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Bar Italia

3.4 (46 reviews)
Open 8:00 am - 11:00 pm

Bar Italia Photos

BAR ITALIA ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Casual
Good for groups
Outdoor seating

Recommended Reviews - Bar Italia

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Reviews With Photos

Fettuccine Cozze
Cindy K.

This place is one of a few places that I constantly visit since almost 20 years ago. Recently sold, the new owner keep the menu and mostly everything to the original. When I come here, I always have their pasta. My favourite is Fettuccine Cozze. It's pasta cooked with mussels, garlic, chilli and tomato sauce. You can choose your pasta. My husband had the Spaghetti Bar Italia. Then followed by gelato. I love the Tiramisu and Pistachios. But other flavours taste great too! Everything taste good in this gelato bar! You can sit in various sections in this restaurant, from indoor near the gelato bar to the lovely courtyard at the back of the restaurant. The menu is extensive and service is basic. Don't expect anything fancy. Come here for heart-warming, home style Italian pasta. But what people come for is the gelato.

Glynis M.

Good coffee but so so service. Has a good outside area on Norton St so you can sit there ad watch the world go by. Located amongst a whole lot of restaurants, it isn't the ideal place to go and have a a quiet drink before eating. Saturday and Sunday mornings are always busy, a great place to have breakfast and a read of the paper. They don't serve soy or skim milk and they don't accept credit cards. I can say that they have great gelato, however, finding a clean table is often a chore because the staff aren't particularly worried if they're clean or dirty. Expect stodgy food, impatient waitresses and mis-timed meals

Rachel C.

Bar Italia in Leichhardt is what it is, no exceptions and no apologies. And why would they apologise? The food is great - from entree to dessert, Italy does a little dance in your mouth with every bite. Sitting out in the courtyard with a bottle of wine, fairy lights spangling the trees and stars spangling the sky, it's the perfect summer/spring location. Quality garlic bread is followed by the best (and probably healthiest) chicken parmiagana around - pan fried chicken fillet with eggplant, napoletana sauce and mozzarella cheese, with crisp fresh veggies and topped with my own generous helping of pepper and parmesan cheese (perhaps offsetting the 'healthy' factor). But starter and main aside, dessert is one of the greatest things about Bar Italia. Whether you opt for one of their many gelatos, baked ricotta cheesecake, a choice of ricotta (my favourite), chocolate or vanilla canolis or their rightfully famous tiramisu, any which way you will leave the Norton St restaurant a few kilos heavier and a much, much happier. If you're keen for a post dinner coffee, the sign on the machine unashamedly says it all "NO SKIM, NO SOY, NO DECAF". Service is no frills, but everyone's sporting a smile, and with food like that who needs frills anyway.

Seaton K.

You walk into Bar Italia on Norton Street knowing what you're going to get. It's a simple restaurant, but a good one. There's definitely a reason it's been there so long. There's something to be said about a dining experience with no surprises. As exciting as a surprise can be, sometimes it's not worth the scorched eyebrows and stained shirt. The staff are always friendly and there's a real family atmosphere, whether you're sitting in the front where you can hear the cling-clang symphony of the front counter and kitchen, or in the back courtyard where there's a different, higher pitched symphony of giggling children and chirping birds, there's always volume. The establishment has its draw backs, but as mentioned previously, these are expected draw backs and I've wandered in knowingly, so if these draw backs are problematic, I have no one but myself to blame. It's cash only, no issue, that's a simple question of being prepared and no soy milk or skim, a few extra squat thrusts in the morning and that full cream latte you have with lunch won't seem so bad. Master these minor problems and you're on your way to a reliable, affordable, pasta based lunch.

adam w.

For those of you that don't know Norton street in Sydney is famous for its Italian restaurants. Bar Italia is one of those restaurants that's been around for a long time, it does great meals, coffee, gelato and desserts which keep its regulars coming back for more. The restaurant has a courtyard at back that is partly covered, an indoor dining area and also an outdoor seating area at the front. You order and pay for your meals at the bar, make sure to look at the pasta blackboard on the right of the bar, that has alot of great meals. My favourite is the penne putanesca. The main thing though that draws me back to this place is the tiramisu and the gelato. The tiramisu is very creamy, due to the big serving of mascarpone covering its sponge filling. The gelato is also very good, alot better than lots of those gelato chains popping up all over the place. The best gelato flavours are definitely the banana and the coffee, but they're all great. Whenever I'm not in Sydney I miss this place!

Justine C.

I was fortunate to grow up in Sydney's inner west tasting an abundant array of their home made gelato. It would be a treat to be taken here once in a while after school during my high school days from nearby Five Dock. The serving sizes are extremely generous; despite the fact that Italians themselves are quite generous themselves when it comes to abundant food servings anyway. Great to take away; although better to eat in. The gelato is well presented and the silver cups are just divine. Best to have a buddy to share a three scoop with. Their hot chocolate packs some punch, and heads down this establishment gives the Lindt Chocolat Cafes in Sydney a run for their money. If I was to vote for Sydney's best hot chocolate; it would have to be from Bar Italia. The baristas are super fast, and payment aways needs to be made up front. An efficient and friendly food production; however oh so well worth it. It is tricky to find a good table inside; there is always outside and the back garden is fantastic for a multi-group catch up. Remember to not mix hot and cold together. Gelato and hot chocolate don't go well here together. This is a friendly oasis well worth coming back for more and more.

Bar Italia's ice cream selection
Bruno B.

If there's a better gelato place in Sydney than Bar Italia then I clearly haven't found it yet. On the wall they proudly display their certificate from the 2007 "I Love Food" awards naming them as Australia's best ice cream / gelato place. The three flavours (in order): zabaione, Toblerone and tiramisu. 1 scoop is $3.50, 2 scoops are $6.00 and 3 scoops are $8.00. On weekends the cue for gelato goes right out the door, but it's well worth sticking it out. The flavours are impeccable and the gelato's texture is always deliciously creamy. Bar Italia's coffee is also of quite a high standard (they use the Vittoria blend). Don't bother asking for skim or soy (they'll throw you right out!)

Spaghetti bolognese
Alice C.

Going to Laneway n stop by for a quick meal. We love the 50s feel. We had spaghetti Bolognese and penne Puttanesca. Both dishes were amazing. We are definitely coming back for more pasta and gelato!

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Review Highlights - Bar Italia

I'm usually lucky enough to get 20 minutes free parking in civic video next door when having only gelato with the kids...

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Il Grappolo

Il Grappolo

4.4(8 reviews)
2.5 km
$$

All that glitters is not gold. Maybe I ordered the wrong…read morething as I've seen great reviews on the food. I ordered a couple of pizza thinking it would have a rich sauce, with cheese but it was more like a dry cracker bread with prosciutto in it. Even a drizzle of olive oil would have helped. I had to chase up the water ordered as I couldn't eat any more with out it. I do like the ambience of the place and I think it does have potential to be great, but just missed the mark for me today. It's sad with so many choices that u may only get one chance to make an impression.

I've eaten here several times. We love their margherita and beef ragu pizzas, but I've found their…read moreragu a little too salty every time (I thought maybe it was just me, but others thought so as well). It's tasty though, so that doesn't deter me from ordering it the next time. Very nice crust with good texture and thickness, crustiness with chewiness. For me, though, the best dish is their handmade gnocchi. Both the one in Gorgonzola sauce and the one in tomato basil sauce (also consistently slightly too salty) are delicious. Again, even though the tomato basil sauce is too salty most of the time, I prefer it to the Gorgonzola and usually order it. When we order it as takeaway, a few times we've had to wait 15 minutes longer than they had told us to pick up. That said, it's worth it. Staff is friendly and polite. Ambiance is nice. Prices are a bit north of reasonable. I love that the restaurant is tucked away like a neighborhood secret.

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Il Grappolo
Il Grappolo
Il Grappolo

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La Botte D'Oro Restaurant

La Botte D'Oro Restaurant

3.6(8 reviews)
0.7 kmLeichhardt
$$

I went to La Botte D'oro with a friend once, half the challenge was walking there as she was…read morecertain that she was too hungry to walk two blocks and I barely was able to stop her from buying some prawn crackers from a Chinese Restaurant en route. We got there and took our seats outside. The seats were already outside, we didn't rearrange the furniture, but we sat outside on seats that had been placed there at the start of the night. We ordered some food and drank our wine. The restaurant is BYO wine only. She knocked her wine over and onto my lap. We had a laugh. I cried inside. That was my best lap. This wasn't the best experience of La Botte D'oro, but I must say that the food was amazing and the service was also really good. So what I'm going to do now is an old literary technique. I'm going to fast forward to another time I frequented this restaurant. It's a cool autumn night and the moon is aglow in the sky. I walk with my family, from our various cars, to the restaurant in question. We sit inside and chat briefly over wine, and yes we "Brought (Y)Our Own" though the restaurant is licensed as well and my brothers choose beer over the fermented grape drink. We order food and there is some mild confusion as some of us have ordered the same dish, but received slightly variying platefuls. We sort it out with our friendly waiter and more prawn is on the way. A slight blight on the night, but alright. They were out of octopus and, I guess, didn't think we'd notice, but we are eagle eyed and once resolved relax back into an enjoyable meal. Desert comes and I steer clear, I'm not a sweet-toothed person, but everyone else seems to be enjoying it. Overall, La Botte D'oro has its faults but when the faults are rectified there's nothing stopping you from enjoying a good night out with delicious food, BYO wine and good or okay company. I recommend the seafood.

This place is very Italian. Starts with staff- family own…read moreplace they are all Italians, nice wine from Tuscany and great Italian food which was very tasty and not really expensive. Went there on Wednesday and the place was pretty busy.

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La Botte D'Oro Restaurant
La Botte D'Oro Restaurant
La Botte D'Oro Restaurant

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Pappardelle - Donut balls with nutella and vanilla gelato

Pappardelle

3.8(4 reviews)
1.7 km

Why have I been here twice now? Why when this place from the outset looks proper clinical? Well the…read morereason is my friends uncle lives a few houses down and as a '60s italian migrant, said we should check it out ... and you don't argue with that !! The food is very typical of an italian eatery - pizzas, pastas and everything in between. The pizza is rather beautiful ... not on par with say Mario's or Rosso Pommodoro .. but great none the less - a special shout out goes to the chef who made the bruschetta into a pizza for us. The pastas ... well, it seems this place may have a slight reputation for their pastas. All 6 of us ordered a pasta dish as a main and of all the dishes ordered, the Pappardelle pork/veal ragu and the Pappardelle Pescatore (a tomato based seafood dish) were the 2 standout mains. Service here is slow but hey, when in Rome right? Hows that saying go?? Dolce far niente - pleasantly doing nothing.. and that's certainly what it's like here, but see this is what I love. You can sit here for HOURS talking and laughing and nibbling on the food that is still on the table because as Italians, you don't clear the table unless asked. Both times that we have come here, they have had large groups celebrating - one was a christening and the other a birthday, so this restaurant clearly caters for groups. Overall, a nice restaurant with decent food that caters for all and far from offends.

I've been twice to this restaurant and attended a function there as well, and whilst I've…read morepleasantly enjoyed the cuisine, I'm a bit perplexed about the raves. The pastas are nice, the pizzas OK, the service lousy and waitstaff can be very brusque. I've also noticed that the staff don't deal well with large functions. Glasses are forgotten, plates not changed, have to ask for clean serviettes, grated cheese, water etc. Mario's at Croydon has very good pastas & better pizzas, so they don't have a monopoly. Of course the venue is a lot better at Pappardelle. Am I being critical? No more than how I critique other places. If you are in the restaurant business good food is just one criteria, friendly and enthusiastic staff who are eager to please & interact will make your clients come back again & again. Nothing else to add.

Photos
Pappardelle - Pappardelle pasta homemade with pork and beef ragu

Pappardelle pasta homemade with pork and beef ragu

Pappardelle - Self saucing chocolate pudding.

Self saucing chocolate pudding.

Pappardelle

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Casa Messina

Casa Messina

4.0(3 reviews)
0.6 kmLeichhardt

Sure I've made a delicious nachos for eight people including a separate pot full of that same…read morescrumptious food only with a particular bent on beans and less so on meat, a kind of vegetarian option, if you will. Yes I've slaved away in the kitchen and cooked up an amazing succulent looking, mouth watering pork roast with various roast vegetables including pumpkin, sweet potato and regular potato. But this food is required for a scene that we probably won't be filming until after dinner and therefore catch 22 laughs at us with it's snidely positioned face and calls us names which are both insulting and unnecessary. So, to rectify the situation, how to eat dinner and yet still have the dinner scene food ready for the dinner scene which is after dinner, we order Pizza. One of our team suggests Casa Messina, a Pizza Restaurant in the area. So I look it up on the Google and I get my phone. Being in charge of catering and also in charge of money for the shoot, I make the call and order some pizza. Then, like magic, half an hour later, there's a ringing on the doorbell and the pizza has arrived. We call "break" and sit around on set eating the flavoursome pizzas. They are cheesy and full of toppings and piping hot. I was hesitant to go with Casa Messina as it was a little more expensive than somewhere like Domino's, but the quality blows Domino's out of the cheesy Italian water. We managed to remain on budget and my food did not go to waste, so a good effort there, even if it did mean that I was eating Nachos by myself for the entire week.

We used to come here as kid free people when it was gelbison. The pizzas are still great despite…read morethe name change. The service is efficient and friendly and generous to us now kid encumbered people. My 2 girls loved the Gorgonzola gnocchi.

Bar Italia - italian - Updated May 2026

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