RFK Cuisine · Italian · Melbourne
Best Italian Restaurants in Melbourne 2026
Italian · Melbourne · 7 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026
Melbourne has one of the largest Italian populations of any city outside Italy, and Lygon Street has been its Little Italy since the post-war migration ships docked. That heritage gave the city something rare: an Italian dining culture deep enough to run from a 1954 espresso bar where the spaghetti recipe has not changed to a CBD pasta counter with a queue down the lane. The grand old guard is in flux — Florentino, the Bourke Street institution, reopened in 2026 under new owners — while a generation of pasta specialists has quietly made Melbourne one of the best cities in the English-speaking world for a plate of handmade tagliolini. These are the seven Melbourne Italian restaurants worth booking in 2026, ranked on the cooking, the room and what the bill buys, with the dish to order and how to get a table at each.
1.Tipo 00
The best plate of pasta in Melbourne; book Tipo 00 for the squid-ink tagliolini with bottarga and a tight, buzzing CBD counter.
Tipo 00, on Little Bourke Street in the CBD, is the pasta bar that reset Melbourne's expectations — Andreas Papadakis, who cooked in Italy and London before opening it, makes everything in-house and serves it in a narrow, loud, white-tiled room that fills the moment it opens. The squid-ink tagliolini with bottarga and the potato gnocchi with braised duck are the dishes people come back for, backed by a sharp Italian wine list and a kitchen that does a few things flawlessly rather than many things well. A meal lands around A$90 to A$110 a head with wine. For the best pasta in the city in a room with real energy, book it. Reserve a couple of weeks ahead, or take a walk-in seat at the bar early.
Reserve online; the squid-ink tagliolini with bottarga, the duck gnocchi, and a Sicilian white.
2.Florentino
Melbourne's grandest Italian dining room, under new ownership; book Florentino for a celebration beneath the murals with a serious wine cellar.
Florentino, on Bourke Street in the CBD, is the city's grand Italian institution — the gilded first-floor Mural Room has marked Melbourne's engagements, anniversaries and milestone dinners since the 1920s. After 27 years under Guy Grossi, the restaurant was acquired by the Edition Group and reopened in 2026 with a refreshed kitchen running three-, five- and seven-course menus of house-made pasta and seasonal Italian cooking, the cellar and the formal-room glamour intact. It is a new chapter for a Melbourne landmark, and the most special-occasion Italian room in the city. Expect set menus from roughly A$95 to A$160. For an engagement, an anniversary or a dinner that needs to feel important, book it. Reserve two to three weeks ahead and ask for the Mural Room.
Reserve direct; the multi-course menu in the Mural Room, with a bottle from the cellar.
3.Il Bacaro
The grown-up CBD laneway Italian for a long lunch; book Il Bacaro for cicchetti, fresh pasta and a proper Negroni after work.
Il Bacaro, tucked into a Little Collins Street laneway in the CBD, has been Melbourne's polished business-lunch and after-work Italian for years — a narrow, marble-and-timber room named for the Venetian wine bars it takes its cues from. The kitchen leans Venetian and northern: cicchetti to start, fresh pasta, a good risotto, and classics executed with confidence rather than reinvention. The bar pours one of the better Negronis in the centre, and the room hums with the city's lawyers and ad executives at one o'clock. Expect around A$90 to A$120 a head. For a grown-up CBD lunch or an unhurried dinner with wine, book it. Reserve a week ahead for a prime lunch slot.
Reserve online; the cicchetti, a fresh pasta, and a Negroni at the bar.
4.Lagotto
Fitzroy North's deeply likeable neighbourhood Italian; book Lagotto for seasonal pasta and the swordfish cotoletta in a room you'd return to weekly.
Lagotto, on York Street in Fitzroy North, is the neighbourhood Italian everyone wishes they lived around the corner from — assured, seasonal and warm, the kind of room that turns first-timers into regulars. The menu moves from oysters and crudo through handmade pasta to a swordfish cotoletta that has become a quiet signature, all delivered with a lightness that the grander rooms can lack. It is less a destination than a habit, which is exactly its appeal. Expect around A$80 to A$100 a head. For an easy, excellent dinner away from the CBD crowds, book it. Reserve a few days to a week ahead, more for a weekend.
Reserve online; the crudo, a seasonal pasta, and the swordfish cotoletta.
5.Caterina's
Melbourne's enduring Italian power-lunch room; book Caterina's for veal, white tablecloths and a dining room that has fed the city's deals for decades.
Caterina's, on Queen Street in the CBD, is the white-tablecloth Italian where Melbourne's business has long been done over lunch — a clubby, old-school room that trades on consistency, career waiters and a menu of Italian classics done properly. The veal, the risotto and the pasta are the orders, the service is the kind that remembers your name, and the wine list runs deep into Italian and Australian classics. It is unfashionable by design, and all the better for it when you want a serious lunch without a single surprise. Expect around A$90 to A$120 a head. For a deal lunch or a traditional Italian dinner, book it. Reserve a week ahead for a midweek lunch table.
Reserve direct; the veal, a classic pasta, and an Italian red from the list.
6.Capitano
Carlton's loud, fun Italian-American; book Capitano for cacio e pepe, a blistered pizza and a Negroni list that keeps the night going.
Capitano, on Rathdowne Street in Carlton, is the newer-school answer to Lygon Street tradition — a loud, dim, good-time Italian-American room from the Carlton Wine Room team, built for pasta, pizza and drinking. The cacio e pepe and the blistered, charry pizzas are the draw, the cocktail and amaro list is long, and the energy makes it a natural for a group rather than a hushed date. It is the least formal room on this list and one of the most fun. Expect around A$70 to A$95 a head. For a lively dinner with friends along old Little Italy, book it. Reserve a week ahead for a weekend table, or grab a walk-in seat at the bar.
Reserve online; the cacio e pepe, a charred pizza, and a Negroni to start.
7.Pellegrini's
The 1954 espresso bar that taught Melbourne to drink coffee; pull up a stool at Pellegrini's for spaghetti, a granita and a slice of the city's history.
Pellegrini's, on Bourke Street in the CBD, is less a restaurant than a Melbourne institution — the 1954 espresso bar that helped introduce the city to Italian coffee culture, its narrow stainless-steel counter and back kitchen barely changed in seventy years. You sit at the bar or in the famous back room, order the spaghetti or the lasagne, drink an espresso and finish with a watermelon granita, all for a fraction of any other room here. The cooking is simple and unbudging on purpose; the point is the ritual and the continuity. Expect well under A$40 a head. For an authentic, affordable slice of Italian Melbourne with no reservation needed, just turn up. Walk in and take a stool.
No bookings — walk in; the spaghetti or lasagne, an espresso, and a watermelon granita.
How Melbourne eats Italian
Melbourne's Italian scene is older and deeper than most visitors expect, and it splits along generational lines. The institutions — Pellegrini's, the Florentino lineage, the white-tablecloth rooms — carry the post-war migration story and trade on continuity, classic dishes and rooms that have not chased a trend in decades. The newer wave — Tipo 00, Capitano, Lagotto — is pasta-obsessed, casual and produce-driven, the work of chefs who treat a single plate of tagliolini as the whole point. The best way to eat the city is to use both: a serious pasta dinner one night, a long lunch in a grand old room the next.
Geography clusters it. Carlton's Lygon Street is the historic Little Italy and still holds Capitano and the old guard; the CBD has Tipo 00, Il Bacaro, Caterina's, Florentino and Pellegrini's within a few blocks; and the inner north — Fitzroy, Fitzroy North — has the neighbourhood rooms like Lagotto. Pasta plates run A$30 to A$45, so a casual dinner stays under A$110 a head, while the grand rooms and set menus climb higher. Tipping is not expected in Australia beyond rounding up. For the wider city, the full Melbourne dining guide maps it by neighbourhood and occasion.
Where not to look for it
Skip these for a serious Melbourne Italian meal
The Lygon Street tout-and-laminated-menu trap. The stretch of Lygon Street where a host stands outside waving a menu and offering a "special" is aimed squarely at tourists, and the cooking matches the sales pitch. The real Lygon Street Italian is quieter and a block off the main drag. For the genuine article, book Capitano or head to the CBD rooms above instead.
The shopping-centre "trattoria" chain. Melbourne's malls and food courts are full of Italian-branded chains turning out frozen-base pizza and jarred-sauce pasta. They are convenient and forgettable. If the meal is the occasion, any room on this list makes its own pasta and is worth the short trip.
Frequently asked
What is the best Italian restaurant in Melbourne?
For pasta, Tipo 00 on Little Bourke Street is the city's reference — a tight CBD pasta bar where the squid-ink tagliolini with bottarga and the duck-ragù gnocchi draw a queue most nights. For grandeur and history, the reborn Florentino on Bourke Street is Melbourne's classic special-occasion Italian, relaunched in 2026 under new ownership. Choose Tipo 00 for the best plate of pasta in town and Florentino for a celebration in the gilded mural room.
Where do you find the best pasta in Melbourne?
Tipo 00 is the pasta destination — Andreas Papadakis's kitchen makes everything in-house, and the squid-ink tagliolini with bottarga and the potato gnocchi with braised duck are the dishes that built its reputation. Lagotto in Fitzroy North runs a seasonal, assured pasta program in a warmer neighbourhood setting, and Capitano in Carlton does a punchier, Italian-American take. For a quick lunch, the handmade pasta at these three beats any of the city's bigger names.
Which Melbourne Italian restaurant is best for a special occasion?
Florentino is the grand-occasion choice — the Bourke Street institution's gilded first-floor dining room, all murals and white tablecloths, has marked Melbourne's engagements and anniversaries for generations and reopened in 2026 with three-, five- and seven-course menus under new owners. Caterina's is the power-lunch room of choice in the CBD. For a more intimate celebration, the pasta counter at Tipo 00 or a quiet table at Lagotto both deliver without the formality.
How much do Melbourne's best Italian restaurants cost?
Pasta at Tipo 00, Lagotto and Capitano runs roughly A$30 to A$45 a plate, so a full meal lands around A$80 to A$110 a head with a glass of wine. Florentino's grand dining room sits higher, with set menus from about A$95 to A$160. Il Bacaro and Caterina's fall in the A$80 to A$120 range. Pellegrini's, the 1954 espresso bar, is the bargain — a bowl of spaghetti and a granita for well under A$40.
Does Melbourne have a strong Italian food culture?
Yes — Melbourne has one of the largest Italian communities outside Italy, and Lygon Street in Carlton has been the city's Little Italy since the post-war migration. That heritage shows in the depth of the scene, from 1950s institutions like Pellegrini's and the Florentino lineage to a new generation of pasta bars like Tipo 00 and Capitano. For an introduction, walk Lygon Street, then book one of the rooms on this list for dinner.
More Italian, by city
More from RFK
Browse the full Melbourne dining guide, compare the global picks in the best Italian restaurants worldwide, read the verdict on pasta bar Tipo 00, plan a night to mark a birthday or anniversary at Florentino, find a first-date table in Fitzroy, or open the full RFK cuisine index.
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