Best Pasta in Melbourne

There are few things more comforting and delicious than a good bowl of pasta. With its longstanding Italian community and commitment to good food, Melbourne serves up some of the best spaghetti, fettuccine, pappardelle, orecchiette and ravioli in the world. It’s telling that some of the places on this list have been operating since the ’80s, with few changes to what they do. Good pasta is timeless and resistant to trends.

As of this year, you don’t have to leave home to eat Tipo 00’s casarecce with sausage ragu, Grossi Florentino Grill’s testaroli or Park Street’s rabbit and veal agnolotti. You can recreate them in your own kitchen with The Broadsheet Italian Cookbook. Pastas from Il Bacaro, Pellegrini’s, Mario’s are are also among the book’s 80 recipes. Available now at shop.broadsheet.com.au.

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Best Pizza in Melbourne

Di Stasio Citta

Restaurateur Rinaldo Di Stasio is back in the city with an extraordinary restaurant that blends high art, high drama and high cuisine.

35 Spring Street, Melbourne

Florentino

Pasta backed by years of research and experience, plus exceptional customer service.

80 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Tipo 00

A fine-dining chef's handmade-pasta passion project.

361 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne

Park Street Pasta & Wine

Fresh, handmade pasta rolled from the best possible ingredients is the draw at this intimate osteria.

268 Park Street, South Melbourne

Agostino

A modern take on the classic Italian enoteca, a 50-seat wine bar with house-made pasta, hard-to-find wines and waiters clad in head-to-toe white Japanese denim in an iconic heritage-listed building.

297 Lygon Street, Carlton

Cafe Di Stasio

No list would be complete without this St Kilda institution.

31 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda

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Pentolina

After 19 years behind the counter at Pellegrini’s, Matt Picone opened this pasta bar dedicated to his late father.

2/377 Little Collins St, Melbourne

Oster

Northern Italian fare in a dimly lit osteria.

76-78 Bridge Road, Richmond

Il Bacaro

All about that Moreton Bay bug spaghettini.

168-170 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

Bar Carolina

A tight list of hits from the same restaurateur behind Il Bacaro.

44 Toorak Road, South Yarra

Cecconi’s

The seafood linguine has been a classic for years.

61 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Scopri

Dine on elegant dishes below a giant vista of the Italian countryside.

191 Nicholson Street, Carlton

Trattoria Emilia

An easy CBD haunt based on a Northern Italian trattoria.

360 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

Rosetta Ristorante

Neil Perry is just as competent at Italian as he is at other cuisines.

8 Whiteman Street, Southbank

Thirty Eight Chairs South Yarra

Where papperdelle, tagliatelle and risotto are second-nature.

4a Bond Street, South Yarra

Bar Idda

A cosy room serving home-style Sicilian food with generosity and heart.

132 Lygon Street, Brunswick East

Umberto Espresso Bar

A cosy space, a compact menu, and a whole lot of heart.

917 High Street, Thornbury

Becco

Nods to a number of different areas of Italy.

11-25 Crossley Street, Melbourne

Pinotta

Peruse the blackboard for always-changing specials with a focus on slow braises and seafood.

32 Best Street, Fitzroy North

Etto

Pasta made fresh, twice a day.

261 Clarendon Street, South Melbourne

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Caffe e Cucina

An old-style Italian local.

581 Chapel Street, South Yarra

Cucinetta

Intimate and communal, like a real Italian restaurant should be.

4 3 Murphy Street, South Yarra

The Waiters Restaurant

A tiny, no-fuss space where the interior is older than you.

20 Meyers Place, Melbourne

Fox in The Corn

First, they started a wholesale pasta business. Then this restaurant.

4 Droop Street, Footscray

Cafe Latte

A slick, contemporary interior meets Southern Italian diner.

521 Malvern Road, Toorak

DOC Espresso

After your meal, pop next door to the deli to try and reproduce the same quality at home.

326 Lygon Street, Carlton

Il Solito Posto

This cosy, cellar-like restaurant is an old favourite with a sophisticated wine list and classic Italian cuisine.

Basement 113 Collins Street (enter George Pde), Melbourne

Supermaxi

Here to feed us traditional home-style pizza, pasta and all things Italian food and drink.

305 St Georges Road, Fitzroy North

Rita's Cafeteria

Look past the lengthy pizza list and choose a bowl of flavour.

239 Johnston Street, Abbotsford

Lupino Bistro

A longstanding but largely unsung spot for Italian classics.

41 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

Marios

It's not particularly authentic, but this comfort food has stood the test of time.

303 Brunswick Street,, Fitzroy

Good Times

The pasta here isn't show-stopping, but it's not trying to be. With pasta dishes ranging from $9 to $14, this Fitzroy North spot is affordable and punches well above its weight when it comes to atmosphere.

214 St Georges Road, Fitzroy North