Sydney has always had a deeply affectionate relationship with Italian food. From the red-checked tablecloth trattorias that shaped the city’s dining culture decades ago to the new wave of regional Italian specialists rewriting the playbook, the love affair shows no signs of slowing. Whether you’re after a long, lingering Sunday lunch, a Sardinian wine bar that doubles as a secret cellar, or pillowy gnocchi that puts a full stop on a big week, Sydney’s Italian scene has the range.
We’ve rounded up 10 top tables on this list worth booking into, each also part of Urban List‘s best Italian restaurant recommendations. Bon appetit!
1. Sella Vinoteca
Tucked into Randwick’s Newmarket precinct, Sella Vinoteca is one of Sydney’s more quietly brilliant finds. Owner Fabio Dore grew up on the island of Sardinia, where his family has vineyards and an olive farm, and that provenance runs through everything here: the 350-bottle wine list, the lo-fi minimal-intervention drops, and a menu from head chef Stefano Gaspa that puts Sardinian cuisine front and centre. Think malloreddus pasta, Sardinian pork sausage, artichokes done properly, and crudo that tastes like the Mediterranean Sea is somewhere nearby. The space is warm and unfussy, with outdoor seating overlooking a heritage-listed Moreton Bay fig tree.
Location: Shop 6, 162–164 Barker Street, Randwick
Hours: Wednesday–Thursday from 5pm;
Friday–Sunday from 12pm
2. Buon Ricardo Ristorante
Few Sydney restaurants carry as much history as Buon Ricordo — and fewer still pull it off with this much grace. Armando Percuoco opened the doors in Paddington in 1987, bringing the food of his home in Naples to a city that was just waking up to serious Italian dining. Now under head chef David Wright, the restaurant honours that legacy while quietly evolving it. The intimate dining room, with its art-lined walls and warm, amber-lit atmosphere, makes every occasion feel like a proper celebration. The legendary fettuccine al tartufovo — cream, parmesan, and a fried truffle egg tossed tableside — is the dish that defines the room.
Location: 108 Boundary Street, Paddington
Hours: Lunch, Friday to Saturday 12pm – 3pm;
Dinner, Tuesday to Saturday from 5:30pm – 10pm
3. Cipri
Set back from the street on Elizabeth Street in Paddington, Cipri Italian is where first-timers are greeted like regulars, and regulars like family. The Cipri brothers — Carmelo in the kitchen, Joe and Anthony front of house — bring generations of family passion to what feels like a proper neighbourhood ristorante. Mother Maria makes regular appearances in the kitchen, and old family photographs grace the menus. The food reflects this: hearty but considered, traditional but not stuck. The slow-roasted suckling pig with red cabbage, mustard fruits and pistachio is a standout; so too is the 1kg La Fiorentina T-bone with polenta chips and Tuscan salt for those arriving with serious appetite. Save room for the sesame seed cannoli — it ends the night on the right note every time.
Location: 10 Elizabeth Street, Paddington
Hours: Monday to Friday 6pm – 10pm; Thursday to Friday 12pm – 3pm;
Saturday 6pm – 10pm; Sunday 12pm – 3pm & 6pm – 9pm
4. Capriccio Osteria Bar
Leichhardt’s Norton Street has earned its reputation as Sydney’s Little Italy, and Capriccio Osteria sits squarely at the heart of it. Led by restaurateur Michele Rispoli and head chef Nicole Bampton, this is an osteria that takes its southern Italian roots seriously while staying light on its feet. The menu is designed to share, plates arriving in waves across antipasto, pasta and wood-fired mains. Bampton’s wood-fired oven is used not for pizza, but for whole roasted proteins — spatchcock, lamb ribs, seafood — that come with proper char and depth. The clam pasta has a reputation that precedes it, and the seasonal truffle menu, when it lands, is worth building a booking around.
Location: 159 Norton St, Leichhardt
Hours: Tuesday to Friday 5pm – late;
Saturday to Sunday 12pm – late
5. Bottega Coco
Bottega Coco earns its corner spot in the Barangaroo precinct, whether it’s for a working lunch, a post-meeting dinner, or a weekend pastry stop. Elegant without being stiff, it combines a proper Italian restaurant with an in-house patisserie — meaning the pastry case at the entrance sets an expectation the kitchen consistently meets. The menu spans champagne risotto with prawn tartare, pink tortellini in brodo stuffed with burrata and topped with Tasmanian sea urchin, and pizzas loaded with premium seasonal ingredients. The ragù has drawn comparisons to the best in Italy from diners who’ve been to Italy. In the evenings, the space shifts gear — a live saxophone on Fridays and sophisticated cocktails.
Location: Shop 1 T3.01/300 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo
Hours: Sunday to Thursday 8am – 9pm;
Friday to Saturday 8am – 10pm
6. Belluci Cucina
Perched on the upper terrace of Australia Square in the heart of the CBD, Bellucci Cucina leans hard into its Milano-meets-Roma brief — and it pulls it off with easy, sun-drenched confidence. The heated open terrace (they call it the terrazzo) is the real drawcard and a spot worth lingering over. The menu covers the essentials: wood-fired Napoli-style pizzas, handmade pasta, and market fish sourced direct from the Sydney Fish Market. The cavatelli alla norcina — a generous bowl of cavatelli with sausage ragù — is the signature worth ordering, and the panna cotta with balsamic roasted figs is the dessert worth staying for.
Location: Upper Podium, 264/278 George St
Hours: Monday 7am – 5pm; Tuesday to Saturday 7am – late
Sunday 12pm – late
7. Casa Ristorante
Right on the waterfront at King Street Wharf, Casa Ristorante Italiano has figured out exactly what kind of place it wants to be — and it does it well. Inspired by the cobbled streets of Naples and the sleek lines of modern Sydney, the sprawling alfresco terrace delivers that rare combination of genuine location and genuine food. The traditional wood-fired pizza oven is the heart of the kitchen, cranking out pizzas with proper crust and smoky depth. The aragosta & granchio ravioli — homemade pasta filled with lobster, crab, scallop and cherry tomato — is the signature worth ordering when you’re feeling indulgent. Open seven days from late morning, it handles everything from a post-Darling Harbour stroll to a large group celebration without breaking stride.
Location: 42–48 The Promenade, King Street Wharf, Darling Harbour
Hours: Sunday to Tuesday 11:30am – 8:30pm;
Wednesday to Thursday 11:30am – 9pm, Friday to Saturday 11:30am – 9:30pm
8. Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers
Australia’s first dedicated casual gnoccheria arrived in Newtown in 2021, and the queues haven’t stopped since. Co-founders Ben Cleary-Corradini and Theo Roduner have turned a Brisbane food stall origin story into something genuinely special: a 60-seat venue on King Street where the entire menu is built around one thing — gnocchi. Pillowy, house-made, cooked with serious technique, and sauced with real ambition. The wild mushroom and truffle is the crowd favourite, and for good reason — earthy, rich, and generous. The creamy lobster and barramundi is the one to order if you want to push a bit further. Sides of Italian mopping bread, salt and pepper calamari, and truffle salted chips keep things feeling Italian and considered.
Location: 119 King Street, Newtown (multiple locations)
Hours: Monday to Thursday 4pm – 9pm;
Friday to Saturday 4pm – 10pm; Sunday 4pm – 10pm
9. Candelori's
Out in Smithfield, Candelori’s has been setting a quiet benchmark for Italian fine dining in Western Sydney since 1999 — and it continues to earn the drive. With 25-plus years of service behind it, this is a restaurant that knows exactly what it’s doing: house-made bread and pasta prepared daily, 30-plus rotating taps of carefully selected wine, wood-fired schiacciata arriving hot and fragrant from the oven, and a menu that spans crispy fried Roman artichokes, cream burrata with Ortiz anchovies, and premium steaks cut for two. The space seats 220, but feels considered — not warehouse-style. Three hats in the Gault & Millau Restaurant Guide say enough about the kitchen’s consistency. Come with appetite, come with a group, come ready to be settled in for the evening.
Location: 685 The Horsley Drive, Smithfield
Hours: Monday to Saturday 12pm – 3pm & 5pm – 10pm;
Sunday 12pm – 3pm