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Start a Top 5 for ItalianEditor’s picks
Press picks, until locals rank their own Top 5s. Sourced from the local food press. As seen in LEO Weekly. Updated August 2026.
Volare Italian Ristorante · Clifton
LEO Readers' Choice's perennial Best Italian. The seasonal, wine-led Frankfort Avenue room whose 16-layer lasagna and Capellini Limone are the house signatures.
Pizza Lupo · Butchertown
LEO food critic Robin Garr's lead-off in his dedicated review. 'a top-tier pizzeria that's also a splendid Italian/international eatery,' handmade pasta and a serious natural-wine list.
Ciao Ristorante · Irish Hill
LEO critic Robin Garr's creative-Italian pick. a Rome-born chef's neighborhood restaurant on Payne Street, LEO Readers' Choice top-3 Italian finisher.
bar Vetti · NuLu
LEO's NuLu entry on both the Italian and pizza short lists. Neapolitan pies, pasta, and the Margherita that led Robin Garr's list in the dedicated pizza critic's piece.
Grassa Gramma · Holiday Manor
Old world Italian out in Holiday Manor, placed second by LEO Weekly readers in the 2024 Readers' Choice Italian category. Pasta is made by hand, the dining room is one of the more romantic in the city, and the place marked its sixth anniversary in January 2026. Book ahead on a weekend; the room fills and stays full.