Soho, Italian Restaurant Guide

“Fantastic pasta” is the USP at high-profile chef Stevie Parle’s Soho venue. In particular, it’s “a top spot with kids, thanks to the fun and friendly staff and a notably good children’s menu option”.

This “authentic Italian vermuteria” (they make their own vermouths) in the heart of Soho was founded 12 years ago by three brothers from northern Italy, and offers enjoyable cooking from their homeland, including “a great choice of pasta” and “the crispiest pizza ever – delicious!”

“Elevating accessible pasta to another level” and “at fair prices” has won a huge fan club for these pasta pit-stops, which – in July 2023 – added a Borough Yards location to their outlets in Soho and off Trafalgar Square. It’s the “narrow” WC2 branch that’s best known, and, despite the weight of custom, “helpful staff do their best” and it delivers “lots of atmosphere”. The food rating dipped this year, though, due to a few refuseniks who say “it used to be good, but is becoming a victim of its own success”. Executive Chef Ben Waugh creates all new dishes and ensures the classics are still on the menu, such as Fazzoletti (silk handkerchiefs) with confit egg yolk and walnut butter. There is also an aperitivi and cicchetti bar.

“Jacob Kenedy’s terrific Italian restaurant in the heart of the West End hasn’t lost its edge in 15-plus years” (est. 2008) and is one of the most popular London destinations in our annual diners’ poll. It serves “inspired, regional-Italian dishes” – “lots of interesting choices from an original, constantly-changing, seasonal menu” – all at notably “sensible prices”. “The sommelier will assist you to navigate a marvellous Italian list and introduce you to some new wines; and service generally is both professional yet very friendly”. Many diners “prefer sitting at the counter” watching the chefs to the “more formal” tables at the back, “but you always get a good meal either way”. “It is deafeningly loud, but that’s the price you pay for such a buzzy atmosphere”. Top Tip – “wonderful ice cream shop opposite which they also own”.

This sumptuous Mayfair outpost from a Florentine banking dynasty offers a “great location”; “an atmosphere ideal for hedge fund types”; and wines “straight from the vineyards in Tuscany” (the family estates date back to 1308). There’s also a “super outdoor space when the weather cooperates”. Fans say the Italian cooking is “solid” – foes that it’s “just not good enough – let alone for the price”.

This classic Italian set among the tailors of Savile Row (for which it is named and themed) serves “outstanding” dishes – most notably seafood – at admittedly “expensive” prices. Celebrity chef Francesco Mazzei departed in early 2023, leaving the D&D London venue lacking a high-profile figurehead, but thus far, this has seemingly had little effect on the quality of the cooking.

This “Soho institution” stands for “tradition and location”, offering “the best coffee 24/7” along with “the most atmospheric counter seating in London”. Founded in 1949 by the Polledri family, who still own it, it is a rare survivor of Soho’s once-thriving Italian community.

“A nice pit-stop for pasta lovers” – this expanding chain is now up to its fifth restaurant spin-off from the original Soho deli (with the June 2023 opening of a new 80-seater, overlooking Clapham Common), and fans say it provides an “attractive”, “buzzing” setting for “simple dishes, well cooked”. A meal is “unlikely to live long in the memory though”, and there’s a growing fear that “as they have expanded the quality has dropped”. Top Tip – at the W1 original (est. 1944 originally as a deli) “sitting upstairs or by the bar is lovely, the windowless basement is not particularly comfortable”.

A “reliable Soho favourite”, where results from its blackboard menu are “always solidly good and can be excellent” – the same can be said of its handwritten ‘little black book’ of wines. “Small, relaxed and friendly”, it “can become pretty noisy, but that’s part of the fun”.

“Massive, Instagram-tastic and buzzy” – Paris-based Big Mamma Group’s Sicilian trattoria in Fitzrovia is “great for a night out with the kids”. “If only as much thought had been put into the food as the decor!” – although to be fair, the simple and generous Italian dishes are served at a quality and price that most find very acceptable.

“My own family comes from the Emilia Romagna and I can vouch for the authenticity of the delicious (and also generously proportioned!) dishes”, says one fan of this “tiny, restaurant, run by a family from Bologna” in Soho. “Dad cooks, Mum is the sommelier, daughter serves tables. Excellent!”

On a Soho corner, this straightforward but stylish independent opened in early 2023. No survey feedback as yet, but The Standard’s David Ellis was impressed on his February 2023 visit, hailing the “quiet elegance” of its interior and light, well-realised Tuscan-influenced cuisine to match, plus a strong wine list.

With siblings in the 2nd and 16th arrondissements of Paris, this October 2023 newcomer aims to import its brand of ‘offbeat Parisian chic and sunny Italian generosity’ to Soho (on an intriguing cut-through between Greek Street and Charing Cross Road). It’s a large spot – with 100 covers and a 50-seater terrace – where the focus will be on pasta and pizza.