Diners' Choice: Italian restaurants in Downtown

OpenTable

Updated September 05, 2024

Looking for restaurants with the best overall Italian cuisine in Downtown? You’re in the right place. Each month OpenTable analyzes more than 400,000 new diner reviews. We sort the results by category to help you discover new favorites. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Mona Pasta Bar

4.9

4.9 (59)

$30 and under

Italian

Downtown

About the restaurant

Mona Pasta Bar

Dinner dishes highlight the marriage of Italian techniques with Southern California ingredients including Pesce Crudo with citrus cured hamachi, kosho beet vinaigrette and hazelnuts, Burrata & Tomato with burrata pugliese, heirloom tomato, pine nuts, pesto and squash blossom, Casarecce with lamb sausage and rapini, Lumache - alla vodka, and a Whole Branzino with caramelized fennel.

The menu is designed for snacking over a glass of wine, sharing with friends and/or enjoying a more coursed out dining experience. Pasta, a focal point of the offerings, will all be made in-house.

The wine list is focused on fun, daring, low-intervention, natural wines to accentuate and complement the food. The primarily Italian focused list with opening selections from Sicily to Puglia will be rotating based on seasonality and availability.

Top review

Jenvip

Dined 7 days ago

Delicious food and dessert! Excellent happy hour house red and appetizers! Quaint restaurant and great music. Must try it!

Discover more

Experience

Wednesday - Sunday Happy Hour!

PROPAGANDA

4.8

4.8 (58)

$30 and under

Italian

Arts District

About the restaurant

Propaganda focuses on organic, biodynamic, Italian natural wines, aperitivi cocktails, Italian style Tapas and the authentic Pizza (Pinsa) Romana.
Aperitivo Happy Hour everyday till 6pm and till 5pm on Sunday

Top review

Annmarie

Dined on Sep 1, 2024

Loved the food and ambience at Propaganda. Very friendly and courteous service.

Bestia

4.7

4.7 (8060)

$31 to $50

Italian

Downtown

About the restaurant

A multi-regional Italian restaurant in the Arts District of downtown Los Angeles.

Top review

Sarah

Dined 2 days ago

Excellent, per usual. Going as the season change is really nice, as there were a few end of summer dishes and some fall dishes appearing.

Pizzeria Bianco - LA

4.8

4.8 (584)

$50 and over

Italian

Little Tokyo

About the restaurant

Los Angeles outpost of Chef Chris Bianco's James Beard award-winning pizzeria, located in ROW DTLA. We strongly encourage making a reservation, though we do hold space to accommodate walk-ins.

Top review

Diane

Dined 7 days ago

Pizza was as delicious as I had hoped. We also share d the antipasto plate which was outstanding

Drago Centro

4.7

4.7 (3687)

$31 to $50

Italian

Downtown

About the restaurant

Chef Celestino Drago has created a menu representative of the cultural diversity of Italy. The concept of “Contemporary Italian Cuisine”, emphasizes local dishes, fresh, high quality ingredients and old flavors that have defined Italian cuisine for centuries and which are revisited to create a truly eclectic menu. The extensive menu is a la carte and offers daily specials featuring many unique items. DRAGO Centro offers a diverse and extensive selection of premium wines from Italy and around the world.

DRAGO Centro’s unique interior is designed by acclaimed Los Angeles based designer Stanley Felderman, who is internationally renowned for creating modern buildings, interiors and product with a playful twist.

Top review

JFvip

Dined 5 days ago

Dragon never fails to deliver. Great food, outstanding service and a very pretty room. perfect for lunch or after work. and, one of the great wine cellars in the city!

The Factory Kitchen - Los Angeles

4.7

4.7 (3576)

$31 to $50

Italian

Downtown

About the restaurant

Defining a culinary journey through the Italian Peninsula and hosted in the loading docks of the Factory Place Arts Complex in The Arts District in Los Angeles, The Factory Kitchen is a typical Italian Trattoria with simple and approachable fare.

Top review

Paulvip

Dined 2 days ago

We were a party of six celebrating a birthday. The food and service was terrific. The staff and kitchen went out of their way to accommodate various food requests. We spent over two hours without ever being rushed. All in all a great night.

Bacari Adams

4.6

4.6 (622)

$31 to $50

Italian

Downtown

About the restaurant

Bacari W. Adams is a Venetian-inspired small plates restaurant featuring Mediterranean-influenced dishes by Chef Lior Hillel. We are the original restaurant of Kronfli Brothers, a family-owned, growing group of restaurants in the Los Angeles area. Alongside our delicious tapas, we offer a rotating curation of small-production wines and eclectic beers, unique craft cocktails & mocktails, and we are also known for our one-of-a-kind 90-minute open bar special. + $5 margaritas all night long every Monday-Wednesday!

Our team provides warm hospitality in our comfortable, intimate dining room marked with vintage art & light fixtures. You will feel like home when dining at Bacari W. Adams.

We welcome but do not require reservations — we love to accommodate walk-ins and large parties, even on busy nights. Bacari W. Adams is the go-to spot for our neighbors, and we look forward to hosting you soon!

Top review

Stefani

Dined on Aug 27, 2024

What a gem! The service, cocktails and food presentation were standouts. I arrived 15 minutes early and even though they were technically closed, Gaylord the GP welcomed me and ushered me inside and offered me water and a glass of wine. I was so impressed by his graciousness and care. Our server was friendly and attentive and recommended items on the menu and explained the happy hour. Everything delivered to the table was a work of art, tasty and fresh. I highly recommend Bacari. They got it so right! My only suggestion might be a refresh to the interior a bit. It’s a bohemian vibe which works but felt a bit cramped.

Rossoblu

4.6

4.6 (2080)

$31 to $50

Italian

Downtown

About the restaurant

Rossoblu celebrates chef Steve Samson’s two home cities, Los Angeles and Bologna, Italy. The menu features house made salumi, soulful pastas, market produce, and wood grilled fish and meats.

Located in downtown’s City Market South, the site of Los Angeles’s original produce market, Rossoblu’s vaulted dining room and open kitchen create a festive dining environment. The restaurant’s private outdoor piazza allows al fresco diners to feel far removed from the nearby city bustle. An intimate basement wine cellar can be reserved for private parties.

Top review

David

Dined on Sep 1, 2024

Back at Rossoblu for first time in 5 years. Easy parking with valet and street. Pleasant ambience on verandah. Food highlights stonedruit salad, lasagna and branzino, excellent mushroom pizza. Wine list is excellent. We brought a bottle and they decanted it. Will repeat.

Vespaio

4.5

4.5 (2463)

$31 to $50

Italian

Downtown

About the restaurant

Get wined and dined downtown at Chef Agostino Sciandri’s newest restaurant, located in the Emerson.

We are DTLA's premier power lunch or per theater date spot! Join us for a truly authentic italian dining experience, the likes of which will delivery your senses strait back to Tuscany.

Top review

Paigevip

Dined on Aug 29, 2024

Lunch was so delicious. pizza dough is so fresh... the house made pasta to die for... must have the penne... chicken was so delicious save room for dessert! perfect for pre show dining located next to THE BROAD MUSEUM... they offer very convenient valet parking. go!

Discover more

4.7

4.7 (195)

$50 and over

Italian

Downtown

About the restaurant

Savoca serving a fresh take on Italian American style cuisine made with regionally sourced ingredients.

Reservations strongly encouraged.

20% staff charge will be added to parties of 6 or more.

Top review

Joevip

Dined on Aug 28, 2024

Wonderful and welcoming greeting, delicious food and fantastic service from Chris.

Explore Diners' Choice best of Downtown

Explore more Diners' Choice lists