RFK Cuisine · Italian · Dubai
Best Italian Restaurants in Dubai 2026
Italian · Dubai · 6 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026
Niko Romito won Dubai's only two-Michelin-star Italian by taking things off the plate rather than piling them on — a quiet act of subtraction in a city built on excess. That tension defines Italian dining here. Dubai has more marble-and-money Italian rooms than almost anywhere, but the best of them answer to the cooking: a roast-suckling-pig agnolotti at the Bulgari, the original Venetian Bellini and baked tagliolini in DIFC, an Amalfi raw bar over the water at Bluewaters. The hotel-glamour template is everywhere; the kitchens worth crossing the city for are fewer. Ranked on the cooking, the room, and what the bill buys, with the dish to order at each.
1.Il Ristorante – Niko Romito
Niko Romito's two-star room at the Bulgari; book weeks ahead for the most refined Italian cooking in the Gulf.
Niko Romito, the three-star chef behind Reale in Abruzzo, runs Il Ristorante at the Bulgari Resort on Jumeirah Bay Island, and it holds two Michelin stars in the current Dubai guide — the highest-rated Italian table in the city. Romito's signature is subtraction: dishes built on two or three perfect ingredients, the roast-suckling-pig agnolotti and the absolute-style vegetables doing more with less than any gilded hotel plate nearby. Tasting menus run from around AED 750, the room looks across the marina to the skyline, and the service is the calmest in town. This is the special-occasion Italian table in Dubai, full stop. Book two to three weeks ahead and take the tasting.
Reserve through the Bulgari Resort; the agnolotti and the full tasting.
2.Armani/Ristorante
The one-star inside the Burj Khalifa; book for Giorgio Armani's precise Italian and the tortelli piacentini.
Armani/Ristorante sits on the third floor of the Armani Hotel inside the Burj Khalifa, and it holds one Michelin star for a northern-Italian menu cooked with the same restraint as the designer's tailoring. The signature is the tortelli piacentini, ricotta-and-spinach parcels finished with parmigiano aged 24 months, on a menu where à la carte plates start around AED 150. The room is all muted Armani greys and Downtown views, more polished than playful, and the kitchen is more serious than the address suggests. It is the showpiece-hotel pick that actually earns its star. Book ahead through the hotel and request a fountain-side table.
Reserve through the Armani Hotel; tortelli piacentini and the branzino.
3.Cipriani Dubai
The Venetian icon's DIFC dining room; book for the original Bellini, baked tagliolini, and a proper see-and-be-seen night.
Cipriani brought the Harry's Bar lineage to Gate Village in DIFC, and the Dubai room runs the family's century-old Venetian playbook to the letter: the Bellini invented in Venice, the baked tagliolini with ham at around AED 175, and the vanilla meringue cake to close. The cooking is deliberately classic rather than clever, and the white-jacketed service and crowd make it as much a scene as a restaurant. For old-world glamour and the canonical Cipriani dishes, nothing else in the city competes. Book a weekend table two weeks out and start with a Bellini and the carpaccio.
Reserve on OpenTable; a Bellini, the carpaccio, the baked tagliolini.
4.Alici
Dubai's Amalfi-coast seafood room under the Ain Dubai; book a sunset terrace for the crudo platter.
Alici — Italian for anchovies — is the southern-Italian seafood room on Bluewaters Island, where head chef Domenico Santagada cooks the Amalfi coast under the Ain Dubai wheel. The menu is built around a raw bar: the signature is the crudo platter of Italian raw seafood, around AED 250, alongside frisella with anchovies and burrata, and pasta with the day's catch. The terrace, looking across the water at sunset, is one of the prettier seats in the city, and the cooking holds its own against the view. This is the warm-evening, seafood-led Italian pick. Reserve a terrace table for sunset and lead with the crudo.
Book on OpenTable; the crudo platter and the catch-of-the-day pasta.
5.Roberto's
The reborn DIFC homegrown favorite; book the new room for a Bartolini-trained kitchen and a long business lunch.
Roberto's has anchored DIFC's Italian dining for more than a decade, and it reopened in January 2026 with a redesigned room and a kitchen team trained under Enrico Bartolini, the most Michelin-decorated chef working in the country. The menu reconnects with the brand's origins — handmade pastas around AED 130, a strong antipasti and crudo selection, and a lounge that runs late — and the financial-district address makes it the city's default power-lunch Italian. It is the homegrown name that has aged into a benchmark. Book a weekday lunch on OpenTable and order the pasta of the day.
Reserve on OpenTable; the handmade pasta and a plate of crudo.
6.Ronda Locatelli
Giorgio Locatelli's family room at Atlantis; book for wood-fired pizza and handmade pasta the whole table can share.
Ronda Locatelli, Giorgio Locatelli's restaurant inside Atlantis The Palm, is the most relaxed Italian on this list — a big, warm room built around a central wood-fired oven, turning out stone-hearth pizzas from around AED 95 and a roll-call of fresh pasta. Locatelli's London pedigree shows in the sourcing and the simplicity, and the format suits a family or a group far better than the fine-dining rooms downtown. It is the easy, all-ages Italian on the Palm, generous rather than precious. Book through Atlantis, bring the table, and share the pizzas and the pappardelle.
Reserve via Atlantis The Palm; wood-fired pizza and the pasta of the day.
How Dubai eats Italian
Italian is Dubai's default fine-dining language, which is both the opportunity and the trap. Nearly every five-star hotel runs an Italian room, and most coast on imported burrata and a sea view. The kitchens worth the trip are the ones with a point of view: Niko Romito's subtraction, Cipriani's century-old Venetian canon, Alici's Amalfi seafood, Locatelli's rustic simplicity. Order the handmade pasta and the crudo over the truffle-everything specials, and you will eat far better.
Geography and licensing shape the night. The Michelin rooms and the scene tables cluster in Downtown and DIFC — Armani at the Burj Khalifa, Cipriani and Roberto's in the financial district — while the waterfront picks sit out on the islands, Alici at Bluewaters and Ronda Locatelli on the Palm. Almost all of these are licensed hotel venues, so drinks add up; the bill is rarely just the food. For the rest of the city beyond Italian, the Dubai dining guide maps every neighborhood by occasion.
Where not to look for it
Skip these for serious Italian
The brunch-package Italian buffets. Many hotel Italians sell a Friday free-flow brunch that is about the drinks deal, not the kitchen. For actual cooking, the six rooms above are a different proposition — go for dinner, à la carte.
Ronda Locatelli for a quiet date. It is a terrific family and group room, but the Atlantis setting is loud, bright and busy with children. For a romantic or a milestone dinner, point yourself at Il Ristorante – Niko Romito or Cipriani instead.
Frequently asked
What is the best Italian restaurant in Dubai?
Il Ristorante – Niko Romito at the Bulgari Resort holds two Michelin stars and is the best Italian restaurant in Dubai, cooking a stripped-back, ingredient-first version of Italian cuisine rather than the gilded hotel norm. Armani/Ristorante in the Burj Khalifa holds one star, and Cipriani Dubai is the classic Venetian benchmark in DIFC. Choose by whether you want a tasting menu, a hotel showpiece, or old-world glamour.
Which Italian restaurant in Dubai has a Michelin star?
Two do. Il Ristorante – Niko Romito at the Bulgari Resort holds two Michelin stars in the current Dubai guide, and Armani/Ristorante in the Armani Hotel at the base of the Burj Khalifa holds one. The rest of this list — Cipriani, Alici, Roberto's and Ronda Locatelli — are strong without stars. For a starred Italian dinner, Niko Romito is the one to book first.
Where is the best Italian seafood in Dubai?
Alici on Bluewaters Island is Dubai's dedicated southern-Italian seafood room, where head chef Domenico Santagada builds the menu around an Amalfi-style raw bar. The signature is the crudo platter of Italian raw seafood, alongside frisella with anchovies and burrata. Book a terrace table at sunset for the Ain Dubai views, and start with the crudo before the pasta.
How expensive is Italian dining in Dubai?
It spans a wide range. The Michelin rooms are a splurge — Il Ristorante – Niko Romito runs tasting menus from around AED 750 a head — while Cipriani, Alici and Roberto's sit in the AED 130 to 250 range per pasta or main. Ronda Locatelli at Atlantis is the most affordable, with wood-fired pizzas around AED 95. Drinks add up fast at the licensed hotel venues.
Which Dubai Italian restaurant is best for a special occasion?
Il Ristorante – Niko Romito at the Bulgari is the special-occasion choice for a serious meal, with a two-star tasting menu and a marina-island setting. For glamour and a scene, Cipriani Dubai and Armani/Ristorante deliver the room as much as the food. Book any of the three two to three weeks ahead, and request a window or terrace table when you reserve.
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