444 Best Restaurants in Italy

A light nautical theme permeates this stone-walled restaurant, where the open kitchen provides theater and owner Peppe Giamboi takes the stage as a gustatory storyteller, roaming from table to table. The menu is constantly changing, but you'll find excellent work with vegetables (a rarity in Sicily) and really lovely preparations of local cod. In addition to a sublime rendition of stocco in ghiotto (cod in a Messinese sauce of tomatoes, olives, capers, and celery), it also might show up prepared under tender sheets of lardo in a light orange-lemon sauce with fried leeks. 

This intimate Michelin-starred restaurant is a fantastic option if you are staying in Modica overnight. Forget the usual starchy tablecloths and formal service, this place is all about the food, with the chef cooking his own personal takes on classic Sicilian dishes, including options like trucioli pasta with cheese fondue, lemon, capers, and coffee; grilled lettuce with pork cheek, caviar, and walnuts; and cannoli with ricotta cheese and cotton candy for dessert. The €120 tasting menu comes very highly recommended, but for something more affordable, stop in for lunch to have a similar experience for €50, or consider Accursio Radici (which means Accursio Roots, the cheaper sister restaurant) a few doors down.

Find a table in the back of this central, cheerful restaurant before choosing local cured meats and cheeses to accompany your wine. A few versions of polenta, daily pastas, and other heartier dishes are also available; just save room for the desserts, which go well with the sweet wines.

Dine on exquisite Gargano fare at this atmospheric eatery set in a natural grotto just next to the cathedral in the heart of the old center. The menu is dominated by locally caught fish, and although dishes draw on traditional recipes, you can expect the occasional innovation. The wine cellar, visible through a glass window in the restaurant floor, contains an exhaustive selection of great Pugliese producers. There's a smaller, more intimate room downstairs that serves as restaurant and piano bar. Dimora del Dragone offers five modern rooms and a lovely suite, all with fab views.

This culinary beacon in Sicily's interior features ambitious—and successful—dishes with the creative flair of chef Angelo Treno, whose unforgettable pastas topped with truffles or caviar, for example, offer a decidedly different expression of traditional regional ingredients. The unassuming and elegant dining room is inside an old railway house and is the perfect place to enjoy a bottle from the 500-label wine list; in cold weather, you can cozy up to a fireplace, but the terrace is the place to be in summer.

The well-spaced tables and the ancient brick vaulting in this small, bright space set the stage for game, meat, fish, and seafood dishes served with creative flair. The level of service is very high, even by demanding Turin standards.

This side-street eatery, lined with old wood paneling and decked out with musical instruments, serves traditional Veronese classics, like bigoli (thick whole wheat spaghetti) with donkey ragù and pastissada con polenta (horse-meat stew with polenta). Don't be deterred by the unconventional meats—they're tender and delicious, and this is probably the best place in town to sample them. This first-rate home cooking is reasonably priced and served by helpful, efficient staff. It's popular, so arrive early. Reservations are not always taken.

Founded by three friends with a passion for wine and fine food, Antico Arco attracts diners from Rome and beyond with its refined culinary inventiveness. The location on top of the Janiculum Hill makes for a charming setting, and inside, the dining rooms are plush, modern spaces, with whitewashed brick walls, dark floors, and black velvet chairs. Its wine cellar houses over 1,200 labels, all nestled in the cantina carved into the ruins of the catacombs of San Pancrazio.

Overlooking rows of olive trees that seem to run into the sea, this superb eatery is away from the throng, halfway between Sant'Agata and Massa Lubrense. Two huge, beamed dining rooms with brick archways, old chandeliers, antique mirrored sideboards, hundreds of mounted plates, and tangerine tablecloths make for an atmospheric place to dine.

Founded as a hotel and restaurant in 1720 and set beside the striking Roman Temple of Vesta and the Sanctuary of the Sybil, this establishment has an idyllic, wisteria-draped terrace overlooking the deep gorge of the Aniene River, with a thundering waterfall in the background. Standards are high, and the trip to Tivoli is worth it even if you do nothing more than order a lunch of upscale versions of local dishes and take in the spectacular view.

This enoteca and antipasto bar is popular with locals and tourists looking for typical regional dishes, fresh fish, and a lengthy wine list. The owner designed the entire place, right down to the tables and chairs made from anchors and old boats. They also offer terrific sandwiches to go.

The staying power of Buca di Sant'Antonio—it's been around since 1782—is the result of superlative Tuscan food brought to the table by waitstaff who don't miss a beat. The menu includes the simple but blissful tortelli lucchesi al sugo (meat-stuffed pasta with a tomato-and-meat sauce), as well as more daring dishes such as roast capretto (kid goat) with herbs. A white-wall interior hung with copper pots and brass musical instruments creates a classy but comfortable dining space.

The Cacciani family has been running this stylish restaurant in the heart of Frascati old town since 1922, when it was a popular hangout for the likes of Clark Gable and Gina Lollobrigida. Perched high on a rise overlooking the town and the Roman plain, there are spectacular views from the Cacciani terrace, but you can also keep an eye on the gorgeous food being prepared in the open kitchen. The family runs a hotel in the same building in case you want to spend the night after dining on the celebrated local plates.

Inside an enchanting 18th-century palace with arched ceilings, this zero-kilometer restaurant uses products only from the surrounding area, including vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers from its own gardens, in its weekly changing seven-course tasting menus. In the warmer months, don’t miss dining amongst the roses in the romantic courtyard, where a smaller three-course menu with cocktail of the day is also offered.

Tucked away on the third floor of the Green Pea sustainable retail venture (next to Eataly Lingotto), one of Turin's top destinations for fine dining is run by the fourth generation of the Vicina family, with Claudio and wife Anna leading the kitchen and Stefano managing the front of house. Excellent quality traditional Piedmontese dishes are served with creative style, and the wine list is an encyclopedia, featuring not only the top Barolo producers but also many other small but notable wineries.

This tiny eatery brilliantly blends the cuisine of Tuscany with that of Korea and Japan. Here you'll find wacky and marvelous combinations in the dumplings, ravioli, and more on a seasonally changing menu.

This upscale trattoria serves sumptuous options like the creamy crostini di fegatini (with a savory chicken-liver spread) and melt-in-your-mouth desserts. Many Florentines hail this as the city's best restaurant, and justifiably so—chef-owner Fabio Picchi knows Tuscan food better than anyone, and it shows.

Amid the stone vaults and vine-leafy, light-dappled courtyard of this highly acclaimed old-town osteria turned Slow Food destination, the freshest Pugliese meat and produce are transformed into exquisite tapas-like dishes. Be sure to ask the amiable owner to show you his wine cellar and equally impressive cheese larder, where he personally controls the maturing process.

Celebrity chef Ritu Dalmia runs well-regarded Italian restaurants in India, so it's no surprise that her first restaurant in Italy offers a mash-up of modern Indian food with Italian and international ingredients; even the decor, with shelves of pottery and terrazzo floors, is a cultural combo. Look for unexpected flavors and a mix of small plates, more substantial mains, and utterly delicious fusion desserts.

One of Palermo's best modern pizzerias serves delicious Neapolitan pies from a big oven in the open kitchen—the genius is in the crust, which is seared in a matter of seconds. The owners make their money on a quick turnover (so don't expect a long, leisurely meal), but the pizza is delicious and the place often serves until midnight—later than almost any other restaurant in the neighborhood.

The heaping seafood antipasti alone is reason enough to visit this classic seafood-focused eatery close to the Biennale—think tuna and swordfish carpaccio, spider crab, clams, crab pâté, and a variety of fish. But you'll also want to stay for the excellent mains, particularly soft-shell crab, mixed grilled fish, and spaghetti vongole, plus the lovely courtyard setting.

Host Paolino Cesari has been presiding over his eatery since 1962, and he and his staff go out of their way to make you feel at home. The food's terrific, and if you love pork products, try anything on the menu with mora romagnola: Paolino has direct contact with the people who raise this breed that nearly became extinct (he calls it "my pig"). The highly flavorful meat makes divine salame, among other things. All the usual Bolognesi classics are here, as well as—in fall and winter—an inspired scaloppina alla Petroniana (veal cutlet with prosciutto and fontina) that comes smothered in white truffles. This one-room restaurant has white tablecloths, dark-wood paneling, wine-bottle-lined walls, and is just a few minutes' walk from Piazza Maggiore.

Featuring, as its name suggests, stunning views of sky, sea, and land and run by the fourth generation of the famiglia Cavaliere (sommelier Giuseppe, front-of-house manager Antonio, and chef Marco), this restaurant just outside of town serves exquisite dishes made with fresh local produce—often from its own orto garden and the sea below. Many diners opt for the aromatic theater al tavolo of the signature spaghetti al cartoccio dal 1965 (spaghetti with clams, olives, capers, tomatoes, and oregano), which the ever-smiling Antonio removes from baking paper, mixes, and serves.

In the quieter part of Trastevere, the family-run Da Enzo is everything you would imagine a classic Roman trattoria to be. There are just a few tables, but diners from around the world line up to eat here—a testament to the quality of the food. Because it's so small and does not accept reservations, there's almost invariably a wait, so arrive early for a better shot at speedy service.

Amid its own terraced vineyards with inspiring views to the island of Ischia and beyond, this is much more than just a well-reputed restaurant. The owner's mother was a friend of Axel Munthe, and he encouraged her to open a food kiosk, which evolved into Da Gelsomina; today the specialties include pollo a mattone (chicken grilled with bricks) and locally caught rabbit. It has an immaculately kept swimming pool, which is open to the public for a small fee—a buffet is served as you lounge here. Close to one of the island's finer walks as well as the Philosophy Park, it's an excellent base for a whole day or longer. There's also a five-room pensione, with free transfer service by request from Anacapri center.

A Triestino institution, this is the oldest and most esteemed of the many "buffet" restaurants serving pork and sausages around town, with a wood-paneled interior and seating outside. It specializes in bollito di maiale, a dish of boiled pork and pork sausages accompanied by delicately flavored sauerkraut, mustard, and grated horseradish. Unlike other Italian restaurants, buffets don't close between lunch and dinner, and tap beer is the drink of choice. For what seems to be a "fast food" restaurant, the service is surprisingly friendly and helpful.

Located right on the beach at Porto Palo, Da Vittorio is something of a local legend, highly regarded and much loved by everyone from wine and olive oil makers to celebrating families. The focus is on fresh fish and seafood, with pasta for the first course, and grilled fish for a second, all enhanced with traditional Sicilian flavors such as capers, almonds, and wild fennel. The spot dates back to the 1960s when Vittorio, a young cook from Bergamo, fell in love with a Sicilian girl and opened a small restaurant in a beach shack. These days, there’s a smart glass conservatory and cream damask table linens, along with a terrace for alfresco dining, and—a real mark of Vittorio’s success—a local following strong enough to keep the restaurant open all year, a real rarity in these parts.

This elegant but simply furnished Michelin-starred restaurant near the port offers modern and creative Italian haute cuisine on two wide-ranging tasting menus (€120 and €155 per person), consisting of a series of dishes that are only revealed when presented to your table (any food allergies can be communicated beforehand). Dal Corsaro shares its kitchen and chef, Stefano Deidda, with the adjacent Fork, an elegant and modern bistro where you may find such mouthwatering concoctions as smoked mackerel with honey and liver, and cheesecake salad with marinated salmon and citrus, while desserts might include licorice ice cream with a crunchy almond topping. Fork offers five-course tasting menus costing €70 and €75, and has outdoor dining in spring and summer.

Set in a palace dating from 1757, this is one of Europe's most beautiful and historic restaurants, with decorative moldings, mirrors, and hanging lamps contrasted with ultramodern takes on Piedmontese cuisine from young Michelin-starred chef Matteo Baronetto. Order an inventive signature dish such as the Piedmontese salad, with around 24 artfully composed ingredients, and an expertly prepared meat or fish dish, or opt for the six- or nine-course tasting menu to sample more of the chef's innovative cooking.