Experience rustic, family style cooking at award-winning French restaurant La Garrigue. Sample the tastes of Languedoc at one of the most authentic restaurants in Edinburgh (Hitlisted in The List Eating & Drinking Guide 2012) or visit our fantastic little bistro in Leith.
Restaurants, Italian and Budget
- La Lanterna
Real Italian home-made dishes in a homely dining experience like that of a real Italian family - SoHo
Friendly pizzeria and cocktail bar. Winner Best New Restaurant - Variety Awards 2010 - Vittoria ‘On the Bridge’
The perfect restaurant to experience a real taste of Italy. - Guy's Restaurant & Bar
From sushi to steak pie the menu is as eclectic, but the guiding philosophy in Guy's is to create food people want to eat
Nonna's Kitchen
45 Morningside Road,
Edinburgh,
EH10 4AZ
With a warm welcome from the Stornaiuolo family, this corner venue in Morningside is everything anyone could want in a neighbourhood restaurant. One thing certain is that you could never get bored of the menu – despite a short à la carte selection, the…
La Favorita
325–331 Leith Walk,
Edinburgh,
EH6 8SA
The hectic craft of kneading and folding pizza dough is the first thing you see on entering this busy Leith Walk eatery. Walk past the front counter, through the lively, three-pronged dining area, and you'll notice most diners are working their way…
Mamma's American Pizza Company
30 Grassmarket,
Edinburgh,
EH1 2JU
This Grassmarket stalwart seems to exert a gravitational pull on small to medium sized groups of both locals and tourists looking for an impromptu food stop. Starters like sweet potato fries and macho nachos are decent enough, but their function is to…
Cruz Bar and Restaurant
14 The Shore,
Edinburgh,
EH6 6QN
A First World War minesweeper boat anchored right at the heart of Leith’s bustling Shore district, Cruz has to be among the most distinctive drinking venues in Edinburgh. A popular watering hole with the area’s young party crowd, Cruz serves up an…
Centotre
103 George Street,
Edinburgh,
EH2 3ES
Centotre manages to pull off a neat trick. Despite the austere, ex-bank interior, from those lost days when financial edifices were akin to cathedrals, it still manages to maintain a feeling of warmth and intimacy in the evenings or bright and breezy…
Arcaffe
7 North Claremont Street,
Glasgow,
G3 7NR
Tucked into a side street joining nearby offices to Kelvingrove Park, Arcaffe is an unassuming and friendly little Italian bistro, with tables on the pavement outside and large windows for catching the midday sun. Bustling with a mix of young families…
Guy's Restaurant & Bar
24 Candleriggs, Merchant City,
Glasgow,
G1 1LD
It's almost certainly worth booking at this well-established Merchant City favourite. At the end of the bar, the dining area is bright and buzzy, with some of the tables quite close together – more suited to social rather than intimate dining. Service…
Vittoria
113 Brunswick Street, Leith Walk,
Edinburgh,
EH7 5HR
The latest addition to the Vittoria family comes in the shape of a stylish and atmospheric basement wine bar, Divino Enoteca, in the belly of their George IV bridge outlet. Divino is proof positive that the Vittoria formula is a winning one, and the…
Papoli
244a Morrison Street,
Edinburgh,
EH3 8DT
Papoli really is a little gem. Outside, the Haymarket traffic rumbles by, while inside its dinky dining room is a retreat of warm orange and yellow pendant lighting hanging low. Prints of Provence (perhaps?) and Greece hint at the culinary offering but…
La Vita Spuntini
199–201 Byres Road,
Glasgow,
G12 8TN
Italian tapas is an intriguing concept, with the menu at La Vita Spuntini offering a host of small mix-and-match meat, fish and vegetable dishes, larger bowls of pasta for sharing, and dinky ‘pizzettes’. Duck and black pudding in red currant jus is…
Arta
The Old Cheesemarket, 62 Albion Street,
Glasgow,
G1 1PA
In Glasgow’s trendy Merchant City the competition among restaurants to attract discerning diners is high. Artà stands out architecturally. Once the location of a medieval cheese market this listed building was developed Baroque style in 2000 into a…
Bar Milano
2 Mains Avenue, Eastwood Toll,
Glasgow,
G46 6QZ
From its pleasantly neutral décor and friendly service to the suburban location, Bar Milano ticks all the boxes for a comfortable neighbourhood trattoria. It’s housed in a converted bank but where such buildings often possess a cold grandeur, the…
Café Domenico
30 Sandport Street,
Edinburgh,
EH6 6EP
Tucked away behind the Cameo Bar in Leith, it’s easy to pass the small entrance to the Café Domenico by. Don’t make this mistake, though, as, housed in this tiny bistro with its eclectic decorations, scattered wall tiles and red and white check…
Amarone
2 Nelson Mandela Place,
Glasgow,
G2 1BT
Enter the plate-glass doors and down the elegant stairway into this basement venue, and it is clear that Amarone is at the classier end of the Di Maggio's chain. There's the slick modern décor, warm chocolate and neutral colours, and mix of open tables…
Battlefield Rest
55 Battlefield Road,
Glasgow,
G42 9JL
Prepare for your senses to go into overdrive when you visit this gem of a restaurant. It's brimming with tables, diners and waiters, and if you could bottle the atmosphere then you’d surely be able to sell it, if only to the people who fill this place…
Dino Ferrari
35–41 Sauchiehall Street,
Glasgow,
G2 3AT
Dino Ferrari is the new look for a much-loved favourite on the Glasgow Italian scene (it was formerly plain old Dino's, but the owners sold the Hope Street branch in 2011 and tweaked the name). The avuncular welcome and charmingly retro décor – both in…
Valvona & Crolla Vincaffè
11 Multrees Walk,
Edinburgh,
EH1 3DQ
Valvona & Crolla’s Vincaffe is only a short distance but several years away from the densely packed cornucopia of the family-run business’s original branch on Elm Row. With a bright, contemporary décor, evenly spaced, white dressed tables and a bank…
Al Fresco
22 Union Place,
Edinburgh,
EH1 3NQ
There’s something of a Giuliano’s theme to this stretch of Union Street, with the original restaurant, the takeaway next door and this incarnation, Al Fresco, just a few doors down. Try and get a table before a show at the Playhouse opposite, however…
Amore
30 Ingram Street,
Glasgow,
G1 1QA
At the quiet end of Ingram Street, Amore sits mezzanine height above pavement level which, along with the smart furnishings, lots of sparkling glass and stone-bake oven, provides a pleasant sense of occasion. It's a warm and welcoming enough space, but…
La Partenope
96 Dalry Road,
Edinburgh,
EH11 2AX
Named after a mythological maiden who died of heartache on the Bay of Naples, La Partenope offers a taste of Napoli on Dalry Road. This family restaurant is operated by a sibling trio: chef Paolo creates magnificent dishes, brother Renato is the…
Qua Italian Restaurant
The Todd Building, 68 Ingram Street,
Glasgow,
G1 1EX
Situated in the fashionable Merchant City area, Qua likes to think of itself as a stylish place to eat quality Italian food, the way they do back home. The décor is minimalist, with red and black furniture dominating the large dining area which is…
Ti Amo
16 Nicolson Street,
Edinburgh,
EH8 9DH
Ti Amo's position opposite the Festival Theatre ensures its enduring success. Amusingly dated décor distracts from perusing menus bearing the brunt of many a thumb and spilled vino: menu-matching, smoke-aged, stencilled walls; pillars, statues, and an…
Zucca
15–17 Grindlay Street,
Edinburgh,
EH3 9AX
Adjoining the Royal Lyceum, Zucca is an obvious target for pre or post-theatre diners, with the ground floor café serving sandwiches and deli snacks until late, and the upstairs dining room offering hearty dishes which fuse Italian and Scottish flavours…
Barbarossa
Cartside House, 1–7 Clarkston Road,
Glasgow,
G44 4EF
Barbarossa comes in two parts – a wine bar downstairs and a chic restaurant upstairs – and thanks to a very committed chef, a host of regulars have been dining here for more than 10 years. The wine bar has a reasonably priced selection of pasta, pizza…
