353 Best Restaurants in Italy

This wholesaler specializes in oysters, mollusks, and crustaceans, and offers a tasting room that has become an obligatory stop for seafood aficionados in town. This may look like nothing but a fish market, but diners are dazzled by the quality of the seafood. There are 24 kinds of oysters, all manner of clams (including Galician percebes), local red prawns in several sizes, and a tank of lobsters and crabs as well as fresh seasonal tuna. Choose between having your fish raw, steamed, grilled, or a la gratin, and dine in the simple blue and white conservatory while enjoying a glass or two of local white wine. You can also get a fine fish couscous (one portion is ample for two people). 

Run with enthusiasm and love by two young Sorrentine women, this small rustic-styled bakery and bistro makes generously filled panini using fresh ingredients on ciabatta and panuozzo pizza-dough bread. It's also a fab spot to linger with some local wine and a cheese platter.

A chocolate lover's pilgrimage to Turin inevitably leads to this café where Nietzsche, Puccini, Dumas, and the political reformer Cavour have all sipped. If you order the house specialty, bicerin (a hot drink with layers of chocolate, coffee, and cream), or a flavored zabaioni (warm eggnog), and browse the collection of chocolate goodies including chocolate-flavored pasta, you'll understand why.

Established in 1950, this restaurant along the quiet, northern outlier of Fondamente Nove has grandstand views of the San Michele island and various menus showcasing seasonal fish, meat, and pasta dishes. The friendly staff also serve ice cream, drinks, and sandwiches, making its modern bar, chic dining rooms, and lagoon-side platform restful environs to pause any time of day.

Under the atmospheric arches of Chiesa di San Carlo's 1700s-era crypt, renowned chef Salvatore Vicari's food ethos is all about deceptively simple yet sophisticated combinations of the finest Sicilian ingredients. Let the wonderful waitstaff guide you through the changing seasonal menu of high-end takes on local pasta, meat, and seafood dishes.

The red-velvet chairs and marble tables of one of Rome's oldest caffès have seen the likes of Byron, Shelley, Keats, Goethe, and Casanova. Locals love basking in the more than 260 years of history held within its dark-wood walls lined with antique artwork; tourists appreciate its location amid the shopping madness of upscale Via Condotti. Drink your coffee at the counter for a much less expensive experience.

This charming and renowned pizzeria offers a fantastic array of toppings, from the classic Margherita to a changing selection of "gourmet" pizzas. Personalize your pizza toppings and pair your meal with a selection of great antipasti for a filling and satisfying meal.

Ravello's best and most popular ice cream is so good it seems to make your baffone (mighty moustache) curl. All the fave flavors are here and pack a punch, including dark chocolate, stracciatella, caramel, and pistachio, as well as novel recipes like cheesecake, caffè, lime cream, and lemon crumble. Served here is the traditional Sicilian specialty of scoops of gelato in a split brioche roll, a popular breakfast-time sweet.

Although Bar Corso is open for 20 continuous hours daily, the highlight is breakfast. This bustling café is filled with locals and tourists having their morning coffee with freshly made breads and pastries. The counter is filled with regional pastries like cucchitelle, a traditional pastry made with almond flour. Those with a savory palate will enjoy the bread made with semolina flour and filled with ham and cheese. Although the inside space is compact, there's a large outdoor seating area where you can people-watch. 

Cialde, a local specialty, are circular wafers made with flour, sugar, eggs, and almonds from Puglia. The Bargilli family has been serving them with their equally delicious ice cream since 1936. Try them at Bargilli, the family's shop and probably the best gelateria in town.

The scent of cookies wafts out into the street as you approach this family-run bakery, where a small team makes sweet treats the old-school way in a massive oven bought in the 1960s. There are dozens of varieties of baked goods, mostly sweet but some savory. Try the brutti ma buoni, the dainty floral cookies with marmalade centers, and anything made with almond paste or covered in chocolate.

This tiny storefront by famed pizzaiolo Gabriele Bonci is the city's most famous place for pizza al taglio (by the slice). It serves more than a dozen versions, from the standard margherita to slices piled high with prosciutto and other tasty ingredients. There's no seating, but you can stand at one of the tables outside. Avoid peak hours or be prepared to wait up to an hour.

Follow your nose to this legendary, sweet-smelling Caprese fave for breakfast, beach picnics, and on-the-hoof snacks. Buonocore lures you down its steps on a Capri Town lane with all manner of pizze, panini, gelati, and paste, including their specialty almond and lemon Caprilú biscotti.

Florian is not only Italy's first café (1720), but also one of its most beautiful, with glittering, neo-Baroque decor and 19th-century wall panels depicting Venetian heroes. The coffee, drinks, and snacks are good, but most people come for the atmosphere and history: this was the only café to serve women during the 18th century; it was frequented by artistic notables like Wagner, Goethe, Goldoni, Lord Byron, Marcel Proust, and Charles Dickens; and it was the birthplace of the international art exhibition that became the Venice Biennale. There's a surcharge for music; those in the know opt for the comfortable back bar.

Grand stone rooms and a pretty terrazza sprouting olive trees make this a flexible and fab venue to breakfast, brunch, and lunch—and to socialize with evening drinks. As well as a constant stream of excellent coffee, they do a selection of pastries, great-value daily specials (pasta for just €7), and various snacks.

It's well off the beaten path (even if it is in the center of Livorno's shopping district), but getting here is worth the trouble, as this tiny place has a short menu that changes daily, a superb wine list, and a gregarious staff. The baccalà alla livornese (deep-fried salt cod served with chickpeas) is succulent and crisp, and the ribollita and other soups are very soothing. You could also pop in to sample a glass at the wine bar or to browse the shelves filled with wines from all over Italy.

A mainstay for anyone living or working in the area, this beautiful, family-run, 19th-century bacaro across from the squero (gondola boatyard) of San Trovaso has original furnishings and one of the city's best wine cellars, and the walls are covered floor to ceiling with bottles for purchase. The cicheti (small snacks) here are some of the most inventive—and freshest—in Venice (feel free to compliment the signora, who makes them up to twice a day); everything's eaten standing up, as there's no seating. Try the crostini-style layers of bread, smoked swordfish, and slivers of raw zucchini, or pungent slices of Parmesan, fig, pistachio, and toast. They also have a creamy version of baccalà mantecato (cod appetizer) spiced with herbs, and there are nearly a dozen open bottles of wine for experimenting at the bar. You'll have no trouble spotting the Cantinone as you approach; it's the one with throngs of chatty patrons enjoying themselves. Avoid the temptation to sit on the bridge's steps—this is a common touristic behavior that inconveniences, and thus annoys, anybody who needs to pass.

To enhance a postprandial passeggiata along one of Palermo's main strolling thoroughfares, make a stop at this modern gelateria to pick up one of its exceptional gourmet ice creams. The flavors change with the seasons, but you should find the tangerine sorbet that bursts with sweet citrus tang and the classic cannolo siciliano available year-round.

Come here for creative panini, such as sgrombri e carciofini sott'olio (mackerel and marinated baby artichokes) and an ever-changing list of significant wines by the glass. It also has a good selection of bottles to go.

If you are visiting the local historic market nearby, this is a singular spot to queue and refuel, although online plaudits have made it überpopular. The owner Andrea and squadra can usually be found outside tempting people with their bulging panini stuffed with cheese, ham, grilled vegetables, jam, and piquant pickle. 

Just a handful of steps from Modena's beautiful cathedral, this lively place serves coffee, juices, fine wines by the glass, and lovely little sandwiches. But perhaps it's best to come here for a sweet, as they are luscious and delicious, and they're all made in-house.

This popular wine bar a stone's throw from Piazza Navona is among the city's oldest and has a book-length binder listing wines from Italy, France, the Americas, and elsewhere. It offers great value and pleasant service and is a lovely spot for a light late lunch or an early dinner when most restaurants aren't open yet.

Starting in 1968, the mini-empire of owner Alfredo Olivieri was built one granita and one pane cunzato at a time, and no summer on Salina is complete without a stop at his little shop off the Marina Garibaldi piazza in Lingua. You'll find all the classic granita flavors (almond, coffee, lemon, pistachio), but it's the seasonal fruits that shine here: mulberry, fig, wild blackberries, watermelon, and cantaloupe. For something more savory, the overladen open sandwiches known as pane cunzato (one recent August they served 1,500 in a single day) pile on the signature flavors of the region. Look for the "Eoliana" full of capers, olives, anchovies, peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Olivieri also has a full-service trattoria and a bakery, both steps from the original panineria.

This tavola calda (cafeteria) in the middle of the covered Mercato Centrale has been serving Florentines since 1872. Tasty primi and secondi are always available, as are bollitos (boiled beef sandwiches), but the cognoscenti come for the panino con il lampredotto (tripe sandwich)—best when it's prepared bagnato (with the bread quickly dipped in the tripe cooking liquid) and served slathered with green and/or spicier red sauce.

Filled brioche, exquisite chocolates, pastries such as kranz (a braided pastry filled with almond paste and raisins) and strudel from the Friuli region, and bar service make Dal Mas a great choice for breakfast. It's been a local favorite since 1906.

At this contemporary cantina and hip hangout in a very Venetian neighborhood, the owner pairs enthusiastically chosen wines and artisanal beers with select meat, savory cheese, pasta dishes, and seasonal vegetable combos. With outside-only seating (not particularly comfortable), it's more appropriate for an aperitivo and a light meal. In temperate weather, this tiny enoteca's exuberance bubbles out into the city's broadest street well into the late evening. It's named after a play by turn-of-the-20th-century emancipated lady Amalia Rosselli—look for the framed title page inside.

Ferrara is a city of wine bars, beginning with this one (allegedly Europe's oldest), which opened in 1435—Copernicus drank here while a student in the late 1400s, and the place still has an undergraduate aura. The twentysomething staff pours well-chosen wines by the glass, and they serve cappellacci di zucca (pasta stuffed with squash) with two different sauces (ragù or butter and sage). Those in search of lighter fare might enjoy any of the salads or the grilled vegetable plate with melted Pecorino. Perfectly dusty wine bottles line the walls, and there are wooden booths in another small room for those who want to eat while they drink. No reservations.

Located on the main street, this bar offers a large selection of wines, both local and from farther afield, plus delicious light fare; its umbrella-covered patio is a welcoming spot to recuperate after a day of hiking. The bar's certified sommeliers are forthcoming with helpful suggestions on pairing local wines with their tasty bruschette.

“The Alchemist" is an apt name, as the chef's transformations are magical, and everything can be paired with wines from the restaurant's extensive selection. Though pasta, veggie, and meat dishes change seasonally, the homemade gnocchi in Sagrantino wine sauce, always on offer, wins raves from guests, plus all the delicious desserts are made on the premises.

This family-run hole-in-the-wall has been in business since 1890 and specializes in one thing and one thing only: porchetta, the slow-roasted pig that the town of Ariccia in the Castelli Romani is famous for. Alessandro, the fifth-generation proprietor, slices it thin and slaps it on a sandwich roll. For vegetarians and the pork-averse, there are cheese-and-veggie sandwiches.