The best Italian restaurants in Austin to check out right now

When it comes to Italian food, chef-owner Fiore Tedesco learned from the best: the Italian immigrant grandparents he grew up cooking and eating alongside in upstate New York. At his Mueller district restaurant, he and his team bake several types of bread and churn out homemade pasta in various shapes, but they also make their own cheese, salumi, vermouth, amaro, and various preserves and fermentations. The restaurant proudly pays all employees a fair wage (and there’s a 20% service tax to replace tipping), so you can dine knowing everyone’s treated right.

Long-time ATX favorite, Andiamo is known for an ever-changing menu of refined, farm-driven dishes that includes exquisite house-made pasta and fresh seafood selections like salmon carpaccio, zuppa di pesce, whole baked branzino, and seasonal lobster. Our must-try is the Linguine Di Zucchine: zucchini linguine sauteed with mini heirloom tomatoes, green peas, basil, and mixed bell peppers in garlic olive oil. Delizioso!

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Pasta | Bar isn’t just pasta; it’s an experience. Behind a front-facing speakeasy, Jazz Box lies a 10-seater dining room helmed by chefs Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee (of the acclaimed Sushi Bar ATX). After a welcome cocktail, you’ll witness chefs prepare an exquisite 12-course tasting menu before your eyes. Each course is delivered with theatrics and a story, from the chef’s Southern influences on the chicken and crawfish to the pepper jam poured over black grouper with a glass teapot. It’s a splurge, but you get a show, too.

Chef/owner Shawn Cirkiel’s Italian gem features antipasti, pasta, and entrees dictated by the seasons and served in a beautiful setting. Other highlights include family-style dinners each Sunday and weekday happy hour deals, plus plenty of patio seating spread across several levels under the shade of a giant 200-year-old oak tree. The restaurant also has one of the town’s largest and most diverse selections of Italian wine.

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Here’s something you’ve probably never had in one restaurant before: Chef Blake Ransom’s Revue is part Italian, part Asian. You can bring a party of varying tastes for separate meals at the same table, or mix and match a huge feast. Revue’s Italian offerings are top-notch. The cacio e pepe is the creamiest concoction, and the pea and asparagus risotto bursts with flavor at every spoonful. End the Italian mains with their ube brûlée or matcha dessert, and you’ll have a newfound love for combining Italian and Asian cuisine.

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Some of the city’s most unexpectedly authentic Italian cuisine comes from a little trailer in the backyard of Manor Road’s Vortex Theatre and the attached Butterfly Bar. Patrizi’s has developed a following for its toothsome fresh pasta, house ricotta, giant meatballs, and gluten-free offerings. Don’t miss their delicious Roman-style street pizza with spicy sausage. Jam-packed sandwiches are available before 4 pm if you only have time for a quick lunch.

This Barton Springs Road eatery specializes in elegant Italian dishes for lunch and dinner, plus a creative Italian-inspired brunch on the weekend. Choose to sit on the expansive patio or opt for a table indoors and be sure to catch the happy hour: cocktails, small plates, salumi, and cheeses are greatly discounted. Fun fact: the space was formerly occupied by another Italian restaurant… named Romeo's. Georgetown and Arboretum outposts are also now open.

Owners Lisa and Emmett Fox opened this Italian trattoria two decades ago, and it’s been a favorite of Hyde Park locals ever since. In addition to the fresh pasta and wood-fired pizza (including gluten-free options), expect seasonal specials with plenty of seafood menu items, all served in an airy, modern dining room. Brunch is a melody of biscuits, shakshuka and Italian toast.

North Italia’s menu encompasses everything from beef carpaccio to chicken parmesan, but their fresh handmade pasta really stands out. The squid ink tonnarelli with tiger shrimp and calamari is out of this world—especially the big tentacle-style black noodles, while the signature bolognese’s slim tagliatelle noodles also slurp wonderfully with their traditional rich meat sauce. Prefer your pasta creamy? Try the silky strozzapreti with chicken, roasted mushroom, spinach, pine nuts, and parmesan cream.

This Austin institution has called South Congress home for decades, serving refined Italian entrees—like vitello saltimbocca and pollo alla valdostana—in an upscale atmosphere. The kitchen is driven by handmade and locally sourced ingredients, butchering and using virtually every part of the animal in-house (that’s why the brothy stock and charcuterie are so good). Pastries, coffee, and cheeses are available for takeout in the adjoined Enoteca Vespaio, serving more casual fare (paninis, salads, and pizzas) for lunch.

Growing up in a restaurant family and spending summers with relatives in Italy left Gianfranco Mastrangelo well-prepared to open his own Italian restaurant in Austin. In addition to fresh pasta and gnocchi, wood-fired focaccia and Neapolitan-style pies are the highlights of this trattoria, located just a stone's throw from the Capitol. It also boasts a cozy old-world bar that pulls bottles from across Italy’s diverse wine regions, and the homemade gelato is worth a trip in its own right.

The Austin-born pizza legend has amassed such a dedicated following that they now have three locations around town (plus one in Houston, in case y’all ever find yourselves west and in need of some quality dough). It is all made from scratch, and the crust is delectable. Popular options include the Flyin' Hawaiian made with BBQ sauce, chicken, ham, red onions, pineapple, jalapenos, mozzarella, parmesan, and romano, and the Southsider with all the meats, bell peppers, and mushrooms. Remember to save room for the garlic bread bites.

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Nestled within The Frances Modern Inn on 11th Street, Poeta is one of the best places to dine and the hippest to be seen in ATX. That’s not to take away from its low-key, homey charms. Diners don’t come just for the camera roll. They’re here for feel-good dishes like the seared branzino filet or the stuffed eggplant and the wildly addictive torta caprese dessert, made with dark chocolate, amaretto gelato, and salted almond.

This Sicilian-owned trattoria (with locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Miami, and London) specializes in the cuisine of Southern Italy, with dishes like arancini, caponata, and Ziti alla Norma. Enjoy local regional (and sustainable) draft wine picks and rotating selections from a gelato bar—best enjoyed al fresco. The ATX outpost is always buzzing with patrons along pedestrian-friendly 2nd Street. 

This West Austin ristorante is set in a spacious stone structure based on an Italian farmhouse, yet discreetly tucked away in a valley off 2222. Since 2000, chef Harvey Harris has been serving the Tuscan cuisine he perfected while studying and cooking in the region. Specialties like wild boar ragu and tagliatelle alla Bolognese are served alongside an award-winning wine list.