Italian restaurants in Mexico
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La Lanterna
This smart Italian restaurant has an intimate feel with its low ceilings, dark wood-and- tile decor and shelves lined with fine wines. Businessmen from the nearby Four Seasons Hotel can forge deals over a fiery dish of penne all’arrabbiata (spicy chili and tomato sauce) or get heavy with a fillet of steak with all the trimmings.
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Pizza Rolandi
Below the Hotel Belmar, between Abasolo and Madero, it bakes very good thin-crust pizzas and calzones in a wood-fired oven. The menu also includes pasta, fresh salads, fish, good coffee and some Italian specialties – definitely don’t come here looking for Mexican.
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Vittorio’s
For years this cozy Italian restaurant has been serving generous portions of reasonably priced pizza and pasta. Head to the back and you’ll feel like the Godfather in the plush leather booths with dim lighting. Daily specials cost only M$80.
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Pane e Vino
This Italian-run joint serves tasty antipasti and salads (with olive oil and balsamic vinegar if you wish), lasagna, fish, meat and a selection of respectable wines by the glass or bottle.
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Los Pelícanos
This friendly eatery is lauded by locals as the best restaurant in town.
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Café Santa Fe
The insalata Mediterranea (steamed seafood drizzled in lemon juice and oil) will make even seafood haters change their evil ways. The open-air kitchen, designed by the owner himself, allows you to see the food as it’s being prepped for your table. Anything on the menu will delight, surprise, tantalize, but if you need suggestions go for the mussels in wine or any one of the various handmade raviolis: lobster, carne (meat) or just spinach and ricotta cheese. This is surely one of the best restaurants in Baja and is well worth the splurge.
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La Strada
On the walking street also known as Callejón del Cubo, this inviting slice of Rome presents authentic Italian-Mediterranean cuisine in a covered interior courtyard. The napkins are linen, the wine cellar is well-stocked, the lettuce is organic and service is attentive. Considering its location near the Palacio de Cortés, it’s not too touristy. Romance fills the air Friday and Saturday nights, when there’s live violin music and opera singing.
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El Gallo Pitagórico
South of the Jardín, up the path (and then steps) behind Templo San Diego, this romantic restaurant is chock-a-block with folkloric artifacts, friendly atmosphere and fine city views. The Italian cuisine includes assorted antipasti, a range of pastas and great meat dishes. The lengthy wine list can hike the price, but service is good and it’s a reliably pleasant experience.
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La Dolce Vita
One of Cancún’s fanciest Italian restaurants, it offers white wicker chairs and soft, romantic lighting, plus great lagoon views and attentive staff. Try the chicken with sun-dried tomatoes and finish with crêpes suzette (for two). With a bottle of red, white or rosé this could be the start or the finish of a wonderful day.
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Il Postino
Run by a pair of chefs from Rome and Milan, this superior Italian restaurant features terrace dining along an arc of the Plaza Villa de Madrid (aka Plaza Cibeles). You might start off with an octopus carpaccio, followed by sea bass wrapped in calzone. Otherwise, ask chef Claudio for his inspiration of the day.
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Raffaello
Elderly bow-tied waiters provide attentive service at this charming Italian restaurant with its cosmopolitan-style enclosed sidewalk terrace and elegant dining room. There’s an upper-crust pizza choice, plus all the pasta favorites and a few rogue dishes, such as shrimp curry and goulash.
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Italianni’s
This quality Italian restaurant serves well-prepared pasta, pizzas, salads, chicken and steaks and plenty of Italian wine amid classic checked tablecloths. Don’t miss the M$99 two-course special Monday to Thursday, and bring backup if you intend to polish off the flan.
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Iannilli
Seriously elegant and expensive Italian restaurant with intimate dining rooms and formal service. The extensive menu includes risotto with porcini mushroom, gnocchi, shrimp dishes and pizza. The attached Mexican restaurant, Madre Oaxaca, is also very good.
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Vittorio's
Despite being somewhat pricey, this Italian bar-restaurant on the zócalo is always busy with locals and visitors alike. The pizzas are good, there's a great atmosphere and sidewalk seating, not to mention live music on Friday and Saturday.
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La Galería
At the west end of El Adoquín, La Galería is one of Puerto’s best Italian spots, with art on the walls and tasty fare on the tables. The pizza and homemade pasta dishes are original and flavorsome, and the jumbo mixed-greens salad (M$49) is a treat.
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Sole, Pizza e Amore
With homestyle recipes from northern Italy, this nondescript restaurant fires up handmade bread, pastas and thin-crust pizzas. Many of the menu’s items are meatless, such as the vegetarian lasagna and pizzas topped with eggplant and mushrooms.
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Bella Italia
Rome meets San Miguel in this smart, slightly old-fashioned place set within an attractive courtyard. Think hand-made pasta, mussels in white wine and grilled lamb chops - just as Mama used to make. Excellent musicians perform nightly.
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Il Romanico
A modern Italian-style, all-in-one type place where you can get your morning juice, lunch-time crepes and a gelato snack. In the evening, grab a pizza or pasta and then hit the hip bar, La Juanita, upstairs (open 'til late).
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La Concha Nostra
On the 2nd floor of the Casa Grande, this popular pizza-and-pasta restaurant serves food and drink until 1am. You can watch the action on Plazuela San Juan from the balcony. Live music shakes the house on weekend evenings.
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Rolandi’s Restaurant-Bar
A Swiss Italian eatery with a wood-fired pizza oven, between Avenidas Tulum and Náder just off the southern roundabout, Rolandi’s serves elaborate pizzas, spaghetti plates and a range of northern Italian dishes.
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Mandolino
Hit this great hideaway for delicious pizza and pasta, and a bar upstairs that doesn't quit until the last punter staggers out the door. Spot the building by the broken Vespa dangling from the roof.
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Trattoria Marco Polo
Italian dishes – including a broad range of excellent, thin-crust pizza – and an attractive setting just across from the cathedral make this a great option for reasonably priced international fare.
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El Siciliano
Authentic, intimate little Italian restaurant on the eastern edge of the Barrio Antiguo. Great pasta and stuffed calamari are served up on gingham tablecloths and there's a good wine selection.
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Buon Vento
An excellent Italian restaurant with good music, a big video screen and subtle vibes. The huge pasta list includes some delicious baked options, and the wine list is decent.
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