Bristol, Italian Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: It’s not fancy (wood banquettes and orange school chairs), but this small new Redcliffe Italian turns out “wonderful” fresh stuffed pasta – a USP in this country – that’s full of “interesting seasonal flavours”. The owners, behind Pasta Loco, are fast building a local empire, having opened a deli/café, La Sorella, two doors down from the premises in May 2019, followed by trattoria Bianchi in the old Bell’s Diner (RIP).

“Beautifully cooked, simple yet imaginative dishes” have helped raise the profile of former St John and Brawn chef Cosmo Sterck and his wife Lily’s first venture, and brought critics panting to the door, with Tim Hayward of the FT and Tom Parker Bowles of the Mail leading the charge. Top Tip – the weekday lunch menu is steal at £19 for 2 courses, £23 for 3 as we went to press.

“You can always be sure of a good cheery welcome at this upmarket Italian” which is a longstanding stalwart both of the city and also of Carlo Distefano’s smart national chain. “Perhaps it’s slightly overpriced”, but “the fish is always good as is the pasta” and service is “very efficient and well-trained”.

2021 Review: Taking over the Montpelier premises that for over 40 years housed the much-loved Bell’s Diner (RIP), this summer-2019 Italian yearling is from the team behind local hits Pasta Loco, Pasta Ripiena, and La Sorella. Top Tip – very competitively priced lunch deal.

2022 Review: This much-loved neighbourhood restaurant on the border between Westbury Park and Henleaze recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, with the founders having come a long way since their days as floorlayers; their “very pleasant” Italian food can now also be consumed on the heated, covered and fairy-lit terrace spawned during Covid times.

‘Authentically Italian, sustainably British’ says the tagline of this new Wapping Wharf container restaurant, run by friends Gilda Lombardi and Delphi Ross, which specialises in numerous varieties of pasta made on-site daily. It opened in May 2022 – too late to generate feedback in our annual diners’ poll – but the Bristol press says it’s proving a big hit locally.