Cheap Eats 2008 - 3 Stars. Best in Class
Winner in the 2008 Age Cheap Eats Guide.
Distracted by Fitzroy Street's human menagerie, you might miss this unassuming little place. But for faultlessly executed southern Italian fare served in intimate surrounds, seek out Bar Santo. Start with dainty polenta cakes topped with a rich mushroom ragu, or polpettone di tonno, a herb-flecked tuna 'meatloaf' daubed with tangy aioli. Some mains are beyond Cheap Eats orbit and the menu is brief. But orecchiette in a balanced sugo tossed with broccolini and spicy salsicce, or four-cheese ravioli in sage and butter remind me that it's better to do few things very well.

Cheap Eats 2007
Thoughtful food, gentle Italian-accented waitresses, diners stretching out the newspaper over their tables: Bar Santo is a happy, serene place. It's Melbourne-does-Italy by the beach. Expect comfort food exemplified by soft gnocchi dumplings topped with a rich lamb ragu or less usual, southern Italian fare; perhaps spaghetti tossed with a plucky beetroot pesto, red onion, basil and parmesan. Heavier mains like slow-cooked ossobuco take you out of Cheap Eats' territory but there's still plenty of choice. Be sure to end with a fluffy, lemony wedge of Bar Santo's famous baked ricotta pudding.

Mietta's 2006
Right on the curve of Fitzroy St where diners can look out onto trams groaning around the corner partially obscuring the palm trees near the Palais. Well done Italian food at very reasonable prices make this one of St Kilda's better destinations. Warm candle-lit ambience at night. http://www.miettas.com/Australia/Victoria/St_Kilda/Bar_Santo.html