Best Italian Restaurants in Melbourne: Carlton's Lygon Street and Beyond

Melbourne has one of Australia's most celebrated Italian dining traditions, anchored by the Carlton Italian precinct on Lygon Street that has been the heart of the Italian-Australian community since the 1950s. Lygon Street between Elgin and Grattan Streets is Australia's most famous Italian restaurant strip, with over 30 Italian restaurants, gelato bars and delis concentrated in four blocks of Carlton. The broader Carlton and Fitzroy area has a second generation of contemporary Italian restaurants with handmade pasta programs, natural Italian wines and modern regional cooking. The north Melbourne Italian community in Northcote has neighbourhood trattorias serving the residential community. Totti's in Armadale set the contemporary Italian agenda when it opened. Melbourne imports more specialty Italian products per capita than any other Australian city, reflecting the depth of the Italian-Australian community's food culture since the post-war migration wave.