Where to Find the Best Pasta in Melbourne

It’s been around a while now, but unassuming Fitzroy North Good Times is still pulling queues. And it’s easy to see why. The laidback St George’s Road eatery is doing a bang-up job of living up to its name, with cheerful, honest dishes and a comfy, home-spun vibe ticking all the right boxes for northside’s savvy dining set.

From the kitchen comes a cheerfully simple, produce-focused offering, where pasta is the star of the show. You might tuck into a classic puttanesca or carbonara or perhaps a bowl of fresh pipis tossed in white wine and herbs. Best of all, these good times are easy on the wallet — you’ll always find at least one cheap pasta in the mix, alongside cheap negronis, craft beers and carafes of wine. You don’t have to spend a heap to try some of the best pasta in Melbourne.

The Waiters Restaurant (formerly The Waiters Club) has been around since 1947 and still resembles an old Coles canteen from the 70s. But despite missing out on the neighbouring Meyers Place revolution, The Waiters Restaurant remains a city stalwart. Originally a members-only, after-work venue for Melbourne’s Australian waiters, the restaurant now hosts a cross-generational legion of foodie fans.

Tuck into a large welcoming bowl of pasta like the spaghetti bolognese that’s been on the menu since the 70s (in the exact same form) and settle in for a good old fashioned family-style feast. Fine dining, it’s not, but it is homely and dependable. And you’ll never leave hungry.

Just around the corner from Richmond station, Ms Frankie allows diners to get up close and personal with a glass-enclosed pasta-making room. Take a seat at one of the bar stools and watch them make your order from scratch — whether you’ve picked the pumpkin and ricotta stuffed tortellini topped with amaretti crumb, slow-cooked beef ragu with gnocchi or Giorgio’s signature spaghetti marinara. Gluten-free and vegan options are also available, which is a big win for those in need.

And you don’t have to run off to Cremorne to watch the chefs make some of the best pasta in Melbourne right before your eyes. You can also grab a stool at the bar in Ms Frankie’s Carlton restaurant, watching the pros make your meal as you sip on spritzes and glasses of Italian vino.

Image: Parker Blain.

Sporting a truly authentic cucina povera vibe — embroidered tablecloths, mismatched chairs and lacy curtains — Bar Idda is the real deal when it comes to Sicilian eats in Melbourne. As its popularity shows no signs of abating, it’s best you make a booking and be sure to grab the best seats in the house: the front room or the window ledge overlooking Lygon Street.

You can simply come here for drinks and an assortment of shared plates, but you’d be a fool to skip its southern Italian pasta menu. The cavatelli with pistachio pesto and fried zucchinis is the best of Sicily in a bowl, while we will always polish off the seafood spaghetti and agnolotti all norma without trouble. It should go without saying, but all the pasta is house-made. Sicilians wouldn’t do it any other way.

If you live in Windsor, congratulations, you have some of Melbourne’s best pasta right on your doorstep. If you live elsewhere, plan a trip ASAP. Run by a team who have done the hard yards — at DOC, The Lucas Group, Tokyo Tina and Ti Amo — you really should expect nothing less than the best when it comes to food, service and all-round good times.

Tipico’s most notorious dish would have to be the veal cotoletta, but we believe the pastas are its unsung heroes. The four-cheese gnocchi with pumpkin, amaretto and crispy sage is well worth popping a lactese tablet for, while the squid ink tortelli is a seafood lover’s delight. This bad boy is filled with stracciatella and chives and topped with Moreton Bay bugs and a funky — but altogether delicious — seaweed butter. Heaven.

Image: Julia Sansone.

Thirty Eight Chairs has something especially comforting to it. It may be the warm bread that lands on your table straight after ordering or the five types of pasta on the menu. Or it might have something to do with the hospitable waitstaff who take their time to entertain their guests, as opposed to plonking plates onto tables and leaving faster than you can say grazie.

A whole lot of love has been given to every part of the dining experience, but pasta remains the frontrunner — it calls itself a pasta bar, so it’s unsurprisingly the dish that works its way onto most diners’ dockets. The pappardelle duck ragu in Napoli sauce remains a crowd favourite for good reason, and the monstrous wine list will surely have something you fancy.

If you’ve made it to Cecconi’s, congratulations: you’re an adult now. Cecconi’s is the grandaddy of Italian restaurants in Melbourne, and it looms over the city like a well-dressed, well-made man of success. And if you find yourself here — whether on a date or for your parent’s 60th birthday — you can take a second to high-five yourself. Because this is what dining out ought to be.

And while it may be white tablecloth stuff, Cecconi’s is anything but stuffy. Each dish — from the pappardelle ragu and prawn linguini to the veal cotoletta and tiramisu — is basically faultless. These guys have been doing this for a long time now, and nothing could be more brilliantly obvious. It’s easily home to some of the best pasta in Melbourne.

You might not think a Melbourne pub is home to some of the best pasta in Melbourne, but Central Club Hotel’s pasta dishes are incredible. The whole menu focuses on refined pub classics and Italian fare with some Asian influences. Here, you can start with kingfish sashimi and karaage chicken before tucking into steaks, schnitties and pastas. You’ve got the lot.

Concerning pasta, the crew tends to serve up about four to five each day, changing depending on what’s in season. We are mad about the swimmer crab linguine (when it’s available), which is taken to the next level with a rich prawn bisque used as the base of the sauce. The duck ravioli with brown butter, parmesan foam and duck reduction will also send you to wonderful places.

D.O.C has played a significant role in the development of Melbourne’s contemporary Italian dining scene ever since it opened its first Carlton site back in 1997. It blends warm and friendly old-school Italian hospitality with modern interiors and less-than-traditional cooking techniques and flavours — creating a roadmap for other Melbourne Italian restaurants to follow.

D.O.C. has since spread across the city with sites in Southbank, St Kilda and Mornington Peninsula, as well as a location in Sydney’s Surry Hills. No matter which one you visit, you’ll find damn delicious pasta. Each has a few site-specific pasta dishes that change seasonally, but the lasagne and ragu are found at just about all of them. But our favourite of all time has got to be D.O.C Espresso’s mushroom and truffle pappardelle. It’s pure bliss.

Trattoria Emilia is all about that refined rustic Italian vibe, as if you’re putting your feet up at a waterfront cafe in Sorrento. Owners Francesco and Luca have created a restaurant with a special focus on the ambience, allowing the diners’ imagination to take them back to the sunny shores of Italy. It’s all about tradition here, while using modern cooking techniques to create something unique.

Order some of the starters to have with your fellow diners before getting a big bowl of pasta that is just too good to share. Our favourite? The prosciutto- and mortadella-filled tortelloni covered in a thick parmesan sauce with either aged Aceto Balsamico or extra luxurious Tasmanian black truffles (when in season). This is easily one of the best pastas in Melbourne.

While we are focusiing on the pasta here, it’s hard to talk about Di Stasio Citta without mentioning its grand modernist design. It feels more like a contemporary gallery than a restaurant, with high concrete-clad walls, minimal furnishings, and white videos projected onto the walls. At the same time, Italian music from the 60s plays in the background. It’s a brilliant backdrop for the consumption of pasta.

Expect to choose from about ten different pasta options each time you visit, and always struggle to make a choice. But to help you out, we highly recommend the capellini con granchio — angel hair pasta with crabmeat and heavy-handed lashings of garlic, chilli and white wine. it’s been serving this simple dish for many years now, and we really hope it never stops.

Image: Kate Shanasy.

Although the Grossi family hasn’t always owned it, Florentino has stood at the 80 Bourke Street site since 1928. In that time, it’s changed ownership quite a bit, but the sentiment has remained the same: Florentino has always been about authentic Italian fine dining and great wine.

Pasta is also a big specialty here. Expect the menu to change regularly, but we hope you catch its sopressini al ragu made with wild boar meat, oranges and pecorino. It might just be the very best ragu we’ve ever had in Melbourne. But if seafood is more your jam, check out either the K’gari spanner crab pasta or the decadent lobster risotto. Yeah, it ain’t cheap. But trust us, it’s well worth it.

Osteria Renata has been kicking about Prahran since 2022 and is still home to some of the best pasta in Melbourne. There’s a sense of generous hospitality throughout, with a comforting yet imaginative food offering matched by inviting interiors sporting soft olive accents and natural timbers.

An on-site pasta lab steers the menu’s carb component, equally embracing the traditional and the innovative. Either stop by to watch the pros do their thing or join one of the workshops so you can try to replicate their next-level pasta at home.

Image: Parker Blain.

A fresh incarnation of the former Pontoon site and casual sibling to Stokehouse upstairs, this laidback, all-day spot is a go-to for Mediterranean eats and beachside sips. Hugh van Haandel (son of Stokehouse precinct owner Frank van Haandel) is steering the venue’s latest guise, built around a pasta-heavy food offering that fuses European flavours with Aussie flair.

Within the pasta territory, you’ll find plates like ricotta gnudi with pumpkin, crab and chilli spaghetti and cannelloni with broccoli, ricotta and tomato. But our favourite has to be the fusilli coated in a rich pistachio and basil pesto — ideally served with lashings of parmesan and a glass of fine wine or spritz while looking out over the water. It’s hard to beat this kind of dining experience.

Image: Arianna Leggiero.

As is in the name, handmade pasta is the star of the show here, with a seasonal selection of truly outstanding dishes up for grabs. The cacio e pepe is a knock-out dish — incredibly rich and cheesy — and the pappardelle with slow-cooked wild boar is a must for any cold night in Melbourne. Alternatively, if you’re after something on the fresher side, opt for the smoked ricotta ravioli with semi-dried roasted tomato sauce, caperberries, lemon zest and mint.

The few seats inside are great for those wanting a cosy candlelit dinner, but we are all about nabbing a street-side table when the sun is shining — pairing our pasta with great Italian wine and coktails. Park St Pasta is easily home to some of Melbourne’s best pasta.