The 10 best Italian restaurants in Boston
Italian cooking in Boston starts in the North End, where Hanover Street and North Square hold dining rooms that have been open for decades. Just as much of the good pasta is now made elsewhere: the South End, South Boston, East Boston, Dorchester and Jamaica Plain. This list covers both, for residents planning a night out and visitors who want one dinner that counts.
The ten restaurants below are independent or locally run, and each makes pasta or red sauce a specialty. Most pastas cost $20 to $34. Pizzas at the neighborhood places start at $15, and a few seafood pastas run $47 to $50.
How we chose
The list is alphabetical, not ranked. Each restaurant is inside the city limits, was confirmed open in November 2026 and has a record in local press or a named, dated award. Long-running rooms sit next to newer ones, and six of the ten are outside the North End. Chains based elsewhere were left out.
Hours and prices below come from each business and change without notice. Call ahead if you are making a special trip.
Bar Mezzana
Coastal Italian is the label Bar Mezzana uses, and the menu backs that up with a raw-fish section: yellowtail crudo at $21, bass ceviche at $22 and a chef’s tasting of three for $33. Chef Colin Lynch, Heather Lynch and Jefferson Macklin, all alumni of Barbara Lynch Gruppo, opened the South End restaurant on June 1, 2016, according to Boston magazine. Handmade pastas run $26 to $29, apart from a $47 lobster paccheri. The dining room is in the Ink Block development on Harrison Avenue, and the restaurant arranges discounted parking at the Ink Underground lot at 90 Traveler Street.
Hours: Dinner Tuesday to Thursday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. The bar stays open one hour later. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Address: 360 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02118
Why they made the list
- The three founders worked together at Barbara Lynch Gruppo for eight years before opening, Boston magazine reported in 2016.
- Five crudo choices are on the current menu, priced from $20 to $33.
- Larger plates include a porcini-crusted veal chop at $42 and chicken under a brick at $38.
Carmelina’s
Sicilian family recipes drive the menu at Carmelina’s, which opened on Hanover Street in 2012. Executive chef Damien DiPaola adapted the dishes, and the open kitchen turns them out in a small room with family photos on the walls. The Sunday Macaroni is $40, the frutti di mare is $38 and the carbonara is $25; the restaurant calls the $50 lobster ravioli a top seller. In summer the front walls retract to open the room to the street. Reservations are taken online only, through Yelp, in 90-minute blocks for parties of up to six. The kitchen does not accept takeout orders.
Hours: Daily 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Address: 307 Hanover St., Boston, MA 02113
Why they made the list
- Lunch and dinner are served seven days a week from one menu.
- A table held for a no-show is released to the waitlist after 10 minutes.
- Starters include fried calamari at $18 and the Exploding Little Neck Clams at $24.
See the full directory listing
Coppa
On a quiet corner of Shawmut Avenue in the South End, Coppa is an enoteca with a small dining room and a large patio. The restaurant’s site credits chefs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette and lists Coppa as part of JK Food Group. House-made pastas cost $29 to $34 and include spaghetti carbonara with Maine uni and pappardelle with duck leg ragu and foie gras. Pizzas run $18 to $22. Salumi is $15 a selection or $40 for a board of three. Gluten-free pasta is available for $5 more, and the restaurant runs a separate gluten-free night.
Hours: Check current hours before you go.
Address: 253 Shawmut Ave., Boston, MA 02118
Why they made the list
- Time Out Boston’s review describes a compact wood-and-brick room and names the Parma pizza as a dish to order.
- The current menu has six pastas, among them fusilli with New Bedford red crab at $31.
- Posted holiday hours for 2026 show Coppa open on Christmas Eve from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and closed on Thanksgiving.
The Daily Catch
Eighteen seats ring the open kitchen at The Daily Catch on Hanover Street, where one cook and one server handle the whole room. Paul Freddura opened the storefront in 1973, by the restaurant’s account, and built the menu on Sicilian-style seafood: fried calamari, black squid-ink pasta, clams with linguine and a lobster fra diavolo that comes to the table in the pan. Fish comes from the Boston Fish Pier. There are no reservations, so expect a line at peak hours, and bring cash, because the North End location takes only cash and gift cards. A second Boston location on Atlantic Avenue books tables through Tock.
Hours: Daily 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Address: 323 Hanover St., Boston, MA 02113
Why they made the list
- The original storefront has been open since 1973, according to the restaurant.
- Seating is first come, first served every day of the week.
- A takeout window operates a few doors away at 331 Hanover Street.
Fox & the Knife
Chef Karen Akunowicz runs Fox & the Knife as an enoteca on West Broadway in South Boston, with handmade pasta, antipasti and a long list of aperitivi and amari. The Michelin Guide gave the restaurant a Bib Gourmand in the guide’s first Boston selection in November 2025 and singled out the taleggio-stuffed focaccia, the raviolo carbonara and the tagliatelle Bolognese made with wild boar. A long bar fills the front of the room, with banquettes behind. Reservations open on a rolling 30-day basis through OpenTable, and the restaurant seats walk-ins when space allows. Allergy menus are available on arrival; vegan and dairy-free choices are limited.
Hours: Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Address: 28 W. Broadway, Boston, MA 02127
Why they made the list
- Fox & the Knife was one of six Bib Gourmand restaurants named in the 2025 Michelin Guide for Greater Boston.
- Michelin lists the price level as moderate, at two dollar signs.
- Akunowicz also runs Bar Volpe, another Bib Gourmand restaurant, a few blocks up West Broadway.
See the full directory listing
Mamma Maria
Mamma Maria fills a brick row house on North Square, across from the Paul Revere House, and is a fine-dining room in a neighborhood better known for red sauce. The kitchen cooks regional Italian dishes with New England ingredients, leaning north in fall and winter and south in summer. A 2005 Harvard Magazine review called the ossobuco the signature dish, and the menu posted on OpenTable in November 2026 lists the dish at $42 alongside rabbit pasta at $32. Five private rooms range from the Piccolo, a single table, to the Verdi for up to 50 guests. Book through SevenRooms or by phone.
Hours: Check current hours before you go.
Address: 3 North Square, Boston, MA 02113
Why they made the list
- The restaurant’s site cites a AAA Four Diamond Award for 2022.
- Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook downtown Boston, according to the restaurant.
- Small weddings for 12 to 75 guests are hosted in the house.
See the full directory listing
Rino’s Place
A residential block of Saratoga Street in East Boston is home to Rino’s Place, a 10-table red-sauce restaurant that Rino and Anna DiCenso started and their son, chef Anthony DiCenso, now runs. The ravioli are made to order and are roughly the size of a fist; the thin-cut veal and the daily lunch and dinner specials are the other draws. Guy Fieri filmed here for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives in 2010, and Boston.com reported in 2019 that waits often pass two hours. The family’s bar across the street, Prima e Dopo, pours drinks and wine on tap for people waiting on a table.
Hours: Monday 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. No Sunday hours are posted.
Address: 258 Saratoga St., East Boston, MA 02128
Why they made the list
- Boston magazine named Rino’s Place the best neighborhood restaurant in East Boston in its 2016 Best of Boston awards.
- Anthony DiCenso was born and raised in Italy, according to the restaurant.
- Lunch is served Tuesday through Friday, starting at 11 a.m.
SRV
Short for Serene Republic of Venice, SRV is a Venetian-style bacaro on Columbus Avenue in the South End. Chefs Michael Lombardi and Kevin O’Donnell opened the restaurant in 2015, and Boston magazine named SRV the best Italian restaurant in the 2016 Best of Boston awards. Dinner starts with cicchetti, the small bar snacks of Venice, then moves to fresh pasta made from locally milled flour and risotto cooked to order. A marble-topped bar handles the wine and Italian-leaning cocktails, and outdoor tables open when the weather allows. Reservations are released 28 days ahead; the phone is answered from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Hours: Monday to Wednesday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday and Friday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. The bar stays open one hour later.
Address: 569 Columbus Ave., Boston, MA 02118
Why they made the list
- SRV was a 2017 James Beard Foundation semifinalist for best new restaurant, according to BU Today.
- A mill in the basement grinds grain for the pasta, BU Today reported in 2017.
- Dinner is served seven nights a week.
Tavolo
Next to Ashmont Station in Dorchester’s Peabody Square, Tavolo is the neighborhood’s pasta and pizza restaurant. Chef Chris Douglass, formerly of Icarus in the South End, opened Tavolo in August 2008, the Dorchester Reporter wrote that year. Spaghetti and meatballs is $20, tagliatelle Bolognese is $27 and pizzas run $15 to $20, with a Margherita at the low end. Focaccia with sea salt and rosemary is baked daily. A large communal table anchors the room, and the calendar includes themed pasta nights and wine dinners. Reserve on Resy or by phone, or walk in. Gluten-free pasta costs $2 extra.
Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday to Saturday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday brunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Monday.
Address: 1918 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester, MA 02124
Why they made the list
- A section of the dining room can be closed off for private parties, the Dorchester Reporter noted in 2008.
- Nineteen pastas and mains are on the current menu, and only the flat iron steak costs more than $32.
- Sunday is the one day with brunch service.
See the full directory listing
Tonino
Twenty-eight seats at 11 tables make up Tonino, on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, and Resy reports that reservations fill quickly. Claire Makley and Luke Fetbroth opened the trattoria in 2022, taking cues from the neighborhood restaurants and aperitivo bars of Rome. Resy’s October 2026 guide points to the pizza bianca, sold whole or by the slice, the mortadella plate with pecorino and house pickles, and bucatini with anchovy chile butter and bottarga. Tables are released at noon, 30 days out, for parties of up to five. Two counter seats are held each night for the first people in line when the door opens at 5 p.m.
Hours: Thursday to Saturday 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., Sunday and Monday 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
Address: 669A Centre St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Why they made the list
- The room took over the former Little Dipper space, Boston.com reported in June 2022.
- Parties of six or more book 30 to 60 days ahead, and groups larger than 12 need a private event.
- Resy lists Tonino at two dollar signs, the moderate tier.
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