Italian restaurants in USA
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Bizzarro
With a name like Bizzarro you’d never guess that this Wallingford hotbed is an excellent neighborhood Italian cafe. When you learn that it’s actually someone’s garage crammed with kitschy art and weird antiques, the name makes sense. Deliciously buttery pasta dishes, a good wine list and frequent live music add to the experience.
reviewed
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Pink Door Ristorante
Beloved for its atmosphere at least as much as its food, the Pink Door is an old-school favorite – on a nice evening, stopping for dinner and drinks on the deck overlooking the market is hard to beat. The menu is traditional Italian, and the vegetarian lasagne comes highly recommended.
reviewed
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C
Pascucci
Don't let the sight of tourists deter you from palazzo-style Pascucci. Despite occasionally spotty service, locals love the filling pastas, pizzas and paninis here, not to mention the bargain prices. For a taste of Italian heaven, try the Bellagio: smoked chicken, mushroom, red onions and sun-dried tomatoes in a roasted garlic-parmesan cream sauce over bowtie pasta. Sit at the bar for the quickest service.
reviewed
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D
Babbo
Celebrity chef Mario Batali has multiple restaurants in Manhattan, but everyone has a sneaking suspicion that this two-level split townhouse is his favorite. Whether you order mint love letters, lamb's brain francobolli (small, stuffed ravioli) or pig's foot milanese, you'll find Batali at the top of his innovative, eclectic game. Reservations are in order.
reviewed
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E
Il Fornaio
Feast on wood-fired pizzas, salads and pastas, or make a meal of the antipasti platter with scallops wrapped in pancetta, baked eggplant, truffled cheeses and more. Delectable, fresh-baked breakfast goodies such as lemon-pecan scones are also available at ll Fornaio Paneterria, near the hotel lobby.
reviewed
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Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill
California flair pervades this ultra-contemporary bistro just off the casino floor. The truffled potato chips with blue cheese, skirt steak skewers with celery salad, wood-fired pizzas and ricotta gnocchi with sweet fennel sausage thrill, just like the New World wine list.
reviewed
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Cafe Bernardo
This is a Midtown favorite serving all meals. Stop by for strong coffee or have a full-on meal with pasta, a grilled skirt steak and wine. There's an outdoor seating area and an adjacent martini bar that's popular around happy hour.
reviewed
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L'Amante
L'Amante serves upscale northern Italian cuisine such as squash- blossom fritters with truffle oil, and swordfish with saffron-encrusted risotto. Perfect for a memorable night out.
reviewed
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Trattoria La Siciliana
An Italian hotspot south of campus among the restaurants of the charming Elmwood District.
reviewed
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Ideale
Expat Italian regulars are stunned that a restaurant this authentic borders the Pacific, with proper bucatini ammatriciana (Roman tube pasta with tomato-pancetta-pecorino sauce), seafood risotto made with superior Canaroli rice, a well-priced selection of Italian wines, and wisecracking Tuscan waitstaff.
reviewed
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A Voce
The newest addition to the heavy-hitting lineup of dining options (including the Per Se, the wallet-breaking Masa and the casual Bouchon Bakery) inside this high-rise mall, the light, airy and modern A Voce lets you enjoy sweeping views of Central Park as you sample the high-style, delectable creations of chef Missy Robbins and her capable team. Here, gnocchi gets tossed with zucchini, squash blossoms and mint, while hand-rolled pasta joins brussels sprouts, bacon, Sicilian almonds and whipped sheep’s milk for a creamy, savory rib sticker. Even heartier fare touches on all meats, with veal getting grilled with sunchokes and topped with black-truffles sauce and fish, beef,…
reviewed
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L
Teatro Goldoni
Teatro used to be just that – a sort of crazy clown carnival of very colorful, eye-catching, yet fairly ‘meh’ Italian dining. We loved (and still love) the Commedia del Arte ambience, a refreshing change from the starched-shirt formality so common in Foggy Bottom, but the food wasn’t worth the price. No longer, though. Chef Enzo Fargione has brought discipline and style to the menu without sacrificing the madcap flair that is Goldoni’s signature. Pasta stuffed with sweetbreads and sausage, all sweating a thick walnut sauce, should be too much (it almost is), but Fargione’s kitchen manages to restrain the richness just enough so the flavors don’t muddle. On the other…
reviewed
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Il Bagatto
A bustling yet romantic little nook, this spot has thoroughly delicious Italian creations at exceptionally reasonable prices – plus an excellent wine list and a dedicated sommelier who will pour you tastes before you decide (a wonderful oddity in such an affordable and casual dining room). The frazzled yet warm and quirky owners will greet you like old friends – though be prepared to wait a while even if you’ve made a reservation; that’s just the way it works at this laid-back neighborhood spot. Menu items tend toward the sinful side, with highlights that include cheese and spinach ravioli swimming in butter and sage sauce, homemade gnocchi in gorgonzola sauce, and paper-…
reviewed
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Pasta Mia
Long lines, stiff waitstaff, crowded conditions, perfect pasta. This is the price of good, cheap Italian, friends. But that’s OK. Sip your red, twirl one of 20-some types of flour/semolina/gram perfection and try not to break into operatic praise. It gets crowded inside, so this may not be the best place for romantic candlelight and Chianti, although it is grand for big groups and gregariousness. By the way, we mean it when we say ‘long lines’ – there’s no reservations here, and if you’re coming for dinner on a weekend night, you’ll want to arrive early. If you’re in a big group, they won’t seat you until everyone’s arrived.
reviewed
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O
A Voce
A Voce lets you sample the high-style, delectable creations of chef Missy Robbins and her capable team. Here, gnocchi gets tossed with zucchini, squash blossoms and mint, while hand-rolled pasta joins brussels sprouts, bacon, Sicilian almonds and whipped sheep’s milk for a creamy, savory rib-sticker. Even heartier fare touches on all meats, with veal getting grilled with sunchokes and topped with black-truffles sauce and fish, beef, pork and lamb treated to market-fresh pairings and sauces, from baby artichokes to anchovy vinaigrette. The dessert menu is large and sinful, and the wine options total an impressive 850, with a focus on the best of Italy.
reviewed
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Roberto Restaurant
Just off Arthur Ave (the ‘real’ Little Italy), Roberto has a great reputation; its fans swear, with frightening passion, that it’s New York’s – not just Belmont’s – best Italian restaurant. There’s a no-reservations policy, so as the night wears on, lines congregate by the bar – for hours. It’s well worth it. Ask for the chef’s choice, and Roberto – hilariously festive – comes by and lights up your table with dish after dish of Northern Italian specialties, including swordfish steaks and veal cutlets. In nice weather, sidewalk seating is the way to go.
reviewed
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Q
Frankies Spuntino
Away from Smith St’s eating ghetto, Frankies is a neighborhood magnet, with local couples and families lining up for a seat in the brick-wall inside or, when weather’s good, in the back garden. There are main dishes – hearty pasta dishes like the cavetelli with hot sausage or pappardelle with braised lamb – but, as a spuntino, it’s more about the snacking. Go family-style by ordering a mix of vegetable antipasti, salads and small plates of cured meats or from the formaggio menu – featuring a dozen different types of cheese.
reviewed
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Locanda
Old-school Italian with just the right touches of modern embellishment, Locanda is lush. The menu isn’t particularly challenging – if you’ve ever had a nice Italian night out, you know what to expect – but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. These may be small pasta plates (more Italian than Italian-American, which always tries to suffocate you in penne), but there’s an inverse quality–quantity equation at play. The menu shifts with the seasons; we remember a wild-mushroom gemelli from spring 2009 that seemed to sum up the season on our taste buds.
reviewed
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S
Mario’s
Called New York’s ‘real Little Italy, ’ the Belmont area – on the blocks south of Fordham University between Bronx Park (to the east) and Third Ave (to the west) – is clearly marked with ‘Little Italy in the Bronx’ banners. Here you’ll find pizzerias, trattorias, bakeries, fishmongers and butchers with bunnies in the window – many working without breaking into English. The famous scene in The Godfather – where Al Pacino gets the gun from behind ‘the toilet with the chain thing’ and blasts his way into the family business – supposedly takes place at Mario’s.
reviewed
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Bacco
You shouldn’t reduce our review of Bacco to three words, but these are three very important words: 10-(freakin’)-cent martinis. That’s what’s going on for lunch here, and as a result, we can happily say Bacco does a very fun lunch. It also does good dinners, come to think of it; it’s all of the upscale Italian school plopped into New Orleans. Fresh basil accents a pesto served with shrimp and bow-tie pasta, while Louisiana asserts itself in hickory-grilled redfish topped by lump crabmeat. And you know what makes it all better? Ten-cent martinis.
reviewed
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Café Milano
Widely regarded as one of the best bring-your-date-out-for-some-upscale-Italian eateries in the city, Milano has been racking up political bigwigs and besotted George-town couples for years with its executions of northern Italian favorites. It is ridiculously pricey, though; while we accept you’re paying for atmosphere along with food, self-importance and the (admittedly good) chance of some DC celebrity-spotting don’t warrant some of the price tags on this menu. For a good deal that still translates into some pretty good eating, order one of the pastas.
reviewed
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Mandina’s
In the Italian American community in New Orleans, funerals were followed by a visit to this century-old institution for the turtle soup. That’s just the way it was and that’s what Mandina’s is: the way it was. When you’ve been around for over 100 years you stick to what you know. In this case that’s Sicilian-Louisiana food: trout almandine, red beans and rice with veal cutlets, and bell peppers stuffed with macaroni and meat. The family-style dining room, in its way, is as historic as any building in the city and just as crucial to its culture. Cash only.
reviewed
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Obelisk
Oh the pleasure of dining at Obelisk. You need only do it once, but you need to do it, especially if you’re a fan of pushing the boundaries of what can be done in an Italian cucina. The small and narrow dining room feels almost like eating at someone’s kitchen table, and the set-course Italian feasts are lovingly prepared with first-rate ingredients; the antipasti in particular is a revelation of just how powerful a start can be. The menu changes daily, but doesn’t give you much selection (picky eaters should call ahead).
reviewed
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Coppi’s Organic
An old-school U St restaurant that fires up the wood-burning oven nightly to serve perfectly crusted, crispy pizzas along with other seasonal and traditional Italian delicacies. The owner is crazy about bicycles and the cozy restaurant is jammed with cycling memorabilia. More importantly, the owner obsesses over fresh, high-quality ingredients, a consuming passion that shines through in the Italian fare. Coppi’s gets packed on weekends, when locals flock in to partake of all of the above, plus some good cheap wine.
reviewed
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Falai
A small and narrow storefront shaped by white tile, open kitchen and clean lines; it didn’t take long for this LES newcomer to attract legions of stylish fans. Iacopo Falai, a former high-end pastry chef, is behind the place, which presents swoon-inducing plates of pasta (cocoa-flavored papardelle, squid ink strands topped with lobster), meats (tender steak medallions, fennel-flavored pork) and seafood (codfish stew). And desserts, of course, are killer. Don’t miss the passion fruit soufflé.
reviewed
