The Best Italian Food in New Orleans
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The best Italian food in New Orleans, according to the experts: The New York Times, The Infatuation, and Eater have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Paladar 511 comes out on top.
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Osteria Lupo and Mosca's hold the next two places. The Infatuation and The New York Times show up on more of this list than any other guide.
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Rank 1. Paladar 511
Italian
Tuna crudo in charred green tomato aguachile is not the Italian that built this city's red-gravy reputation, and that's the whole point. This trattoria in the Faubourg Marigny does vegetable-driven antipasti, fresh pasta, Neapolitan pizza, and roasted meat with a lightness that locals treat as a minor civic relief. The New York Times named it among the 25 best restaurants in New Orleans, which feels about right for the neighborhood canteen that quietly rewrote the local Italian conversation.
The awards
- The New York Times The New York Times: The 25 Best Restaurants in New Orleans Right Now
- The Infatuation The Infatuation: The 27 Best Restaurants In New Orleans
- Eater Eater: 38 Essential Restaurants in New Orleans
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in New Orleans Right Now
- The Infatuation The 27 Best Restaurants In New Orleans
- Eater 38 Essential Restaurants in New Orleans
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Rank 2. Osteria Lupo
Wood-fired Italian
The wood-fired oven does a lot of work here, from pizza through pasta and on to house-made ice cream. This wood-fired Italian spot off Magazine Street runs a menu broad enough that the table will agree on something, which in New Orleans is no small feat. Everything is made in house daily, and the room has that sleek-but-settled feel that suggests the place has been around forever without trying to look like it.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Selected Restaurant
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Rank 3. Mosca's
Creole Italian
Gravel crunches under your tires before you've even opened the car door, which sets the tone for this family-run Creole-Italian roadhouse across the river from New Orleans. The menu is short but the portions are not, and the table fills fast with baked oysters, housemade sausage, and crab salad. The house rule, learned the hard way by everyone, is to order more than you think you need and split everything.
The awards
- The New York Times The New York Times: The 25 Best Restaurants in New Orleans Right Now
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Rank 3. Two Tony's
Creole Italian
Two Tony's is a big Creole Italian dining room in Lakeview where everyone ends up glancing at the next table's plates, and the portions guarantee you'll be carrying leftovers out to the car. The seeded bread arrives in baskets and does a lot of the damage before the entrees show up. Fried artichoke hearts, stuffed mushrooms, tiramisu, and a limoncello to close, in the manner of a last supper with a reservation.
The awards
- The Infatuation The Infatuation: The 27 Best Restaurants In New Orleans