The 15 Best Italian Restaurants In Columbus

Trust me, when it comes to Italian food, I play no games.

I’m going to be honest with you Columbus, as far as my favorite things go there isn’t much that ranks above cats and tacos. But Italian food cracks its way into the top tier just by being its delicious self.

I’m sure that we can all agree that there are few things better than a post pasta food coma. That’s why I made this list of the best in the city. Next time you get the hankering for the saucy, cheesy, good stuff, you’ll know exactly where to go.

Villa Nova Ristorante

If you combine an Italian pub with a family restaurant, you’ll get Villa Nova Ristorante. Villa Nova is perfect for a hearty fix without all the fuss about dining and ambiance. The restaurant opened back in 1978 and it has stayed in the family ever since. From manicotti to good, old-fashioned spaghetti, you’ll find all of your pasta cravings on the menu at Villa Nova.

In fact, if a variety of pasta is what you’re in the mood for, the $20 Pasta Sampler lands lasagna, ravioli, gnocchi and a meatball on one plate. Of course, you can’t call it dinner at an Italian restaurant if that dinner doesn’t include dessert, so treat yourself to some tiramisu or cannoli and call it a perfect night.

Where: 5545 N High St, Clintonville
Website: Villa Nova Ristorante

Carfagna’s

Carfagna’s has been a Columbus name since 1937, and since 2021 the market and the restaurant have shared one roof at Gemini Place, up by Polaris. You can have dinner in the ristorante, then push a cart through the market for sauces and wine before heading home.

The kitchen goes by Carfagna’s Handmade Kitchen now, and the pastas and sauces are made in house. Lunch and dinner run seven days a week, with the restaurant open until 10 on Friday and Saturday.

Where: 1440 Gemini Place, Columbus
Website: Carfagna’s

TAT Ristorante di Famiglia

TAT opened in 1929, which makes it the oldest Italian restaurant in Columbus, and the family says it served the city’s first pizza. For nearly 100 years, TAT Ristorante di Famiglia has been crafting the perfect pasta dishes for the city of Columbus. When it comes to ordering at TAT, the menu is full of what I like to call the Italian greatest hits.

But when it comes down to it, you really can’t go wrong with keeping it simple. Order the Homemade Spaghetti, which is made with TAT’s own special tomato sauce, and I promise that you’ll leave feeling fully satisfied.

Where: 1210 S James Rd, Columbus
Website: TAT Ristorante di Famiglia

Lola & Giuseppe’s Trattoria

This mom-and-pop trattoria in Gahanna’s old downtown takes its Italian seriously, and it runs on its own rules. Dinner is Tuesday through Saturday, reservations go through OpenTable only, and the restaurant doesn’t hold tables for walk-ins. The patio is first come, first served in warm weather. If you’d rather eat at home, the take-and-bake menu sells pans like the baked rigatoni that feed about eight, with 48 hours’ notice.

The menu at Lola & Giuseppe’s Trattoria includes soups, salads, pasta, and other family recipes.

Where: 100 Granville St, Gahanna
Website: Lola & Giuseppe’s Trattoria

Marcella’s

Marcella’s is Cameron Mitchell’s Italian spot, with the original in the Short North since 2007 and a second at Polaris. The Short North room closed for eight weeks in the summer of 2025 and came back in July with a brighter look. It’s loud and happy, and people come as much for the meatballs and the pizzas as for the pasta.

Pastas like the braised beef tortellini and the gnocchi bolognese sit in the mid-20s, the wines pour by the quartino, the half liter, or the liter, and happy hour runs weekdays from 4 to 6 in the bar.

Where: 615 N High St, Short North, and 1319 Polaris Parkway, Columbus
Website: Marcella’s

Giuseppe’s Ritrovo

This neighborhood restaurant has everything the out-and-about city dweller would want in a great dining experience. Amazing menu, trendy but welcoming vibe, all of it. There’s a reason why Giuseppe’s is consistently recommended by residents and visitors to this city alike, and that’s because it’s damn good.

Entrees run from the Gamberi Diavola, shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce over spaghetti, to a Chicken Milanese with lemon and greens. No matter what you order, end your visit with a taste of Giuseppe’s Tiramisu. You’ll be really, really happy that you did.

Where: 2268 E Main St, Bexley
Website: Giuseppe’s Ritrovo

Basi Italia

Basi Italia has that hidden intimate feel that I just love in Columbus dining locales. Set smack dab in the middle of a brick alleyway, Basi seems more like a secret dining club than one of the city’s most loved Italian spots.

Walking in is a completely different story though. The interior is cozy and inviting, the patio absolutely gorgeous, but best of all is their immaculate and mouthwatering dishes. Genuinely, everything on this menu is out of this world, but the baked ricotta gnocchi might be made out of actual magic. John Dornback and Trish Gentile have owned Basi since 2003, and Columbus Monthly put it on its best-restaurants list again in August 2026.

Where: 811 Highland St, Victorian Village
Website: Basi Italia

La Tavola

La Tavola is probably Grandview’s best-kept secret and some of the best Italian in the city. Located across from the Grandview Library and next to a dry cleaner, the exterior is pretty nondescript. Inside it’s all clean angles and polished wood, and the room stays mellow.

If creative dishes made with delicious local ingredients sound like it’s up your alley, La Tavola is the spot. Chef Rick Lopez, who also runs Lupo, makes the pasta from scratch, and the specials change weekly, so there’s usually something new next to the old-world standards.

Where: 1664 W 1st Ave, Grandview Heights
Website: La Tavola

Moretti’s

How does handmade Italian cuisine sound? Moretti’s puts its own count at more than four decades in the Tremont Center, and Tim Moretti has run the kitchen since 2000 with his family’s recipes. The pasta is made in house and the plates are big. The Classic Lasagna comes with a braised short rib and veal sauce, and the Gnocchi Bolognese gets whipped ricotta on top.

There’s a cauliflower-crust pizza at dinner, and the catering menu has a vegan pasta pomodoro. It’s dinner only, Monday through Saturday, and the kitchen closes early, 8:30 on weeknights.

Where: 2124 Tremont Center, Upper Arlington
Website: Moretti’s

Pelino’s Pasta

Pelino’s is a small pasta house on King Avenue from husband-and-wife chefs Vinny and Christina Pelino, and it works on a fixed menu that changes every month. Dinner is three or four courses, with a longer chef’s tasting if you want the full tour. The cacio e pepe gets tossed tableside inside a wheel of Pecorino.

There are no sides and no meat courses, so come for the pasta. Columbus Monthly named it one of the best new restaurants of 2022, and the Pelinos have since opened Piazza Pelino and Caffè Pelino in the Short North. It’s open Monday through Saturday from 4:45.

Where: 245 King Ave, Columbus
Website: Pelino’s Pasta

Cento

Cento opened in 2023 as Cameron Mitchell’s hundredth restaurant, in a German Village building on South Third that has a history page of its own. Columbus Monthly named it a Best New Restaurant in 2024. The pasta list starts at a bucatini carbonara for $29 and climbs to a king crab tagliatelle at $69, with a rolled lasagna in between, so this is the dressed-up end of the list. Reservations are recommended.

Where: 595 S 3rd St, German Village
Website: Cento

Speck Italian Eatery

Speck is chef Josh Dalton’s pasta room at the corner of High and Gay downtown, opened in early 2023. The menu is short and built around house pasta. The cacio e pepe comes as gnudi with peppercorn and pecorino, the sausage ragu rides mafaldine with stracciatella, and pastas run about $21 to $44. It sits a few blocks from the Ohio and the Palace, which makes it a natural pre-show dinner.

Where: 89 N High St, Downtown
Website: Speck Italian Eatery

Metsi’s Wood-Fired Italian

Metsi’s is chef BJ Lieberman’s wood-fired Italian spot on East Lincoln Street, right on the line between the Short North and Italian Village. It opened in June 2025, named for his father, and Columbus Monthly called it a Best New Restaurant for 2026. The bar upstairs runs a walk-in happy hour Wednesday through Sunday from 4 to 6, and the dining room is downstairs. Order the radiatori alla amatriciana with guanciale and ricotta, or the pappardelle bolognese, listed on the menu as Chef Greg’s Famous Bolognese. Tables take reservations and the bar counter is walk-in only.

Where: 36 E Lincoln St, Italian Village
Website: Metsi’s Wood-Fired Italian

Novella Osteria

Novella Osteria is a great reason to drive to Powell. Columbus Monthly’s readers voted it the city’s best Italian restaurant in 2026 and awarded chef Matthew Phelan “best chef” in the same poll, and the magazine keeps it on its own best-restaurants list. Phelan cooked in New York kitchens before opening in downtown Powell, and the cocktail list gets almost as much attention as the pasta.

Where: 170 W Olentangy St, Powell
Website: Novella Osteria

Bar Italia

Bar Italia opened in summer 2025 on the Strand at Easton, overlooking the fountain, and Columbus Monthly named it a Best New Restaurant for 2026. It’s the fifth location of a group founded by Rick Doody, who’s also a part owner of Lindey’s. The grilled bread on the table is the same loaf Lindey’s bakes every day. The menu leans classic, with one big meatball and short rib arancini to start, then wood-fired pizzas and rich pastas, served at a long white marble bar. Lunch runs daily from 11 to 3.

Where: 4145 The Strand West, Easton
Website: Bar Italia

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