Ladro

Name: Ladro
Address: 224 Gertrude St, Fitzroy Melbourne, Melbourne, AU
Telephone: +61 (0)394157575

Since 2003, Ladro on Gertrude Street has been Melbourne's go-to for wood-fired pizza, handmade pasta and classic Italian fare done with conviction.

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The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Fitzroy Original

In 2002, the people behind Ladro travelled to Italy looking for something real. They came back to Melbourne and in 2003 opened on Gertrude Street, at a time when the strip had barely any restaurants to speak of. More than two decades on, the room on 224 Gertrude St remains what it always was: a straightforward, charismatic Italian restaurant where the food does the talking. Gambero Rosso has taken note, recognising Ladro in its international pizza guide — a nod that carries weight for a neighbourhood spot that has never needed to shout.

The Pizza, and Everything Around It

Wood-fired pizza is the anchor. The Badabing — tomato, provolone, fennel salsiccia, basil, oregano and chili — is the signature, and it earns that status. The white-base Mortadella & Burrata, with pistachio and lemon zest, shows the kitchen is willing to push beyond the classics. Goodfood called Ladro "the pacesetter for Gertrude Street dining," and Broadsheet was more direct: "incredible pizza."

But Italian food at Ladro runs deeper than the oven. The pasta list is serious: a 100 Layer Lasagna built from housemade pasta, bolognese, bechamel and two cheeses; Pappardelle Ragu with slow-cooked osso bucco; a Fettuccine Carbonara made the Roman way with guanciale, egg yolk and pecorino. Housemade gnocchi comes three ways, including a signature version with basil pesto and burratina. The kitchen also handles mains — Chicken Saltimbocca, Veal Cotoletta, a 400g grass-fed Rib Eye Tagliata — and finishes with tiramisu, cannoli and zeppole with Nutella.

The Room and the Occasion

The atmosphere is light, a little loud on busy nights, and genuinely welcoming — qualities that show up consistently in how regulars talk about the place. One diner noted they'd been coming for fifteen years. The space handles large groups well: a $69 Feed Me menu rotates through ten dishes and works for tables of six or more, and the function room has hosted conference dinners for seventy people without a complaint about the food. Gluten-free bases and gnocchi are available, and most pizzas and several pasta dishes can be adapted for vegan or dairy-free guests.

Concrete Playground put it plainly: "Pizza. It's delicious. Ladro on Fitzroy's Gertrude Street does it well. Really well." After more than twenty years, that assessment hasn't aged a day.

Recognition