Britain’s Best Local Restaurants 2025: top 10 trattorias
Published 11 August 2025

It may be squirrelled away in the little Derbyshire town of New Mills, surrounded by the rugged High Peaks, but Tavola’s ‘welcoming atmosphere makes you feel like you’ve walked into a Sicilian home’. Locals have certainly taken the place to their hearts and the owners have responded, drenching the interior in sunshine-yellow and filling every corner with Sicilian knick-knacks. Ring the bell for admittance and surrender to the unusual comfort of a huge regional menu full of appetising possibilities. Antipasti range from fingers of sfincione (Sicilian pizza) to mangia e bevi (another street-food classic from Palermo involving chargrilled spring onions wrapped in guanciale with salmoriglio). Pasta is homemade too – perhaps twisted casarecce with a creamy pistachio sauce. Locally reared lamb is also given a spicy Sicilian makeover, while desserts including crisp, ricotta-stuffed 'bigne' choux buns show off solid pastry skills. Drinks run from Italian ciders to soft spritzes and natural wines made in terracotta pots, but you'll always know you're in New Mills: the bill comes with a selection of sweets from the neighbouring Swizzels factory.

Mixing a come-as-you-please vibe with upbeat cooking, loud music, a sense of fun and unquestionable value (note the £5 Negronis and spritzes) – the late Russell Norman’s formula for a good restaurant was always guaranteed to win over the local populace. Now run by Monique Sierra, Brutto is as popular as ever, with the checked tablecloths, Chianti bottles and typewritten menu (in Italian and English) summoning up the spirit of a traditional Florentine trattoria.

There is much to applaud here. A plate of anchovies with cold butter curls and St John sourdough is a good starting point, and we are big fans of the pork tonnato with caperberries. Elsewhere, there’s exemplary pasta (perhaps pappardelle with rabbit and lemon or maltagliati with oxtail ragù), plus a punchy, fall-apart beef shin and peppercorn stew, and an 800g Florentine T-bone steak that was shared by three contented diners and pronounced ‘fantastic’ – even the house red they washed it down with ‘was more than acceptable’. Brutto's roast potatoes are also 'something special', too. 

Desserts are no slouch either. We can recommend the tiramisu, but it's also worth looking out for the panna cotta with English strawberries or poached apricots with aged Parmesan. The young front-of-house team is superbly drilled, and there’s an attractive list of mainly (but not exclusively) Tuscan and other Italian wines.

Traditional and delightfully untrendy, this trattoria has been serving up a slice of Italy to appreciative locals for more than 20 years. Run by chef Antonio Cersosimo (from Calabria by way of Milan) and Neapolitan wine importer Luca Montuori, the proposition is a picture of regional Italian gastronomy, pairing premium Italian imports with bountiful Welsh produce. 

The concise menu, supplemented by a paper slip of specials, will transport you from the humdrum lookout onto an NCP car park, while charming service invites you to kick back and relax. From the list of antipasti, there might be spinach and ricotta gnudi, or thick-cut bruschetta, messily laden with stracciatella, sweet blistered tomatoes and the peppery undertones of good olive oil. Pasta dishes such as pappardelle with venison and pork ragù rule the mains alongside fresh fish from the market (halibut on our visit) and rosy-pink Welsh lamb rump with Parmesan mash. Dessert might be a simple almond panna cotta or a glass of passito with cantucci. Look out for the good-value lunch menu (£28 for three courses at the time of writing) or, if choosing is beyond you, there's a tasting experience of five courses for £60. 

As for wine, there’s a whole handbook of help available, although it's better to rely on the easy-going, knowledgeable staff when it comes to picking something from the all-Italian line-up. An upstairs dining room is warmly lit for a convivial evening, though we think the toilets could do with a makeover to bring things up to scratch.

Sitting modestly amid the hustle and bustle of Levenshulme’s frenetic Stockport Road, Cibus has grown from a market stall to a consistently popular neighbourhood restaurant. Indeed, when you enter you could almost be in the Italian tratt of your dreams – 'it’s always a good sign when one hears diners speaking Italian with the staff,’ observed one reporter. During the pandemic, Cibus delivered pizzas to the housebound and that community-minded service continues.

At first glance, the menu might seem like a roll call of trattoria standards but it also features regularly refreshed regional specialities, coupled with a level of cooking, sourcing and service that would shame many a fancier joint. Alongside top-class Italian ingredients, the owners support local suppliers, and can regularly be seen shopping in the nearby market. Their approach is flexible. You can pop in for a glass of wine and some cicchetti (perhaps aubergine arancini, baked portobello mushrooms with salmoriglio dressing or cod cheeks with peperonata) or settle in for something more substantial – including traditional roasts with a twist on Sundays.

The mainstays of the menu are the highly rated, crispy sourdough pizzas and interesting pasta dishes – ravioli stuffed with salt cod or orecchiette with meatballs and braciole ragù, for example. In addition, there's always a meat dish of the week (perhaps Italian sausages with goat's cheese, mash, onion gravy and greens) as well as a catch of the day. To finish, check out the salted doughnuts fashioned from little parcels of pizza dough – although the ‘gorgeous’ limoncello and Prosecco sorbet also comes highly recommended. Cocktails and digestifs have an Italian accent, likewise the well-chosen craft beers and wine list.

*Giulia will be closing its doors for good on 13 June 2026.*

At heart, tiny Giulia is a neighbourhood restaurant, one where Endris Kerbizi’s bold, assured Italian cooking draws back locals again and again. A passion for quality runs through every aspect of the place, and the menu embodies the capital's take on Italy – a pared-back aesthetic, a short, regularly changing repertoire and a light, contemporary touch. ‘Never had a duff dish,' just about sums it up.

Seared octopus with cauliflower, creamy potato and 'nduja sauce is a never-off-the-menu must-order, but in season the baked courgette flower filled with ricotta and served with a courgette salad is not to be missed. To follow, there’s plenty of love for the veal cotoletta alla milanese, while the roast lamb rack with braised shoulder, peas and asparagus is reckoned to be as good as anything in London. And if you're craving some handmade pasta, the seafood paccheri is a standout.

Focaccia and gelato (both made in-house) have been praised, while one fan insists that 'they have the best tiramisu I have ever tasted (and I’m Italian)’. However, we have a soft spot for the lemon tart with caramelised apricot. Giulia Quaglia heads the small front of house team, a ‘smiling, friendly presence’ who always finds time to chat and talk food. To drink, there are some classic cocktails and a short list of affordable all-Italian wines.

Opened in 2007 by novelist Simonetta Wenkert and IT engineer Avi Reichenbach, there’s a rare kind of magic to this homely little restaurant, which is still devotedly serving its local community. At its heart is the restaurant’s namesake, Avi’s mother Ida, whose culinary traditions from her Italian hometown of Cupramontana encompass a generosity of spirit that's about more than just good food. While Simonetta still steers the ship, day-to-day service is run by the next generation with infectious warmth. From the open kitchen comes a succinct but ‘innovative’ line-up of unfussy dishes defined by the uncompromising quality of their ingredients. A salad of white Devon crabmeat, vine tomatoes and Granny Smith apple is enlivened with a velouté of roasted red peppers, while signature pastas include bronze-cut mafaldine with sheep’s ricotta, tomatoes, basil and Parmesan as well as the much-lauded tagliatelle al ragù Marchigiano. For dessert, indulge in seasonal fruit tarts, tiramisu or basil and dark chocolate panna cotta. Service is ‘impeccable,’ and there’s a short but rewarding list of Italian wines; also, don’t miss the saffron and sour-cherry spritz.

Visitors consistently praise the ‘welcome and engaging’ service at this laid-back pasta emporium that has come a long way since its days as a pop-up. Watch owner Chris Davis beatifically shaping a seemingly endless ribbon of pasta in the restaurant’s shopfront window workspace. Inside, the lived-in decor of rough wood floors, bare tables and salvaged chairs, plus high shelves housing trailing plants and bottles of wine, creates a relaxing vibe.

The short menu naturally showcases Davis’s freshly made pasta, though starters could be anything from monkfish carpaccio with orange and shallot to a wonderfully moreish white bean, fennel and sausage ragù with chive butter. Mains are expertly crafted, precisely cooked and lavishly dressed delights, say a generous plate of half-moon casoncelli stuffed with roast celeriac and Parmesan and bathed in honey, butter and chopped pickled walnuts or tagliolini with prawn-head sauce, chilli, basil and butterflied prawn. After such a high, desserts (including traditional favourites such as tiramisu and affogato) can be a bit of an anti-climax.

To drink, a modest list of almost entirely Italian and French wines offers a decent selection by the glass. Visit Tuesday to Friday lunchtime to take advantage of the great-value set menu (three courses for £26 at the time of writing).

Combining the virtues of a family-run neighbourhood Italian restaurant with a deli, wine bar and daytime coffee spot, this cute little venue garners lots of support from readers who praise its authenticity, superb value for money and delightfully welcoming staff. Ingredients are imported direct from Italy or gleaned from the local area, presentation is spot-on and flavours are fresh. 

Among the antipasti, the 'houmous pistachio' served with super-thin Sardinian carasau bread is a winner, likewise a stunning riff on salad tricolore artistically topped with balsamic pearls in a basil leaf vessel. Pasta is also freshly made and cooked properly al dente: our tagliatelle came loaded with heaps of meaty New Forest oyster mushrooms in a creamy truffle sauce, while a bowl of unctuous rigatoni carbonara was pointed up with chunks of smoky, fatty guanciale. There are also pizzas and a choice of ‘taglieri’ platters, while mains offer the usual steaks, burgers, chicken milanese and a breaded pork sausage ‘lollipop’ with roasted red pepper sauce. 

Portions are mighty, so you might want to pass on the somewhat underwhelming desserts (tiramisu, panna cotta, chocolate mousse etc). Paninis are available at lunchtime and the place is also open for breakfast, with eggs from Fluffetts Farm on the edge of the New Forest being one of the specialities. The reasonably priced wine list kicks off with a Frappato IGP 'Roceno' from Sicily.

‘If you’re looking for a place that feels like a warm hug from Nonna, this is an absolute must-visit,' is wise advice from one loyal fan. Nico Pasquali has been bringing ‘a slice of Rome to north Manchester’ since 2014. Even though his homely little all-day trattoria is in the incongruous setting of an industrial estate, it attracts a steady flow of customers drawn by the unfussy, unpretentious vibe, the chequered tablecloths, the soft hum of Italian music, and the precisely cooked traditional dishes – from perfectly crisped Roman-style pizzas to richly sauced hand-rolled pastas. One reporter singled out the cannelloni with ricotta and spinach, but other reasonably priced options might range from battered courgette flowers and crocchette (handmade potato balls filled with scamorza cheese) to lobster ravioli – not forgetting those pizzas (and pastries). To drink, there's a modest collection of artisan Italian wines, as well as cocktails and Italian beers. The expertly brewed coffee also receives rave notices.

This love letter to Italian regional cooking not only serves its neighbourhood brilliantly, but the fun now extends to an additional bar for counter dining, which provides even more opportunities for socialising. The feel is of a modern refettorio with a sleek navy-blue frontage and a cool, softly lit interior. Brilliant staff go out of their way to make sure everyone has a good time and the food is tailor-made for happy mixing and matching, kicking off with inspired antipasti selections such as Roman-style arancini or burrata with strawberries, pistachio and basil oil. Pasta is a sure-fire hit (pappardelle with rabbit ragù, for example), while main dishes are robust and rustic along the lines of lamb shoulder with braised peas and Tropea onions (of course). Anyone leaving without having bitten into one of the bombolone (filled doughnuts) has missed a textural sensation. Not surprisingly, Italy is the reference point for an approachable wine list with plenty by the glass or carafe; also ask to see the prestigious 'cellar list' of fine vintages.