Hainaut and Italy share a long love story. A story that begins in the corons, in the mine shafts, in the wooden huts where families arriving from Calabria, the Abruzzo, Sicily or Friuli after the war set down their suitcases and, above all, their recipes. Seventy-five years on, that memory still lives on in the kitchens of Italian restaurants in Hainaut. Not as folklore: it’s real, in the dough, in the simmering ragù, in the grandmother who calls to check the measure of salt.
If you’re looking for where to eat Italian in Hainaut, here’s an honest guide — without aggressive rankings or putting anyone down — to help you understand the richness of what’s on offer and choose according to what you fancy.
The richness of Italian cuisine in Hainaut
From Mons to Charleroi, via La Louvière, Binche, Soignies, Tournai, Mouscron or Thuin, Hainaut boasts hundreds of Italian addresses. Mostly family-run. Passed down from father to son, from mother to daughter. With accents still lingering in the kitchen — from a rounded Neapolitan lilt, to a singing Sicilian tone, to a more discreet Friulian one.
This diversity is a real asset. You’ll find everything from the neighbourhood pizzeria you pop into on Friday evenings with the family, to the city-centre trattoria serving fresh pasta made that day, right through to the more refined table working with white Alba truffle in autumn. None is better than the other in absolute terms: it all depends on what you’re after.
The great families: Neapolitan, Roman, Sicilian pizza
Pizza, in Italy, is not a single recipe. It’s a family with several branches, and each has its devotees.
- Neapolitan pizza: thick edge (the famous puffy cornicione), thin and soft centre, cooked very hot (450°C) very quickly (60-90 seconds) over a wood fire. This is the textbook pizza, the one listed by UNESCO. It’s often eaten with a fork, the centre is so soft.
- Roman pizza (tonda romana): thin dough, crisp to the bite, cooked longer at a lower temperature.
- Pinsa romana: an elongated variant made from a blend of flours, long hydration, very easy to digest.
- Pizza al taglio: rectangular, sold by weight, perfect for a quick lunch on the go.
- Sicilian sfincione: thick, soft, generous, closer to a topped focaccia.
In Hainaut, you’ll find all these different styles. Some pizzerias stake everything on ultra-hydrated Neapolitan dough, others make a more Belgian-style dough — a touch more golden, a touch more generously topped. It’s not a question of quality, it’s a question of school.
Here at Mamma Maria, we work a dough left to rest for 48 hours, cooked in a wood-fired oven — in the Neapolitan tradition, but adapted to a format close to our hearts: the 60×40 cm pizza to share.
The trattoria: the soul of the Italian meal
Before talking pizza, let’s talk trattoria. It’s the Italian word for something that’s neither a ristorante (more formal) nor a pizzeria (more specific): it’s the family table. Checked tablecloth or not, it doesn’t matter — the spirit is what counts: you walk in, you sit down, you’re welcomed like a visiting cousin, and you eat whatever the kitchen has made that day.
In Hainaut, the trattoria is everywhere. It’s the soul of the Italian meal in the province: less formal than a Parisian table, less industrial than a chain, warmer than an automated service.
Specialities beyond pizza
Reducing Italian food to pizza means missing 80% of the point. Hainaut is full of restaurants doing other things, and doing them superbly:
- Antipasti: burrata from Puglia, cold cuts (mortadella, bresaola, Parma ham), grilled vegetables, olives, focaccia
- Slow-cooked dishes: osso buco, saltimbocca, vitello tonnato, parmigiana di melanzane
- Fresh pasta: tagliatelle, stuffed ravioli, potato gnocchi
- Dolci: homemade tiramisu, panna cotta, Sicilian cannoli
If you come across a short Italian menu, be positively suspicious: it’s often a sign that everything is made on-site.
How to choose your Italian restaurant in Hainaut?
No need to be a food critic. A few pointers will do.
The dough: a key indicator
A good pizza dough rests for at least 24 hours, ideally 48 hours or more. This maturation gives a dough that’s easier to digest, airier, more flavoursome. You can see it: the edge is puffed up, irregular, slightly charred in places. You can taste it too: no heaviness once you’ve finished eating.
The ingredients: origin, PDO, freshness
The good addresses are happy to talk about their PDO products (Denominazione d’Origine Protetta): mozzarella di bufala campana, San Marzano tomatoes, parmigiano reggiano, prosciutto di Parma. It’s a sign of serious sourcing.
The atmosphere: convivial trattoria or fine dining
Ask yourself first: what do I want tonight?
- A warm, lively birthday dinner → convivial trattoria
- A discreet marriage proposal → Italian fine-dining table
- A quick, good team lunch → pizzeria with efficient service
- A big group celebrating something → a venue you can hire privately
No option is “better” — they simply answer different needs.
The wood-fired oven: the signature
Not all good restaurants have a wood-fired oven, and that’s perfectly fine. But a wood fire brings something no electric element can replicate: a slightly smoky flavour, a honeycombed crust, and that little theatrical touch of flames dancing behind the pizzaiolo.
La Louvière, a land of Italian heritage
La Louvière has a particularly strong Italian identity within Hainaut. Immigration in the 1950s-60s, linked to the steel and mining industries of the Centre region, left a deep mark on the town. Italian surnames are numerous here, associations remain active, and the cuisine still bears the trace of it.
Just 350 metres from La Louvière-Centre railway station, a stone’s throw from the Musée Ianchelevici and the UNESCO-listed Canal du Centre lifts, the Italian food scene is thriving in a town centre that is reinventing itself.
Mamma Maria: family trattoria + 60×40 cm pizza
Our place in this landscape? We embrace it with affection: we’re the convivial, family-run, traditional trattoria, with a joyful signature touch — the 60×40 cm pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven, to share among friends.
We don’t claim to be the finest dining table in Hainaut. We claim to be the one that most resembles a meal at nonna’s: you walk in, you’re welcomed like a cousin, the dough has rested for 48 hours, the ingredients come from Italy (PDO wherever possible), the oven is made of stone and heated with wood, and the dining room can seat up to 42 guests when it’s time for a festa.
That’s our offering: the conviviality of a trattoria + a spectacular sharing centrepiece. For birthdays, team meals, reunions, those Saturday nights with the family when all you want is something good and warm.
To find out more, take a look at our menu, discover our signature 60×40 cm pizza, or check our FAQ.
To see what goes on in the kitchen, we also explain our 48-hour rested dough, the wood-fired oven and the Italian ingredients.
Looking for a venue to bring a whole group together? Discover the options for hiring our restaurant in La Louvière privately.
Come and try us
We welcome you 7 days a week except Tuesdays, from 12pm to 2.30pm and 6pm to 10.30pm, at 40 Rue de la Loi, 7100 La Louvière. To book, the easiest way is to call us on +32 64 28 32 73, or email us at mammamarianet@gmail.com.
Whether you’re coming from Mons, Charleroi, Binche, Soignies, Manage, Morlanwelz, Le Roeulx or Seneffe, you’re less than 30 minutes away. And if you’re arriving by train, we’re just 350 metres from the station.
Hainaut is fortunate to have a living, varied, hand-me-down Italian cuisine. We’re proud to be part of it. Benvenuti a casa.
Feel like coming to the table? Find our details and booking form to let us know your date and the number of guests.
