About Il Matriciano

A room opposite Parliament

Late in 2014, Alessandro Laganà and Stefania Carpoca took over the former BeBel space at Rua de São Bento 107, a few steps from the Assembleia da República. They opened the following year. The dining room is small by design — around 50 seats inside, a covered esplanade for another 20, and ten more seats outside.

The name says what the kitchen is about. "Il Matriciano" points to Pasta Matriciana — what most people call Amatriciana — the guanciale-and-pecorino tradition of Lazio. Roman food, cooked the Roman way, in a city where Italian usually means pizza.

The people behind it

Stefania Carpoca, a sommelier, looks after the room and the wine list. The kitchen is led by chef Maurizio Traina, from Bergamo. Behind the two founders sits a longer trade history: before Lisbon, Alessandro ran a hotel and two restaurants in Teramo, in the Abruzzo region of Italy — properties long since sold, but part of the experience he brought south with him.

That background is easiest to taste in the sourcing. The dry pasta comes from named Italian producers — Pastificio Verrigni in Abruzzo and La Pasta di Aldo in the Marche — the guanciale from Sano di Amatrice, the Pecorino Romano DOP from the Fulvi dairy. We write about where each of these comes from in our From Teramo to Lisbon journal article.

Recognition, earned not claimed

In October 2021, Il Matriciano won Little Big Italy on Italy's NOVE channel (Season 4, Episode 4, "Lisbona"). On presenter Francesco Panella's voto di italianità — his score for how genuinely Italian a restaurant is — it finished one point ahead of Bella Ciao and La Bottega di Giò.

The quieter verdict comes from diners: 4.2 out of 5 across 376 reviews on TripAdvisor and 4.5 out of 5 across roughly 1,165 reviews on Google, where one recent guest wrote:

"We think this is the best Italian food that we have had in Lisbon […] we love the cozy atmosphere."

— TripAdvisor, Thomas V, May 2026

A small family on the same street

In 2016 the founders opened Il Matriciano Al Mare, a seafood-leaning sister restaurant at Rua de São Bento 99. That address today is home to Sora Lella, a 25-seat Roman pizzeria — the second door the family keeps on the same street.

Come and find us

You'll find us at Rua de São Bento 107, opposite the Portuguese Parliament, Monday to Saturday, 12:30–15:00 and 19:30–23:00. The story behind the name is in our Pasta Matriciana journal article; the full record of press and reviews lives on our Press & Recognition page.