The best restaurants serving Italian food in Southend-on-Sea East of England

Pre-theatre dinner in a lovely restaurant. The place was very busy at 8pm when we arrived. Told staff we needed to be be gone by half nine and they were happy to accommodate this request. Portions are very generous and the prices are very reasonable. The food was delicious and everyone was happy at our table. Also the complimentary limoncello at the end was a nice touch. We will definitely be back to enjoy the food at a more leisurely pace.

Family was fed and watered with some great dishes - very yummy 😋 lots of traditional foods that was appetising, portions great and Victoria looked after us.

I celebrate Christmas party with my work team. I enjoyed everything in that restaurant. Firstly, the welcoming was so friendly and polite. When it comes to the ordering the staff was so professional and always ready to help with ideas of what to order with drinks and food. As a starter I had portobello mushroom which was delicious and as a main rib eye steak which was cooked as I asked. This was the best steak I ever had from all other restaurant. Thank you to all the team we all we will be back we bring our families and friends.

10 of us visited for dinner last week. Holly our waitress was fantastic - she couldn’t have done anymore to make us all feel welcome and cater to everyone’s requests - thank you!! The food was also great, the pizzas are delicious and we’d all highly recommend the pistachio tiramisu! We will be back!

We love Ricardos. A very special place. Lovely food - generous portions - at reasonable prices. Friendly staff & great atmosphere. Will be there again this month! Thoroughly recommend.

Really not happy. Waited 2 hours before recieving our order with the delivery time constantly changing. And when the food finally arrived it was cold. I had called the restaurant and the food was waiting for a driver.

Fantastic food and atmosphere. We will be back.

Lunch with a friend today. Menu has changed and is amazing! Much more choice and presented so well. Chose tomatoes on sourdough bread with two poached eggs. It came with houmous and pesto dressing, basil and a salad. It was delicious. Staff are friendly and helpful.

A gem of a restaurant!!! Lovely atmosphere and such.a welcome !! Food was delicious. Will be back !

This restaurant only opened under this name last month and appears to have a new menu etc. It was formally called II Palazzo and from the dates of the reviews below they all refer to the "previous" restaurant. Service was Ok but instead of the large dining room shown in the photos we were all packed into tables set out in the former bar area with about two feet between tables. Food was Ok

A pleasant little restaurant, with nice staff. Food is fairly good ; we had mussles to start but they were over cooked although a very nice flavour, and a nice sauce, I had steak dianne, enormous portion and nice flavoured demi glace sauce, but again a litttle over cooked, my yardstick for any restaurant I visit is would I go back, and in this case, yes I would, but make sure before hand my steak is not over cooked. Myself and friends all had a pleasant visit and a good time. so 7/10 for me but I'm sure they can do a little better. Adrian.

We chose La Sirena having been before, for a pre Christmas family meal. The food was a bit slow coming but hey plenty of time to catch up with family over drinks. When it did arrive the food as always, superb and plentiful. The staff were very pleasant and accomodating. I would recommend this eaterie for lunch and dinner.

The food here is excellent, I'm always happy with everything

What a fabulous and welcoming family Italian restaurant. Everyone so friendly and helpful. We had the set 2 course menu. Good varied options, big portions, delicious! Didn’t feel service was rushed as can often happen when busy. You can tell they take a pride in what they do. Will definitely be back.

We have visited this family run restaurant a few times and it never fails to impress. From the warm welcome upon arrival from Enrico Jr and Sabrina, the attentive service and mouth watering food that leaves you wanting for more. There is nothing more to add. We will definitely be booking again soon …