Vitelli’s Upstairs has expanded into Saturday lunch in Redfern, adding a daytime sitting to a venue that combines fresh pasta and Italian-American dishes with late-night drinks, DJs and private dining.
Saturday Lunch At Vitelli’s Upstairs
The restaurant, at the corner of Baptist and Cleveland streets, now opens from 12pm to 2:30pm on Saturdays before returning for dinner from 5pm to 2am.
A $27 Don Vito meatball sub has been added as a Saturday-only special. Served in a salted maple-glazed Parker House roll, it combines truffled Italian meatballs with tomato sugo, shaved pepperoni, mozzarella, provolone, green sauce, rocket and pecorino.
The regular New York-inspired menu is also available during the lunch service. Fresh pasta is made daily by the Grana team, with current options including spaghetti with pork and fennel meatballs, conchiglie with carbonara cream and pipe rigate alla vodka topped with chicken parmigiana.
The menu extends beyond pasta to fried lasagne bites, Sydney rock oysters with pepperoni mignonette, chicken, veal and pork Milanese dishes, steak, pink snapper piccata and roasted cauliflower.
New York Red-Sauce Dining In Redfern
Operated by House Made Hospitality, Vitelli’s Upstairs takes cues from old New York red-sauce restaurants rather than limiting its menu to traditional Italian dishes.
That Italian-American approach also extends to desserts including New York cheesecake, black cocoa and feuilletine tiramisu, strawberry-misu and lemon sorbetto with limoncello.
The setting adds another local point of interest. Vitelli’s Upstairs occupies the former Baptist Street Rec. Club site above Wunderlich Lane, giving the earlier recreation club space a new role as a restaurant, bar and private dining venue.
Its current format moves between several uses across the week. Restaurant dining begins in the evening from Tuesday to Friday, while Saturday now includes both lunch and dinner.
From Dinner To Late-Night Drinks
The bar operates on a walk-in basis from 4pm Tuesday to Saturday, with Italian and Australian wines, amari, Italian liqueurs and cocktails on the drinks list.
DJs play on Friday and Saturday nights, and a late-night food menu is available for later service. The combination means the venue can move from restaurant dining into bar service without changing locations.
Two private rooms provide another part of the offering. Il Lungo accommodates up to 14 guests around a long table, while Il Salotto seats up to 12 and includes a lounge area for drinks before or after dinner.
Il Salotto can also be booked with karaoke for an additional $10 per person, carrying a recreational element into a building previously occupied by the Baptist Street Rec. Club.
Vitelli’s Upstairs serves restaurant dinners from 5:30pm to midnight Tuesday to Thursday and from 5pm to 2am on Friday. Saturday restaurant hours are 12pm to 2:30pm and 5pm to 2am, while the restaurant and bar remain closed on Sundays and Mondays.
Published 7-August-2026
