50 Best Italian Restaurants in the United States

The Daily Meal released its Best Italian Restaurants in America list.

In our 33 years, we’ve had more than our fair share of accolades.  But in recent years, the press has become highly fragmented, struggling to find an audience and we don’t see these things as often.  We just put our heads down and try to do a good job.  But this piece is particularly satisfying to us–there are alot of very good restaurants on it.  That we’re placed so high, after 33 years, makes us smile.

#11 Oliveto (Oakland, California)

“At Oliveto, chef Brian Griffith’s menu is vibrant and soulful. The menu changes daily and always features unexpected local fare like linguine with Dungeness crab, tomato, pickled avocado and preserved Meyer lemon. At Oliveto you’ll try dishes and flavor combinations that you’ve never experienced before that are at once familiar and completely unusual, and you’ll be very glad that you did.”

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#50 Broders’ Pasta Bar (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

#49 Al di Là (Brooklyn, New York)

#48 Carbone (New York, New York)

#47 Apizza Scholls (Portland, Oregon)

#46 Trattoria Lucca (Charleston, South Carolina)

#45 Giovanni’s (Detroit, Michigan)

#44 Patsy’s Pizzeria (New York City, New York)

#43 Motorino (New York City, New York)

#42 Trattoria Marcella (St. Louis, Missouri)

#41 Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen (Memphis, Tennessee)

#40 Flour + Water (San Francisco, California)

#39 Fiola (Washington, D.C.)

#38 Totonno’s (Brooklyn, New York)

#37 Osteria (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

#36 Il Posto (Denver, Colorado)

#35 Di Fara (Brooklyn, New York)

#34 Pizzeria Bianco (Phoenix, Arizona)

#33 Nico Osteria (Chicago, Illinois)

#32 Cafe Juanita (Kirkland, Washington)

#31 Delfina (San Francisco, California)

#30 Roberta’s (Brooklyn, New York)

#29 Al Forno (Providence, Rhode Island)

#28 Vincenti Ristorante (Los Angeles, California)

#27 Monteverde (Chicago)

#26 Bistro don Giovanni (Napa, California)

#25 ll Buco Alimentari & Vineria (New York, New York)

#24 City House (Nashville, Tennessee)

#23 Valter’s Osteria (Salt Lake City, Utah)

#22 Vincenzo’s (Louisville, Kentucky)

#21 Razza (Jersey City, New Jersey)

#20 Macchialina (Miami Beach, Florida)

#19 Sally’s Apizza (New Haven, Connecticut)

#18 Bottega (Birmingham, Alabama)

#17 Arancino di Mare (Honolulu, Hawaii)

#16 Marea (New York, New York)

#15 Domenica (New Orleans, Louisiana)

#14 Costa di Mare (Las Vegas, Nevada)

#13 Cotogna (San Francisco, California)

#12 Frank Pepe (New Haven, Connecticut)

#11 Oliveto (Oakland, California)

#10 Ristorante Bartolotta (Wauwatosa, Wisconsin)

#9 Chi Spacca (Los Angeles, California)

#8 Scampo (Boston, Massachusetts)

#7 Frasca Food & Wine (Boulder, Colorado)

#6 Osteria Mozza (Los Angeles, California)

#5 Del Posto (New York, New York)

#4 Bestia (Los Angeles, California)

#3 Spiaggia (Chicago, Illinois)

#2 Vetri Cucina (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

#1 Quince (San Francisco, California)

Reserve online now, or call 510-547-5356

Methodology
To assemble this ranking, we looked at our lists of the 101 best restaurants in America as well as the 101 best casual restaurants in America, which we release early every year. To build those rankings we recruited a panel of judges that included some of the country’s top food writers, critics and bloggers to take a survey and vote for the best of the best restaurants from across the country. The final rankings included a significant number of Italian restaurants, and this ranking took those restaurants into account as well as ones included in recent roundups of the best Italian restaurant in every state, the best pasta dish in every state and the best pizza in every state.
All of these restaurants fit a certain criteria: impeccable, un-snooty service; high-quality food sourced from the finest purveyors; creative-yet-classic preparation and craftsmanship; and an overall experience that leaves you happy and content in the fact that you just ate a world-class meal.