Risto La Piazza Restaurant

4.0429 Reviews#79 in Restaurants

Risto La Piazza is an Italian restaurant in Paphos, known for its refined approach to Italian dining, excellent service, and impressive wine selection. It is a restaurant for guests who enjoy the finer details of a meal, from carefully prepared dishes to thoughtful wine pairings and a polished evening atmosphere.

What makes it special

Impeccable dishes created by award-winning Chef Raffaele Santoro from Venice.

Blend of traditional Italian classics and innovative specialties.

Extensive and impressive wine list recognized as one of the best in Cyprus.

The restaurant combines tradition and creativity, offering Italian food that feels both classic and contemporary. Whether you are visiting for the first time or returning for another dinner, Risto La Piazza aims to create a memorable dining experience with quality ingredients, attentive service, and a menu shaped around authentic Italian flavours.

An Italian Restaurant with Tradition and Style

Risto La Piazza brings a more elegant Italian dining experience to Paphos. The menu was created by Professor Raffaele Santoro from Venice, with the idea of celebrating both traditional and innovative Italian cuisine.

This gives the restaurant a distinctive identity. It is not only about familiar pasta and pizza dishes, although those are part of the experience. It is also about presenting Italian food with care, balance, and attention to detail.

The atmosphere suits couples, small groups, wine lovers, and anyone looking for a more polished dinner in Paphos. It works well for date nights, special occasions, or a slower evening meal where food and wine are both part of the pleasure.

The Food at Risto La Piazza

The menu at Risto La Piazza offers a blend of traditional and modern Italian dishes. Guests can enjoy appetisers, pasta, pizza, main courses, and desserts, with each section designed to offer something satisfying and well prepared.

If you prefer a lighter meal, the appetisers are a good way to enjoy several flavours without committing to a full main course. For a more complete dinner, the mains are often the best choice, especially if you want something rich, comforting, and properly filling.

Pasta and pizza are also part of the menu, making the restaurant flexible enough for different tastes. Dessert is worth saving room for, particularly if you enjoy ending an Italian meal with something sweet and indulgent.

The Wine List

One of the standout features of Risto La Piazza is its wine list. The restaurant has received recognition for its wine selection, including Time Out awards for Best Wine List, and it is easy to understand why.

The list includes champagnes, sparkling wines, white wines, red wines, Cypriot wines, Italian wines, and vintages from other parts of the world. Even if you are not a serious wine enthusiast, the selection adds a special quality to the meal.

If you are unsure what to choose, the team can help recommend a wine to match your dish. This is one of the advantages of dining somewhere with strong service and a clear understanding of food and wine pairing.

Service and Dining Experience

Risto La Piazza is also known for its customer service. The experience is designed to feel attentive, professional, and welcoming without becoming stiff or overly formal.

The restaurant’s motto, “True excellence is a constant and endless journey, it is not a destination,” reflects the way it presents itself: always aiming to improve, refine, and deliver a high standard to guests.

This makes Risto La Piazza a good option if you want a restaurant where the whole evening feels considered, not just the food on the plate.

Why Visit Risto La Piazza?

Risto La Piazza is a strong choice if you are looking for Italian food in Paphos with a more refined feel. It suits diners who want authentic flavours, a wide wine selection, polished service, and a menu that goes beyond the basics.

It is especially suitable for romantic dinners, celebrations, business meals, and evenings where you want the restaurant itself to feel like part of the occasion. The combination of Italian cuisine, wine expertise, and attentive hospitality gives it a more premium character.

Best Time to Visit

Risto La Piazza is best enjoyed in the evening, when you can take your time with the menu and pair your meal with wine. It is also a good choice for special occasions, when a slower and more elegant dinner feels appropriate.

As with many popular restaurants in Paphos, booking ahead is recommended, especially during the summer season or if you are planning to visit on a weekend.

Insider Tips

  • Ask for wine pairing advice if you are unsure what to choose.
  • Leave room for dessert, especially if you enjoy classic Italian sweets.
  • Choose a main course if you want the fullest dining experience.
  • Book ahead for weekends and special occasions.
  • Consider Risto La Piazza for romantic dinners or celebrations.

Risto La Piazza Reviews

Guests often praise Risto La Piazza for its refined Italian food, strong wine selection, and professional service. The restaurant is especially appreciated by diners who enjoy a more elegant atmosphere and carefully prepared dishes.

The wine list is one of the main highlights, giving guests the chance to explore Italian, Cypriot, and international wines alongside their meal. For many visitors, this attention to detail is what makes the restaurant stand out from more casual Italian options in Paphos.

Key Points

  • Refined Italian restaurant in Paphos
  • Menu created by Professor Raffaele Santoro from Venice
  • Offers traditional and modern Italian cuisine
  • Serves appetisers, pasta, pizza, mains, and desserts
  • Known for an award winning wine list
  • Good for romantic dinners, wine lovers, and special occasions
  • Booking ahead is recommended during busy times

Final Thoughts

Risto La Piazza is a strong choice for anyone looking for a more polished Italian dining experience in Paphos. With its carefully designed menu, impressive wine list, and attentive service, it offers something more refined than a casual pizza or pasta stop.

If you enjoy Italian food, good wine, and an atmosphere that feels considered from start to finish, Risto La Piazza is well worth adding to your Paphos restaurant list.

Ello says

Try pasta dishes which are mentioned to be very tasty compared to pizzas.

Consider exploring local wines with great prices as highlighted in reviews.

Visit during off-peak hours for better service efficiency.

don't hesitate to ask servers for clarification., with if unsure about menu items or ingredients.

Reviews

Google reviews sit at 3.7 from 38 reviews, while Tripadvisor is at 4.0 from 391, so the response looks consistent across both sources. Recent comments most often mention the food, the service, and the setting.

Google
Google38 reviews
3.7/5
Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor391 reviews
4.0/5

Google rating breakdown

5 stars18
4 stars7
3 stars2
2 stars4
1 star7
5/5

Chantal zirkzee

10 October 2018from GoogleGoogle

This place is amazing. I normally don't even write comments but this restaurant deserves a good recommendation. The food is absolutely fabulous. Exactly enough. Perfect taste. Seriously the best on the island. Don't believe the bad reviews, it's probaly from a bad fish and chips restaurant or people with a bad taste.

2/5

Robert Gall

21 June 2019from GoogleGoogle

Disappointing! The restaurant is nice and the service is good. But food is rather expensive and less than average. The pizza was thin but lacked tomato sauce and cheese. Some slices had no tomato sauce at all. The menu says fresh basil but there was just a single leaf on the pizza. Would a few slices of mozzarella and a few basil leaves be too much for 12 Euro?The lasagne was really disappointing. No fresh tomato sauce and no bechamel sauce at all. But there was lots of salt.

4/5

Michael Lenivtsev

6 May 2021from GoogleGoogle

We have a dinner at this hotel for celebration of birthday. Had first meal lovely tuna tartar, fish and pasta carbonara. Carbonara was too salt, but the fish was great.Local wines with great prices.Generally nice atmosphere.

5/5

Costas Leonidou

19 June 2014from GoogleGoogle

Restaurant's motto is "Food you deserve" and indeed the food there is exquisite. Service is fantastic but the strongest point is the wine. Risto la Piazza has probably the largest and most impressive wine list on the island. It's wine cellar is awarded evry year as the best in Cyprus.I have been going there the last 6 years since I live in Paphos. Never been disappointed.

2/5

Jussi Päivinen

18 July 2017from GoogleGoogle

Really pricey restaurant for what you get. Best part of the dinner was garlic bread, after that everything was a disaster. My gorgonzola pasta barely had any gorgonzola on it, the "special pastas" with inflated price tags were really average and were quite expensive. Service was a bit slow and we had to go to the counter pay because we could not get the waiter to bring us a check.

4/5

Mags Smith

27 August 2018from GoogleGoogle

This was our second visit this holiday and we took my son and daughter in law this time. The meal was lovely but not as warm as it should have been. They made mistakes with our drinks and our bill but got it sorted without incident.

3/5

Alan Pougher

23 August 2016from GoogleGoogle

Pasta dishes were very tasty, but the Pizza's were overcooked and tasteless. Prices are slightly higher than the norm for the surrounding restaurants which I don't mind if the food is better, but I wouldn't rate the food any better than anywhere else and definately would not recommend the Pizza. Service was very slow.

5/5

PaulaG Blitz

16 February 2018from GoogleGoogle

Fabulous restaurant. The food is delicious and the service friendly. Great wine list. Will definitely come back next time we’re in Paphos.