Best Italian Restaurants in NYC: What the Ratings Say About the Famous Names

New York has more good Italian restaurants than most countries, which makes “the best” a genuinely hard question. We cross-referenced the city’s most-cited Italian spots against verified Google ratings and review counts — and the pattern that’s held across our pizza, brunch, bagel, and sandwich guides holds here too: the hardest reservation in town is not the highest-rated restaurant.

The Finding: The Hardest Table isn’t the Highest-Rated

Carbone — 181 Thompson St, Greenwich Village. Google:4.3 (2,686 reviews). $$$$

Carbone is among the best Italian restaurants in NYC and one of the hardest reservations in the country. Opened by Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi in 2013, it’s a heightened, theatrical take on the Italian-American red-sauce dining room — tuxedo-jacketed waiters, low warm lighting, the famous spicy rigatoni. Reviewers who love it describe an experience as much as a meal, and the tableside service draws consistent praise.

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But 4.3 is the lowest score among the serious contenders here, and it’s a $$$$ room. The reviews are split in a specific way: people rave about theexperience and the theater, while the food-to-price ratio is where the doubters land. Carbone is a special-occasion event that happens to serve Italian food. Whether it’s the best Italianfood in the city is, per the ratings, a different question.

It’s a reminder that New York’s biggest food names don’t always top the ratings. We’ve seen the same pattern in our guides to the best pizza and best sandwiches, where the most famous spots aren’t necessarily the highest-rated.

The Highest-Rated: L’Artusi and Torrisi

L’Artusi — 228 W 10th St, West Village. Google:4.6 (2,645 reviews). $$$

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The critical and crowd favorite, and one reviewer’s flat verdict — “the best Italian restaurant in NYC” — is echoed across the reviews. The spinach tortelli, the bucatini, and the mushroom dish draw specific, repeated devotion. A polished West Village room with a serious wine program. The one recurring knock is service pacing on busy nights, but the food consensus is close to unanimous. If you’re spending a weekend eating your way around the city, this pairs well with one of NYC’s best brunch spots before another evening reservation.

Torrisi — 275 Mulberry St, Nolita. Google:4.6 (969 reviews). $$$$

From the same team behind Carbone, and — tellingly — the higher-rated of the two. Reviewers describe the tortellini and cavatelli in reverent terms (“scraping our plates”), the free bread and butter as a highlight in itself, and the affogato as among the best in the city. A more refined, less theatrical experience than its famous sibling, and the ratings suggest the food lands harder. Closed Sundays.

The West Village icons

Via Carota — 51 Grove St, West Village. Google:4.4 (3,321 reviews). $$$

The no-reservations institution people queue an hour for, and mostly say is worth it. The fresh egg pastas, the deceptively simple green salad (Insalata Verde), and the cacio e pepe are the orders. The room feels, in one reviewer’s words, like dining in your Nonna’s kitchen. The wait is the price of entry — put your name down and get a drink. Many visitors turn this into a full West Village food day, starting with one of the neighborhood’s best bagels before settling in for a long lunch or dinner.

Don Angie — 103 Greenwich Ave, West Village. Google:4.5 (1,840 reviews). $$$

Home of the pinwheel lasagna — a lasagna roll sliced into spirals — which is the dish that built its reputation and, per reviewers, holds up completely. The chrysanthemum salad is the surprise order. Another famously hard reservation; arrive before opening for a bar seat.

The Emilia-Romagna specialist

Rezdôra — 27 E 20th St, Flatiron. Google:4.3 (1,819 reviews). $$$

The pasta destination, hyper-focused on the Emilia-Romagna region, with dishes you won’t find elsewhere in the city — the “Grandma Walking Through a Forest” tasting of tortellini is the signature. Reviewers compare the pasta directly to Italy: properly al dente, not the softer NYC norm. The 4.3 reflects some price-versus-portion grumbling, but the pasta itself draws Michelin-level praise (it holds a star).

Brooklyn’s Best

Lilia — 567 Union Ave, Williamsburg. Google:4.3 (2,309 reviews). $$$

Missy Robbins’ Williamsburg destination, and one of the hardest Brooklyn reservations. The agnolotti is the hyped dish and, per reviewers, earns it; the mafaldini and the gelato draw equal devotion. The 4.3 comes with some “expensive for what it is” notes, but the pasta and the group’s famous gelato are the reasons people book weeks out.

Emily — 919 Fulton St, Fort Greene. Google:4.4 (1,847 reviews). $$

The more casual pick — technically a pizza restaurant, but home to the Emmy Burger, frequently called one of the best burgers in the country, alongside excellent Detroit-style pizza. A different, more relaxed proposition than the destination pasta rooms, and a strong value by comparison.

What the Ratings Tell You

• The hardest reservation isn’t the best food. Carbone (4.3) is the famous name and the toughest table; L’Artusi and Torrisi (both 4.6) rate higher.  This is now the fifth NYC dining category where fame and rating diverge. We’ve seen the same pattern in our study of why NYC’s famous restaurants aren’t the best-rated.
• Torrisi beats Carbone — from the same team. The clearest signal in the data: the same restaurateurs’ more refined room out-rates their famous one. If you want the Carbone team’s cooking at its best, the reservations suggest Torrisi.
• The West Village is the epicenter. L’Artusi, Via Carota, Don Angie, and Torrisi (just east) cluster in and around one neighborhood. If you want to maximize your odds, that’s where to aim.
• Casual can beat destination on value. Emily ($$) rates competitively with rooms charging twice as much. The best meal and the most expensive meal aren’t the same thing.

The Bottom Line

New York’s highest-rated Italian, by the numbers, is L’Artusi in the West Village, tied with Torrisi in Nolita — both outscoring the far more famous Carbone. For no-reservation icons, Via Carota and Don Angie deliver; for pasta purists, Rezdôra and Lilia are the destinations. Carbone remains a genuine experience, but book it for the theater, not because it’s the best plate of pasta in the city. The ratings say it isn’t.

Sources and methodology

• Google Places ratings, review counts, addresses, price levels, and hours, verified July 2026
• Venue selection from critic and local coverage of NYC Italian dining
• Where a restaurant’s fame and rating diverge (notably Carbone vs Torrisi), we report it

Note: A guide synthesizing aggregated ratings and published reviews, not firsthand visits. Ratings, hours, and reservation difficulty change; confirm before booking.