The best Italian restaurants in Lisbon

If you’re put off by the thought of another bland hotel restaurant, don’t worry – Allora, an Italian restaurant within the Hotel Epic Sana Marqués, offers something distinctive. With chef Nuno Costa newly in charge of the kitchen, the focus is now on fresh pasta, which is made on-site every day and can be enjoyed as part of the daily menu executivo (an elevated set menu), which comes in at €29. On Mondays, there’s tagliatelle carbonara; on Tuesdays, a prawn tortello served with shellfish sauce; on Wednesdays, a pappadelle al ragu; on Thursdays, a pesto gnocchi with stracciatella; and finally, on Fridays, it’s time for tagliatelle alla puttanesca. At the weekend, it’s all about the £30 sharing menu, designed to encourage locals as well as visitors to stop by and enjoy the top-quality fare.

Inspired by Naples and the Italian coastline, A’paranza Tasca Italiana serves pasta al dente, even though Lisbonites might prefer soft spaghetti. Located in Penha de França, it offers fresh ingredients, from fish and shellfish to pasta with anchovies or mullet roe (bottarga). The menu also gives the meat and seafood a chance to shine on their own, as seen in appetisers like fried baby squid and whitebait, served wrapped in paper, or polipetti affogati, stewed baby octopus, described as ‘truly tiny, steeped in a deep dark sauce of tomato and wine,’ to borrow our critic Alfredo Lacerda’s phrase, after his 2021 visit. A’paranza Tasca Italiana strives to break away from the clichés of Italian cuisine that we normally see exported around the world, whether in the food, the wine, or the music it plays.

At this restaurant in Anjos, you'll feel as though you’ve been welcomed into an Italian home. The scent of fresh pasta fills the air, cheerful music plays, and the atmosphere is relaxed. Shelves are stocked with jars of sauces, packets of pasta, and bottles of wine. The chalkboard announces the dishes, including culinary treasures from Bologna, all at wallet-friendly prices. You’ll find cappelletti, tagliatelle, and gnocchi served with tomato or meat sauce, among other options. For dessert, classics like tiramisu and chocolate cake are not to be missed. Ten euros, or just a little more, is usually enough for a delightful feast at CaJa.

Erica Porru's restaurant has established itself as a cult spot in Beato. The daughter of the legendary Maria Paola, founder of the Casanostra and Casanova restaurants, Erica has been forging her own path in the kitchen after a career as a makeup artist in the film industry (to which the restaurant’s name pays homage). It’s no surprise, then, that Clube de Vídeo is filled with beautiful film posters, nor that its clientele is predominantly artists from various disciplines. Open only for lunch, it serves simple, well-executed pasta dishes, from lasagnas to conchiglioni with ricotta and pistachio, and always offers delightful desserts at fair prices, such as panna cotta and tiramisu. All in all, it’s a good vibe.

Corleone’s terrace is stunning: located on the large balcony of the Villa Cascais hotel, it’s decorated in sober yet vibrant colours which catch the eye of passers-by and draw them in. The interior is no different, with summery yellow and blue tones reminiscent of both Cascais and southern Italy, which inspired Miguel Garcia to create an Italian restaurant unlike anything the town had seen before. The name has nothing to do with the mafia, but is a direct reference to Corleone in Sicily, and this Sicilian influence extends to the cocktail menu, while the wine selection remains firmly focused on Italy. As Miguel explains: ‘Cascais didn‘t have an Italian restaurant where the menu was crafted by an Italian chef.’ The chef in question is Rodolfo de Santis, a native of Puglia who made his name in Brazil over the last decade with Nino, an Italian restaurant that quickly became a sensation and expanded across the country. As in a classic Italian eatery, the menu is divided into antipasti, primi, secondi, and dolci, all of which are ‘made with traditional recipes from southern Italy,’ as Miguel assures. Starters include dishes like vitello tonnato and irresistible arancini. In the primi section, you’ll find pastas such as carbonara or the eye-catching spaghetti all’aragosta, featuring shellfish bisque, fresh tomato, rocket, and grilled lobster tail. For the secondi, options range from lemon risotto with grilled prawns to the famous veal milanese.

When he visited Campo de Ourique a short while ago, our critic Alfredo Lacerda was blown away. Our critic wrote: ‘Fiammetta is one of those rare cases of a truly authentic Italian restaurant. Here, there’s no pandering to the occasional tourist escaping Portuguese cuisine and only wants spaghetti, nor is the team trying to attract millionaires who think Milan is the centre of the universe. Fiammetta aims to serve good Italian products, simply prepared and properly presented. And that means a lot.’ All of this earned it a five-star rating and left Alfredo eager to return.

Tanka Sapkota – who was born in Nepal, but is based in Lisbon and has dedicated himself to Italian cuisine – envisioned Il Mercato as more than just an Italian restaurant. The name refers to the market section of the restaurant, where you can browse a range of charcuterie and cheese to be enjoyed at one of the nearby tables or back home. There are also artisan pasta machines, which produce various types of fresh pasta, available to sample in daily specials as well as in regular menu items and for takeaway. If you’re planning to chef it up at home, pay attention to the recommended cooking times, sauces, and accompaniments for the best results.

At Libertà, you won't find pizza or carbonara, – here, the focus is on authentic Italian cuisine which has no frills, but still takes an unconventional approach. Silvio Armanni, an Italian chef from the Bergamo region and former executive chef of the Michelin-starred Octavium in Hong Kong, leads the kitchen here without any pretension of chasing stars. The menu highlights fresh pasta, made in-house, but also features standout meat and fish dishes that might not immediately come to mind when thinking of Italian cuisine, simply because we're not used to seeing them on menus. From 4.00pm-7pm (when dinner service starts) you can get a proper Italian aperitivo.

Grandma isn’t crazy. In fact, she’s an almost mythological figure from whom Matteo, an Italian living in Portugal, gets his inspiration. In October 2020, Mateo created Nonna Goes Crazy, with the idea to deliver fresh, ready-to-eat pasta for people to enjoy at home. It was such a roaring success that the venture quickly outgrew its Instagram origins and Nonna Goes Crazy is now a small restaurant nestled between Avenida da Liberdade and Príncipe Real. It has limited seating indoors but offers a terrace that spills onto the staircase in front of the door. The menu always features four pasta dishes, including one with cherry tomatoes, burrata, creamy and crunchy pistachio, and the unusual ‘carbobora’ – a twist on carbonara – made with pumpkin, crispy pancetta, burrata, and toasted walnuts. The focaccias, one with beetroot pesto and another with crunchy pistachio, burrata, and pesto, are a perfect way to start the meal. To finish, there's the Tiramisù da Tiramisusi.

Translated from the Neapolitan dialect, Obicà means ‘here it is’, a name that’s rather fitting for this new Italian restaurant in Príncipe Real. Looking for the city’s new mozzarella bar? Here it is. Looking for a great way to share food with friends and family? Here it is. This concept has already been tested in Rome (where the chain was born in 2004) and in other parts of the world, including Porto, where it made its Portuguese debut. The menu features dishes representing regions such as Genoa, Padua, Florence, Puglia, and Campania.