Best Italian Restaurants & Pizza in Madeira
Where to eat pasta and a proper pizza when you've had four nights of espetada.
Selection: Italian kitchens on Madeira serving handmade pasta or oven-baked pizza as the main event.
Every island with a long tourist season accumulates mediocre Italian restaurants, and Madeira has its share. The list below is the short version: kitchens where the pasta is made in-house or the pizza comes out of a proper oven, and where Madeiran seafood turns up in the sauces rather than being ignored.
This is the category to reach for on night four or five, when the grilled fish and the beef on a laurel branch have started to blur.
The list (2)
1.Il Basilico
RestaurantsTuscan Italian restaurant on the Funchal seafront promenade, led by Florence-born chef Cristiano Cutietta. Wood-fired pizza, handmade pasta and coastal seafood on a sunny deck terrace with the Lido at your back.
italian€€Tuscan sharing plates and wood-fired pizza on the Lido terrace2.Lucca Italian Cuisine
RestaurantsNew Italian restaurant on Funchal's Avenida do Infante, opened July 2026 by the team behind Konzai Sushi. A €350k fit-out with a Caracas-trained chef (ex-Tatel, Madrid) leading the kitchen — pasta, pizza and modern Italian plates a short walk from the hotel zone.
italian€€€Modern Italian — pasta and wood-fired pizza
Practical notes
- Book weekend dinners; the good Italian rooms in Funchal are small.
- Look for the local crossover — clams, limpets or tuna in the pasta is a good sign, not a tourist gimmick.
- €20–€35 per person with a glass of wine is normal; a shared pizza and a beer lands nearer €15.
- Kitchens generally run 12:30–15:30 and 18:30–22:00, later than the north-coast towns.
Frequently asked
- Where is the best Italian restaurant in Funchal?
- Il Basilico on the Lido seafront is the established choice — Tuscan-leaning, open daily, with seafood pastas built around the local catch. Lucca in the city centre covers pizza and pasta closer to the shopping streets.
- Can you get good pizza in Madeira?
- Yes, in Funchal. Outside the capital the pizza is mostly hotel-standard, so keep the expectation local to the city and the Lido strip.
- How much is an Italian meal in Madeira?
- €20–€35 per person with wine for pasta or a main course, or around €12–€16 for a pizza on its own. That is broadly the same as a Madeiran restaurant of the same standard.