Charlotte Five's Readers' Choice

Best of the best: Vote for the top Italian restaurant in the Charlotte area

A plate of bolognese pappardelle pasta.
Vote for the best place to eat Italian food near Charlotte, North Carolina. Getty Images
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways

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  • CharlotteFive asked readers and staff for the best local places to eat Italian food.
  • We started with 42 nominees, and the Top 5 restaurants are still in the running.
  • Vote for your favorite Charlotte-area Italian restaurant until noon Tuesday, April 28.

We asked for the top Italian restaurants in Charlotte, and now we’re down to the best of the best.

First, CharlotteFive invited readers to share the local places that keep them coming back for gnocchi, cannoli and other dishes. Then, our staff’s food experts helped to fill in the list of essential spots.

We started with 42 nominees, and the Top 5 are still in the running. Below, you can vote for your favorite Italian restaurant in the Charlotte area:

If you want your most-loved restaurant to win, you’re welcome to refresh this webpage and vote more than once. Here’s the schedule for the upcoming rounds of this contest:

  • The fifth round will determine the Top 2. It is currently live and will be until noon Tuesday, April 28.
  • The sixth round will determine the winner. It will be live from about 1 p.m. April 28 until noon Thursday, April 30.

Here are the Top 5 Italian restaurants, in order of how many votes they received in Round 4:

  1. Osteria LuCa
  2. Antico Italian Restaurant
  3. Open Kitchen
  4. Giacomo’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant
  5. ESO Artisanal Pasta

Please note that this is meant to be a fun contest and not a scientific poll. To go up for a vote, nominees had to have a presence in or near Charlotte and have fewer than 20 locations nationwide.

Here were the top 10 restaurants in Round 3, based on how many times they were picked:

  1. Antico Italian Restaurant
  2. Osteria LuCa
  3. Open Kitchen
  4. Giacomo’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant
  5. Basilico Italiano
  6. Portofino’s
  7. ESO Artisanal Pasta
  8. Mano Bella
  9. Mama Ricotta’s
  10. Capishe: Real Italian Kitchen

There were several ties in other rounds of the contest. Here were the top 21 restaurants from Round 2:

  1. Antico Italian Restaurant
  2. Open Kitchen
  3. Osteria LuCa
  4. Basilico Italiano
  5. Giacomo’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant
  6. Portofino’s
  7. Little Mama’s
  8. Mama Ricotta’s
  9. Aqua e Vino
  10. Mano Bella
  11. Ever Andalo and Stagioni - tie
  12. Dolce Osteria
  13. Fiamma Ristorante
  14. Luce
  15. Enrico’s Italian Restaurant and Toscana - tie
  16. Angeline’s, Capishe: Real Italian Kitchen, Caruso’s and ESO Artisanal Pasta - tie

Here were the Top 30 restaurants from Round 1:

  1. Antico Italian Restaurant
  2. Basilico Italiano
  3. Osteria LuCa
  4. Giacomo’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant
  5. Open Kitchen
  6. Little Mama’s
  7. Mama Ricotta’s
  8. Portofino’s
  9. Aqua e Vino
  10. Ever Andalo
  11. Toscana
  12. Dolce Osteria
  13. Fiamma Ristorante and Stagioni - tie
  14. Zio Casual Italian
  15. Angeline’s
  16. Mano Bella
  17. Il Bosco and Via Roma - tie
  18. Aria Tuscan Grill, Caruso’s and ESO Artisanal Pasta - tie
  19. Bistro D’Antonio, Flour Shop, Pizzeria Omaggio and Spaghett - tie
  20. Capishe: Real Italian Kitchen, Enrico’s Italian Restaurant, Luce and Oggi Ristorante Italiano - tie

Here’s the original list of 42 nominees, in alphabetical order:

  • Angeline’s
  • Antico Italian Restaurant
  • Aqua e Vino
  • Aria Tuscan Grill
  • Basilico Italiano
  • Bistro D’Antonio
  • Buona Vita Restaurant and Bar
  • Capishe: Real Italian Kitchen
  • Caruso’s
  • Cicchetti
  • Dolce Osteria
  • Enrico’s Italian Restaurant
  • ESO Artisanal Pasta
  • Ever Andalo
  • Fiamma Ristorante
  • Flour Shop
  • Forchetta
  • Giacomo’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant
  • Il Bosco
  • Indaco Charlotte
  • Leo’s Italian Social
  • Little Mama’s
  • Luce
  • Mama Mia Too
  • Mama Ricotta’s
  • Mano Bella
  • Movida Pizza Pub
  • Oggi Ristorante Italiano
  • Open Kitchen
  • Osteria LuCa
  • Pizzeria Omaggio
  • Portofino’s
  • Primo Prime
  • Salmeri’s Italian Kitchen
  • Spaghett
  • Stagioni
  • Stella Nova Restaurant & Bar
  • That’s Amore
  • Toscana
  • Via Roma
  • Zinicola
  • Zio Casual Italian

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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 1:15 PM.

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Simone Jasper
The News & Observer
Simone Jasper is a service journalism reporter at The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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