Gloria
Italian restaurant · Shoreditch
54-56 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3QR, United Kingdom
Highlights
Italian trattoria with maximalist decor, fun dishes, and cocktails
Italian trattoria with maximalist decor, fun dishes, and cocktails
"Gloria is the mamma of all the Big Mammas. The OG London Big Mamma restaurant in Shoreditch, she’s the more mature, down-to-earth one of the group that won’t confuse you with grand winding stairs or five different rooms all with a different personality. Instead, there’s some calm cohesion between each space and you can eat chewy bufala mozzarella-topped pizza in a cosy booth that feels like a cocoon. The additional rooms—a mirrored-ceiling basement that treads a fine line between looking old-school and having your actual granddad’s carpet on the floor, and a grown-up candlelit wine room—aren’t as in your face as the other restaurants. But don't you want that a little bit from a Big Mamma spot?" - rianne shlebak, sinead cranna
"The scene at Gloria is about as inconspicuous as a wet dog wearing hi-vis. A Shoreditch trattoria that’s built on frills, truffle, and supersized profiteroles, you can get involved in the breakfast menu from 11.30am at the weekend. It features all of the usual suspects—eggs, pancakes, more eggs—but everything has received Gloria’s La Dolce Vita treatment. The French toast is covered in tiramisu cream, the scrambled eggs come with its own little mountain of parmigiano, and you can add 24-month prosciutto to your poached eggs. Oh, and Gloria takes bookings of up to 16 people, so you’ve officially just lost your reason not to invite your friend’s new partner who publishes pictures of their running routes. Sorry." - rianne shlebak, jake missing, heidi lauth beasley
"Nicolas Cage doesn’t make the best films in the world and nor does Gloria make the best pasta in the world, but both are very entertaining. The Shoreditch trattoria prides itself on OTT-ness, and if you live along the same lines then you’ll want the carbonara. It’s got a whack of cheese, an unashamed dash of cream, and whole load of guanciale. Go in the evening and you’ll get it mixed table side in a wheel of pecorino. Subtle, right." - jake missing
"No one, least of all us, realised that the thing London needed most was a chintzy Italian trattoria that feels like the set of a perfume advert where everybody is two bottles of prosecco deep. Everything about this Shoreditch restaurant is best viewed through Aperol-tinted glasses. Like, everything. Your eggs alla Fiorentina at 10am, your plate of San Daniele ham at lunch, or your giant profiterole at 11pm - all of it should be taken with both a pinch of salt, and with a couple of fingers of booze. Not because it’s necessary, but because Gloria is a good time restaurant, and everyone needs those." - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing
"You know how ready you are to dance when you hear that 80s hit Gloria? Yeah, times that by ten and you’ve got the feel good factor of this huge, OTT Italian trattoria. This place has quickly become the spiritual home of drinking too much Aperol, sharing a carbonara out of a parmesan wheel, and feeling really fucking fabulous in Shoreditch. It’s loud, the service is friendly, the cocktail list is long. Think of your whole experience here as an aperitif for a seriously boozy night out." - heidi lauth beasley, eileen twum
