Best Italian Restaurants in Manhattan Beach: 8 Top Picks
Searching for the best Italian restaurants in Manhattan Beach can lead you in several directions. You can have handmade pasta in a casual trattoria, share a stone-fired pizza near the beach, settle in for an intimate date-night dinner, or enjoy Italian cooking with a distinctly Southern California influence.
For guests staying at Best Western Plus South Bay Hotel, Manhattan Beach is also one of the South Bay’s best destinations for an evening out. Rather than simply listing every nearby restaurant serving pasta, we’ve focused on Italian spots that offer travelers a reason to seek them out.
1. Love & Salt
Love & Salt is a great place to begin if you’re looking for an Italian dinner that feels unmistakably connected to Manhattan Beach. Located just steps from the pier, the restaurant describes its cooking as Italian-inspired with Southern California soul, which is a pretty accurate summary of what makes it interesting.
The restaurant occupies the former home of Cafe Pierre, a South Bay institution that opened in 1977. The Gabriele family’s restaurant evolved into Love & Salt in 2014, bringing a more contemporary approach to the longtime neighborhood space.
Pizza is one of the reasons to visit. The Duck Egg Pizza combines pancetta, potato, rosemary, fior di latte and parmesan, while the Cadillac Margherita takes a more traditional direction with crushed tomato, mozzarella di bufala, garlic, pecorino and basil. The menu reaches well beyond pizza, however, with house-made pastas and Italian-inspired starters and entrees that change with the seasons.
It’s lively rather than formal, making it equally suitable for a date night or a dinner with friends after spending the afternoon around Manhattan Beach.
- Best for: Date nights, creative Italian cooking and dinner near the pier
- Address: 317 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
- Phone: (310) 545-5252
- Website: loveandsaltla.com
2. Nando Trattoria
Nando Trattoria brings a more traditional Italian experience to downtown Manhattan Beach. The restaurant is run by brothers Dario and Alessio Vullo, whose family’s restaurant history stretches back to a bakery founded by their grandfather in Sicily in 1954.
That family history isn’t just part of the restaurant’s backstory. Nando emphasizes the kind of cooking you would expect from a trattoria, with traditional recipes influenced by the family’s Sicilian roots and updated with a contemporary touch.
Pastas, breads and focaccia are handcrafted daily, and the kitchen emphasizes natural ingredients, seasonal cooking and carefully sourced meats and produce. The wine program is another reason to consider Nando, particularly if you want to explore bottles from different Italian regions alongside dinner.
The result falls somewhere between a neighborhood Italian restaurant and a special-occasion destination. It’s polished enough for a nice evening out without losing the warmth that makes a trattoria appealing in the first place.
- Best for: Handmade pasta, traditional Italian cooking and wine
- Address: 1131 Manhattan Avenue, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
- Phone: (424) 237-2236
- Website: nandotrattoria.com
3. Slay Italian Kitchen
Chef David Slay’s Slay Italian Kitchen takes rustic Italian cooking and gives it a California setting. Its location on Manhattan Avenue puts you close to the heart of downtown, but much of what distinguishes the restaurant actually begins well outside Manhattan Beach.
Slay sources ingredients from its own Slay Estate & Vineyard in Santa Barbara County’s Sta. Rita Hills. That connection influences a rotating menu built around seasonal ingredients, vegetables and wines from the estate.
Expect stone-fired pizzas alongside fresh and dried pastas, meats and seafood. Because the menu changes with the seasons, this isn’t necessarily a restaurant where you should arrive expecting the exact same dishes on every visit. That’s part of the appeal.
For travelers who like restaurants with a strong chef-driven identity and a farm-to-table component, Slay deserves a place near the top of the list.
- Best for: Seasonal Italian cooking, stone-fired pizza and wine lovers
- Address: 1001 Manhattan Avenue, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
- Website: slayitaliankitchen.com
4. Mangiamo Ristorante
Mangiamo is one of the established names in Manhattan Beach dining. The restaurant has been serving the South Bay since 1984, giving it considerably deeper local roots than many of the newer restaurants around downtown.
Its location is another major part of the experience. Mangiamo sits just one block from the Manhattan Beach Pier, making it an easy choice when you want to combine dinner with an evening near the beach.
The restaurant describes its approach as Italian cuisine viewed through a California lens. That makes it a good middle ground for diners who want recognizable Italian flavors without necessarily looking for an old-school red-sauce restaurant.
The atmosphere also works well for occasions when dinner itself is part of the evening rather than simply somewhere to eat. Consider Mangiamo for a date, anniversary dinner or a leisurely meal after watching the sunset near the pier.
- Best for: Romantic dinners, longstanding local character and a location near the beach
- Address: 128 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
- Phone: (310) 318-3434
- Website: mangiamorestaurant.com
5. Tin Roof Bistro
Tin Roof Bistro is useful when you’re traveling with a group that wants Italian food but doesn’t necessarily want a strictly Italian restaurant. Its menu incorporates Italian influences alongside broader California bistro cooking.
The wood-fired side of the kitchen is a major attraction. You’ll find pizzas and flatbreads along with handmade pastas, while the rest of the menu branches into seafood, meat dishes, salads and shareable starters.
That variety makes Tin Roof particularly good for families and groups. One person can order handmade pasta, another can go for a wood-fired pizza, and someone else can skip Italian food entirely without forcing the group to choose another restaurant.
It’s located at the Manhattan Village shopping center rather than downtown near the pier, giving travelers another dining option when their plans don’t take them toward the beachfront.
- Best for: Groups, wood-fired pizza, handmade pasta and varied tastes
- Address: 3500 N Sepulveda Blvd, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
- Phone: (310) 939-0900
- Website: tinroofbistro.com
6. Jame Enoteca
It’s worth venturing just beyond Manhattan Beach for Jame Enoteca in neighboring El Segundo, especially if handmade pasta is the reason you’re searching for Italian food in the first place.
Jame is a small California-Italian neighborhood restaurant from husband-and-wife restaurateurs Jackson and Melissa Kalb. The kitchen specializes in hand-rolled pasta made from scratch and combines Italian technique with local, market-driven ingredients.
The Spicy Rigatoni alla Vodka has become one of the restaurant’s signatures, but pasta fans have plenty of other directions to go, including cacio e pepe and changing preparations built around ragù, sausage and seasonal ingredients. Starters such as meatballs and warm ciabatta make it easy to turn dinner into a meal built for sharing.
Jame is particularly appealing for travelers who care more about what’s happening in the pasta bowl than having an ocean view with dinner.
- Best for: Hand-rolled pasta and contemporary California-Italian cooking
- Address: 241 Main Street, El Segundo, CA 90245
- Website: eatjame.com
7. North Italia
North Italia at The Point in El Segundo is another nearby option worth knowing about, particularly for travelers who want a lively restaurant with a broad menu.
The kitchen puts a contemporary spin on familiar Italian flavors. Handmade pastas share the menu with pizzas, salads and starters, with choices designed to work just as well for a casual lunch as they do for dinner.
One advantage here is versatility. You can build a full Italian dinner around pasta and wine, stop in for pizza, share several small plates, or visit for weekend brunch. The restaurant also has a substantial cocktail and wine program.
It doesn’t have the independent neighborhood character of Nando or the decades of Manhattan Beach history behind Mangiamo, but it earns its place for consistency, accessibility and a menu broad enough to accommodate a group.
- Best for: Groups, contemporary Italian food, lunch and weekend brunch
- Address: 840 S Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 110, El Segundo, CA 90245
- Phone: (310) 469-7695
- Website: northitalia.com
8. Bettolino Kitchen
If your South Bay plans take you south of Manhattan Beach, Bettolino Kitchen in Redondo Beach is another restaurant pasta lovers should keep in mind.
Bettolino is owned and operated by a fourth-generation South Bay restaurant family. The family’s roots in the local restaurant business include Giuliano’s in Gardena and Gaetano’s Restaurant in Torrance, while Bettolino takes that heritage in a more contemporary California-Italian direction.
Handmade pasta is one of the restaurant’s specialties, with seasonal ingredients and coastal California influences worked into traditional Italian foundations. The restaurant also emphasizes sustainably sourced seafood, carefully sourced meats, locally grown produce when possible and desserts made in-house.
This is a good choice for travelers who want to explore beyond Manhattan Beach and experience another part of the South Bay’s Italian dining scene.
- Best for: Handmade pasta, modern Italian food and South Bay restaurant heritage
- Address: 211 Palos Verdes Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
- Website: bettolinokitchen.com
Which Italian Restaurant Should You Choose?
If this is your first visit and you want dinner near the Manhattan Beach Pier, Love & Salt, Mangiamo, Nando Trattoria and Slay Italian Kitchen are all strong choices, but they offer noticeably different experiences.
Choose Love & Salt for creative Italian-Californian cooking and a lively date-night atmosphere. Try Nando Trattoria when handmade pasta and traditional Italian roots matter most. Slay Italian Kitchen is a strong match for seasonal cooking and stone-fired pizza, while Mangiamo combines Italian food with decades of local history and a prime downtown location.
For groups with different tastes, Tin Roof Bistro offers one of the broadest menus. Serious pasta fans should also consider making the short trip to Jame Enoteca, while North Italia and Bettolino Kitchen give you additional options elsewhere in the South Bay.
Make Manhattan Beach Part of Your South Bay Trip
One of the advantages of staying in the South Bay is that you don’t have to choose between beach time, sightseeing and a good dinner. You can spend the afternoon around Manhattan Beach, walk the pier or watch the sunset, then make one of these restaurants the final stop of the evening.
Best Western Plus South Bay Hotel provides a convenient home base for exploring Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, Redondo Beach and other communities around the South Bay, while also keeping travelers within reach of LAX and the greater Los Angeles area.
Restaurant menus, hours and reservation policies can change, particularly at restaurants with seasonal menus, so check the restaurant’s official website before heading out.