Read Reviews About Soho Restaurants (2024)

Italian Restaurants in Soho

View All

1. Obicà Mozzarella Bar, Pizza e Cucina Italian restaurant in Soho 19-20 Poland St - W1

These “upscalish Italians” – part of an international chain – serve pizza, pasta and other lighter dishes, featuring the trademark ingredient. It can be that the “quality of the food is a pleasant surprise”; they inspired nothing but positive feedback this year.

Price*

£61

£££

Food

Good

Service

Good

Ambience

Average

2. Italian restaurant in Soho 11 D'Arblay Street - W1F

“Still a special place even though it’s moved site” – this veteran Soho Italian was evicted from its previous Poland Street home over Covid, and found these new digs last year. It still “exudes old world charm” and has retained many of the former “delightful” staff, who are really at the heart of this “unpretentious” experience as much as the “reliable Umbrian/Italian cooking”.

Price*

£75

££££

Food

Good

Service

Very Good

Ambience

Good

3. San Carlo Cicchetti Italian restaurant in Piccadilly 215 Piccadilly - W1

“Don’t be put off by the tourist location or the gold frontage” if you visit the flagship branch of this successful Italian chain near Piccadilly Circus (which is due to double in size over 2023). For a national group, it and its siblings deliver a surprisingly high-quality formula that mixes “a great range of Venetian-style small plates” with “friendly and efficient” service and “bright and vibrant interiors” which create a “wonderful and buzzing atmosphere”. Top Tip – “super for pre-theatre eating”.

Price*

£68

£££

Food

Good

Service

Very Good

Ambience

Very Good

4. Dehesa Italian restaurant in Soho 25 Ganton Street - W1

We’re in two minds about the inclusion of this former star of London’s tapas scene, which generates very little feedback nowadays despite a prime mid-Soho site. Fans do still laud its “well-crafted dishes and Spanish wines”, but others say “the food has that ‘here’s one I made earlier’ quality. OK, but not very exciting”.

Price*

£60

£££

Food

Average

Service

Average

Ambience

Average

5. Polpo Italian restaurant in Soho 41 Beak St - W1

2021 Review: Now over ten years old, this Venetian/Mediterranean chain has suffered a drip-feed of branch closures, with only two now trading: Soho and Chelsea. And in August 2020 it parted ways with its co-founder Russell Norman. Fans do still applaud the duo’s “very convivial and fun” formula, but the groups woes have stemmed from Venetian small plates that are often “no better than fine”, and at worst “uncared for” or “very mediocre”. Perhaps it will now finally turn a corner?

6. Pastaio Italian restaurant in Soho 19 Ganton Street - W1F

“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”.

Price*

£57

££

Food

Good

Service

Average

Ambience

Good

7. Mele e Pere Italian restaurant in Soho 46 Brewer Street - W1

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!”

Price*

£54

££

Food

Good

Service

Good

Ambience

Good

8. Bancone Italian restaurant in Soho 10 Lower James Street - W1F

“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”.

Price*

£59

££

Food

Average

Service

Good

Ambience

Good

9. Bocca di Lupo Italian restaurant in Soho 12 Archer St - W1

“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”.

Price*

£67

£££

Food

Very Good

Service

Very Good

Ambience

Good

10. Ristorante Frescobaldi Italian restaurant in Mayfair 15 New Burlington Place - W1

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”.

Price*

£89

££££

Food

Average

Service

Good

Ambience

Good

11. Sartoria Italian restaurant in Mayfair 20 Savile Row - W1

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.

Price*

£94

££££

Food

Good

Service

Good

Ambience

Good

12. Bar Italia Italian restaurant in Soho 22 Frith St - W1

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.

Price*

£42

Food

Average

Service

Very Good

Ambience

Exceptional

13. Lina Stores Italian restaurant in Soho 51 Greek Street - W1D

“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”.

Price*

£50

££

Food

Average

Service

Average

Ambience

Good

14. 10 Greek Street British, Modern restaurant in Soho 10 Greek St - W1

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”.

Price*

£70

£££

Food

Very Good

Service

Very Good

Ambience

Good

15. Rossopomodoro, John Lewis Italian restaurant in Oxford Circus 300 Oxford St - W1

2021 Review: “Neapolitan influences are evident in the choice of ingredients, and the wood-burning oven makes for good, chewy, charred crusts, unlike most high-street pizzas” – so say fans of this global chain, whose HQ is indeed in Naples. Not everyone is impressed, though, and ratings are dragged down by those who feel it’s merely an “everyday” choice: “OK for a bog-standard group, but not great”.

16. Circolo Popolare Italian restaurant in Westminster 40-41 Rathbone Square - W1T

“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.

Price*

£64

£££

Food

Good

Service

Very Good

Ambience

Exceptional

17. Fadiga Italian restaurant in Soho 71 Berwick Street - W1F

“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!”

Price*

£38

Food

Very Good

Service

Exceptional

Ambience

Good

18. Doppo Italian restaurant in Soho 33 Dean Street - W1D

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.

19. Daroco Soho Italian restaurant in Soho Ilona Rose House, Manette Street - W1D

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.

View full listings of 19 Italian Soho Restaurants

See all Italian Soho Restaurants

Top Soho Restaurants

These are the top restaurants in Soho based on reviews by Hardens users.

	F	S	A
Sabor	5	5	5
Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library	4	4	5
Quo Vadis	4	4	5
Barrafina	5	4	4
Berenjak	5	4	4
Kricket	5	4	4
Kiln	5	4	4
The French House	4	4	5

Popular Cuisines in Soho

British, Modern in Soho (22)Japanese in Soho (20)Italian in Soho (18)Indian in Soho (14)Chinese in Soho (13)Spanish in Soho (9)Thai in Soho (8)

Hot Newcomers & Coming Soon

Hot Newcomers

Albert's Schloss London German Bar Kroketa London Spanish

View All Hot Newcomers >

Coming Soon

Aimé Leon Dore London Sandwiches, cakes, etc Aulis London London British, Modern £236 Bantof London British, Modern

View All Coming Soon >

Special offers, prizes and restaurant news - sign up for the Harden's newsletter

I would like Harden's to send me offers and promotions from their partners

Thank you.