The Best Italian Restaurants for Superb Italian Food

The Italian cuisine is crowd-pleasing; it's comforting, rewarding, and more often than not plentiful. Parmesan cheese infusing sauces and pasta with its salty flavor, the seafood and the wine. Together with impeccable service, what's not to love?

Then there's also modern Italian food with creative yet classic preparations. Extensive wine lists, and fancy tasting menus, all make Italian dining a joy to experience.

Italian dishes come in all flavors, textures and sizes. From squid ink pasta to fork-tender brown butter-seared short rib, the sky's the limit! There's nothing better than high-quality food sourced Italian dishes.

From casual mom and pop's to fine dining, popular Italian restaurants abound. For the best Italian food on earth, though, you must visit one of the following authentic gastro-temples.

Piazza Duomo - Alba, Italy

Photo By Piazza Duomo

Today, the best Italian restaurants are still found in Italy, not without fierce international competition. Piazza Duomo, ranked 29 in The World's 50 Best Restaurant list, has stayed in its own category for its impeccable service, high-quality food and innovation.

Chef Enrico Crippa is behind the legendary Piazza Duomo, where the traditional Piedmontese flavors are elevated to perfection through precise, modern cooking techniques and the finest ingredients in the region, including Alba's decadently earthy truffles.

Choose from three distinct tasting menus comprising dishes so pretty you don't want to ruin them with your fork and knife. You totally should, though, because this is more than a good meal; it's a life-changing experience. The food here is a silent conversation between the skilled cooks and the lucky guests — there are only eleven tables.

The herbs and vegetables come from the restaurant's garden; meaning Chef Crippa does all it takes in his endless quest for perfection.

Overlooking the famous Piazza Duomo, the restaurant offers unique environments for each table. That includes the famous 'pink room' ornamented with hand-painted art, an homage to the region's pale-colored wines made with Nebbiolo. It comes without saying, wine plays a critical role in Piazza Duomo's experience.

Le Calandre - Rubano, Italy

Photo By Le Calandre

Ranked 31 in The World's 50 Best Restaurant list, Le Calandre, which kitchen is orchestrated by Chef Massimiliano Alajmo, is a third-generation undertaking.

Don't expect spaghetti and meatballs here. This is modern Italian cuisine, reinventing the country's flavors with avant-garde techniques with a single aim — swoon the guests off their feet.

Choose your own adventure or select one of three seasonal tasting menus that take you to all corners of Italy and back in every bite. Here, it's all about innovation, but also about family traditions, the Italian way, so get ready to experience Italy through the Alajmo Family's eyes.

From the outside, Le Calandre blends in with the rustically charming and picturesque small town of Rubano. Still, once you cross the restaurant's doors, you're immersed in a world of luxury and exquisite decor.

Expect tuna ice cream with artichokes, lobster carpaccio and a lovely mushroom salad. A cuttlefish and potato 'cappuccino' and a fragrant saffron risotto come next. Dish after dish, you're immersed in a parallel universe that runs along with traditional Italian food.

This might not be traditional Italian food, but it's still very much Italian. Even better, it's Italian cuisine meeting the country's inventiveness.

Portale - New York, NY

Photo By Portale

Outside of Italy, it's hard to argue New York isn't the most Italian metropolis in the world. Italian immigrants helped shape the city's modern food scene and single-handedly made us fall in love with the food from the 'big boot.'

For a cheesy slice of pizza or a classic chicken piccata, New York City has you covered. But fine dining is well represented as well, and it reaches its pinnacle in Portale.

Chef Alfred Portale is well known in the industry, he's been running kitchens for forty years. Yet, it wasn't until the man and legend met with Chef Victoria Blamey, a young, modernist cook, that Portale came to be.

New American cuisine meets traditional Italian pasta for a varied menu that has something for everyone, elevated even further by an upbeat, New York-style ambient and decor.

Here, it's either meat, fish or pasta, and portions are generous. This doesn't mean there's no creativity here. Every plate is excellent.

The pork roast is madly popular, and the hand-rolled stuffed pasta with spicy arrabbiata is gaining legendary status.

Leave some room for dessert because Portale serves the best Tiramisu in town, and that's saying something.

Vetri Cucina - Philadelphia, PA

Photo By Vetri Cucina

We could go as far as saying that Vetri Cucina, by Chef Marc Vetri, is the finest Italian restaurant in America. It certainly feels that way once you experience the house's hospitality.

Everyone in Philly knows chef Betri; he's been championing authentic Italian food for two decades. Vetri Cucina holds the thirty-two most coveted seats in the city, so getting in is not easy.

All ingredients are local, the flour for the bread is milled on-site, fish suppliers are part of the family, and fresh pasta is handmade daily. Everything comes together in a massive tasting menu that extends for hours through thirteen-plus dishes.

A pioneer in fine dining Italian food, Vetri Cucina is still going strong. The menu changes often, but you can expect awesome fish, duck, fire-roasted meat, deliciously prepared veggies and life-changing pasta, and everything is cooked à la minute.

The wine program is one of the most exclusive in the city, and the service is top notch. This is a place for special occasions, anniversaries and birthdays. It might not be cheap, but you can't put a price on perfection — Chef Marc Vetri is all about perfection.

A16 - San Francisco, CA

Photo By A16

For a friendly but snooty service, high-quality ingredients, in a lovely atmosphere, A16 in San Francisco is a standout.

If you think you know pizza, think again because the best come from A16's ovens. The bustling open kitchen is an authentic stage, and the diners are up for quite a show.

Start with a wholesome bruschetta, with sausage, mushrooms and a fried egg, and don't miss out on the burrata. Of course, you're here for the pizza.

The Neapolitan pizza is a timeless classic. Made with fine ingredients and lots of passion, this might be the best slice you've had in your life.

Then there are more creative pies — a mushroom pizza with smoked mozzarella is a game-changer, and the famous Bianca pizza is a white beauty livened by garlic, chili and Grana Padano cheese.

Pasta is astounding too. Try the farfalle with artichoke, bergamot orange mint and fried breadcrumbs, or the satisfying pasta with calamari cooked in squid ink.

Italian food is more than fine dining. Sometimes it's all about passion for good ingredients and lots of creativity. That's what the folks at A16 do best, so get ready to be pampered with comforting Italian dishes.

Here are some delicious recipes from the Italian cuisine