Little Hollows Pasta

Who Should Book Little Hollows Pasta; and When

If you want freshly made pasta in Bristol without a long tasting menu or a three-figure bill, Little Hollows Pasta in Redland is where you should be eating. The set lunch (three courses for £26 at the time of writing) is one of the better-value meals you will find in the city. Book it for a relaxed date, a long Friday lunch, or a low-key celebration where the food should do the talking.

The optimal window is Tuesday to Friday lunchtime, when the set menu is running and the room is at its most relaxed. If you are planning a special occasion dinner, evenings work too, but you lose the set-menu pricing advantage. Either way, book ahead, the Bib Gourmand recognition has made this harder to walk into than it used to be when it was still operating as a pop-up.

The Restaurant

Little Hollows operates out of a shopfront on Chandos Road in Redland, the format is immediately clear: owner Chris Davis shapes pasta in the window workspace each morning, fresh sheets and ribbons hung to dry before service. The dining room behind him carries the same unfussy approach, rough wood floors, bare tables, salvaged chairs, shelves lined with trailing plants and bottles of wine. There is no performance here beyond the food itself, which is precisely the point.

The menu is short and changes to reflect what Davis is making that day. Starters have included monkfish carpaccio with orange and shallot, a white bean, fennel and sausage ragù with chive butter. The pasta mains are where the kitchen concentrates its attention: half-moon casoncelli stuffed with roast celeriac and Parmesan, bathed in honey, butter and pickled walnuts; tagliolini with prawn-head sauce, chilli, basil and butterflied prawn. The shellfish spaghetti has drawn particular praise. Desserts lean on Italian classics, tiramisu, affogato, though the pistachio tiramisu is generously portioned and a reliable way to finish. The wine list is short and predominantly Italian and French, with a reasonable selection available by the glass.

Service is consistently described as warm and engaged, which matters in a room this size. The pace is unhurried without feeling slow. For a date or a celebration dinner where you want good food and a genuinely relaxed atmosphere rather than a formal occasion, Little Hollows delivers that more reliably than most restaurants at this price point in Bristol.

A Multi-Visit Strategy

Little Hollows rewards return visits, partly because the menu shifts and partly because a single meal rarely covers the full range of what the kitchen does well. Here is how to think about sequencing your visits.

Visit one: the set lunch. Come Tuesday to Friday and order the three-course set menu at £26. This is the most efficient way to understand what the kitchen does, you will get a starter, a pasta main, dessert at a price that makes it easy to come back. It also gives you a clear read on whether to upgrade to à la carte on a return visit.

Visit two: à la carte in the evening. Once you know the format, an evening visit lets you explore the pasta mains more freely and take more time over the wine list. The shellfish pasta dishes are worth seeking out here, the prawn tagliolini and shellfish spaghetti are the plates most cited by returning diners. Order the pistachio tiramisu if it is on the menu.

Visit three: bring someone new. Little Hollows is the kind of place that converts people who think pasta is simple. Watching Davis work in the window while you eat is a direct pleasure, the room is comfortable enough for a long table of friends without feeling like a group-dining venue. It works well for small celebrations where you want a neighbourhood feel rather than an event-space atmosphere.

Booking and Practical Details

Reservations are advisable, particularly for Friday lunches and weekend evenings. The Bib Gourmand recognition in both 2024 and 2025 has increased demand, while walk-ins may still be possible midweek, booking is the lower-risk approach. The address is 26 Chandos Road, Redland, Bristol BS6 6PF. The set lunch runs Tuesday to Friday. No phone or website details are held in our current data, so check for booking options via Google or third-party reservation platforms. Price range is ££, making it accessible for most budgets, the set lunch at £26 for three courses represents particularly strong value against comparable restaurants in the city.

How Little Hollows Compares

For Italian food in Bristol at a similar price, Marmo is the direct peer. Both sit at ££ and both have earned critical recognition, but Little Hollows is more focused, a pasta specialist with a short, daily-changing menu rather than a broader Italian offering. If you want a wider range of Italian dishes, Marmo is the better choice. If pasta craft is specifically what you are after, Little Hollows is sharper on that ground.

For a step up in ambition and budget, Bulrush operates at ££££ and offers Modern British tasting menus, a different format entirely. Wilsons at £££ sits between the two on price and focuses on Modern British cooking with a strong natural wine list. Neither is a substitute for Little Hollows if freshly made pasta is the specific occasion. For the same ££ price band with a different culinary focus, Adelina Yard and Bank are worth knowing about. See our full Bristol restaurants guide for a broader view of the city's dining options, explore our Bristol hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide if you are planning a longer trip.