The best places for pasta in Sydney

The go-to: Prawn ravioli with brown butter and sage

When it comes to flavour and balance, Dan Pepperell’s cooking is as good as it gets. Case in point: Surry Hills trattoria Pellegrino 2000, which slings a lot of delicious dishes (the artichokes; octopus and celery; and veal parmigiana, to name a few). But really, the pasta is what you’ll want to come back for. Perfectly seasoned, with on-point flavours, make-your-soul-happy stuff. Good luck getting a booking though – you may need it.

The go-to: Mafaldine with spanner crab, uni butter, chilli, and sea blight

Palazzo Salato is the Love, Tilly Group’s most ambitious restaurant to date, and one of their bests. The dining room is gorgeous, and similar to Ragazzi, the chefs, overseen by group executive chef Scott McComas-Williams, place an emphasis on house-made regional pasta shapes. So, you may order a shoe-like scarpinocc with pumpkin, ricotta salata, and balsamico; or ribbon like mafaldine with sweet spanner crab, uni butter, a lick of chilli, and pops of salty sea blight. We say come with a group and order a spread.

The go-to: Trofie al pesto

Editor's go-to: Lasagne

Fratelli Paradiso has been dishing up some of the city’s best Italian cooking for close to two decades. It’s so darn reliable you can pretty much close your eyes, point to anything on the menu and pick a winner. Dishes come and go from the chalkboard, but the epic scampi spaghetti and textbook lasagne never leave – they’re just that good.

The go-to: Spaghettoni cacio e pepe in the cheese wheel

I Maccheroni's cacio e pepe reigns supreme on the pasta charts for a reason – it's served right at your table in a parmesan wheel and is such a staple that almost every table orders it. The carby line-up also features hand-rolled pasta in all shapes and sizes, including beef ragout maccheroni; spinach and parmigiana tortellini; swimmer crab tagliolini; and marron lobster pico. 

The go-to: Crab and saffron angel hair pasta

The true joy of a visit to Bar Reggio, the cheap and cheerful Italian at the bottom of Crown Street, is consistency. The "specials" board has been the same for years, as have the slightly worn laminate menus. Heck, even the clientele have been the same for eons. What they don't know, however, is the crab and saffron angel hair pasta that is off menu but often available upon request. Ludicrously rich in butter, this is true comfort in a bowl.

The go-to: Tagliatelle verdi Bolognese

Cibaria Manly, by the pasta pros at Maestro Group, is a bright, colourful and playful restaurant that combines the flavours of Italy with an easy-breezy Northern Beaches vibe. We love the handmade green tagliatelle topped with a creamy white sauce and a slow-cooked veal, beef and pork ragu – and everything else on the menu.

The go-to: Rigatoni alla Nodka

This newish American-Italian red-sauce joint in Bexley North is by the Self Raised Bread Shoppe team. Soon after opening, there were queues down the road for their Insta-worthy plates of comfort food. It's an alcohol-free zone, so this cheesy baked "nodka" pasta is named for its non-vodka status – instead, it's a spicy rosa sauce with stracciatella. Yum.

The go-to: Tagliolini alla zafferano con salsa di scampi 

Family-owned and -run Beppi's has lasted 70 years for good reason – they've been consistently dishing up delicious Italian food in the most charming cellar-style setting for all that time. They've fed some of the most famous mouths in the world – including Mick Jagger, Frank Sinatra and Rihanna. Everything is excellent, but we love this saffron pasta with scampi from WA, tossed in a simple sauce of butter, garlic and parsely.  

The go-to: Moreton Bay bug linguine
 
A long boozy lunch at Woolloomooloo Wharf is a Sydney rite of passage, and for a waterside slice of the dolce vita, Otto can’t be beat. All pastas are made daily in-house, so freshness is guaranteed, regardless of whether you go for something like curly malfadine with hand-smoked duck ragù or linguine, delicately tossed with Moreton Bay bug, chilli and garlic.

The go-to: Pappardelle with lamb ragu

Zafferano is an endearing Sicilian trattoria found on Paddington’s tree-lined South Dowling Street. Here, bouncy, salt-flaked focaccia is made daily, house specials are written on a piece of butcher's paper that hangs on a wall, and fresh seafood and silky pastas are served in colourful, joyous bowls from Italy.

The go-to: Conchigli with mussels and white beans 

The menu changes almost daily at this teensy CBD laneway spot from the team behind Love, Tilly Devine and Dear Sainte Éloise, but the unquestionable quality of the lovingly made pastas remains the same. The noodles are great and especially al dente, but stuffed is the way to go here, where the hyper-seasonal produce like Jerusalem artichoke with bitter and sweet burnt honey can really shine.

The go-to: Spaghetti with calamari and nduja

Sometimes a snack of parfait and crackers will suffice, but when you want to get saucy and sleepy, it's time for a classic of spaghetti – in this one, the pasta is tossed in a brodo-like sauce with thin strips of calamari. The nduja forms a sort of oil drizzled on top and the plate is finished with a healthy sprinkle of parsely. Quarters are cramped, pasta is peak al dente, the wine list champions the weird and the wonderful, and that’s exactly why we love it.

The go-to: Culurzones di patate, pecorino e menta

Giovanni Pilu is one of the city’s most respected Italian chefs, and his beachside shrine to Sardinian cooking has been an enduring favourite on the Sydney dining scene for over a decade. Culurzones, the scrubby Mediterranean island’s take on ravioli, are outstanding: plump, football-shaped packages of lamb with tack-sharp pecorino and very fragrant mint.

What is it? A red-sauce joint that's been serving great-value bowls of pasta (and every other classic Italian dish) in Leichhardt since all the way back in 1952.

Why we love it: When it comes to pasta, they serve everything from family faves like boscaiola and arrabiatta to house specials, including my fave, spaghetti vesuvio – which is a deliciously rich and creamy combo of mushrooms, peas, bacon, cream and napoli sauce. It costs just $22 for a regular serve, and $28 for a really big bowl that'll satisfy the hungriest among us. They also serve pizza and all the other Italian classics. It's not the most refined Italian food in Sydney, but it's delicious and great value. Plus, the restaurant feels like a busy trattoria in Rome, complete with retro Italian touches and a pretty outdoor dining area at the back.

Time Out tip: BYO wine, beer, and also cash – they don't take card. That said, they do have an ATM in the restaurant.

Address: 169-171 Norton St, Leichhardt NSW 2040

Expect to pay: About $22 for a bowl of pasta

The go-to: The lasagne

This group (Maestro Hospitality, led by Alessandro and Anna Pavoni) knows excellent Italian food – they're the same people who run Ormeggio, A’Mare and Cibaria. This place is housed in the beautiful old 1950’s Marie-Louise Salon site on Enmore Road. The signature dish here is the ‘best ever lasagna alla Bolognese’ (AKA, “seven layers of happiness”). It’s group executive chef Gianmarco Pardini’s nonna’s recipe, and it's pork, beef and veal ragù slow-cooked for 12 hours between seven layers of pasta and bechamel.

The go-to: Cappelletti in brodo

Part pasta retailer, part cooking school, part restaurant, Pasta Emilia is a hub for all things artisanal, organic and delicious. The heritage here is Emilian, so sensational pasta is pretty much a certainty; opt for the true labour of love that is cappelletti in brodo. Tiny morsels with ever-changing fillings are served in clear and subtle beef and chicken broth and are a classic starter to any Italian family lunch.

The go-to: Pumpkin and ricotta agnolotti with cream, truffle and hazelnut

Neptune’s Grotto is the second Italian restaurant from chefs Dan Pepperell and Mikey Clift, and sommelier Andy Tyson – well known for their wonderful food and hospitality at Surry Hills' favourite Pellegrino 2000. It doesn't really matter which pasta you order – they're all exquisite.

The go-to: Fettuccine al tartufovo

Buon Ricordo means ‘good memory’ in Italian, and you’ll probably leave with more than a few of them after a meal here. This is a classy affair if ever there was one, where produce takes pride of place on a menu of time-honoured greatest hits. The greatest of all is a gut-bustingly rich dish of creamy fettuccine, tossed in front of your very eyes, with parmesan and a truffled egg. 

The go-to: Pacchieri allo scoglio with cuttlefish, mussels, pippies, white fish and cherry tomatoes

This Circular Quay Italian is the second restaurant by Giovanni Pilu and his wife Marilyn Annecchini – their first restaurant is Pilu at Freshwater, so that was a great clue that Flaminia would be special. They've delivered again – and while Pilu serves up Sardinian-style food, Flaminia's menu bounces along the coastline from Cagliari to Napoli, Venezia, Genova and Palermo, in celebration of Italy’s port cities. This go-to pasta (pictured) is a Palermo-style dish, and it's as good as it looks.

The go-to: Jerusalem artichoke agnolotti

For vegetarians, scanning an Italian menu can feel like a game of chance. Spot the right words (stracciatella! brown butter!) and you’re in for a good time, see a bland risotto and the night could be ruined. But at Kindred, Matt Pollock’s homey 40-seater in Darlington, plant-based options dominate the menu, and none shine brighter than the agnolotti of Jerusalem artichoke, leeks, cavolo nero, and truffle pecorino. Bellissimo.

The go-to: Bufala ricotta ravioli with lemon and bottarga

Grill Americano (which started in Melbourne) is known as a Venetian-style steakhouse, but their pasta program in the Sydney diner is really special. "We make all the pasta in-house – from thick pasta to short pasta and long pasta. We don't buy anything," says executive chef Vincenzo Ursini. We're in love with the ravioli, but the lobster agnolotti with sauce Americaine is also really something – in other words, it's all molto bene.

The go-to: Rigatoni all'amatriciana, pomodoro, guanciale, pecorino romano (in Paddington)

Il Baretto is a long-standing Italian restaurant serving authentic fare since 1999. In 2020, it moved from its original home in Surry Hills to Paddington, inside the Paddo Inn. And now a Newtown outpost has opened, too. The new Newtown spot is more like the OG Surry Hills venue – with cheaper bowls of pasta and walk-ins only. But no matter whether you go to Paddo or Newtown, it’s all bellissimo.

The go-to: Pappardelle al funghi e tartufo

Marrickville pasta restaurant Semola isn't Insta-famous or on the cool crew's hit lists, so it does slip under the radar a little, despite dishing up some of Sydney's finest handmade pasta (IMO). They're so good at making pasta that they're happy to teach you how to do it, too – at their pasta-making classes. The funghi pappardelle with a ragu made from a mix of mushrooms (porcini, king brown, shitake, buttons) with truffle is a umami masterpiece. Good news for some: they also offer gluten-free options.

The go-to: Napoli e mare

OK, so we know it's weird to have a photo of pizza on a page about pasta – but Simone Zullo, who owns this Parramatta Italian, alongside his brother Alessio, was crowned world champion for 2026 at the Trofeo Caputo World Pizza Championship in Naples, Italy. Pretty major deal! They also make great pasta – we love the homemade fettucine with clams, parsley, fresh chilli, garlic and oil. Go for the pizza – but make sure you order a pasta, too!