Highest-rated Italian restaurants in Raleigh according to Yelp reviews

Traditional Italian food embraces an assortment of sumptuous recipes that aren't dependent on fried breadcrumbs and red sauce — think frittatas and focaccia, or carpaccio and panna cotta. Italian immigrants have been weaving their cuisine into the fabric of the American food landscape for generations since they arrived in the United States nearly 150 years ago. And the cuisine, like the culture it hails from, tends to give off warm and fuzzy "family" feels.

For many people, the quintessential local Italian American restaurant — complete with its red-and-white checkered tablecloths, pour bottles of olive oil, parmesan cheese shakers, cute little jars of red pepper flakes, and wicker baskets of oven-fresh bread — brings back memories of special life moments, like first dates and milestone birthdays. Luckily, today you don't need to be in a major metropolis like New York or Los Angeles or an area with a large Italian or Italian American community to score top-notch buon cibo. You can find excellent Italian offerings in almost every city from coast to coast.

To celebrate all things mozzarella and marinara, Stacker compiled a list of the highest-rated Italian restaurants in Raleigh based on diners' reviews on Yelp as of January 2024. Read on to see if your favorite is among the top-rated or to find a new spot in your neighborhood.

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This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Jennifer Huizen, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 312 metropolitan areas.