Pasta Romagna

Opened by local Leeds legend Gilda Porcelli on Albion Place in 1982, Pasta Romagna flys the flag as one of the city’s oldest established restaurants. Having built a reputation on cheap, tasty pizza and the joyful (if unpredictable) operatic renditions of its old owner, today it may be leased to a new Italian family but it still continues to deliver the goods in spades.

Pasta Romagna was made famous by the fabulous Gilda, who moved from a tiny Italian village in Apice, some 50 miles from Naples, to Leeds in West Yorkshire, and was renowned just as much for her sharp tongue as she was for serenading her diners with operatic outbursts as they ate.

Winning hearts of locals along the way, not to mention boldly taking on the officials who tried to silence her, she became something of a local icon: even famously attempting to grab the Olympic Torch when it went through town in 2012, allegedly to bring luck to the Italian football team.

Today considered a pioneer for successfully introducing Italian food to Leeds at a time when it was still considered rather exotic, at first, her freshly made pasta – tortellini, ravioli, spaghetti and the like – didn’t take off, but once she started slinging out cheap pizza by the slice the crowds soon came flocking. The rest, as they say, is history.

Sadly, Gilda has since long hung up her apron and leased the restaurant to a new Italian family, so if you’re visiting in the hopes of a personal rendition you’ll be left disappointed. However, the new proprietors – if the reviews are to be believed – are more than doing justice to the beloved site since taking it over. Inside, the decor remains stripped back and simple, allowing the food and not the furnishings to do the talking. As for the menu itself, fans can expect to find all the hearty Italian favourites they desire here, from freshly made pizzas and classic pasta dishes to hearty Italian soups, salads and desserts.

With large glass windows and an al fresco style terrace overlooking Albion Place, Pasta Romagna is the perfect place to sit back with an espresso and watch the world go by. It’s also pretty difficult to miss, almost screaming “good food here” to passersby with its vintage-looking signage painted loudly in the Italian flag colours. Cheap, cheerful and tasty, too, pop in for a lunch or relaxed dinner and drink in the history of this long standing Leeds Italian.