Our tour guide uses this restaurant for group dinners for his tour groups. Since he is a returning regular customer, I don't know if we received any special treatment .I do know that are dinners were very good, Serving popular traditional Italian dishes at popular prices, dinners at La Rusticana are a crowd pleaser. Arrabiata is a popular dish here. read more

La Rusticana - Dinner at La Rusticana - Italian Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

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I get a little wary of restaurants in the basement floor but this one looked so inviting I had to check out the menu. It's yet another family owned Italian restaurant; I used to wonder how they ever broke even with all this competition but they are businesses at the end of the day so I'll believe they know what they're doing! The menu consists of the usual anti pasti, soups, pasta, veal, beef and sea food but I was really excited by the pizza prices, which makes it hard to justify ordering Dominoes when I could get an authentic Italian pizza for £7! read more

La Rusticana - Italian Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

This place is like a much, MUCH better version of Bar Napoli. As in, they haven't just been fined for various health and safety breaches but they still retain that friendly, down-to-earth, authentic feel to it. Alongside all the many overpriced eateries on or around George Street, this place is a breath of fresh air. But there were a few things that niggled me when I ate in here recently. Nothing huge, but things like the fact that they cram in too many tables, so you're constantly eavesdropping on other people's conversations whether you like it or not. And when it's not busy, the fact that there are so many tables means that you're overly aware of the fact that there's hardly anyone else ther. Not really great for the atmosphere of it. Rant over, this is still a good value Italian in a really convenient location. Although it lacks some of the charm of the sister branch on Cockburn Street, it's still worth trying. read more

La Rusticana - Italian Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

Solid pizza, affordable lunch, respectable service, nice atmosphere, classy music, and generally great all around. I got the margarita and rusticana pizzas which were delicious. read more

Lovely little place with a great service. Highly recommend the seafood spaghetti. The staff was very attentive and I loved the atmosphere. read more

La Rusticana - Italian Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

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Very friendly service. And the food was delicious. We went to this place in New Town for dinner after spending a day in Old Town Edinburgh. Seafood spaghetti was amazing. Spaghetti and meatballs was great too. I had the house wine and we tried the Scotch whisky, which was pretty strong. read more

Sometimes, all you want on an afternoon of heavy duty shopping is a cheap and cheerful, filling lunch, and La Rusticana's business lunch deal ticks all the right boxes. My mum and I went here for a last minute bite before the train home, and we were pleasantly surprised at the £5.45 lunch menu. Three courses, for under £5.50! Almost unheard of in the big City. The restaurant itself is nice enough. It's in a strange place, kind of underneath shops, which makes it very inconspicuous, but inside, it is very cosy and homely, with artexed walls and a very old taverna feel, which I absolutely love. It gives the place a very traditional feel, unlike DiMaggio's or Bella Italia. I would certainly choose this place over either of them any day. The Italian opera music really gave it that extra shove right into Little Italy. I have to be honest and say I wasn't expecting anything spectacular. I mean, what can you get for under £6 nowadays? I browsed the lunch menu and found more than one thing per course that I would happily eat, which is a novelty for me when ordering from a set menu. I decided on the Minestrone soup, Pollo Cacciatore and amaretto gateaux for desert. The soup was lovely, piping hot and in quite a large bowl, served with a lump of crusty bread. The main, Chicken Cacciatore was delicious, the tomato and olive sauce with peppers and mushrooms was rich and tangy, and the chunks of chicken were cooked to complete perfection. My favourite tipple is amaretto, so I was incredibly excited about the desert. I wasn't disappointed, and it was sooo strong! Absolutely delicious, with a splash of cream. I can honestly say I was stuffed full, and could not believe the meal we had just had for the price. Outstanding. I can't recommend this place enough. Perhaps not the absolute best Italian feast I have ever had, but most certainly one of them, and most definitely the best value! read more

La Rusticana - Italian Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

This place is what it is: a cheesy Italian restaurant. And sometimes after walking the sites of the city all day and the rain and cold, you need an inexpensive Italian comfort meal. And that is exactly what you will get here. Service is friendly and attentive. Food is good. Decor is old world Italian and they play good music...what else do you need in a budget Italian eatery? read more

I just love this place. I have been going since moving to Edinburgh over three and a half years ago. I have eaten in many different (and expensive restaurants) but this one is the one I always go back to. The food is always first rate, as is the very friendly service. I'm so well looked after, I feel like family! Definitely a place to visit, to relax with friends and family. read more

It was reasonably priced which made the superb pastas heaven. The service was attentive and charming - thank you Carlos for your charm, recommendations and time spent with us. Don't miss if you are a lover of authentic Italian cuisine! read more

This is THE place to go for great Italian food in Edinburgh! They are open late, very reasonably priced and the food was Fantastic, you'll be glad you went! read more

I went to La Rusticana with a group of four adults & three kids. Our ten-year-old raised an empty glass to his lips (just sort of fidgeting as we waited) ... and was chastised by our waiter for being "unsafe." Our twelve-year-old gently tapped a (possible) salt shaker into his hand to confirm that it did in fact contain salt, not pepper ... and was chastised for making a mess. Our waiter then snatched the salt shaker out of our child's hand and removed both salt and pepper from the table, so that no one could use them. We asked for the shakers back, and the waiter angrily complied. "I'm not keeping you here," said a second waiter -- so we left. I know that reviews involving mistreatment of children are likely to be dismissed on the theory that the reviewers' children were probably poorly behaved brats. In this case, that simply was not true. These children were quiet and calm; the sense we got was honestly that the staff did not like children and were looking for an excuse to harass them. Not recommended for families or anyone who enjoys eating undisturbed by judgmental intrusions. read more

Second visit to this restaurant. First visit was a little underwhelming but I was willing to give it a second chance. Wrong. They were busy enough and they have many 'regular' visitors that are being treated as family. This enthusiasm was however not reserved for our group of 9. Our table (like the first time) was crammed and our number 9 seat was squeezed at the end. Service is on a familiar basis and a little too much on the miss side an lesser on the hit side. Granted our payable drinks were served promptly, but we had request jugs of water twice before they were actually served. The starter I took was the prosciutto and melon - the melon was tough. The prosciutto was very good. Main course was Spag Carbonara - to which I added mushrooms and that was made very well and good and creamy - I really enjoyed that! Once that was finished we waited - table cleared and.. waited. Until one of our group requested a dessert menu from a flyby waiter. no no no .. we should be offered not asked for! - I ordered a banasplit (as you don't get that very often these days) in my experience a banana split is vanilla ice cream, nuts, banana and chocolate sauce. - or if you will a dame blanche with banana. Anyhow.. we were served a very colourful plate of 3 different flavoured ice-creams (vanilla, strawberry, chocolate) - some green colouring and a variety of fruits that DO NOT BELONG in a banana split. I did not ask for figs, kiwis, pineapple nor green apple. This is NOT a fruit punch cocktail. Coffee was served but no cookie or chocolates. (which we did got the first time I was there - so no consistency. In the meanwhile the place was packing up and somehow we were left, forgotten? Several times we requested the bill which eventually came. Nice of them to separate food & drinks - made the calculations easier. I have now vowed not to go there any time soon, as for the monies paid I could have had a much better experience in another establishment read more

Like all the Italian restaurants on Hanover Street, this is a safe bet for a non-fancy meal in town and you'll encounter some eccentric (albeit, a little insincere) waiters... I get the feeling it is in their contract. The Pizza is nothing like what you can find in Italy and the tomato sauce is about as bland as a milky Cafe Latte... but like I said, a safe bet if you just want to eat something when you're out in town. I've still to find a decent Italian in Edinburgh... so hoping TrustedPlaces will bring something to my attention. read more

We loved it!! A comfortable neighborhood restaurant with delicious food and fabulous staff. Jesus, our waiter, was an absolute delight. They made us feel right at home! read more

We visited this lovely wee place on Sat 28th July as part of our friends hen night celebrations - not knowing what to expect and an avid fan of Italian food I did indeed check out some reviews prior to arriving.......found the staff to be ever so friendly and welcoming - we were 20mins early but our table was all ready and waiting for us. We were having a set 2 course menu deal as part of the City Bus Party/Go Bananas and there was a good variety to choose from - 4 starters/4 main meals - couldn't fault the food whatsoever, however, we asked 4 1 garlic bread and 1 brushcetta n received 2 each of garlic bread/bruschetta and garlic bread topped with mozzarella (no one had asked 4 these) and these indeed were charged on our bill - after a little bit of haggling I managed to get the bill reduced appropriately (some reviews I had read did warn of 'extra' charges) but this didn't dampen anyones spirits - the attentive staff presented our bride to be with a little dessert (free) and a fantastic rousing applause/cheering intertwined with tambourines/bells etc - we all loved it!! read more