22 Best Italian Restaurants in Astoria

“Authentic Italian food and atmosphere in Astoria. We dined on a weekend evening, the restaurant was quite busy, but Valerio and the team were very kind and welcoming, and they accommodated us with short waiting. The ravioli were well cooked (al dente) and tasted delicious! We also tried their tiramisu and it was spectacular! The whole time we spent there we felt as we were in Italy, definitely recommended!“

“My family and I had an excellent experience dining out at Rialto this past weekend. We were celebrating two birthdays, and the entire staff did everything possible to make it special. They were very attentive and provided a high level of service. All the food came out hot and tasted great - particularly the eggplant parm. These factors plus the elegant atmosphere provided an unforgettable experience. We will certainly be back!“

“The food quality was noticeably better than just okay. The selection presents varied meal options. As usual, I found the sweet options most memorable. To highlight first, the staff's service is exceptional. I'm excited to try more items here.“

“This was the warm Italian hug I was wanting on our recent trip to NY. We were at the MOMI down the street, and had made reservations for dinner at Sac's after the museum. We had tired, hungry tummies, and were a good hour from our original reservation time. The good people over at Sac's accommodated my family immediately, and with pleasure! The atmosphere was welcoming, comfortable, inviting, and straight up authentic..this coming from a Sicilian girl with olive oil in her veins. My family ordered a variety of dishes, each one spectacular! 2 different pizza's, fried zucchini, sausage, and the BEST shrimp scampi I have ever eaten! The staff treated us like family, and were super attentive, anticipating our needs, and not missing a beat. At the end of our meal, Domenico Sacramone, one of the owners came by our table to chat, it was lovely and greatly appreciated! That's the extra touch of love, and attention someone who really cares about their business, and their customers puts out! It was genuine, and made the experience that much better! If we were locals, this would be our weekly dinner spot! Thank you to all over at Sac's Place for a wonderful meal, and a fantastic dining experience! We will most definitely be back“

“If you haven’t been, you MUST go to Trattoria Ora in Astoria. This secret gem is just a short walk from the N train and brings you to a super cozy, romantic, rustic restaurant with a sleek white banquette against exposed brick walls. The food is fantastic and the wine selection is too. Friendly service and affordable prices. Try the grilled Portobello and the farfalle Dolcino! Homemade desserts too like tiramisu and Italian cheesecake! Don’t miss Trattoria Ora!“

“Pasta, al dente. Sauce, out of this world. Vibes, off the charts. Il Nonno is such a breath of fresh (basil-filled) air. Last night, I stopped in with my friends for dinner and --more than once--after one side of the table tried a dish and implored the other to try, our eyes met in total food joy. "Oh my gah...this is SO good" was uttered too many times to count. Now let's get to the nitty, gritty. Our picks: Porcini ravioli (homemade pasta, phenomenal) Seafood risotto (menu says it's in a light tomato sauce. Definitely light, but it's far more flavorful than what I consider "light tomato sauce") Pasta Bolognese (another handmade wonder, lusciously complex sauce). Pasta Siciliana this one has eggplant and ricotta in a ROBUST sauce. Squid Ink Seafood Pasta was out of control. Like I need more savory adjectives in my life to describe this adequately. Apps. We loved all equally, but I mean calamari fritti is a no-brainer here and I literally had to slap the bread out of one friend's hand because she'd say she was full but relentlessly dipped more and more bread into the white wine mussels broth! The tuna carpaccio was almost too pretty to eat buuuut...we scarfed it down. Finally, Dessert. Chocolate cake (go with me here...you could smell the warm chocolate as it approached the table, incredible). Tiramisu, not too sweet, not too "damp"...perfection. And quite possibly even better than the banging food, we were lucky enough to chat up the delightful owner who introduced us to the chef (who happened to come from a VERY well-known Italian restaurant in Manhattan)! And all of the culinary magic instantly made sense. Don't walk. Don't run. Teleport to this place. Your taste buds will love you for it.“

“Best food and hosts! Meal was amazing! Drinks were beautiful! Atmosphere was great!“

“We've stopped in for the last few grand openings. Our favorite was when it was first opening as Bar Parioli, they had $5 glasses of house wines.

The Parioli vision was good, a casual Italian restaurant/bar that's more of a hangout spot than a full blown restauraunt. The space is perfect for a place like that. And that's how it felt at the start casual with cheap wine and tasty small plates, but as time went on, it ended up just feeling like another botte restaurant.

We were hoping for some good changes after the grand re-opening as Botte, but unfortunately we were left disappointed.

For starters, the prices; we got the chicken parm, bolognese , and 1 negroni and it came out to $76 + tip. I get that inflation and prices are up, but the quality just isn't there to justify these prices. Cocktails were $18, and ill gladly pay $18 for a quality cocktail, but I had a hard time believing they were worth $18.

The tomato sauce is an over-emulsified, over-reduced red goop. There's no texture, flavor or love in this sauce. They way they've prepared it makes it taste jarred. The Parmesan cheese was cheap pre-grated stuff. The bolognese just tasted like ground beef cooked in tomato sauce. The crust on the chicken parm was actually really good, but the sauce didn't do any favors here. The service was great, our server was excellent. The pasta itself was pretty good, it tasted homemade.

Overall, we're sad that the Parioli vision never really had the chance to come to fruition. Normally I would wait a few weeks after opening and trying again before posting a review, but based on the social media posts and the identical post on the front door, the owners seem to want to pass the blame off themselves onto another individual and publicly air their dirty laundry. I found it very off putting and really paints the owners in a bad light.

They claim to know so much more about owning a restaurant but after publicly shaming and passing off complete blame to some individual, they ended up opening a tired concept that completely out of touch with what the Ditmars area needs. The owners need to drop their ego and take some responsibility if Botte is ever going to thrive on Ditmars.

If the owners want to succeed (Though I'm skeptical the owners would listen):
- Have a really good happy hour, a house red and house white, no more than $8. Better yet, have a cheap house wine all of the time like the greek restaurants do (Taverna kyklades has a 29$ full carafe that usually fills >5 glasses)
- Shrink the menu, nail down a really good bolognese (Meat forward, not ground beef in sauce). Toss with pasta water and real parmasean/peccorino before serving.
- Fix the sauce. Use whole canned tomato and don't blend it into oblivion
- Use high quality ingredients if you're going to charge high quality prices. Shrink the menu offerings if you need to.
- Alternatively, lean into a more casual concept (Ultimately, this is what Ditmars needs), small plates, cheap drinks. The space is perfect for a casual spot, cheap wine all the time, good happy hour, small plates. It would do especially well in the summer).
- Add an anonymous QR code survey on the receipt and get real customer feedback

Nobody wants to feel like they're getting ripped off, customers aren't dumb. Breathe some love and passion into this place, its a great space and the staff is great. There's a lot of potential here, but if the owners don't drop their ego and take some responsibility, it will be a slow walk towards closing their doors.“

“Skip the pizza and pasta it’s not very good. This spot is good for the Balkan food.They have very specific items like popeci and priganice I don’t see at some of the other places in Astoria and they’re all fresh and well executed. The burek is very crispy and fresh, although they sometimes don’t have all the options like djerdan does I prefer these bureks and it has becomeMy default spot for this kind of food. Definitely recommend this spot for its balkan cuisine.“

“Albeit Italian, this is a family-owned restaurant (the owners are Greek). The menu is comprised of mostly Italian dishes, with some inspired Greek dishes. A great neighborhood spot! Love it!“

“Great service the staff is so nice ! Food was fantastic . This is our first time here !“

“Wonderful ambiance, staff is courteous, helpful and very knowledgeable on menu items. They are following COVID guidelines, the place is clean and looks like they have upgraded the decor. The food is delicious and hot. Their tomato sauce is perfect! The sangria is very good too. Great little neighborhood place.“

“This pizza is delicious. Even after 3 slices you don’t feel full and weighed down. So good. The dough is unlike anything I’ve had in a pizza. Soft yet crispy. The sauce , cheese all terrific. Found my new pizza joint.“

“Tacos 🌮 + pizza + Latín Food = Explosión de sabores 🍕😋🫨“

“Back at Tufino after 2 years of Covid and the Pizza it’s EXCELLENT as usual. I’m originally from Napoli, IT and Tufinos pizza is just like back home.“

“Delicious, clean and friendly. If you want he will make it. Delicious“

“Wonderful Experience great service and wonderful food“

“I recommend the entire menu...start with the left side and work your way to the right....none of it will disappoint you.“

“Good food, friendly service, reasonable.“

“The best. Eggplant Parmigiano and side pasta and 2 pizza slices were very fresh. Not oversalted. Melting mozzarella. Pasta al dented. Bread with rosemary. Could have had more so delicious and highly recommended. Very glad that my neighborhood has such an outstanding italian restaurant. And the service fantastic with beautiful smiling staff. Only issue too popular“

“Best regular pizza I ever had… and I really generally do not enjoy pizza, location in perfect part of the area and really lovely authentic vibe to the place with some outside seating perfect for summer time. I went back her twice during my visit to the States????“

“Best food in Astoria Queens good pizza“