The Italian Awards has announced its finalists for 2026, and not only does London feature prominently in many categories, there’s even a separate award for London restaurants.
Thirteen restaurants feature in the Best Italian Restaurant in London category. Here’s the full roll-call:
Alba London Amore Limoncello FulhamCaldesi in Marylebone Caloroso Pizza Hackney Casa FeliciaCornicello PizzeriaFocacciamoLamezia – Italian Restaurant Little Italy (Soho)Marcus Kitchen & Bar Mo Mangio Shambles Restaurant & WinebarEat At Sicily
There are some great London spots in the other categories too. Among the Best Pizzeria finalists — a commendably geographically diverse lot — Crust Bros gets a nod.
You’ll find its cracking pizzas at Waterloo, Covent Garden and Earl’s Court.
In the Best Fine Dining category London spots commended include Mezzogiorno by Francesco Mazzei, Murano, Luca, Alba and Theo Randall at the Intercontinental. Perhaps unsurprisingly, London dominates that list, with only seven restaurants in the full list of finalists.
There’s even an award for the best tiramisu, in which you’ll find London spots Caloroso Pizza in the Docklands area and Haggerston’s Mo Mangio.
If you want to dig through the entire set of categories, the UK Italian Awards Facebook page is the best place to head. The awards’ website hasn’t been updated with the finalists at the time of writing.
Italian grub across the country
The Italian Awards has been around since 2012, devised in Glasgow with the aim of celebrating Italian businesses in the UK.
Last year’s Italian Awards 2025 focused on businesses in Scotland, as did years before that.
However, in 2023 there was a UK-wide awards, in which Liverpool’s Crust Pizza won the Outstanding achievement award. And Courtyard Italian Restaurante in Great Yarmouth won the Best Restaurant in the South gong.
The 2026 Italian Awards takes place on March 30th at London’s Marriott Grosvenor Square hotel, after which we’ll know the official winners. Tickets for the event cost £199 and include a drinks reception and 3-course dinner. But it’s mainly intended for folks in the industry.
Next year in 2027, The Italian Awards wants to expand out to the US, with plans to “launch the first ever transatlantic Italian Awards competition in New York in 2027.”
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Dining and Cooking