NYC Top Italian Restaurants
If you can’t think beyond Italian cuisine – the pasta, bruschettas, and of course, pizzas – you’d better pay attention to this list. It outlines the top Italian restaurants in NYC. If your favorite restaurant is not in here, we recommend that you get yourself a new favorite one, from this list, of course!
Al Di Là
This restaurant is almost a decade old, but it remains a strong contender still for the top position. Started by a husband-wife duo, Emiliano Coppa, and Anna Klinger, the restaurant has met with roaring success and acclaim in Brooklyn’s Park Slope area. The restaurant doesn’t have a reservation policy and you may be required to wait a while before you get a seat. But, the wait is well worth it. Anna Klinger’s lovingly prepared dishes like a braised rabbit with black olives on steaming polenta, tagliatelle al ragù, beet ravioli with melted butter and poppy seeds, and ricotta gnocchi are simply out of this world.
- Address: 248 Fifth Ave at Carroll St, Park Slope, Brooklyn
- Phone: 718-783-4565
- Average appetizer: $10.
Convivio
Chef Michael has indeed done a great job at Convivio. Why else would it be on this list, otherwise? The menu emphasizes and draws inspiration from Southern Italian cuisine. The antipasti here are excellent and you will especially enjoy country bread slathered with chicken-liver mousse and hauntingly good pasta.
- Address: 45 Tudor City Pl between 42nd and 43rd Sts
- Phone: 212-599-5045
- Average main course: $25
- Four-course prix fixe: $62.
Del Posto
Del Posto is one of those restaurants that make you feel grand and privileged the moment you enter. From its cavernous size to the grand piano in the dining room exudes an air of a refined, upscale Italian restaurant. The portions are about as big as the restaurant itself. Enjoy sharing hunks of lamb and veal and pitch-perfect risotto with your girlfriend and make sure you order the best wine from their near-encyclopedic wine list, which is also pretty exorbitant.
- Address: 85 Tenth Ave between 15th and 16th Sts
- Phone: 212-497-8090
- Average main course: $29
Felidia
Who knew a renovated townhouse would one day become one of the most celebrated Italian restaurants in NYC? One look at the dark wood accents, the intimate dining room with beautiful leather chairs, and you are immediately enticed into sinking one of the seats and studying the menu carefully. Of course, what keeps you here longer is the sinful fare that arrives on your table that smells deliciously of olive oil. The wine list is impressive and complements the dishes really well.
- Address: 243 E 58th St between Second and Third Aves
- Phone: 212-758-1479
- Average main course: $30.
il Buco
If you thought that in a decade and a half of its existence, people would have finally gotten bored of this restaurant, you couldn’t be more wrong. Il Buco’s old-world charm is still appealing and the well-worn tables stand testament to the several hearty meals they’ve borne. By the glow of the flickering lamps, the dangling copper cookware seems to assume a golden sheen and the entire atmosphere of the restaurant seems to get your gastric juices flowing. Executive Chef Ignacio Mattos changes the menu every day based on seasonal produce and il Buco’s wine list ensures you get your favorite wine to go with the food.
- Address: 47 Bond St between Lafayette St and Bowery
- Phone: 212-533-1932
- Average main course: $28
Peasant
If you’ve always wondered what it would be like when fairy tales came true, you can see for yourself at Peasant. The open kitchen set against a rustic backdrop is, as NYMag.com puts it, “exactly right.” Frank DeCarlo is the chef-owner and the master presiding over his kingdom and the rustic fare he “dishes out” have you loosening your belt or opening a few of your vest buttons so that you can accommodate just that little bit more into your tummy. Recommended dishes are Rabbit with fava beans, bistecca alla Fiorentina, and pizza Bianca pooled with olive oil.
- Address: 194 Elizabeth St between Prince and Spring Sts
- Phone: 212-965-9511
- Average main course: $25.
Scarpetta
Chef Scott Conant who had gained popularity with L’Impero and Alto had gone AWOL for a while. But he came back from his sabbatical with Scarpetta, a restaurant that manages to hit that middle path between rustic and upscale. Although his cooking still seems high-minded as before the relatively casual setting seems to tone down the overall effect and you end up really enjoying the food. His pasta are as great as ever and the duck-and–foie gras ravioli slicked with a rich marsala-duck jus is highly recommended. Save some space for desserts. If you are not counting calories, go for the apple pie with caramelized apples (of course), brown-sugar streusel, and a layer of apricot puree on a polenta crust. Deee-licious!
- Address: 355 W 14th St at Ninth Ave
- Phone: 212-691-0555
- Average main course: $27
Sorella
The focus of this small yet stylish restaurant is on the cuisine from the Northwestern Italian region of Piedmont. This form of French-Italian cuisine is spunky and the fare is hefty enough for you to order less and still feel overwhelmed when it arrives! Don’t forget to order a glass of barbera…it goes well with most dishes.
- Address: 95 Allen St between Broome and Delancey Sts
- Phone: 212-274-9595
- Average small plate: $12.