Lygon Street is the obvious destination, but it requires picking. The strip's restaurants run from genuinely excellent to bluntly tourist-trap, and the difference is rarely in the menu — it's in the kitchen. Brunetti, the pastry-and-coffee landmark on Faraday Street, is the safest stop for an espresso and a sfogliatella. For pizza, DOC on Faraday Street has held a strong reputation for over a decade. For pasta, the second-wave restaurants south of Queensberry Street — including King and Godfree's restored 1884 Italian grocer, which now houses Agostino on its first floor — outperform the heritage names on the strip.
The newer dining strip on Rathdowne Street, two blocks east, is a quieter alternative — more bistro than trattoria, with a handful of well-regarded modern-Australian places. Brunetti's gelato counter and the gelaterias at the southern end of Lygon Street (Pidapipo, Gelato Messina) are the standout dessert stops; queues stretch around the block on a warm Saturday night.