon-Wed 12-10pm, Thu-Sat 12-10.30pm, Sun 12-9.30pm.

Expect to pay: Antipasti £4-12, pasta £9-18, dessert £5-8.

What is it? A Hackney fashion girlie take on the 1970s trattoria. 

Why we love it: Since opening at the end of 2023, Dalla has stealthily become one of the city’s most talked-about Italian restaurants. Come for the short menu of retro regional dishes, stay for a crowd that wouldn’t seem out of place at LFW’s most oversubscribed afterparties. Run by Gennaro Leone of Hackney Downs furniture store and studio Spazio Leone, this is one good-looking restaurant. And just as the room is filled with vintage Italian goodies, so is the menu.

Time Out tip: Save yourself for the tiramisu - they make the perfect sturdy slab of the iconic Italian dessert.

Address: 120-122 Morning Lane, Hackney, E9 6LH.

Opening hours: Wed-Thu 6-10pm, Fri-Sat 12-4pm & 6-10pm, Sun 12-5pm.

Expect to pay: Pastas around £20, mains £25-40. 

What is it? Big Mamma Group’s Shoreditch-based carnival of Italian camp. 

Why we love it: It's silly, but fun. Gloria’s main room is like your Italian nonna’s parlour, if she also had the kind of hoarding problem that would get her on to a late-night Channel 4 documentary. Every inch is covered with a knick or a knack: your head needs to spin 360 degrees to take it all in. The food is similarly entertaining. Get the mafaldine al tartufo for two: it arrives on a trolley in a parmesan wheel, where it’s twirled and whirled around, picking up more bits of cheese along the way, then finally lifted high and plopped on to each plate.

Time Out tip: Big Mamma has restaurants across London, each more lavish than the last. There's Jacuzzi in Knightsbridge, Carlotta in Marylebone, Circolo Popolare in Fitzrovia and the newest and most fabulous yet, Barbarella in Canary Wharf.

Address: 54-56 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, EC2A 3QR.

Opening hours: Mon-Wed 12-3.30pm & 5-10.30pm, Thu-Fri 12-4.15pm & 5-11pm, Sat 11am-4.15pm & 5-11pm, Sun 11am-4.15pm & 5-10.30pm.

Expect to pay: Antipasti £4-19, pasta £16-27, pizza £13-21. 

What is it? 75 years after opening its delicatessen, Soho’s Lina Stores launched its first restaurant proper.

Why we love it: It might now be a bit of chain, but we still have a soft spot for Lina Stores. Serving up ‘small pasta plates’, it was an instant cult hit upon opening in Soho, and there are now numerous branches, including spots in Shoreditch, Marylebone, King’s Cross, Canary Wharf and Clapham. Come for the pasta, of course. Try nicely al dente pici in a creamy porcini mushroom and Umbrian sausage sauce, or pappardelle with rabbit ragù.

Time Out tip: Lina Stores has also branched out into the world of cocktails. Visit Bar Lina, a cosy, speakeasy-esque bar under the delicatessen at 18 Brewer Street. There’s also a Bar Lina at the Shoreditch and Canary Wharf restaurants.

Address: 51 Greek Street, Soho, W1D 4EH.

Opening hours: Mon-Thu 12-2.30pm & 5-11pm, Fri-Sun 12-11pm.

Expect to pay: Starters £4-11, pasta £9-17, dessert £5-8. 

What is it? A Roman-inspired trattoria in Highbury.

Why we love it: Lupa not only promises ‘Roman comfort food’, but the slim chance of catching sight of its Very Handsome co-founder, the actor Theo James. In the kitchen is the extremely capable Naz Hassan, who we last encountered during his tenure as head chef of the much-missed Pidgin. Try the deep fried courgette flower, stuffed with smooshy burrata, then draped with a fat anchovy. This isn’t a delicate menu of rural farm fare, but a ballsy offering of big, bold food, heavy with hearty guanciale that’s so salty it could feasibly replace the body of lost electrolytes during a heatwave. The carbonara is, quite frankly, insane. 

Time Out tip: Be bold and order the courageously savoury peach tart for pudding. Thinly sliced fruit on a bed of ricotta, it’s ‘giving spanakopita’, and somehow gets away with it. 

Address: 73 Highbury Park, Highbury, N5 1UA.

Opening hours: Wed-Fri 5.30-11pm, Sat 12-11pm, Sun 12-10pm.

Expect to pay: Starters £4.50-14, pasta around £15, secondi £16-19. 

What is it? The incredible Angela Hartnett’s Mayfair Michelin-starred spot.

Why we love it: Pasta here is a highlight; the provolone and smoked potato agnolotti is basically a grown up mac and cheese and chicken tortellini in brodo is equally fabulous, swimming in a rich broth, brightened by lemon and pops of pickled turnip.  Whatever you get, you must order the wafer-thin cured meat and bouncy focaccia to start. Sure, it’s fancy – aka expensive – but totally worth it. 

Time Out tip: The Cafe Murano restaurants in Marylebone, Bermondsey, St James’s and Covent Garden offer a somewhat cheaper take on proceedings. 

Address: 20 Queen Street, Mayfair, W1J 5PP.

Opening hours: Mon-Thu 12-2.30pm & 6-10pm, Fri-Sat 12-3pm & 6.30-10pm. 

Expect to pay: Three courses £95, four courses £115, five courses £135 and six courses £155.

What is it: An enduringly popular Soho Italian.

Why we love it: The buzz is as important as the food here. Dine at the bar and you’re in for a fun time – especially if you sit by the window, watching celebs swan into the clamorous dining room. The ever-changing menu celebrates the best of artisan regional cooking in diverse ways, while enticing cocktails and impressive all-Italian wines also make an impact. 

Time Out tip: Keep the Italian vibes going with a post dinner trip to Gelupo just across the road, a late night (well, until 11pm) gelato parlour that also does booze.

Address: 12 Archer Street, Soho, W1D 7BB.

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 12-3pm & 5pm-midnight, Sun 12-9.30pm.

Expect to pay: Starters £3.50-14, pasta £11-30, mains £20-40.

What is it? A cute-as-a-button pasta specialist.

Why we love it: The small selection lets the quality of the ingredients speak for itself: the pasta is handmade on site each morning and dressed with, say, salmon carbonara, proper pesto or slow-cooked, béchamel-laced ragù. Antipasti, dolci and wallet-friendly wines complete the picture. There’s also branches in Aldgate and Canary Wharf with a Victoria location set to open soon.

Time Out tip: Always check out the seasonal specials. The last time we checked there was a ricotta and Amalfi lemon ravioli with burrata and garden peas vellutata on offer.

Address: Unit C3 Ivory House, St Katharine Docks, E1W 1AT.

Opening hours: Sun-Thu 12-9.30pm, Fri-Sat 12-10pm.

Expect to pay: Antipasti £4-12, pasta £12-17. 

What is it? Open since 1974, Sale e Pepe is something of a London institution.

Why we love it: This is a friendly but fancy old school Italian restaurant with dedicated regulars who come week in, week out for big tasty plates of pasta – such as the massive platter of linguine vongole e bottarga for two – and a lenghty crudo offering, as well as lashings of red wine, and extremely affable service. Tucked away on a back street near Harrods. Tables are closely packed and the limoncello is (almost) on tap. 

Time Out tip: Sale e Pepe isn’t a cheap spot, but the lunch deal is the best deal you’ll get here: three courses for £38, with a £8 glass of Sauvignon Blanc or Nero d’Avola added on top. 

Address: 9-15 Pavilion Road, Knightsbridge, SW1X 0HD.

Opening hours: Daily 12-10.30pm. 

Expect to pay: Antipasti £19-33, pasta £17-38, mains £35-85.