Edinburgh restaurants: Family-owned business bring latest venture Ragù Pasta to George Street

The family-owned business behind Salerno Pizza and Willow Tea Rooms launched their latest restaurant in Edinburgh last week

A new Italian restaurant specialising in fresh pasta has opened in Edinburgh’s George Street, the third business venture in the capital by family-owned Princes Restaurant Group.

Ragù Pasta, located at 92 George Street, offers a refined menu consisting ten dishes - including three ragù dishes, a range of authentic pasta mains from various regions of Italy and a selection of appetizing sides including Panzanella, marinated olives and Buratta.

Ragù Pasta is located at 92 George Street, Edinburgh

With all pasta made on site, guests at the city centre restaurant can watch a team of talented chefs make fresh pasta from scratch as they peruse the menu - which has been fine-tuned by a panel of Italian pasta consultants. 

Speaking to the Evening News, Princes Restaurant Group director, Danielle Fleming, said: “We’ve been really pleased with the welcome that we’ve had so far - people who have heard about us prior to opening have come along to try our food and passers-by who have seen our fresh pasta being made in the window have come in also - it’s been a great first week.”

Ragù Pasta, which opened on April 13, comes after Princes Restaurant Group opened Salerno Pizza in the St James Quarter in 2021 and the Willow Tea Rooms on Princes Street earlier in the year. Located at the former Xile Clothing on George Street, the group have made significant refurbishments to the space - building a mezzanine floor to allow additional seating and providing 110 covers in total. 

The restaurant promises to create ‘pasta dishes that speak to the heart of Italian cuisine’

Danielle said plans to open a pasta restaurant began three years ago, when customers at Salerno Pizza were enquiring about the staple Italian dish. She said: “We knew it wasn’t going to be possible to produce fresh pasta within our space at the pizzeria but we started to think about how we could do it at that point. It’s not something we wanted to rush, we wanted to find the right venue and team.

“We are very fortunate that our head chef Francesco has a wealth of knowledge and a fantastic background in fresh pasta making - so when we started working together we knew we had the right person.

“We wanted customers to be able to see part of our pasta production - all our pasta is made on site by an experienced team - guests will be able to see filled pasta shapes from Ravioli to Tonnarelli being made at the front of the restaurant.” 

All fresh pasta is made onsite

Danielle added: “The menu has been well received and it’s great to see all the dishes moving well and people are trying different things. I don’t think any of our dishes will disappoint.”

To celebrate the opening, the restaurant is giving away 150 food vouchers worth £50 each. To be in with a chance of a voucher, visit Ragù Pasta’s instagram, and then simply like and share their competition post and follow them. Winners will be selected on Sunday, April 21. Princes Restaurant Group added: “With many prizes, you could have more chance of winning than of seeing this post twice.”

Ragù Pasta is open Sunday to Thursday from 12pm - 10.30pm and Friday and Saturday between 12pm - 11pm.