By Colman Andrews, 24/7 Wall St
According to a 2019 YouGov survey, Italian cuisine comes in at No. 1 among “America’s favorite foods from around the world.” Other surveys, admittedly, put Italian in second or third place, after Mexican and/or Chinese, but nobody can disagree that pasta and pizza and such form a major part of our diet. The average American eats approximately 20 pounds of pasta a year, in fact, and 23 pounds of pizza.
It would be hard to find any city or town in the country that doesn’t have at least one Italian restaurant and/or pizzeria. National Geographic reported earlier this year that about 100,000 of America’s 800,000 or so restaurants served Italian food of one kind or another. According to other sources, an estimated three-quarters of this number specialize in pizza. And these are the 25 best pizza places in America.
To determine the best Italian restaurant in every state, 24/7 Tempo reviewed and extrapolated from lists and rankings on numerous food and general interest sites, including Eater, Yelp, The Daily Meal, Fodors, Business Insider, Forbes, and Gayot, as well as a wide range of regional and city-specific sites.
The results reveal a vast and varied landscape of Italian and Italian-American cooking. There are places that strive for authenticity and preserve tradition, like Felix Trattoria in Venice, California, but also high-end restaurants creating imaginative variations on the theme, like Scampo in Boston. Some establishments work regional ingredients into the mix, like Domenica in New Orleans, while others are unapologetically old-fashioned red-sauce eateries serving comfort food Italian style — sometimes including one or more of these 10 “Italian” dishes that aren’t really Italian.
Alabama: Bottgega
> Location: Birmingham
> Sample menu items: Tortellini with Gulf crab, squash, and lemon; chicken scaloppine with capers and polenta
Alaska: In Bocca al Lupo
> Location: Juneau
> Sample menu items: Garlic-blasted Caesar salad; Yukon gold potato gnocchi with sockeye salmon puttanesca
> Location: Scottsdale
> Sample menu items: Burrata with fresh figs; smoked duck breast with black garlic soubise
Arkansas: Ermilio’s Italian Home Cooking
> Location: Eureka Springs
> Sample menu items: Choice of pastas with Mom’s Homemade Meatballs in red sauce; chicken parmesan
California: Felix Trattoria
> Location: Venice
> Sample menu items: Panzanella (Tuscan bread salad); house-made orecchiette with sausage and broccoletti
Colorado: Frasca Food & Wine
> Location: Boulder
> Sample menu items: Ricotta-stuffed squash blossoms; calamarata pasta with squid and Calabrian chiles
Connecticut: La Marea Ristorante
> Location: Old Saybrook
> Sample menu items: Insalata riccia con fave e pancetta (frisée salad with favas and pancetta); zuppa de pesce (mixed seafood stew)
Delaware: Taverna
> Location: Newark and Wilmington
> Sample menu items: Crispy meatball pizza; grilled spicy shrimp with zucchini and lemon vinaigrette
Florida: Cecconi’s
> Location: Miami Beach
> Sample menu items: Vitello tonnato with caperberries; veal milanese
Georgia: La Tavola Trattoria
> Location: Atlanta
> Sample menu items: Agnolotti with corn, mascarpone, and oyster mushrooms; pork belly with cannellini beans and braised kale
Hawaii: Taormina Sicilian Cuisine
> Location: Honolulu
> Sample menu items: Shrimp and scallop bruschetta; porcini risotto with sautéed foie gras
Idaho: Alavita
> Location: Boise
> Sample menu items: Squid ink bucatini; red-wine-braised short ribs with creamy polenta
Illinois: RPM Italian
> Location: Chicago
> Sample menu items: Roman-style artichokes with lemon aioli; Mama DePandi’s bucatini with tomatoes and basil
Indiana: Galo’s Italian Grill
> Location: Richmond
> Sample menu items: Penne carbonara with grilled chicken; gorgonzola New York strip steak with grilled shrimp
Iowa: Centro
Location: Des Moines
Sample menu items: Pancetta-wrapped shrimp; spicy sausage rigatoni
Kansas: The Basil Leaf Cafe
> Location: Lawrence
> Sample menu items: Sausage and arborio rice arancini; deconstructed lasagna
Kentucky: Pompilio’s
> Location: Newport
> Sample menu items: Toasted beef or cheese ravioli; veal marsala with linguine
Louisiana: Domenica
> Location: New Orleans
> Sample menu items: Smoked swordfish carpaccio; Gulf shrimp risotto
Maine: Ports of Italy
> Location: Boothbay Harbor and Rockport
> Sample menu items: Bang Island mussels with sambuca; osso buco with risotto milanese
Maryland: Aldo’s
> Location: Baltimore
> Sample menu items: Point Judith calamari fritti; linguine with clams
Massachusetts: Scampo
> Location: Boston
> Sample menu items: Burnt orange and tomato risotto with crisped soft shell crab; charcoaled “sugar cane” veal ribeye with stracciatella ravioli
Michigan: SheWolf Pastificio & Bar
> Location: Detroit
> Sample menu items: Sformato di zucchine (savory zucchini custard); paccheri pasta with spicy lamb neck ragù
Minnesota: Broders’ Pasta Bar
> Location: Minneapolis
> Sample menu items: Roasted whole garlic with spicy tomato jam; carrot gnocchi with chicken and olives
Mississippi: The Sicilian II
> Location: Biloxi
> Sample menu items: Shrimp Alfredo pizza; chocolate chip cannoli
Missouri: Casa Don Alfonso
> Location: St. Louis
> Sample menu items: Grandma’s ziti with anchovies and cherry tomatoes; veal pizzaiola
Montana: Michelangelo’s Big Sky
> Location: Gallatin Gateway
> Sample menu items: Grilled portabella mushrooms with herb polenta and goat cheese sauce; saltimbocca alla romana with risotto cake
Nebraska: MoMo Pizzeria & Ristorante
> Location: Lincoln
> Sample menu items: Prosciutto and egg pizza; garlic-butter walleye with spinach and tomato risotto
Nevada: Ferraro’s Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar
> Location: Las Vegas
> Sample menu items: Pasta e fagioli; coniglio brasato (braised rabbit) with polenta and roasted mushrooms
New Hampshire: Campo Enoteca
> Location: Manchester
> Sample menu items: House-made ricotta with grilled sourdough; chicken piccata tagliatelle
New Jersey: Cafe 2825
> Location: Atlantic City
> Sample menu items: Spicy scungilli; Sunday Gravy (homemade meatballs, pork braciole, and Italian sausage in Old World thick red gravy)
New Mexico: Osteria d’Assisi
> Location: Santa Fe
> Sample menu items: Penne alla carbonara; braised buffalo short ribs with polenta
New York: Via Carota
> Location: New York City
> Sample menu items: Peas with lettuce and prosciutto; grilled sea bream with charred escarole
North Carolina: Ristorante Paoletti
> Location: Highlands
> Sample menu items: Smoked risotto with mushroom ragù; grilled North Carolina rainbow trout Adriatico style
North Dakota: Anima Cucina
> Location: Bismarck
> Sample menu items: Lardo crostini; spicy shrimp spaghetti
Ohio: Martini Modern Italian
> Location: Columbus
> Sample menu items: Tomato soup with pesto and goat cheese; fettuccine with clams
South Dakota: Sabatino’s Italian
> Location: Rapid City
> Sample menu items: Caprese salad; gnocchi al pesto
Tennessee: Yolan
> Location: Nashville
> Sample menu items: Farinata (chickpea flour crêpe) with squash conserva; bucatini all’amatriciana
Texas: Lucia
> Location: Dallas
> Sample menu items: Baked rigatoni with ‘nduja, bread crumbs, and stracciatella; pork shoulder cooked in hay
Utah: Valter’s Osteria
> Location: Salt Lake City
> Sample menu items: Zuppa cotta (cannellini beans, mushrooms, and truffles); chicken piccata with artichokes and lemon sauce
Vermont: Sarducci’s
> Location: Montpelier
> Sample menu items: Linguine al pescatore (with shrimp, cod, and mussels); vitello alla parmigiana
Virginia: Edo’s Squid
> Location: Richmond
> Sample menu items: Squid with arugula, garlic, and lemon; sausage, polenta, and beans
Washington: Cafe Juanita
> Location: Kirkland
> Sample menu items: Risotto with corn and raw spot prawns; wagyu New York strip with romano beans and chanterelles
West Virginia: Fazio’s
> Location: Charleston
> Sample menu items: Baked manicotti; chicken cacciatore with mostaccioli in meat and mushroom sauce
Wisconsin: Ristorante Bartolotta
> Location: Wauwatosa
> Sample menu items: Gianfuttiri (Calabrian vegetable stew); cappone arrosto (slow-roasted capon)
Wyoming: Glorietta Trattoria
> Location: Jackson
> Sample menu items: Lobster Fra’ Diavolo with tagliatelle; Snake River Farms porchetta with escarole and white beans
