Il Bacio

This bustling authentic italian restaurant has recently been refurbished and I recently had a fantastic meal and even practiced my italian! Must be the new chef, some change in staff, but this place has all new look

Distinctly average food. Pizza not much better than supermarket range.

Friends both had Calzone which both arrived burnt, but covered in tomato sauce to disguise it. Friends are both too polite to have sent it back to the kitchen.

My pizza was adequate, but lacked flavour - artichokes were tasteless.

Has this place changed hands recently'ish? Usually very reliable local has been more hit and miss recently. The usual bunch of friendly staff all seem to have changed so that;'s my clue. Still my go-to place for a decent meal out in this neck of the woods (huge, decently-priced pizzas) but just not quite as tip top as it was. Hoping it will return to form.

Wasn't impressed, over price for what it is.

Great place, great pizzas!!!! Very friendly staff and a unique atmosphere,
don’ t miss it!!

Fantastic dining experience!!! We were a party of 8 people last night and absolutely enjoyed the italian experience at IL Bacio. Pizzas were huge and very tasty. The zuppa di pesce and spaghetti vongole e bottarga were amazing!!! The quality is high and prices reasonable. Definitely a place will go back over and over again.

Overloaded pancakey pizza with a big helping of hideous customer service your thing? Well get yourself down to Il Bacio for a full on experience of both… We’ve both been there on a few occasions and found we could forgive the just plain horrifying service whilst the pizzas were good. Unfortunately the other night found our party abused directly and indirectly, our genuine and friendly complaints scoffed at, and very bad soggy pizza to boot. Boy oh boy has this place got a lot to learn! Do they even know that their customers are living through tough time at the moment and need incentives to spend their hard earned cash. Treat us with respect or make way for someone that will!

Starters very disappointing and expensive. Mains are ok. Don’t expect much from the pizza’s. I’d recommend heading up the road to Strada on Upper St if you want a decent pizza as they have proper wood fired ovens. This place gets uncomfortably hot.

Good food, reasonable prices...and you will find many authentic Italians eating here too, which makes it feel like a special find. The bottle of house wine was a steal at the price, and a nice quality too. The place is a little bit loud (Italians tend to be loud anyways) but the food was fantiastic and the prices were excellent.

The perfect local italian. Fantastic authentic pizza and risotto (if you get them on the right night) and friendly service. The food can be a bit variable, but on the whole it deserves to be very busy, and it usually is. Very kid friendly too!

My new local! And I’m not too upset about that either.

Great Sardinian restaurant, always bursting with people eating and chatting loudly (in a good way). Service is superb and food is better than most - lots of seafood dishes on the menu (there’s the Sardegna for you), very well cooked pasta and fresh fish. The pizzas looked awesome, I will certainly be back for one there… just got to try the other three pizza places nearby to make sure first.

As we’re out of football season the giant tv screen on the wall was inexplicably showing music videos with lyrics the whole time I was there. No bother, they weren’t playing the music along with it too, but I always dislike screens in bars or restaurants. Always distracts everyone - eyes flicking backwards and forwards from the screen.

To go alongside the takeaway pizza prices… il bacio does takeaway too and delivers for orders over a tenner. Including the pastas and desserts!

We ate here before the Brazil vs. Italy game played at Arsenal’s Emirates stadium just down the road. Our table for 12 had been booked well in advance, but we were virtually the only Englishmen in the place which made it all the better - it had a sense of being a 'local’ restaurant that way, and gave a pre-match atmosphere only usually felt at a 'home’ venue.

We were glad of the TV in there to catch some of the build up but equally glad of the really relaxed feel that the place has. We were being pretty loud, and the Italians louder, and nobody cared. As garethdixon points out, it’s really family friendly, and the whole time we were there the staff were moving tables around and generally pandering to people coming in with their kids.

The pizza bread we had to start was nice, and not too heavy. I followed this with had a pizza and it was a huge, as were all of them that came out of the oven, and very keenly priced considering the size. Most of the other people in our party also had pizza (chosen from the pretty good selection on offer on the menu) but a couple had lasagne and said that it was delicious.

The side salads that were set down on the table were fresh, crunchy and tasty, as were the potent onions with fresh tomato slices on a large plate!

Peroni was served in large, tall, clean, new glasses and the selection of wine was adequate for such a place. We had a delicious, inexpensive red. There was no time for desert so I can’t comment on that, but if it’s anywhere near as good as their mains you won’t be disappointed.

All in all the restaurant is a great little place to eat, nestled in between the takeaways on Blackstone Road, and if I ever go to the Emirates again I would definitely go back to Il Bacio.

No pasta, no pizza and find something fast. This we had agreed on stepping out into the downpour minus an umbrella. Not the best time to explore the sparse selection of Blackstock Road eateries for the first time. Predictably soon, with moods failing and coats sodden we begrudgingly decided to disregard our hunger for something Oriental and settled on an easy option. Il Bacio was to give us the kiss of life. The Blackstock Road Il Bacio is one of a rapidly expanding pizza enterprise that started on Stoke Newington Church Street. This Il Bacio is bigger and more impersonal than the originals but the standard of food is similarly high and at the same affordable prices. The pizzas are generous, spilling over the sides of the plates and laden with toppings, thin based and deliciously, wood oven crisp. The pasta I had was thick with king prawns and thank god, not drowning in tomato sauce. And snob that I am I was relieved not to be offered parmesan cheese with it (it’s an old Italian rule that you should never have cheese on your seafood pasta). Only real draw back was the distracting large screen TV playing the football for the benefit of the chefs in the kitchen who were often seen craning their necks over the service counter to catch the replays- everyone else seemed set on keeping their attention on their conversations despite the football inspired raucous from the kitchen.

Fantastic family restaurant vibe with bin lid size yummy pizzas. Staff are the friendliest in the area and if you have kids this place is a blessing as they’re so chilled out about family groups.