"Italian Food" was warmly received by reviewers and the public, and the first print run sold out within three weeks. "The Times Literary Supplement"'s reviewer wrote, "More than a collection of recipes, this book is in effect a readable and discerning dissertation on Italian food and regional dishes, and their preparation in the English kitchen." Freya Stark, reviewing for "The Observer", remarked, "Mrs David ... may be counted among the benefactors of humanity." In "The Sunday Times", Evelyn Waugh named "Italian Food" as one of the two books that had given him the most pleasure in 1954.