The Italian Awards took place at a swanky London hotel on Monday evening with a best in North East title up for grabs
Angelo’s Trattoria in East Rainton(Image: Angelo’s)
Now we know you’ve got some absolutely smashing Italians in the region, but on Monday night, at a national awards ceremony in London, there could only be one winner. And the restaurant named Best Italian in the North East in 2026 are over the moon.
We know from the wealth of nominations we had last year, when we asked you to tell us the best Italian in the North East, that many ChronicleLive readers have some pretty strong opinions on the top ones in the area. After hundreds of nominations came in, we drew up a shortlist and asked you to pick a winner, as Michelangelo’s in Ryton came out on top.
this week we’ll be relaunching our search for the region’s best fish and chips, right in time for Easter, but for now, a huge, huge well done to the owners and staff at Angelo’s Trattoria in East Rainton, as they took home the Best in the North East accolade at The Italian Awards on Monday evening. Several of them were in the room at the swanky Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square for the event, as Angelo’s beat off some stiff competition from an array of brilliant North East businesses to triumph.
Angelo’s won Best in the North East(Image: Angelo’s)
Getting in touch with The Chronicle to celebrate their win, Angelo’s said: “We are incredibly proud of this achievement, as it reflects the hard work and passion of our team, as well as the continued support from our loyal customers.”
The online reviews for Angelo’s speak for themselves, with the restaurant having a near perfect score of 4.9/5 on Facebook and an impressive 4.6 on Google, where one reviewer praises the ‘5 star service’ and another writes: ‘Fantastic Italian restaurant on the outskirts of Durham. Very friendly and welcoming with great food. The Sunday lunch is second to none locally.’
Other restaurants in the running for the North East title this year included three who went home with Highly Recommended plaques – Pranzo in Whitley Bay, Stable Hearth in Darlington and Bell e Buon in Heddon-on-the-Wall.
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