The best restaurants serving Italian food in County Durham North East

Recently visited Perla Nera for an evening meal. The restaurant is beautifully decorated. The Christmas decorations are lovely and tasteful. We had bruschetta which was so tasty. Garlic mushroom and a black pudding and pepper sauce to start. All were cooked to perfection the pepper sauce was stunning. For main course we had a chicken in pepper sauce and a carbonara which again both were beautiful. The chips and veg with the chicken were lovely. Homemade chips and the veg was sautéed in butter and was fresh and crisp so nice. I had a coffee after which was beautiful, you can’t beat Italian coffee and my husband had sticky toffee pudding which was beautiful he said and was convinced was made fresh in the restaurant and not bought in. The staff really are attentive without being overbearing and are extremely friendly. I can’t recommend this restaurant enough and we will definitely be back. Thank you so much Eli and team keep up the fantastic work. We had heard about your reputation before we came and can 100% see why you are so highly regarded. Thank you.

The owner is very pleasant and attentive.. the meal was superb.. cracking little restaurant..definetly worth a visit.

My wife and I had the £10 meal deal, starter, main course (pasta or pizza) with tea/coffee to finish. Everything was perfectly cooked and served piping hot. Amazing value, service and meal. We will be back.

We visited on a Friday evening, had some very nice cocktails especially Wallington dream their signature cocktail. After coming back from holiday this place made us feel likke we are still celebrating on holidays. Love the calzone and the seafood linguine very fresh and tasty. We'll done to the owner and the team they turned this place to a proper Restaurant

We have ordered take away from Grande many times and it has never disappointed, hot, tasty and very filling. It's hard to describe how good it is! The restaurant part itself is small and is restricted to only a handful of tables so I would recommend booking beforehand but size doesn't matter when you are serving food of this quality. You will not be disappointed! Reasonably priced and serves throughout the day . I'm yet to try the breakfast menu but what from what I've seen of it, it looks delicious. If you've never tried the food, it's a must! If I could get away with it, everyday would be a Grande day.

Heard alot about Charltons so decided to give it a try. Best breakfast butty i've had in a long time! Beautiful food & great service 👌

My sister and I visited for lunch today to help them celebrate their first birthday in business. Food and service were just fantastic. We love coming up from Chester-le-Street for lunch. We’ve never been disappointed right from the word go. The food is brilliant but it’s not just that it’s the staff and the atmosphere too. And today was just tremendous. The steaks were absolutely perfect. Ariano’s is a real community asset and we look forward to many more visits. In fact I’m coming with another group of friends later next week. You just can’t keep me away. Well done to everyone. ❤️❤️❤️

Love this place been here a number of times and never had a bad meal

Lovely restaurant with great food and excellent service

Spotlessly clean with a warm, friendly atmosphere. The service was first class throughout all the food was delicious and cooked to a high standard. Definitely worth a visit.

Excellent meal! And very accommodating for our large group (7 adults and 6 kids). Food was delicious.

Absolutely amazing service from the team and manager, Max. If you are looking for an atmospheric place with top quality italian food and service then this is the place. Max will take care of you and provide you will top class service, the best italian cuisine and ice cold beers 🍻 👌🏻 10/10

Superb customer service and excellent food. Never get a bad meal and always get a great experience. Plenty of choice on the menu

Food is always great here . Parking outside or diagonally across the traffic lights if it's busy

This was our first visit to this restaurant and the food and service was amazing we will definitely return but will have to take our own full fat coke