Some Of The Best Italian Restaurants in Paris: Our Picks

Caramelle pasta with asparagus and walnuts: one of many delicious homemade dishes at Come a Casa. Image: ©Courtney Traub
Image: Dish from Come a Casa/©Courtney Traub

When I moved to Paris in the early 2000s, Italian cuisine was certainly not a notable feature or strong point in the local food landscape. I knew of a few mediocre, albeit perfectly serviceable, pizzerias.

I also occasionally dined at family-style eateries where the lunch or dinner specials invariably involved bland carbonara sauce or a hunk of barely seasoned salmon piled atop slightly gummy, equally dull tagliatelle. Often, cardboard-cutout chefs with potbellies and Mario-or-Luigi style bar moustaches perched outside the door, beckoning patrons in with promises of “the best cucina italiana in town!”

Needless to say, these places were nothing special. Apart from the occasional and unremarkable pizza lunch with colleagues, Italian food wasn’t a part of my culinary experience of the city.

Read related: This Paris Bakery Makes Fantastic Bread And Pastries

But in recent years, something has visibly (and tastily) changed. As if out of nowhere, ambitious, interesting little restaurants owned and staffed largely by Italians started popping up around the city–many clustered in the northeast and the 11th arrondissement.

Generally the brainchildren of young chefs and restaurateurs who had uprooted from their native Italy to Paris, rightly sensing the opportunity to develop a new niche, these eateries are uncompromising about quality.

At the best among these places, ingredients– from olive oil to fiore di latte cheese and fresh tomatoes– are generally sourced straight from Italy; what all of these eateries equally share is a talent for creative, thoughtful twists on classic regional dishes.

For vegetarians and even vegans, there are more options at most of these places than you’re used to having, which is always a boon. Read on for 5 of the best Italian restaurants in Paris (according to yours truly).

Retro Bottega

An innovative ravioli dish featuring chirrogia beets, sea asparagus, and sesame at Retro Bottega. Image: Caramelle pasta with asparagus and walnuts: one of many delicious homemade dishes at Come a Casa. Image: ©Courtney Traub
An innovative ravioli dish featuring chirrogia beets, sea asparagus, and sesame at Retro Bottega. Image: ©Courtney Traub

I recently discovered Retro Bottega while staying in the neighborhood, and am now hooked on the place, which operates as a wine shop and Italian grocery during the day and restaurant during lunch and dinner hours.

The brainchild of another young Roman native, Pietro Russano, here is another tiny but formidable new address in the capital’s blossoming Italian cuisine-scene.

Russano, who had worked as a chef and sommelier in Italy before uprooting to Paris to try his luck there, is a constant presence at the restaurant, taking orders, doing much of the cooking and suggesting wine pairings from his impressive selection of Italian bottles, many of which are biodynamic and/or organic.

Wines at Retro Bottega in Paris. Image: Retro Bottega/Official Facebook page
Wines at Retro Bottega in Paris. Image: Retro Bottega/Official Facebook page

The menu is seasonal, inspired and bold, featuring unusual but perfectly complementary ingredients and eye-catching presentations. These include crab-stuffed homemade ravioli with chirrogia beets, delicate sea asparagus and toasted sesame, sausage and white bean stew, and risotto with Correze mushrooms, sage and fresh Parmesan aged for 24 months.

Lunch dishes include savory, delicious options such as homemade focaccia stuffed with grilled vegetables and buffalo mozzarella.

Smoked, peppered mackerel with quid ink-infused polenta,Normandy apple velouté, and Cevennes onions with glazed tomato vinegar. Image: Retro Bottega/Official Facebook page
Smoked, peppered mackerel with squid ink-infused polenta,Normandy apple velouté, and Cevennes onions with glazed tomato vinegar. Image: Retro Bottega/Official Facebook page

The prices here are a bit steep at dinner and wine can only be purchased by the bottle, so this place might be best visited for a special occasion rather than a casual meal out. Reservations are welcome and recommended at Retro Bottega.

Come a Casa

Zucchini polpette (meatballs) with arugula, mint and egg at Come a Casa/Image: Come a Casa official page
Zucchini polpette (meatball) with arugula, mint and egg at Come a Casa/Image: Come a Casa official page

Literally beckoning you to come “eat at home”, this cozy restaurant situated in a rather gritty corner of the 20th arrondissement has become one of my favorites for homemade Italian cooking. Opened by Roman natives Flavia Federici and her partner Gianluca Tamorri (an architect and photographer by training, respectively), the tiny bistrot is warm, accommodating and unpretentious.

Rough wooden tables and schoolroom-style chairs, ceilings hung with knick-knacks, and an open kitchen where you can see the chef busily preparing the dishes of the day make it impossible to feel intimidated here.

(Note: The restaurant has changed addresses and I have not eaten at its new location, so can’t comment on the decor or ambience there). 

The cheerful, unpretentious interiors at Come a Casa in Paris. ©Courtney Traub
The cheerful, unpretentious interiors at Come a Casa in Paris. ©Courtney Traub

Flavia’s Roman-inspired cuisine includes many dishes adapted from her grandmother’s; the homemade pastas, lasagnes, gratins and soups that populate the daily menu are firmly based in tradition and made with local ingredients.

But, she tells me, her aspiration is to inflect traditional staples with innovation- to experiment a bit, all the while maintaining the simplicity of excellent ingredients and pure flavors.

Make sure to try the daily lasagne, which has a different twist every day, and the aubergine/eggplant gratin, a warming, hearty comfort food that nevertheless gets away with seeming gourmet.

The desserts, including the homemade tiramisu (pictured below) are equally delicious, and the wine list includes numerous high-quality Italian and French bottles.

The incredibly generous portion of homemade tiramisu at Come a Casa (easily enough for two people). Image: Courtney Traub
The incredibly generous portion of homemade tiramisu at Come a Casa (easily enough for two people). Image: Courtney Traub

East Mamma

Traditional Naples-style woodfired pizza at East Mamma in Paris. Image: East Mamma/official Facebook page
Traditional Naples-style woodfired pizza at East Mamma in Paris. Image: East Mamma/official Facebook page

This cheerful, always-packed address in the Big Mamma restaurant group doesn’t have the intimacy or the quaintness of the addresses already covered above. But the food is absolutely delicious, fresh and simple, and the warm service here made me forgot that I had to wait in line in the rain to get in.

It also made me inclined to forgive the fashionista/hipster ambiance inside, where I observed numerous diners barely making a dent in their pizzas and large servings of pasta, served in cheerful copper pots.

Why on earth would you waste something so delicious? I couldn’t help but ask myself. Of course, I shouldn’t be surprised: the restaurant is right at the edge of the Charonne neighborhood, gentrifying at a gallop and a favorite spot for PR execs and young fashion designers to assemble after work.

But on to what’s to eat. Headed by chef Ciro Cristiano and staffed by a troop of mostly Napolitan sous-chefs and servers, East Mamma serves simple, solidly traditional pizzas, pastas, salads and desserts at reasonable prices. Ingredients are almost always sourced straight from Italy.

The wood-fired Napolitan-style pizza is some of the very best I’ve had in Paris: my reigning favorite has a white base, and is decked with fiore di latte cheese, zucchini flowers, fresh tomatoes and basil.

The crust is crisp yet pliable, and in true Napolitan fashion, the cheese, oil and sauce melt in your mouth, flavors melding beautifully. For dessert, the lemon tiramisu is perfectly tart and creamy, and a nice, summery spin on the usual.

While I haven’t yet tried the pasta, antipasti and salad options, my guess is that the quality and flavors are equally laudable. The wines are very solid, and can be purchased by the glass or bottle.

A panoply of dishes at East Mamma in Paris. Image: East Mamma/Official FB page
A panoply of dishes at East Mamma in Paris. Image: East Mamma/Official FB page

One caveat: Reservations aren’t accepted, and you’ll need to arrive 15 minutes or earlier before opening times to avoid waiting in line for minutes or up to an hour.

Sale e Pepe

Homemade casarecce pasta with tomato, mushroom, zucchini, fresh basil and parmesan: simplicity and deliciousness reigns at Sale e Pepe in Paris. Image: Courtney Traub
Homemade casarecce pasta with tomato, mushroom, zucchini, fresh basil and parmesan: simplicity and deliciousness reigns at Sale e Pepe. Image: Courtney Traub

One of only two restaurants on my shortlist outside the 11th arrondissement, Sale e Pepe is a humble Italian bistrot well worth a trek up to a somewhat remote corner of the 18th.

Situated beyond the limits of Montmartre in an area little-explored by tourists, this restaurant has been around for a number of years, and on the radar of local foodies for just as long.

Serving some of the city’s most delicious pizzas (in the range of around 7-8 different varieties per day), homemade pasta such as orechiette (little ear-shaped noodles with a pleasing bite) smothered in red pepper cream and fresh ravioli with cope mushrooms and truffle-laced pasta, this is yet another find I’m almost reluctant to share here.

Yet good restaurants close all too often in the capital, especially in neighbourhoods where visitors rarely venture to– so I’ll loosen up on the selfishness here.

Mascarpone and chocolate mousse topped with raspberries at Sale e Pepe in Paris. Image: Sale e Pepe/official FB page
Mascarpone and chocolate mousse topped with raspberries at Sale e Pepe in Paris. Image: Sale e Pepe/official FB page

The service is cheerful and warm, as is the ambiance in the small but bright dining room at the foot of Rue Ramey. And did I mention that the desserts, such as mascarpone and chocolate mousse topped with fresh raspberries, are sublime? Don’t be surprised if you see me there.

Il Posto

At Il Posto in Belleville, you can expect daily specials as well as classics such as Napolitano-style Pizza Margherita. IMage: Il Posto/Official FB page
At Il Posto in Belleville, you can expect daily specials as well as classics such as Napolitano-style Pizza Margherita.

I’ve only just recently discovered this simple eatery in Belleville, situated on the hilly (and aptly-named) Rue des Pyrenées. The Napoli-style wood-fired pizzas served here, divided into Rosse (red/tomato-based sauces) and Bianche (white sauce) varieties, are among the most delicious I’ve tasted in the capital.

The traditional Margherita is excellent, with a slightly melting, doughy crust that’s still crispy at the edges, and high-quality mozzarella. But my personal favorite is the Funghi (mushroom) which is topped with mozzarella, mushrooms, oregano, taggiasche olives and Parmesan that’s been aged for 24 months.

Merely thinking about this particular pizza from afar makes my stomach plaintively grumble.

Other excellent options at Il Posto include their pizza frita — fried rounds of the house wood-fired pizza dough topped with basil, tomatoes and mozzarella– and carefully presented antipasti platters.

Prices are all moderate, but there are no fixed-price menus– so watch out for your bill unexpectedly creeping up, especially if you add starters and a bottle of wine.

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