To celebrate its fifth birthday, Massimo has had an Amalfi-coast makeover and relaunched with a pared-back menu focusing on simplicity and freshness. Handmade pasta shines with crimson, rendered ‘nduja and the Italian litmus test – zucchini flowers – is balanced with a charred capsicum sauce. Pops of green, curved timber and vaulted ceilings create a light and airy atmosphere where you can settle in and order another round. 123 Eagle St, Brisbane City; massimorestaurant.com.au.

Caprese salad with strawberries, spaghetti alle vongole with goat’s cheese emulsion, and veal saltimbocca with puffed amaranth. It all sounds like it shouldn’t work, but somehow this outrageously bold take on Italian miraculously comes together at trendy Valley restaurant Rosmarino. The kooky combinations are the work of Italian-born chef Dario Manca, who is unafraid to take the cuisine of his homeland and not just shake it up, but put it in a blender and mix on high. Rosmarino is a restaurant that walks on the wild side and does it with tightrope precision. 6 McLachlan St, Fortitude Valley; rosmarino.com.au.

With its soaring ceilings, yellow and blue colour palette, and uninterrupted water views from the banks of the Brisbane River, OTTO channels all the glamour of the Italian Riviera. Raw kingfish is just right to begin, splashed in olive oil and showered with pearls of finger lime and a dusting of chilli, before for the venue’s signature champagne lobster spaghettini available as an entree or main. The generous twirl of pasta and crustacean in a plate-scraping butter sauce epitomises the entire venue – understated luxury. For the cashed-up, this is a restaurant made to impress. Shop 1, River Quay, Sidon St, South Brisbane; ottoristorante.com.au.

Honest, genuine, passionate service may just be the secret recipe to Bianca’s success. In the glamorous Calile Hotel precinct, this cosy, modern trattoria brings together the sleek, sophisticated style for which Italy is known with the charm and hospitality it is synonymous with. The menu is designed to be shared: antipasti to be teamed with the standout puffy, woodfired bread; a clutch of pastas and a quartet of oversized mains. This is an upscale trattoria made approachable and welcoming. Shop AM5, 46 James St, Fortitude Valley; biancarestaurant.com.au.

Notable Brisbane hospitality family the Gambaros share dishes from their heritage at this slick city Italian. Kindly staff serve complimentary bread while running guests through the substantial menu, taking in snacks, starters, pasta, pizza and mains. Battered and fried artichokes dipped into a salty anchovy mayonnaise beg to be shared, as does the paper-thin-based Toscana pizza generous with artichokes, prosciutto, olives, tomato and mozzarella cooked in an electric oven rather than over wood. Persone delivers family-style Italian fare made that little bit more special, in a setting that wows. 81 N Quay, Brisbane City; persone.com.au.

Cherry-red banquettes and curved-back chairs wait to hug diners through long lunches and stretching suppers at this elegant yet approachable Italian favourite. The menu showcases the food of Percuoco’s home town of Naples, meaning terrific red and white-based pizzas fly out of the wood-fired oven with the dough taken to bubbly, charred brilliance under classic toppings of top-notch ingredients. Whether it’s a romantic dinner for two or boisterous catch-up with friends, Tartufo is a restaurant that can cover it all. 1000 Ann St, Fortitude Valley; tartufo.com.au.

Beccofino’s reputation for impossibly good pasta has driven nightly queues for almost two decades. The tiny kitchen uses a combination of dried pasta from Italy and hand-made dough to produce seasonal faves including rigatoni alla vodka. But it’s the duck ragu that’s famous. Made from locally sourced game, the restaurant serves about 400 portions a week. 10 Vernon Tce, Teneriffe; beccofino.com.au.

If you live south of the river, you can also get fried calamari or duck pappardelle fix at Beccofino’s baby brother Julius. Like its sibling Julius also has a no reservation policy. You can play the ‘waiting for a table’ game with something cold from the spritz list at Bar Brutus. Once seated, Julius offers seventeen regular pizzas and weekly specials that always delight Try the Salsicca with tomato, chilli, mozzarella, pork sausage and rocket; it’s always a winner. The Fish Lane (Southbank) location makes it perfect for pre or post-theatre carb-loading or a people-watching stroll. 77 Grey St, South Brisbane; juliuspizzeria.com.au.

Tucked into a side street, this is your neighbourhood Italian taken up a notch. Popular with every crowd, its cosy heritage digs speak of traditional European elegance. Sit in the baroque-tiled main dining room, softened by slouchy drapes, or along the leather banquette in the mezzanine and peruse chef Catherine Anders’ modern a la carte menu. A perfectly balanced beef tartare is ready to be scooped up with gluten-free seed crackers made by a local artisan. Pasta dominates the main courses and a comforting bowl of the wide, ring-shaped calamarata dotted with nuggets of pork sausage and finely diced broccolini is just what warms the soul on a chilly night. 164B Arthur St, Fortitude Valley; mosconi.com.au.

Italian-accented staff flit around the warm and inviting, heritage-style dining room, bringing a sense of authenticity to this stalwart of the Brisbane dining scene. From the first course offerings, the vitello tonnato is the standout; the finely sliced veal curled into rose buds and arranged in a puddle of bowl licking tuna mayonnaise with capers and olives. Most pastas can be ordered as an entree or main, with the classic carbonara an exception, served as an in-between portion generous with terrific crispy pan-fried guanciale and bitey pepper. Marginally more substantial is the slow-cooked pork and beef ragu strewn through al dente pappardelle piquant with tomato. 10-12 Logan Rd, Woolloongabba; 1889enoteca.com.au.

With its sunken lounge room under a walnut hued ceiling, trimmed in curved timber panels, Italian restaurant Gemelli feels like a warm hug from Nonna. Drawing most in is the accessible menu – a lengthy mix of antipasti, woodfired pizza, pasta and mains. Zucchini blossoms – lightly battered, deep-fried and blooming with ricotta, accompanied by a sweet-sticky caponata – are a charming starter, and light enough to follow with a heaving bowl of gnocchi. 15 James St, Fortitude Valley; gemelliitalian.com.au.

As a local to the river city, it makes sense that Brisbane venue Popolo accompanies its mix of old and new Italian food with views of the iconic waterway. That goes for its tiramisu – served to a traditional recipe, the presentation of the dessert is anything but, with the coffee and chocolate dish garnished with more than a few flowers. River Quay R3, Sidon Street, Brisbane, popolodining.com

Wilston’s home of Southern Italian fare (including pizza, don’t worry) pays homage to the principles and traditions of Neopolitan-style cooking. Roman-style artichokes, fried and finished with lemon and mint, and tender saltimbocca alla Romana (veal and sage, wrapped in prosciutto, and gently fried) are must-orders before the main event of chewy, burnished woodfired pizzas. 1/70 Kedron Brook Road, Wilston; anticapizzeria.net.au.

You can spend more than 24 hours in the air to get to Sardinia, or you can pop over to West End. Sure, enjoying the beaches lapped by sapphire waters, the forests and granite peaks of its wild interior and pecorino cheese and suckling pig-led cuisine of the large Italian island floating in the Mediterranean would be well worth the jet lag, but for a taste of what it has to offer, the inner-south Brisbane suburb is likely to be more accessible. 166 Hardgrave Rd West End; pilloni.com.au.

La Lupa serves Roman-style pizzas plus a busy collection of other Italian goodies. But it is pizza that holds centre court on over half the menu. It’s long-fermented, Roman style with a thin crust and subtle toppings. But there are things afoot at Lupa that the other joints just don’t have, most apparent of which is a staggeringly good wine list (all Italian except for a surprising two or three – Austrian, Australian, German) that has labels obscure enough to leave you scratching your head and very intrigued. 3/321 Montague Rd, West End; lupapizzabar.com.au.