The Best Italian Restaurants In Seattle

This Piedmontese pasta specialist is the best Italian restaurant in Seattle, full stop. Bold? Sure, but so is the mountain of silky sage butter tajarin or braised rabbit agnolotti you eat by candlelight after an early December sunset, or fried zucchini blossoms snacked between gulps of tangerine-tinted paper plane cocktails come summertime. Yes, your wallet will be three figures emptier at the end of it all, but in exchange, you’ll have a life-affirming meal in a dining room filled with lace curtains, fine art, and noodle sheets draped over the open kitchen.

A huge kudos to whoever invented fire during the stone age. Because without it, we wouldn’t have the blazing flame inside Bar Del Corso’s domed pizza oven creating phenomenal leopard spots on their crispy crust, melting globs of buffalo mozzarella, and sizzling craggy bits of homemade fennel sausage. The pies alone would solidify this Beacon Hill staple as one of the most iconic Seattle happy places—up there with UW during cherry blossom season and Reuben’s when there’s no line for the bathroom. But the small plates here seal the deal. From suppli al telefono stuffed with cheese that pulls like taffy to the best grilled octopus in town, it’s all worthy of sidling up to the bar or grabbing a backyard picnic table alongside something containing Aperol and/or a scoop of gelato.

Italian restaurants in the PNW that end in “Ristorante Italiano” tend to be underwhelming duds. But we’d choose this excellent Issaquah spot over almost every other pasta spot in Seattle proper. Jammy short rib-stuffed ravioli swim in a marsala-splashed cream we’d gladly lick off the bottom of an old shoe. Chewy gnocchi with ragu is rich and meaty. And we devote about four minutes of every day thinking about their creamy cheese tortellini with pancetta and peas. This tiny place isn’t a secret, so call ahead to get a reservation, unless you want to wait for a chatty group to finish an entire bottle of Chianti.

Rimini is a Kirkland spot from the same family behind Montalcino, and much like its older sibling, it has what most Italian restaurants in the Greater Seattle area don’t. Like a sunday gravy-soaked meatball that contains the holy trinity of pork, beef, and veal—or a chicken parmigiana to brag about. There’s even a Sicilian fellow named Tony who occasionally serenades the dining room with Dean Martin standards and asks each table, “Va bene?” around six times per course. What’s happening here makes the otherwise goofy “Old Italy” theme feel validated, down to every last chocolate baton-harpooned slice of Nutella cheesecake.

Much like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! and Weird Al Yankovic, The Pink Door has been around since the early eighties. And yet, every time we sneak through Post Alley, step inside, and take in the nightly energy of this place, it feels like a grand opening celebration all over again. There’s the packed dining room, a candlelit glow, aerial performers dangling from the ceiling, and food that’s been consistent for over 30 years. Whether you’re with a big group toasting with glasses of prosecco and snacking on fontina-stuffed arancini, or having a solo meal at the bar headlined by a haystack of cream-spiked pappardelle bolognese, you’re in for a meal that’s just as fun on the first visit as it is the twentieth. Whatever you do, an order of fettunta and the spinach lasagna layered with pesto, velvety besciamella, and marinara must make their way to your table and mouth.

When the week feels longer than The Iliad, and only multiple plates of cheese-blasted carbs will do, we turn to Cornelly. This small spot on Capitol Hill serves pizza and pasta that deserve a 24-book Homer-style epic written about them. The pies are thoroughly crunchy without being burnt, with excellent toppings like fennel sausage and globs of ricotta or smoked scamorza and a sh*tton of summer corn. Meanwhile, fresh pasta tossed in pesto or a spruced-up bolognese with mint and hints of vinegar proves that Cornelly nails any type of flour-based dough. The restaurant is walk-in-only, but swing by before 6pm, and you’ll be among the negronis and lavender-buttered olive focaccia faster than you can say dactylic hexameter.

Artusi is the smaller sister spot to Spinasse just next door, and they’ve mastered the art of the aperitivo hour. Whereas Spinasse is perfect for a special occasion dinner, Artusi is ideal for endless snacking alongside something spiked with cocchi americano. Among the hits here is fried bread with burrata, meatballs, fennel pollen-dusted hazelnuts, and of course, the pastas. You can expect things like cavatelli with carrot and bacon or pappardelle with tomato butter to be on par with what you'll find at Spinasse, only you'll get it here in a more casual setting. The best part? If you come in on a Sunday or Monday, you can get two pastas and an entire bottle of wine for $45.

For a special occasion dinner, Cafe Juanita in Kirkland is the ultimate venue. With a dark, sleek space that can only belong on the Eastside where the Microsoft executives play, it's a restaurant where you can dress up and propose to the love of your life over A5 Miyazaki wagyu and delicate homemade tagliatelle with chanterelles. Their tasting menus have both vegetarian and vegan options, which also makes Cafe Juanita versatile for a cuisine that tends to prioritize pork and butter.

For the best Italian food on Bainbridge Island, drive 10 minutes north of Winslow to a little neighborhood called Rolling Bay. Via Rosa 11 is where to go to feel taken care of, and by that we mean it’s a comforting place to be fed pasta and pizza by people who pronounce “marinara” with D’s instead of R’s. Order at the counter, and then eat this excellent food inside or outside at a picnic table. While you can mix and match any pasta shape with any sauce, the best combination is fusilli with vodka sauce, and if they have the special burrata pizza with speck, you’ll want that too.

Any Italian bar can serve some fizzy Campari business alongside assembled appetizers, but Lioness in Phinney Ridge makes aperitivo hour actually exciting. The galley-style space feels effortlessly cool, and bites served on criminally adorable dishware go way beyond the call of small plate duty. A would-be-boring ball of burrata has a surprising kick, salumi is shaved thinner than parchment paper, and bowls of brothy clams and bouncy cavatelli are wonderful entrees—if you even have room after copious amounts of ikura-topped smoked cod mousse.

Ambiance is (almost) everything with this Italian restaurant on Ballard Ave. It’s located inside the rickety shell of a historic home, preserved since the 1800s. Complete with a vine-covered, tree-shaded wraparound porch and a dimly-lit, shiplap-enveloped swagger, it’s perfect for a romantic outing over smoky brown liquor cocktails and big bowls of pasta. Speaking of, the homemade pastas are all worthy of your time and stomach real estate, from the spaghetti bolognese to a guanciale-studded carbonara that’s one of the best we’ve ever had. The farinata is another highlight—it’s a grilled chickpea flatbread served with cold tomato confit, olive oil, and spreadable cheese that tastes like burrata and sunshine.

Beaches and fish and chips aren’t the only reasons to visit Alki—Il Nido should be on the list, too. With consistently tasty handmade pastas and a stellar selection of antipasti to fill the table, it’s one of those places to go out of your way for during any season. The restaurant is both fancy enough to celebrate a 15th wedding anniversary, but also informal enough that when a grown woman at the table next to you asks for an off-menu “butter pasta” the server doesn’t skip a beat. An ideal dinner order starts with prosciutto de parma, takes a detour to a pasta like their meaty tagliatelle, and ends with panna cotta. Throw in focaccia and a vegetable dish for a well-rounded, great meal.

While it seems logical to use this amari bar to wait out your table at next-door sister restaurant La Medusa, we encourage you to make Persephone your Plan A to begin with. Grab a seat among string lights and get acquainted with a bitter red spritz you’ll choose from the huge chalkboard selection of amari, as well as an all-star lineup of fried snacks—like crispy fish meatballs, saffron arancini, or a lemon-squeezed panelle sandwich. Then, all that's left to do is cradle your bitter herbal concoction alongside a bowl of spaghetti.

Bizzarro Italian Cafe is a mysterious place with carnival props hanging from the ceiling and more chandeliers than a Home Depot showroom. Their homemade pastas, like lasagna, baked ziti, and snap pea carbonara, work perfectly within this setting. It’s ideal for weeknight dinners with a big group of friends who won’t mind the bicycle dangling above them or the creepy radio static that plays in the bathroom. Get a glass of red and some pappardelle with mushrooms and sherry cream (a.k.a. The Forest Floor Frenzy) and you have yourself a very pleasant evening.

Pasta Casalinga is a casual Wednesday-Sunday spot in Pike Place Market that serves bowls of handmade pasta for under $20. Their menu rotates based on which fresh ingredients they have from the “ocean,” “garden,” and “farm,” and features things like rigatoni with lamb and juniper berry ragu, spaghettoni with kale pesto, or classic pomodoro with a big scoop of burrata on top. Everything comes out piping hot with a sprinkling of parmesan (as it should), and the ricotta chocolate crostata is incredible for dessert.