Antonia Chic: The Galleria Gives Abu Dhabi’s Homegrown Italian a Sharper Suit

The grown-up sibling

Antonia Chic is not a different restaurant wearing the same name; it is the more dressed-up expression of a concept Abu Dhabi already knows well. When it opened at The Galleria Al Maryah Island in May 2024, it became the first licensed Antonia, adding aperitivo and a broader drinks programme to the Roman pizza and pasta that built the brand at Mamsha.

The pizza remains fundamental. The Galleria describes a 72-hour rise using natural sourdough and carefully selected flour, producing the rectangular pizza al taglio that has become Antonia’s signature. It is still sold by the slice, preserving the Roman informality at the heart of the original idea. Around it sits a fuller restaurant menu of antipasti, pasta cooked deliberately al dente, Italian mains and dolci.

Al Maryah changes the rhythm

What makes Chic distinct is less about rewriting the food than changing the occasion. The Galleria brings business lunches, after-work aperitivo and a more urban evening audience. Antonia has responded with a weekday business lunch, while the licensed format makes it possible to move naturally from a plate of pasta into a longer evening.

The room is correspondingly more polished than the beachside original, but it avoids becoming stiff. That balance is important. Antonia’s appeal has always been rooted in chef-owner Simone Federici’s family story and the memory of his grandmother Antonia; too much formality would work against it. Chic instead keeps the familiar food and gives it a sharper frame.

Pizza al taglio, now with aperitivo

For a first-time visitor, the best way to understand Antonia Chic is to resist ordering it like a conventional mall restaurant. Start with antipasti, share a few different pizza slices, add a pasta or main course, and leave room for tiramisu or another Italian dessert. The variety of the al taglio format is part of the pleasure.

For Simply Abu Dhabi, this is the branch that best demonstrates how a homegrown brand can evolve for a different neighbourhood without abandoning what made it recognisable. Mamsha is the beachside original; Al Zeina is the neighbourhood trattoria; The Galleria is Antonia after dark, with aperitivo in hand.

Practical details

Location: Level 2, The Galleria Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Cuisine: Italian
Telephone: +971 2 674 9781
Email Address: hr@antoniarestaurant.com
Venue/property email: info@thegalleria.ae