The Mad Italian

The Mad Italian is one of Newland Avenue's most distinctive restaurants, bringing a rustic Italian sit-down and takeaway experience to Hull's busiest independent food strip. The interior features bare bulbs, colour-washed walls, and a deli-style antipasti station where diners can pick their own sharing nibbles before the kitchen takes over. The menu takes in pizzas, pasta, risotto, steaks, fresh mussels, and seafood — a range well beyond the standard takeaway offer and the kind of food that rewards a table booking rather than a delivery order. A food blogger who reviewed it in 2016 called it one of the best Italian restaurants outside Italy for its quality and character. The owner's hometown in southern Italy is captured in a mural on the back wall, giving the room a personal quality that the chain competition and themed restaurants on the avenue simply cannot replicate. One of the stronger reasons to book a table on Newland Avenue rather than just order in.