Destinations

21 Best Italian Restaurants in New York

Arguably the best Italian food scene outside of Italy.

January 14, 2021

From the West Village and the Lower East Side to Bushwick and Carroll Gardens, the best Italian restaurants in New York offer an embarrassment of riches. There are places that have stood fast for a century as their neighborhoods changed, sticking to their red sauce roots. There are white tablecloths and tasting menus that are the epitome of fine dining. And there may be more places serving fresh pasta here than there are people. We've narrowed the field for you, read on for our picks for where you absolutely have to eat and how best to enjoy your time there. These are the best Italian restaurants in New York.

Click the link to read our complete New York City guide.

Photo by Anthony D'agenzio
restaurant
Frankies 457 Spuntino
$$
Frankies 457 Spuntino is a characteristically Brooklyn spot: warm and inviting, with exposed brick walls and a long wooden bar. The best part, though, is the intimate backyard space, which is open on warm summer evenings. Frankie's is always full of locals (including families) who know their stuff when it comes to food and restaurants, and is popular for an unplanned dinner or a very good brunch. This means waits can be long, but everyone you ask will say it’s worth it. Even if you don't order it for your main dish, be sure to get a plate of the sweet potato and sage ravioli for the table.
Diane Sooyeon Kang
restaurant
Bar Pitti
$$
Consistently packed since its 1992 opening, Bar Pitti is best known for its outdoor seating area, which spills onto the sidewalk along Sixth Avenue. It’s an easy place to spot actors, models, rock stars, and socialites, but the food is great, too—come for a strong offering of classics executed really well, with one of the city’s best Caprese salads. It’s the perfect place to take out of town guests for an "only in New York" type of experience, where they'll see a full cross-section of downtown denizens and get a great meal, to boot.

Diane Sooyeon Kang
restaurant
I Sodi
$$$
I Sodi is a neighborhood institution and it's largely low on tourists—a blessing for the Village. The pasta is to-die-for good, but the artichoke lasagna, with its bazillion layers, is what dominates Instagram. Don’t skip the pappardelle al limone, the whole grilled branzino, or the extremely civilized antipasti platter though. Rita Sodi's Tuscan cooking has breadth and depth at once.
Diane Sooyeon Kang
restaurant
Emilio's Ballato
$$
Emilio’s Ballato was founded in 1956, and stepping inside is like being instantly transported to mid-century New York, where vintage photographs and album covers line the walls and chandeliers hang from the ceiling. The small, warm space is ideal for cold winter evenings, when all you want to do is sip a glass of the house red and dine on a simple, straightforward (yet perfectly prepared) plate of spaghetti pomodoro or gamberi oreganate. When you want that classic Little Italy night out, you can't do much better.

Jon Bilous/Alamy
restaurant
Bamonte's
$$
Bamonte’s opened in Williamsburg near the turn of the 20th century and hasn't changed much since. The decor is very "place where a guy gets shot in a mobster movie," with swagged velvet curtains, fading signed photos of celebrities from another era, and white tablecloths adorned with cut-crystal votives and vases holding a single, tomato-red flower. It's cheesy in the best way—a charmingly fusty time capsule in a neighborhood that's become the epicenter of trendiness. Looking for New York red sauce? This is your place.
Eduardo Cerruti
restaurant
Via Carota
$$
Sparsely decorated yet warm and inviting, with plenty of wood and exposed brick, Via Carota is the kind of place where you might run into celebrities, but where you’ll feel totally comfortable sitting next to them in jeans and a T-shirt. But they don't take reservations here, so the flip side of all that cool is that waits at peak times can push three hours. The menu is full of supremely delicious creations from Rita Sodi and Jody Williams, who between them run Buvette in NYC and Paris, I Sodi a couple blocks away, and Bar Pisellino across the street. Even the relatively straightforward vegetable dishes, like the pear and gorgonzola bruschetta with walnuts, are remarkable in their fresh simplicity.

Michael Grimm
restaurant
Il Buco
$$
Housed in a former antique shop, you’ll know right away that Il Buco is the place for a romantic night out, thanks to the flattering lighting and the sense of history. The restaurant has a serious wine list and a menu that changes daily and is full of pleasant surprises. Dishes like oven poached filet of Atlantic cod with Umbrian risina beans, artichokes and salsa verde, or house-made spaghetti with tuna, Calabrian chili, and fennel pollen have been big winners in the past.
Photo by Evan Sung
restaurant
Lilia
$$$
This Williamsburg paean to pasta is in a former garage with exposed-beam wooden ceilings. Chef-owner Missy Robbins is one of New York’s finest pasta chefs. People come here for all sorts of carby stuff: rigatoni diavola, gnocchi, and ravioli. Start, though, with some cacio e pepe fritelle, gorgeous fried balls decked out with salty cheese and pepper, and move on to seafood, another Robbins strong suit. Maybe today’s the day for grilled clams flecked with Calabrian chilies? Cured sardines with capers? It’s all good. But, the absolute must-order dish is the mafaldini, a rippled noodle spiked with pink peppercorns. Reservations are hard to come by (you may need to book a month in advance) but snagging one is well worth the constant refreshes of Resy.

Courtesy Il Passatore
restaurant
Il Passatore
$$
On the ground floor of a nondescript, three-story apartment building where Bushwick meets Williamsburg, this intimate, candlelit spot feels like the neighborhood Italian restaurant you've always dreamed of. Join an eclectic mix of hip Brooklynites (who know where to go for awesome, under-the-radar Italian), grab a glass of solid red wine, and feast on the super fresh, house-made vegetarian lasagna, or the burrata-filled tortellini with cherry tomato sauce and basil.
Visko Hatfield
restaurant
Il Posto Accanto
$$$
Il Posto Accanto, an East Village spot—some would call it a wine bar—is almost aggressively unstylish, right down to the plastic-sleeved menu printed unearthed from the depths of Microsoft Word's novelty options. But in today's world where everything is made to be photographed, uncool-ness is refreshing. This is a small plates, order-for-the-table kind of place, and there's a wide array of classic Italian dishes with a Sicilian slant. You could split one or two bites like curried salt cod fritters, a plate of cheese and salumi, or tuna crudo if you feel like nibbling on something over a glass of wine; or turn it into a full dinner with a couple of pastas like the tortelloni stuffed with oxtail. Desserts are predictable but delicious. You can't go wrong with panna cotta, chocolate mousse, or tiramisu.

Courtesy of Rezdôra
restaurant
Rezdôra
$$
Part of the appeal of Rezdôra is its ability to feel like both an occasion restaurant and a haunt. Chef Stefano Secchi, who cut his teeth at Massimo Bottura's three-Michelin-starred Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, is continuing his legacy here with a rustic Northern Italian menu that's all about technique and the best possible ingredients. Best to stick with the pasta, which is undoubtedly their strong point—they even have an entire tasting menu of it. Start things off with a gnocco fritto and end them with olive oil gelato, and you've got the perfect decadent evening out.
Courtesy Rucola
restaurant
Rucola
$$
Rucola, a little corner Italian restaurant in Boerum Hill, is the definition of cozy. The vibe is peak Brownstone Brooklyn: rustic wood everything, warm candlelight, wraparound windows that overlook the tree-lined street. The house-made pastas, prepared with a creative mix of vegetables, are a must: garganelli with a blend of tomatoes, peppers, squash, and raw milk Salva Cremasco cheese, say, or snail-shell-shaped lumache bathed in corn crema with shrimp, scallions, and chili. The roast chicken and whole roasted trout are standout entreés, and the salads are hearty and satisfying. This is where you bring someone you're trying to impress without tipping them off to that fact.

Kelly Campbell
restaurant
Lupa
$$
Lupa is everything you want in a casual neighborhood Italian joint—flattering lighting, plenty of exposed brick, terra-cotta floors, and wood tables with just the right amount of space between one another. It’s no wonder it's remained popular since opening in 1999. The regulars, both from the surrounding Greenwich Village neighborhood and beyond, range in age and demographic, but are alike in that they’re all willing to undergo the sometimes hour-long wait for a table. The servers manage to be polite and efficient, even with a dining room that's as busy as Grand Central Station at rush hour. The experience is just as much about the wine as the food; if you go for the tasting menu, it's worth the extra splurge for the pairing.
restaurant
Via Quadronno
$$
Via Quadronno is an Upper East Side neighborhood institution. The narrow front section is packed with a row of snug two-tops (the pair of tables nestled in the window are a coveted lunch spot), a bar made for downing quick espressos, and a glass case filled with glossy pastries and gelato. In back, there's a subterranean dining room with absolutely no cell phone reception, mosaic-topped tables, and walls covered with charming murals and quirky Italian ephemera. Stop in for a quick lunch or coffee break after a visit to the Met or the Frick, or bring a few friends for a low-key weeknight dinner wherein you'll all be forced not to look at your phones for a few hours.

Mark Rosati
restaurant
Lucali
$
The list, the list, the list. It's not easy to get a table here. Show up well before 5 p.m. (before the restaurant opens) to put your name on the list. Later than 5 and you risk not being able to get in at all. Despite the challenges, regulars and visitors come again and again for the brick oven pizza, which Lucali has perfected. Ingredients and toppings change daily based on what’s freshest, but flavors tend to be simple (think basil and garlic) and highly flavorful. Regulars swear the calzones are the best they’ve ever tasted. When you feel like having some of the best pizza in the world, you come here. Also keep in mind, it's cash only.
Diane Kang
restaurant
Antonucci
$$
The Upper East Side isn’t a bastion of cutting-edge restaurants, but it’s definitely a neighborhood that does the classics very well. Antonucci, a few blocks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art on East 81st Street, is no exception, housed in a bright, pleasant space framed by pink-painted walls and abstract paintings. The menu consists of Northern Italian comfort foods, from veal osso bucco with saffron risotto to perfectly crisp chicken Milanese, and there’s a perfect wine for every dish. Come for an ideal post-museum outing.

Diane Sooyeon Kang
restaurant
Malatesta Trattoria
$$
Malatesta is the quintessential little West Village Italian spot. The restaurant’s charm draws in a big local crowd, which can sometimes mean long waits on warm summer evenings, but it’s entirely worth it for the cozy atmosphere with wood farm tables and candlelight flickering off of exposed brick walls. The handwritten menu is ever-changing, but usually includes pasta staples and seafood specials, and the house red is great and seems to go with everything. It’s a spot that works just as well for an intimate group birthday party as it does a first date.
Julia Gillard
restaurant
Roman's
$$
Situated behind an unassuming storefront, the Roman's dining room is one of Brooklyn's most inviting spaces. This is definitely a local hangout, but it's also the sort of place Manhattanites will go out of their way for after seeing a movie at BAM. The frequently changing menu is a marriage between Italian tradition and Brooklyn ingredients—it's cozy and classic, and always seasonal and local. On any given night, the menu might feature paccheri with white beans and kale or celery root Milanese. At lunch, you can tuck into meatballs in sugo or a perfect chunk of crusty bread with butter and fig jam. The chocolate sorbet is the perfect end to any meal.

Courtesy Café Altro Paradiso/Photo by David Sullivan
restaurant
Café Altro Paradiso
$$$
This riff on Italian trattoria food is so elemental it's un-Instagrammable. And that’s what makes Café Altro Paradiso great. Start with a plate of the arancini and a light, delicious fennel salad before getting into a plate of pasta or a perfectly executed pork Milanese, then round things out with a blob of panna cotta with Amarena cherries. The food is elegant but hearty—go hungry. To drink there's a tightly edited list of experimental cocktails made with mezcal, interesting bitters, and amari. And don't be surprised to run into a celebrity here—this is a spot they can come and not get mobbed by fans or paparazzi.
Courtesy Forsythia
restaurant
Forsythia
$$
Forsythia started out as a pop-up, takeout pasta kitchen just after New York's pandemic shutdown lifted in June 2020. A few months later, it moved into a permanent space on Stanton Street with a kitted-out outdoor dining situation (a heated, waterproof pavilion), which is reliably booked weeks in advance. The chefs here look to Rome for inspiration—see the spaghetti with anchovy butter and breadcrumbs, rigatoni with white pork ragu, and an elegant take on pasta alla norma. If you're really carbo-loading, start with some foccaccia and a plate of the cacio e pepe suppli, and end with a slice of honey cake. To run a restaurant during a pandemic is hard enough, to open one—like Forsythia and these other fantastic new restaurants did—is an almost unimaginable feat.

Michelle Min/Courtesy Sestina
restaurant
Sestina
$$
The first thing you need to know about Sestina is that it's a vegan restaurant. But the approach to plant-based food here reflects an increasingly popular philosophy: Just because it's made without animal products doesn't mean it can't be luxurious, refined, and flavorful. You could take a carnivore here and they wouldn't even know they were eating a vegan dish until you told them. They mostly stay away from faking it with imitation meat in favor of turning out tender pasta dishes in silky, herbaceous sauces. The risotto with saffron, capers and heirloom string beans is a winner, as is the cavatelli with market vegetables and pistachio pesto. The salads are hearty and satisfying, and the chocolate ganache tart is out of this world.