Diners' Choice: Italian restaurants in Downtown

OpenTable

Updated November 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!

PROPAGANDA

4.8

4.8 (70)

$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

Brent

Dined 5 days ago

So FABULOUS!!! They made such a mistake going so close to our theater time because this is a place to savor and enjoy. I could rave on and on about the wine selection and the food – especially the charcuterie platter – but honestly, the service was so far beyond what you would normally get at this price point that I can’t even begin to say enough. Phenomenal experience and can’t wait to go back.

Bestia

4.7

4.7 (8226)

$31 to $50

Italian

Downtown

About the restaurant

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

Top review

Emilio

Dined 2 days ago

Excellent! No critique whatsoever. Food was “chef’s kiss”!

Pizzeria Bianco - LA

4.8

4.8 (637)

$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

Patty

Dined 6 days ago

Service friendly & helpful - attentive & very appropriate Food was outstanding - first time visit. We will return - Also had dessert & it was outstanding

Mona Pasta Bar

4.7

4.7 (62)

$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

Andy

Dined on Oct 27, 2024

Food was great, Outstanding spot for dinner before seeing a show at the Orpheum

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Experience

Wednesday - Sunday Happy Hour!

Drago Centro

4.7

4.7 (3704)

$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

Sam

Dined 7 days ago

Great staff; Samuel in the bar is outstanding…very knowledgeable re his wines. Ladies at hostess area were fantastic and thoroughly accomodating. Dynamic dining experience!

The Factory Kitchen - Los Angeles

4.7

4.7 (3608)

$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

Cecilia

Dined 4 days ago

Excellent service, did not rush you to leave like other restaurants. The food was as delicious as always. Never disappoint.

Bacari Adams

4.7

4.7 (637)

$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

Janet

Dined 4 days ago

Portions are small for brunch. More of a tapas style menu. Service was amazing! The drinks including mocktails were so delicious! The holiday theme is the cutest!

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Experience

Bacari's Holiday Pop Up

Rossoblu

4.6

4.6 (2118)

$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

Andrea

Dined 4 days ago

It was our first time there, and it will not be our last. The food was phenomenal. The handmade pasta was superb. Excellent cocktails, too. Our server, Jonte, was gregarious and so engaging. Can't wait to go back, and also to take the pasta making class!

Vespaio

4.5

4.5 (2511)

$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

Arlyvip

Dined 4 days ago

Vespaio is our "go to" when we go to The Center Theater Group. Great selections for lunch. Soups and salads are delicious. This time I had a chicken sandwich on Focaccia bread and it was excellent

Ristorante Per L'Ora

4.6

4.6 (238)

$30 and under

Italian

Downtown

About the restaurant

As the namesake neighborhood restaurant of our hotel, Per L'Ora thoughtfully expresses LA culture and lifestyle through reimagined flavors of coastal Italy.

Top review

Leo

Dined 4 days ago

Great experience! Would want to go again, however I would go when the jazz band starts playing.

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