Ninety-eight years separate the top two rooms on this list. Florentino has anchored Bourke Street since 1928 and entered 2026 under new owners, with the Grossi family handing the keys to Edition Hospitality after 27 years; Tipo 00, the flour-named pasta bar a few blocks west, has been the city's hardest casual seat since 2014. Melbourne argues it does Italian better than any city outside Italy. Nine rooms, ranked, make the case.
The post-Grossi era begins
The biggest Italian story in Melbourne this decade is an ownership transfer. Rebecca Yazbek's Edition Hospitality bought the Grossi restaurants in late 2025 and relaunched the Bourke Street flagship as, simply, Florentino, installing Brendan Katich as executive chef under culinary director Michael Greenlaw. Meanwhile the neighborhood rooms keep multiplying. The wider field is in the Melbourne dining guide; the benchmarks come from the Italian cuisine guide.
The nine, ranked
1. Florentino — Bourke Street, CBD
The mural-walled dining room at 80 Bourke Street has fed Melbourne since 1928, and the 2026 relaunch under Edition Hospitality kept the bones while resetting the kitchen: Brendan Katich, previously executive chef at Reine and La Rue, now cooks three-, five- and seven-course menus of house-made pasta and seasonal Italian. The Cellar Bar downstairs remains the city's best lunch counter. Florentino's full review tracks the transition. Book the Dining Room for the occasion meal. Not for diners chasing the Grossi family era; that chapter closed in 2025.
2. Tipo 00 — Little Bourke Street, CBD
Andreas Papadakis named his pasta bar after the flour and has run the city's most reliable queue since 2014. The squid-ink tagliolini and the gnocchi change hands at lunch and dinner at a pace that would break most kitchens, and the standard never moves. Tipo 00's full review covers seat strategy. Book ahead or arrive at noon sharp; the walk-in line forms before the door opens. Not for long lingering dinners; the room is built for velocity.
3. Lupo — Smith Street, Collingwood
Scott Pickett took the old Saint Crispin site on Smith Street and turned it into the city's most inventive Italian kitchen: spanner crab lasagne, squid-ink linguine with sardine vinaigrette and bottarga, pasta technique aimed at ingredients no nonna ever shopped for. Lupo's full review ranks the menu. Book it for the eater who thinks they have done Italian. Not for purists; tradition here is a starting point, not a destination.
4. Capitano — Rathdowne Street, Carlton
Casey Wall and the Bar Liberty team opened Capitano at 421 Rathdowne Street in 2019 and built the city's best Italian-American neighborhood room: square-edged pizzas, a cult cheeseburger and a wine list with real opinions. Capitano's full review covers the must-orders. Book it for the low-stakes great night out. Not for white-tablecloth expectations; the room trades polish for charm and wins the trade.
5. Lagotto — York Street, Fitzroy North
Matteo Fulchiati's corner room at 1 York Street doubles as a wine store and turns out what Time Out's five-star review called some of the city's best focaccia alongside handmade pasta that changes with the market. The European-wine shelves do double duty as the cellar list. Book it for a weeknight that deserves better than a weeknight. Not for big tables; the room is genuinely small and the best seats go in pairs.
6. Bar Carolina — Toorak Road, South Yarra
The South Yarra stalwart entered a new era in September 2025 when Karen Martini took the kitchen's reins, rebuilding the menu around cicchetti, antipasti and house-made pastas with her signature directness. The Italian-leaning wine list stayed serious. Bar Carolina's full review tracks the Martini changes. Book it for a polished dinner south of the river. Not for anyone hunting the old menu; this is a reset, not a refresh.
7. Caterina's Cucina e Bar — Queen Street, CBD
Caterina Borsato has run the basement at 221 Queen Street for three decades as the city's definitive business lunch, surviving a burst water main and a seven-month rebuild to reopen on her own terms: lunch service Monday to Friday, noon to four, weekends reserved for private functions. Lawyers book the same tables for the same clients yearly. Caterina's full review explains the codes. Book it to close something. Not for dinner; the room simply does not do it.
8. Osteria Ilaria — Little Bourke Street, CBD
Next door to Tipo 00 at 367 Little Bourke Street, the same Papadakis team runs the grown-up sibling, opened in 2017: broader European reach, a deeper wine list and mains that give the kitchen room the pasta bar's pace never allows. Book it when Tipo 00's queue defeats you; some nights the consolation prize cooks better. Not for pasta-only loyalists; the strength here is the whole menu.
9. Pellegrini's — Bourke Street, CBD
The espresso bar at 66 Bourke Street has served granita, bolognese and counter conversation since 1954, and the family of the late Sisto Malaspina keeps it deliberately unchanged. No bookings, no courses, no bill shock. Sit at the bar, order the pasta of the day and watch the machine work. Go for the institution, not the refinement. Not for anyone in a hurry to be impressed; the point is that nothing here performs.
What to skip
Skip Bar Romantica on any 2026 list; the Lygon Street pizzeria closed in early 2025 and Daphne now operates the site. Approach the Lygon Street tourist strip generally with caution: the laminated-menu rooms trade on the precinct's history while the city's real Italian cooking has moved to Rathdowne Street, Smith Street and the CBD laneways. And book Florentino knowing the kitchen changed hands in 2025; if your memory is of a Grossi family dinner, recalibrate before you spend.
Booking mechanics
Tipo 00 takes limited bookings and holds the rest for walk-ins; the queue at opening is the reliable route. Florentino's Dining Room books weeks out for Friday and Saturday but the Cellar Bar takes its chances daily. Caterina's wants a phone call and rewards repeat custom. Capitano and Lagotto fill three or four days ahead. For occasion-matching, the anniversary guide makes the case for Florentino's mural room over any rooftop.
Keep reading
Standards and lineage live in the Italian cuisine guide. The Sydney Italian ranking is the interstate rivalry; the Melbourne Japanese ranking covers the city's other great cuisine bench.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Italian restaurant in Melbourne?
Florentino for the occasion, Tipo 00 for the cooking-per-dollar. The 1928 Bourke Street room relaunched under Edition Hospitality in 2026 with Brendan Katich as executive chef and remains the city's grandest Italian dining room, while Andreas Papadakis's pasta bar on Little Bourke Street has been the standard-setter since 2014. Most locals would take both over any newcomer.
Is Grossi Florentino still owned by the Grossi family?
No. The Grossi family sold their Melbourne restaurants to Rebecca Yazbek's Edition Hospitality in late 2025, ending a 27-year tenure, and the flagship now trades simply as Florentino. Brendan Katich runs the kitchen under culinary director Michael Greenlaw, with the Cellar Bar and Cafe Florentino continuing downstairs. The mural room survived the handover intact.
Does Tipo 00 take walk-ins?
Yes, and the queue is the point. The room holds a share of seats for walk-ins at lunch and dinner, and arriving ten minutes before the noon open is the most reliable strategy in the city. Booked tables release weeks ahead and vanish for Friday and Saturday. Solo diners do best; the bar absorbs singles long after the tables are gone.
Is Lygon Street still worth visiting for Italian food?
For history, yes; for dinner, mostly no. The tourist strip's laminated-menu rooms coast on the precinct's mid-century reputation while the city's serious Italian cooking now happens at Capitano on Rathdowne Street, Lupo on Smith Street and the CBD pasta bars. Walk Lygon for the espresso and the nostalgia, then book dinner elsewhere.
How expensive is top-end Italian dining in Melbourne?
Florentino's Dining Room runs set menus in three, five and seven courses at special-occasion prices, while the city's best value sits a tier down: Tipo 00 and Capitano deliver the craft at neighborhood prices, and Pellegrini's bolognese at the 1954 counter costs less than a CBD cocktail. Melbourne's strength is that the quality floor is high at every spend.
Prices, chefs, awards and opening status were checked against the restaurants' published menus, booking platforms and the current Michelin and local guide editions; all of it changes without notice, so confirm on the booking page before you commit. Restaurants for Kings is editorial, not sponsored. Some reservation links may earn an affiliate commission, which never affects a ranking or a score.