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Bucharest's Italian Restaurants

Firstly, as gourmands know, there is no such thing as an 'Italian restaurant' in Italy. There are ristorante, which usually feature the upmarket dishes of the region in which it is located. Then there are trattorias: cheaper, more downmarket places serving big, tasty portions of pasta and meat dishes. Then there is the enoteca, bistro-type places where good, cheap wine is served with a choice of just a couple of dishes. Finally, if you want a pizza you go to a pizzerie. In all cases the food served reflects the region.

In Bucharest there is no such sophistication. Though there are notable, worthy exceptions (and we have pointed these out in the reviews), almost every single one of Bucharest's 'Italian' restaurants is a hodge podge of ristorante, trattoria and pizzerie. Menus are cluttered with hundreds of dishes that are basically the same thing: pasta type A with sauce type b; pasta type b with sauce type A etc. Hardly any of these places make their own pasta, few use genuine ingredients, and few stick to the cusine of one Italian region. It's rubbish for the ill educated masses and nothing more.

Do not be fooled well travelled diner! Read the reviews and head only for those places worthy of your custom.

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Bucharest | Restaurants | Italian

Angel's
An enormous villa in wealthy Dorobanti, surrounded (when the weather allows, of course) by a terrace that seems to go on forever, Angel's remains one of the first points of reference for many visitors to Bucharest, especially Italianos, who feel at home here in their sunglasses and white shoes. The food is decent enough trattoria Italian, and there is good, wood-fired pizza too. During the summer you will need a reservation at the weekend if you have designs on sitting outside. [...]



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Str. Paris 52

tel. (+4) 021 231 90 44

fax. (+4) 021 231 90 45

Open 12:00-01:00
Aquarium
Since 1994 it's been the same story: good but not extraordinary Italian food and a swish, bright interior; both make Aquarium worth a visit. It can be a little showy, with high-powered individuals often choosing to hold court here, but that shouldn't put you off what now has to be classed as a Buch [...]



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Str. Alecu Russo 4

tel. (+4) 021 211 28 20

Open 12:30-23:30
Bellini
Packed out with the pre-cinema crowd heading over to Cinema Pro for the latest premiere, Bellini has a great location, and its covered terrace is lovely in spring and summer. As with most Italians in this city the food is not really worth writing home about, but is fine, is not overpriced and they [...]



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Str. Ion Ghica 2

tel. (+4) 021 310 29 78

Open 12:00 - 24:00. Also at Str. Lanariei 5, tel. (+4) 0723 10 01 01. Metro station:

Universitate
Buongiorno
We have always loved this place, with its many seperate, high-ceilinged dining rooms and decent if far from special Italian food (there is a small but good selection of fish dishes that we really like, however). The covered, glass terrace is great on rainy days, and when the weather gets better (an [...]



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B-dul Lascar Catargiu 56

tel. (+4) 021 317 43 63

Open 12:00-24:00,
Fri 12:00-02:00,
Sat 12:00-02:00,
Sun 12:00-02:00.Also at Baneasa Shopping Center, 1st floor, tel. (+4) 0727 41 78 79. Metro station:

Piata Romana
Byblos
It's been around for a long, long time Byblos, but it remains a good choice for a 'can't go wrong' dinner for groups of friends. Of the food there is little less than superlatives to say: the success of this place has always been its ability to offer high quality at reasonable prices. Great cheeses [...]



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Str. N. Golescu 14-16

tel. (+4) 021 313 20 91

fax. (+4) 021 310 11 51

Open 18:00-24:00
Caffe & Latte Wine Bar
Next door to what has always been one of Bucharest’s best cafes, this Italian restaurant (that goes for gawdy orange decor in a big way) keeps coming up with the goods on the food front. Whether its the huge portions of seafood pasta, the cracking wine list or the chocolate cake to end all chocolate cakes, we can’t help ourselves going back time after time. Or we would if we could afford the bloody expensive prices. Start saving now for next Christmas. [...]



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B-dul Schitu Magureanu 35

tel. (+4) 021 314 38 00

fax. (+4) 021 314 38 70

Open 12:00-23:00,
Sun Closed.
Caffe Citta
Styled as a Northern Italian city centre cafe/bistro the emphasis here is on good, simple, urban food. Try the risotto with saffron, the saltim bocca and the tiramisu: all signature dishes and all done to perfection. The drinks menu is a bit special: go for the apple mojito (as delicious as it soun [...]



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Calea Victoriei 63-81 (Radisson BLU)

tel. (+4) 021 601 34 36

Open 11:30-23:30
Capriccio
A smoky and sparsely decorated Italian restaurant with faded photos of Italian cities. Eat your pasta and take care of clandestine business in the separate VIP room. Quality of the food if not the service has undoubtedly improved in recent times. [...]



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Str. Icoanei 18

tel. (+4) 021 211 12 35

Open 12:00-24:00
Capricciosa
A bustling Italian restaurant and pizzeria whose menu is a veritable dictionary of pizza. They even do truffles and, let’s face it, you don’t see those every day on a menu in Bucharest. Well worth making the journey uptown for both the food and the atmosphere, which demonstrates that top restaurants don’t have to be fitze.
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B-dul Ion Ionescu de la Brad 2

tel. (+4) 021 233 06 35

Open 12:00-01:00
Casa di David
You can say what you like about this high-class place (and most party people in Bucharest have some kind of opinion), but to us it remains a very nice place to spend the evening, with its big windows and simple furnishings. The food is ristorante Italian, and very good, with enough fish dishes to make it appealing to sea food lovers, and though the big screen TV is annoying, that's the only fault we have. Staff are good and the wine list a cracker. 
[...]



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Sos. Nordului 7-9

tel. (+4) 021 232 47 15

Open 12:00-24:00
Cucina
Bright and breezy, Cucina at the JW Marriott is a wonderful Italian restaurant where you can find probably the best (and perhaps only) swordfish steak in the city. The veal cutlets are incredibly expensive but worth every penny, while for a simple reminder of great cooking and intense flavours, the [...]



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Calea 13 Septembrie 90 (JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel)

tel. (+4) 021 403 19 02

Open 19:00-23:30
Dante's
The upmarket, Dorobanti location and  should guarantee them a decent shot at staying in business, even though it is, for all its imported salamis, another Italian trattoria. There's a decent beef steak in rosemary and parmesan sauce, and a divine sweet menu, and while prices are high-ish you s [...]



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Str. Radu Beller 11

tel. (+4) 021 231 08 97

Open 10:00-24:00 
DavVero
Not the best Italian in Bucharest, but certainly not the worst either. It's menu of biblical proportions is full of the usual humdrum pasta and pizza, although it must be said that the pizza is particulalrly good. Prices are more than reasonable too, and it's very popular. [...]



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B-dul Tineretului 55

tel. (+4) 021 331 06 19

Open 11:00 - 01:00.
De Gustibus
Call us old fashioned but we have always liked to judge Italian eateries on the standard they set  with their spaghetti aglio, olio e pepperoncino. Outwardly simple, made with just fresh pasta and garlic, the best olive oil and peppers, it has an inner complexity that anyone who has tried to make it at home will testify to. De Gustibus is one of those few places in Bucharest that gets its aglio olio just right, and so we whole heartedly recommend it to you. The place itself is a delight too, a gorgeous Italianate (what else?) villa. [...]



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Str. Marcel Iancu 10

tel. (+4) 021 211 14 49

fax. (+4) 021 211 14 49

Open 11:30-24:00
Gallo Nero
The Black Cock is - as you would expect from a name like that - big and brash, with modern Italian cuisine dominating a varied and inventive menu. For proof that there is an after-life for standard Italian food, this is a reasonable place to come. [...]



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B-dul Decebal 12

tel. (+4) 021 326 81 28

Open 12:00-23:30
Il Corso
In one of the most enviable locations in Bucharest Il Corso is place to come and eat great Italian food in surroundings as agreeable as the food. The walls of the place are almost entirely glass, ideal for those who love to eat while looking out on the bustling street outside. Not cheap, it does of [...]



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Str. Alexandru Constantinescu 1

tel. (+4) 0788 69 21 46

Open 11:30-23:30.
Il Trullo
An Italian in a house just off Dacia, the food you will be served here is far from the average Italian nonsense you get elsewhere in Bucharest. No, this is real regional Italian food, from Puglia, famous for its olive groves, and where rich use of local olive oil and fish evoke the Mediterranean. Y [...]



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Str. Leonida 29

tel. (+4) 021 210 03 98

Open 11:00 - 23:00
Isoletta
Luxuriously decorated place on Herastrau lake, where glass and wood have been combined at great expense to create one of the most sumptuous dining rooms in the city. Yet the good news ends there. For the food, despite the laughable descriptions on the menu - is nothing more than standard trattoria [...]



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Sos. Nordului 7-9

tel. (+4) 021 232 21 77

fax. (+4) 021 232 21 88

Open 12:00-24:00
Jaya Maison
Something of an all-in-one, casa-di-tutti on Lipscani's second nicest street (Franceza). On the top floor is an Italian restaurant currently pulling in the punters with its standard food and 25 lei lunchtime deal, while downstairs is a cafe/bar for relaxing post food. Run by the same people who have the great little Jaya cafe just around the corner on Selari.
[...]



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Str. Franceza 17

tel. (+4) 0722 88 77 64

Open 13:00-01:00
La Dolce Vita
Perenially popular cellar restaurant which packs in Italian punters like there is no tomorrow. The food is good and the atmosphere the friendly, familiar side of cramped; just how your favourite trattoria in the old country would be. Those who like to eat in wide open spaces with elbow room to spare should prenda un controllo della pioggia. [...]



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Str. Occidentului 44

tel. (+4) 021 310 86 94

Open 12:00-24:00
La Gondola
Difficult to fault this place in many ways. Built at great expense but with taste and style (it's all glass, and for once the views over the lake are not obscured by enormous television screens) it is just about the best of the Floreasca lake restaurants. The food is decent if not great trattoria Italian - there's some good fish on the menu - though it is perhaps a little overpriced. Having said that, you should remember that you are paying for the location as much as anything, and views like this never come cheap. Go with a deep wallet and you will probably enjoy it.  [...]



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Str. Nicolae Caramfil 2C

tel. (+4) 021 232 12 60

Open 12:30-24:00
Lobb's
Run, still, by one of the city's greatest restaurateurs, this place has been packing them in for a decade. The legendary Antipasto Misto, featuring Lobb's mussels wrapped in bacon, crochettes and gorgonzola with pear, is a meal in itself. The aglio, olio and peperoncino served here should be taken to every other Italian in the land to show them just exactly how this simple dish really should be done. For dessert, go for the English trifle. Really.
[...]



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P-ta Montreal 2

tel. (+4) 021 319 11 64

fax. (+4) 021 319 11 24

Open 10:00-23:00
Madrigal
One of many great things about the restaurants at the Inter Continental is their affinity to trying new things and to moving on. Hence the new menus at Madrigal, its flagship eatery, which is now an Italian steak house, serving prime cuts and a fantastic range of Italian dishes, pasta & carne, all cooked by the new chef, Andrea Aiudi, an award-winning chef from the InterContinental San Francisco, brought in specially to make sure that this place will be a must visit.
[...]



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B-dul Nicolae Bălcescu 4 (Hotel InterContinental)

tel. (+4) 021 310 20 20

Open 18:00-24:00,
Sun Closed. Metro station:

Universitate
Montalcino
She wore New Velvet. For a bit. And now, Montalcino. This place has been the site of various restaurants over the years (we think, if memory serves, as far back as the Communist years) and none has ever really rocked our boat or smoothed our velvet. Montalcino is a decent attempt to make a real go [...]



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Str. Stirbei Voda 4

tel. (+4) 0762 16 55 60

Open 10:00-23:00,
Sat 09:00-24:00,
Sun 09:00-24:00. 
Museum
A fairly glorious setting in the leafy and cosy Cotroceni area, amongst Museum's huge portions of well prepared though standard and predictable Italian food you will find a number of dishes to tempt you. Pleasant surroundings with plenty of plants, you'll find a meal affordable and very good value. [...]



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Str. Dr. Clunet 15

tel. (+4) 021 411 91 28

Open 12:00-24:00 Metro station:

Eroilor
Quattro Stagioni
You can't miss this place: it is a glass restaurant stuck out on a limb (with a sign in lurid pink) on the main road from Piata Aviatorilor to the Arc de Triumf. Having been less impressed on our last visit with anything beyond the so-so view of the busy street outside, we perhaps suggest making sure you do give it a miss. There are far better places in the city to enjoy average pizza and Italian stodge. [...]



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Str. Maresal C-tin Prezan 1

tel. (+4) 021 222 72 22

Open 12:00-24:00
Restaurant 41
The restaurant formerly known as Exile is now Restaurant 41, owned and operated by the lovely people who have for years looked after visitors to Bucharest at the Vila 11 hostel and bed and breakfast. Expect great cooking, good service and a welcome that will have you swearing to visit again before [...]



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Str. Clucerului 41

tel. (+4) 021 222 19 42

Open 10:00-02:00,
Fri 10:00-20:30,
Sat 21:00-02:00.
Ristorante Il Calcio
As opposed to Trattoria Il Calcio? Yes. For this is a ristorante, a notch up from trattoria. Expect a more refined menu and surroundings, but the same warm, friendly service and great value (if pricier) food you've come to expect from the Il Calcio boys. This first Il Calcio restaurant is in a lovely house on Strada Clucerului, quickly becoming something of a magnet for great places to eat. [...]



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Str. Clucerului 7

tel. (+4) 0729 57 48 02

Open 12:00-24:00,
Fri 12:00-01:00,
Sat 12:00-01:00,
Sun 12:00-24:00.
Roberto's
Though it now probably (by most people's reckoning) has to play second fiddle to Cafe Citta across the road, this is still one of the best Italian chophouses in the land, and a great choice for a formal, shirt and tie dinner. The menu changes regularly, and features cuisine from all of Italy's regi [...]



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Str. Episcopiei 1-3 (Athenee Palace Hilton)

tel. (+4) 021 303 37 77

fax. (+4) 021 315 21 21

Open 06:30-10:00, 12:00-15:00, 19:00-23:00, Sat 06:30 - 11:00, 12:00-15:30, 19:00 - 23:00, Sun 06:30 - 11:00, 19:00 - 23:00. Sunday (Brunch) from 12:30.
Trattoria Bocca
We would have loved to have reviewed this place for our readers, we really would. It looks great from the outside, a nice villa on a central Bucharest street, and as we walked in the interior looked promsising too. Alas, we took flight the minute we stepped inside: the music was so loud we could no [...]



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Str. Jean Louis Calderon 41

tel. (+4) 021 319 71 49

Open 12:00-24:00
Trattoria del Tatoli
Besides the dead-central location, the other major string in del Tatoli's bow is the undergound dining room - more medieval cellar than trattoria - which makes for a nice change from the Bucharest Italian norm. The food is standard, though the beef carpaccio was good and correct, and the seafood skewer tasty. The pasta appears to be bought in, but other than that it warrants a visit. [...]



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Calea Victoriei 26

tel. (+4) 021 315 33 99

Open 12:00-24:00
Trattoria Il Calcio I
Trattoria Il Calcio I
A football-themed Italian trattoria with strangely appealing murals of scenes from important matches in seasons past. Offering very good trattoria food, decent pizzas and one of the best salad bars in Bucharest, you will come, love it, and come again. Prices are extraordinarily cheap and the queues outside at lunchtime speak volumes. Service  is provided by bright young things in football shirts. Championship winning stuff.
[...]



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Str. Mendeleev 14

tel. (+4) 0722 13 42 99

Open 12:00-24:00,
Fri 12:00-01:00,
Sat 12:00-01:00,
Sun 12:00-24:00.Also at (I-4) Str. Delea Veche 36, tel. (+4) 0726 01 03 83; (C-3) Calea Floreasca 118-120, tel (+4) 0728 63 99 06. Metro station:

P-ta Romana
Trattoria Il Calcio II
What we have here is the best use of perhaps the best terrace space in the city. Of course, at this time of year you will have to sit inside, but you still get a decent view of the big open square outside. As with the original Il Calcio, service can be a bit hit and miss but the good - if not outstanding - Italian food at fantastic prices makes this a good default choice for dinner. Stick to the pizzas, salads, have a little patience and you will love the place. [...]



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Str. Benjamin Franklin 1-3

tel. (+4) 0732 52 81 40

Open 12:00-24:00, Fri, Sat 10:00-01:00.
Trattoria Il Peperoncino
The newest Italian trattoria in the city, and already installed by those in the know (as well as ourselves) as one of the very best. They are not cutting any corners here, with their correct, imported ingredients and menu that keeps it simple and generally seasonal. Quiet location on a backstreet behind Bulevardul Magheru adds a sense of discretion and occasion. We like it.  [...]



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Str. Dionisie Lupu 88

tel. (+4) 021 318 58 38

Open 10:00-24:00
Trattoria Roma
Brilliant, truly brilliant, and we rarely give praise that high. It might nominally be an Italian but what people come to this place for is the seafood. Huge plates of steaming mussels come in at a top value 26 lei, and there's fresh lobster (fresh as in 'they pick it live out of a fish tank') for 120 lei. Add in decent house wine at giveaway prices, good pasta (a classic aglio, olio is recommended) and you have a winner. The Eminescu location is our favourite place in the city right now, and that from a city guide not meant to have favourites...
[...]



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Str. Mihai Eminescu 114-116

tel. (+4) 021 210 81 57

Open 12:00-24:00Also at (B-3) Calea Dorobanti 177, tel. (+4) 021 230 40 83 and (A-6) Str. Dr. Lister 1, tel. (+4) 0766 33 42 24.
Zafferano
Excellent Italian restaurant in a lovely villa in a quiet area in the north of the capital. The food is terrific - the chef a real pro - and the dishes are all genuinely Italian. There are not all that many tables so make a reservation. [...]



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Str. Popa Savu 29

tel. (+4) 021 222 72 10

Open 11:00-01:00 Metro station:

Aviatorilor
Zerillo's
An old favourite for many people in Bucharest, Zerillo's have been serving up fairly good Italian food for a decade or more. The fleet of luxury cars usually parked outside accurately convey its prices and pretensions, and the tables are spaced out very well affording diners some discretion and qui [...]



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Piata Lahovari 2

tel. (+4) 021 318 62 91

Open 12:00-01:00 Metro station:

P-ta Romana
Zigolini
Yes, it might well be a restaurant in the Jolie Ville Galleria some distance from the centre of the city, but that does not mean it's not worth your time. For it is. There are more seafood dishes on the menu here than half the restaurants of Bucharest put together, and the minestrone is about as good and authentic as you could wish for. Decent prices too, and home delivery.
[...]



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Str. Erou Iancu Nicolae 103 bis

tel. (+4) 021 206 80 69

Open 12:00-22:00