People are attracted by the Disney Princess facade of this jewel-like gelateria in the heart of Saint Germain des Pres. But those who have tried the gelato here know that it's the flavorful, all-natural icecream that really keeps the clients loyal. Passion fruit from Ile de Reunion is handpicked, its fruit delicately scooped out and then added to the day's fresh batch of passion fruit sorbet. Rinse and repeat for the diverse other flavors such as kiwi, mango, chocolate and strawberry. The gelato are made with the same attentive care. The creator's philosophy of not overpowering the delicate flavors with too much sugar yields a refined sweet experience. Flavors for the gelato come in the traditional pistachio, chocolate and vanilla (from Madagascar); and also the more fanciful ricotta with chocolate, Greek yogurt, salted caramel and a fair dozen more. All worth trying and coming back for more.
Recommended for Italian because: This is a fun place for families, groups of friends or when you need to meet with colleagues over a pizza and detox cocktails.
Paige's expert tip: Tea time is especially popular here and there are times you will be lucky to find a table. The three-tiered tea service trays come laden with fine Italian pastries, topped with a serving selection of the flavorful gelatos and then garnished with a light-as-cloud dollop of Chantilly whipped cream. This is a good choice for any day that calls for icecrem but also especially those special occasions. You can also find this gelato in the Marriott Champs Elysees. And they do serve light fare such as salads and sandwiches, too.
In a cinematic atmosphere with film posters bedecking the walls, Fellini delivers consistently good Italian fare and courteous service. Popular dishes include risotto with lobster and pasta with scallops. The restaurant is known for its antipasti and it also offers a solid selection of fish, from calamari starters to an assorted grilled fish served with market fresh vegetables. Desserts include Sicilian cassata or zabaione that comes with warm Marsala. It's not an inexpensive restaurant so count on enjoying those biscotti and tiny chocolates served with your after-dinner coffee. The wine list here is decent and you will have among your choices a few vintages of Brunello, Sassicaia and even Barbaresco. These accompany well the dishes that represent most of Italy, but especially its southern cuisine.
Recommended for Italian because: When people like Bono and Benigni eat at a place, you can be pretty sure it's going to be good.
Paige's expert tip: The owner, Efisio, tends to add about a dozen dishes to the day's menu, based on the treasures he finds at the fresh market that day.
This is even bigger than the rest of 'em. Four floors of pizza and pasta. Wood-fired hot ovens throw seared steak smoky aromas at you the nearer to the atrium-like top floor that you ascend. This is the latest in the string of Big Mamma Group pizzerias that have opened in the city the past year or so and the Pigalle location of this one sets it squarely in the nightlife zone. Tip: It helps if you speak some Italian as the entire staff is Italian straight from Italy. In fact, English at times works better here than French if you've forgotten your bongiorno. Pizzas are good, cheeses are authentic as are the cured cold cuts and you can leave satisfied knowing you dined with Paris' other hipsters and trendy 20-somethings.
Recommended for Italian because: It's not its location that makes this a focal point for Italian restaurants in Paris, but rather its reputation.
Paige's expert tip: This is the most like a nightclub I've ever seen a pizzeria. Ok, except for flashing strobe lights. But in every other regard, the ambiance here is thoroughly nightlife, cocktails, food and friends and not at all a quiet, romantic Italian dinner for two.
An Italian family restaurant and what could be more romantic than that in Paris? It's a simple concept: serve excellent products, fresh, that are cooked with the old family recipes from Mama's kitchen. And everyone knows that an Italian mama's food is the best there is. This is one of the few other addresses in Paris where you can find gluten-free pizzas and pastas. What's more, you have the choice - to either order a "regular" pizza (or pasta) or one that is gluten-free. The burrata dish with truffles here is divine and so creamy that you'll wonder why you've never had something so good before. The veal parmesan is made Italian style - pounded into a thin, tenderized slice of veal and then quick-fried and served with a wedge of lemon. Desserts are home -made, too and - spoiler alert - the tirmaisu comes with a little sweet surprise.
Recommended for Italian because: Conveniently located to Les Halles cinemas, shopping and nightlife, this gluten-free, options rich, simple Italian restaurant fits the bill for lunch or dinner.
Paige's expert tip: This is one of the few addresses in Paris that doesn't advertise overtly as gluten-free but has those choices on the menu. So when you are looking for a pasta, pizza and traditional Italian fare place but still want to fit into your jeans the next day, this is a great - and delicious! - find.
No pizzas here...this Italian restaurant boasts a delicious menu, which changes every week to offer a wide variety of exquisite Italian dishes. Diners are also greeted by friendly servers when they dine at I Golosi, a feature which goes a long way towards making meals here a pleasure. One of the best Italian wine menus of Paris. Join them in embracing their name: "i golosi" means "the ones fond of good food." A boutique selling pastas, olive oils and other products is also available. As of February this year it celebrated its 20th anniversary in this location. This location being a very convenient one, just off the Grands Boulevards, which perfectly places it for before or after theater dining. METRO: Richelieu-Drouot (line 8 or 9)
Recommended for Italian because: Even the Italians in Paris like this place - and dine here frequently.
Paige's expert tip: This is an Italian wine restaurant where the celebrated red beverage is elevated to the status of "drink of the Gods." (It sounded better in Italian!)
The biggest and shiniest so far from the Big Mamma Group, this location has an altogether different feel from the others. Though there are still some touches that stay consistent: the all Italian staff (parlez vous Italian?) and the awesome wood-fired-oven pizzas. The walls are decorated with thousands of filled liquor bottles which give an amber reflective tint to the interior. It also makes you feel like you are in party central, with pizza and pasta along for the ride. This location, the Big Mamma Group's (Victor Lugger and Tigrane Seydoux) latest one has both upstairs seating and a downstairs seating/bar area. The menu also features salads like Caesar's with the real anchovy/egg yolk blend. And for dessert the Italian gelato is a hit though the profiteroles are super famous, as is the lemon tiramisu. This is a sun place with loud music, Italian good vibes and great food.
Recommended for Italian because: Fun times and good pizzas. That's a long-held, time proven recipe for success and in 2017 in Paris it still works - phenomenally well.
Paige's expert tip: The no reservations policy here means that you can expect a line out the door starting from about 7pm any day of the week. The line moves fast, though, so take comfort and by the time you make it inside to where all the lovely wood-fired pizza stoves are, you will have seen and been seen by all the Paris hipsters who matter.
This restaurant is by rising star Chef Denny Imbroisi, a true Italian from Calabre who makes his home in Paris. The restaurant is named after his sister, Ida, who, according to the Chef, more or less raised him while he worked alongside his father in Italian kitchens. Here you will find refined and slightly Frenchified Italian cuisine which means a bit on the lighter side, with accents of some of the best virgin olive oil - made expressly for the Chef - you'll ever get to taste. He's also fond of white balsamic vinegar and truffles. Don't even think about not indulging in dessert. Here the signature after-dinner sweet is the Capucc'IDA, a chocolate-coffee flavored mousse with a ganache base served in a coffee cup and eaten with a spoon. Other indulgences: the housemade foccaccia, served warm upon seating.
Recommended for Italian because: There are some chefs who have equal amounts of humility, good-natured warmth and talent. This is one of them.
Paige's expert tip: Chef Imbroisi is set to open his second restaurant in Paris imminently (at time of writing). He has earned his stripes, passing through the illustrious kitchens if Chef William Ledeuil, doing a stint as sous-chef at the Jules Verne and even working for Chef Mauro Colagreco in Menton. For low-key talent and super good eats, this is the Italian Trattoria-Bistro of choice for Parisians. And the location is convenient to St. Germain des Pres and also Montparnasse.
This is a wine lover's Italian restaurant. Enrico Bernardo, named the World's Best Sommelier in 2004, opened Il Vino on the Left Bank in September 2007 following his stint at the George V as their Head Sommelier where he built up a cellar of 60,000 wine bottles. Il Vino sports one Michelin star and is one of the first establishments created where wine leads the culinary dance. That's to say, choose your wine first and then the chef, who trained at a 3-star restaurant, pairs your food with those choices. It's a concept that became very popular and has even caught on elsewhere in Paris. The wines here are not just Italian wines, but from around the world. Enrico Bernardo was just 27 - the youngest ever - when he was named the World's Best
Recommended for Italian because: This is an Enrico Bernardo restaurant which means that the wines you'll be pairing with your exquisite meal are perfect matches.
Paige's expert tip: Dining at Il Vino is like dining at a friend's place... With a few caveats: 1) Your host was nominated the world's best sommelier when he was only 27; 2) His chef trained at a 3 Michelin-starred restaurant; and 3)His wine cellar is the stuff dreams are made of.
Blessed by a pleasant Florentine courtyard, white linens and sophisticated charm, this restaurant delivers a little slice of Italy in the midst of Paris's busy shopping district. Indeed, the restaurant is just next door to Chanel's iconic rue Cambon original address. The regional cuisine, courtesy of Piedmont-born Chef Ugo Alciati, is crafted with a sure hand. Italian wines, such as from Barolo, maintain the theme in style. The restaurant itself is located in the gurgling-fountain courtyard of this luxury hotel, as well as the interior dining room. It offers a menu rich with pastas and also lighter, flavorful fare.METRO: Concorde, Madeleine
Recommended for Italian because: This is a quietly classic modern Italian restaurant in one of Paris' classiest neighborhoods and right next door to Chanel.
Paige's expert tip: The Michelin-starred Italian chef Ugo Alciati has crafted a rustic, authentic menu here that allows for his creative flair to shine through. Be sure to take advantage of outdoor, inner courtyard terrace dining -the Florentine decor is one of the prettiest in Paris.
An Italian restaurant in the Marais neighborhood of Paris, and that's not all. The menu here features lovelies such as wild boar in red wine sauce served with creamy polenta, or perhaps the lamb lacquered in honey and roasted in rosemary is more to your taste? Whichever dish you decide to lavish on your tastebuds, you will have plenty of choices with which to wash it down: their wine cellar here was voted the world's best Italian wine cellar. The quiet, rustic ambiance, accented with 15th c. exposed wooden beams and stonework is soothing and even a touch seductive, lending a perfect atmosphere for your Italian meal. Not to miss is the dessert of caramelized eggplant served with mascarpone ice cream. It is one of those sweet masterpieces that defies description and simply must be tasted.
Recommended for Italian because: A romantic Italian restaurant in the Marais neighborood that features excellent and wines that perfectly compliment the authentic Italian dishes.
Paige's expert tip: This restaurant's wine cellar, stocked with all Italian wines, was voted the world's best Italian wine cellar for restaurants.