Restaurants

14 Of The Best Sunshine Coast Italian Restaurants To Sink Your Fork Into

By – who loves morning run clubs as equally as she loves negronis and tiny snack plates

Ask anyone what their five favourite cuisines are and we’d bet that Italian makes it onto almost everyone’s list. With great palatable praise comes great responsibility, to not only deliver delicious meals to the masses, but to pay homage to the traditional recipes—some which have been handed down and perfected through countless generations. 

Finding authentic Italian requires due diligence. Lucky for you, we’ve done the legwork and sorted the stayers from the players. Unbuckle your belt, here are 14 of the best Italian restaurants on the Sunshine Coast.

Lucio's Marina

Tewantin

This family-owned waterfront seafood trattoria and aperitivo bar effortlessly combines freshly caught seafood with premium local produce from the Noosa Hinterland, dishing up an exquisite menu that will keep you coming back, again and again. Lucios’ Marina pays homage to northern Italian flavours, with a menu that will transport you to coastal Italy with a nod to local produce.

You can’t leave without trying the exquisite saffron papparedelle with short rib ragu and bone marrow emulsion. As hard as it may be, try to save room for dessert, which will have you struggling to choose between mango and cashew 'not cheesecake' and honey cake with honey ganache, pistachio brittle and yoghurt sauce. 

Bocca Italian

Bokarina

a plate of burrata at a sunshine coast italian restaurant

Sunshine Coast hospitality icon, Tony Kelly's latest venture is a stunning beachfront Italian restaurant in Bokarina. Bocca Italian is situated on a prime beachfront location at Bokarina Beach and emulates refined yet casual dining vibes—perfect for a date night.

The 150-seater restaurant boasts beachside views, a sleek fit-out and even has a 14-seat private dining room for those more intimate occasions. Bocca Italian has a strong focus on fresh produce, serving only the best of the best in their signature pastas and pizzas, the latter of which come piping hot out of a stone base Moretti pizza oven imported from Italy. 

Bombetta

Noosa Heads

Channeling contemporary cool vibes, it’s no secret Bombetta is a crowd favourite among the best Italian restaurants on the Sunshine Coast. Brought to you by the former owners of Gaston on Hastings Street, Bombetta is renowned for its handmade pizzas and the house bombettas wrapped in proscuitto with tomato, buffalo mozzarella, basil and crusty ciabatta. If it's in the name, you know it's going to be good.

Or if you’re chasing a casual bite to eat, their antipasto plate is always a tastebud pleaser, as are the house crumbed mushrooms. Hands down, Bombetta is one of the best Italian restaurants to grace us on the Sunshine Coast.

Liliana's Trattoria

Maroochydore

The words ‘authentic Italian’ get thrown around alot, although venues often don’t warrant the title, which comes with high expectations. Liliana’s Trattoria is a rarity in this sense. Liliana’s Trattoria is a sweet Italian joint located in the heart of Maroochydore, serving classic generational, homestyle Italian dishes inspired by Nonna Liliana.

Liliana’s touch is ever present throughout the menu—from her crumbed and fried pork shoulder and beef meatballs, to fresh burrata with capsicum and anchovy oil, to her beef cheek ragu gnocchi, to the extensive array of wood-fired sourdough pizzas made in-house. 

Locale Noosa

Noosa Heads

With so many sensational dishes on their menu, Locale is one of the best Italian restaurants located in the heart of Noosa on Hastings Street and is somewhere you need to frequent to truly appreciate their offerings. Lucky for you, we’re seasoned professionals and can point you in the right direction. 

We recommend the egg taglliatelle with Fraser Isle spanner crab, basil, chilli, butter and lemon pangrattato and the potato and goats cheese gnocchi with smoked eggplant, oyster mushroom and cavolo nero is simply sublime. Locale recently underwent a major interior renovation, so consider this your sign to check out the revamped space.

Bella Venezia

Mooloolaba

a plate of pasta at a sunshine coast italian restaurant

Bella Venezia is the mamma of Italian dining here on the Sunshine Coast, opening in 1983 and taking home a slew of awards at state and national compeitions every year. And while the restaurant has undergone a facelift in the past two years, their menu has largely stayed tried and true, just the way we like it. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

It’s hard to pick a favourite, with such a lengthy menu, but we can confirm that the slow-cooked beef cheek ragout with hand-cut pappardelle and grana padanoo is a rich and glorious offering, best served with a glass of Shiraz. We love that there is also a four-course tasting menu if you just can't decide and a fully vegan menu for our plant-based friends. It’s no surprise Bella Venezia is rated as one of the Sunshine Coast’s best Italian restaurants.

250 Grammi

Noosaville

Dining at 250 Grammi is reminiscent of an indulgent Sunday lunch in Naples, digging into generous servings and passing the plates around; it’s all about a shared dining experience. So in keeping with this share-style dining, we recommend ordering abundantly from the menu, starting with the antipasti e stuzzichini selection, where the majority of ingredients have been imported from Italy, to make this experience truly traditional.

It’s this kind of attention to detail, which makes 250 Grammi one of the best Italian restaurants on the Sunshine Coast. That and their lemon sorbetto with vodka and prosecco. Go on, you know you want to order it. 

Pizzeria Sisily

Golden Beach

Pizzeria Sisily is a vibrant Italian pizzeria and bar, slinging up authentic Italian dishes in the heart of Golden Beach. The younger sibling of much-loved Golden Beach icon, Cafe Sisily, Pizzeria Sisily was born out of a love for Sicily and a desire to share Sicilian dishes and culture with the Sunshine Coast. 

Honoring the owners’ Sicilian heritage, Pizzeria Sisily combines decades of culinary expertise with respect for tradition—and they add an Australian twist too, of course. Here the menu is groaning with wood-fired pizzas, handcrafted pastas and antipasti and you’ll find only high-quality ingredients which elevate the cherished Italian recipes passed down from generation to generation. 

Il Vento

Mooloolaba

Craving the depth of flavour that only a wood-fired oven can provide? Pay a visit to our friends at Il Vento—they’re one of the incredibly ccool restaurants killing it at the Wharf precinct. Keep it simple with their authentic wood-fired margherita pizza, chow down on their crispy calamari fritti or our personal favourite is the spaghetti con gamberetti with wild-caught prawns in a white wine sauce.

Once done stuffing your face, if there’s still room for dessert, you must devour their signature cannoli with vanilla ricotta, chocolate Frangelico and hazelnut praline. Hands down, one of the best Italian restaurants on the Sunshine Coast.

All’ Antica 

Buddina

All' Antica Owners Shane and Helen have garnered quite the loyal following over the past 30 years with  their traditional approach to Italian cuisine here on the Sunshine Coast. Stepping into All’ Antica, it exudes a relaxed familiarity akin to a family-owned restaurant in a side street in Rome, and that’s exactly what keeps us coming back for more.

Forget about pretentious platefuls, All’ Antica delivers on quality homemade food using a combination of local produce and imported ingredients direct from Italy to showcase the country’s deliciously diverse regions.

Noosa Waterfront Restaurant & Bar

Noosaville

a waterfront restaurant on the noosa river

Italian food prepared by an actual Italian chef, you know you’re in for a tantalising treat. Hailing from Milan, Andrea Ravezzani is a decorated chef and has brought his talents to the shores of Noosa and we’re so glad he did. At Noosa Waterfront Restaurant, you won’t find your standard run of the mill pizza and pasta offerings.

Andrea is all about modern, contemporary dishes inspired by the culinary regions of his motherland, the only difference is these quality handmade dishes hero our locally-grown ingredients. Our favourite way to enjoy Andrea’s cooking is by settling into a degustation dinner or long lunch, overlooking the picturesque Noosa River, where each course is paired perfectly with wine. It sounds almost too good to be true, but that’s what you get when you’re dining at one of the best Italian restaurants on the Sunshine Coast. 

Bertoni’s 

Noosaville & Maroochydore

Another epic Italy export is the good ol’ parmigiana, which Aussies have grown to love and take it on as their own, conjuring up some impressive flavour combinations.

Here on the Coast, Bertoni’s takes the title, boasting eight tasty toppings, including the classic with Napoli sauce, prosciutto and mozzarella; the Hawaiian take with BBQ sauce, shredded ham and pineapple; creamy mushroom, béchamel and spring onion; and the catch of the day, loaded with prawns, fish and scallops. If parmas aren’t your style, they also have a hearty pizza and pasta menu—one thing is for certain, you won’t leave Bertoni’s hungry.

Amici Restaurant And Pizzeria

Caloundra

Gather your foodie friends and park yourself at a table at Amici. Born from the ethos of food shared among friends, this casual Italian restaurant in Caloundra is all about good times.

There’s loads of scrumptious dishes on the menu, but it’s impossible to pass up their spaghetti marinara—fresh cut salmon, prawns, calamari, baby octopus, scallops and mussels in a garlic, cayenne, white wine and Napoli sauce. 

Image credit: Lumea Photo & Amy Higg Photography for Urban List | Bocca Italian, Liliana's Bombetta, Belle Venezia, Il Vento & Noosa Waterfront Restaurant

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