Here at Enthusiastic About Life, we are huge fans of all sorts of different food. As I travel the United States, I love seeing how different states do Italian food. Check out all of the Italian restaurants I’ve eaten at throughout the United States and let me know which spot sounds the best!
Arizona
LA BONA PASTA
La Bona Pasta is a super cute little place with delicious food. We tried some grilled chicken with angel hair pasta and the pollo parmigiano! So filling, we recommend!
BUCA DI BEPPO
Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant was so delicious! I love how all the meals are served family style and you just share. I had the Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken Breasts and my sister/cousin had the pasta. SO GOOD. Also they have great wine and really strong margaritas. Highly recommend!
CIBO
Cibo is definitely one of my favorite places. Super cute restaurant with delicious food. I really enjoyed their bolognese.
COMPASS ARIZONA GRILL
The Compass Arizona Grill within the Hyatt Regency in Phoenix is great for carb-loading but it’s also perfect if you’re trying to admire some beautiful views while you eat. It is the only revolving roof-top restaurant in Arizona and rotates slowly to showcase amazing views of the Phoenix area. The pasta was delicious but what really sold me was the fresh Parmesan sprinkled on top!
FORNO 301
Forno 301 is a really cute restaurant with delicious pizza and appetizers. I loved this eggplant dip that came with a side of bread. So good!
THE GARLIC CLOVE
We made it to Kingman and my friend Javier took us to the best Italian restaurant here! The food at The Garlic Clove was delicious and they had HUGE portions! I recommend if you’re driving through Kingman on your way to Vegas!
GIUSEPPE’S ON 28TH
My friend Jenny had a race the weekend that we checked out Giuseppe’s on 28th so we went there to carb load. This place is hands down one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the valley. It is super authentic and delicious and they have HUGE portions. Also, the owner is super friendly! Guy Fieri was right. This place is dynamite!
NELLO’S AHWATUKEE
Nello’s Ahwtukee has delicious meatballs and cheese bread with marinara. Their pizzas are also excellent and I highly recommend everything on their menu!
NORTH ITALIA
you should know that right now pasta is life and I have a new fave pasta spot in Phoenix (thanks for the rec, Matt)! If you haven’t been to North Italia, stop what you’re doing now, text your fam/friends/significant others (or go alone #yolo) and go here! Their pasta is homemade and delicious, their pizza smelled amazing and they have a great selection of wine! It’s also a super cute date spot 😉 I had the Bolognese which is their house specialty and it was SO GOOD.
The spicy rigatoni vodka pasta dish was phenomenal!
Their garlic bread and olive oil is so good!
MARCELLINO RISTORANTE
Arizona Restaurant Week was last week and last Friday I got to cross off food bucket list item #416: Marcellino Ristorante in Scottsdale! This place was absolutely delicious, I’ll make sure to add more photos of my 3 course meal in the coming weeks (and on the blog!). For our first course we had prosciutto wrapped mozzarella and tomatoes with roasted peppers. Literally heaven in my mouth, highly recommend!
RIGATONY’S
If you’ve never had RigaTony’s in Tempe, you absolutely need to add it to your food bucket list. Their pasta is delicious and you get unlimited bread! I highly recommend the baked RigaTony, a delicious pasta dish with mozzarella/parmesan sauce with garlic spiked marinara and Italian sausage!
Their chicken parm is also delicious!
TRATTO
Tratto is one of my newest favorite Italian restaurants in the valley. It’s a new restaurant by pizza king Chef Bianco and it’s truly amazing. The pasta is some of the best I’ve ever had and you can tell they use quality ingredients! They do have a rotating menu so make sure to check it out before making your reservation!
Their focaccia is delicous!
All of their pastas are so good, I’m a big fan of any red sauce pasta and their zucchini pasta is also full of flavor!
I’ve been back to Tratto several times now and tried more of their food and it’s all excellent!
The bucatini amatriciana pasta was incredible! There was so much flavor!
California
JOHNNY COSTA’S RISTORANTE
The best lasagana I’ve ever had (in the USA) can be found at Johnny Costa’s Ristorante in Palm Springs. The lasagna (and the free bread) was phenomenal. There was so much flavor, it was so filling, and it was just so good! It was so good, I wanted to go back the next day but they were closed.
They also have great customer service. I highly recommend!
LOVE AND SALT
I have a new favorite Italian restaurant! I tried Love and Salt in Manhattan Beach and literally everything I tried was incredible. I loved their garlic bread (Fett’unta) and the Bucatini all’Amatriciana was phenomenal!!
MAMA D’S ITALIAN KITCHEN
If you’re ever in Newport Beach, California I HIGHLY recommend you stop by Mama D’s Italian Kitchen!
Their customer service is top notch, the restaurant is super cute and the food is AMAZING! I had Gary’s Baked Ziti with pink sauce (they are famous for this incredible sauce that is a mix of red and Alfredo!).
It was SO GOOD, I almost went back the next day lol. What are you all eating this week?!
Cleveland
BLUE POINT GRILLE
My favorite meal in Cleveland was hands down this lobster bolognese from Blue Point Grille! Seriously y’all, I was so full and I kept eating because it was that good. The penne pasta was cooked to perfection, I would probably take a bath in the brandy lobster cream (lol), and the lobster was AMAZING. Who wants to join me next time!? What are you all eating this weekend!?
Florida
CIAO ITALIAN RISTORANTE
I know I am! I’m excited to spend time with family, eat delicious food and of course run the Phoenix Turkey Trot! I love running the turkey trot because it gives me an excuse to carbload with with the best pasta! Click the link in my bio for all my fave pasta spots in Phoenix but if you happen to be in Orlando, I highly recommend the chicken parm at Ciao Italia Ristorante! It was so good I went twice!
Ohio
SORTINO’S LITTLE ITALY RISTORANTE
After having a blast at Cedar Point we were starving and ecided to try the food at Sortino’s Little Italy Restaurant because it was only a couple of minutes away from the park! Hands down the best Italian food I have ever had in my life. I had grilled chicken with little pasta pockets WITH CHEESE and sausage. It was amazing and full of flavor and I didn’t want to leave lol HIGHLY recommend.
Texas
Tiny Champions
Tiny Champions had amazing pasta, pizza and salad! Everything had so much flavor!!! The cabbage salad with pistachio apricot agrodolce and pecorino cheese was so crunchy and the perfect way to start the meal.
The rigatoni pasta with beef and pork bolognese and parmesan was so hearty and delicious.
Washington
THE OLD SPAGHETTI FACTORY
The Old Spaghetti Factory been around basically forever and for good reason. Some killer italian food! Thank you for the recommendation Marissa! If any of you are ever in Seattle, definitely go try this place!
Washington DC
L’ARDENTE
L’ardente in Washington DC is a glam Italian restaurant and that is where I had the most delicious pasta I’ve ever had in the United States. The zucca pasta was incredible and had so much flavor in every single bite! I loved the Sausage Ragù with parmigiano, basil and fennel pollen in the dish!
Feel free to check out the entire catalog of my Food Bucket List for category inspiration and email me or comment below asking me for more restaurant recommendations as I aim to please!
I hope you all enjoyed the list! Thank you all for reading, and stay enthusiastic!
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-Maira