24 Best Italian Restaurants in Madison

“Great experience…everything from the ambiance to the waitstaff to the drinks, appetizers, entree, desserts and coffee were amazing!“

“Classic must try pizzeria. Absolutely delicious, they come up with great pie ideas and they are ALL hits. Their service is impeccable and their excellent cocktails give the experience the cherry on top . To add to that the prices are super reasonable. Great atmosphere, can't recommend this enough. It's become a go to return spot over the years, wether I go for a nice dinner with my partner, or getting "fancy" pizza and drinks with friends, this is the place to go.“

“Always amazing here. Food , atmosphere, staff, and great cocktails to boot.“

“Good food and nice place!“

“After 29 years of living near Madison, we finally went for dinner last night. Everything was delicious- mocktail, bruschetta, both pasta dishes (mushroom truffle & sausage rigatoni), as well as the light, fluffy desserts (butterscotch pudding & cheesecake with rhubarb/strawberry compote). Super happy our waiter, James, sent us home with an extra baguette & recommended making French toast - which we did today! We’ll be back with friends and recommending to others!“

“I've been going to Ginos for years! Best sandwiches in Madison! I'm just sorry they aren't open more! Love, love, LOVE them!!!“

“Y'all.…. this place is out of this world!! Everything from the wine, appetizers, entrée desserts and coffee are just phenomenal!! Do not pass this place up! I love the line of this chef… The way the music goes, that’s the we dance! And that’s exactly what this place is all about. Everyone loves this place! Tony Bennet and famous athletes from all over - including Reggie Bush!“

“We have been to Nonno's at least 4 times in the past few years! This restaurant is the absolute best Italian food our family has ever had. The service is top notch! Our son Sean loves going here and always orders the Chicken Alfredo with lots and lots of cheese. I always order Spaghetti Bolognese which never disappoints!! Thank you to our waiter and the staff for your wonderful hospitality and service.“

“The spaghetti and meatballs with meat sauce was delicious! The pizza, while it had a great consistency, and the crust was very good, the pizza itself was a little flavorless. Perhaps an off night. One major positive they serve Coke products, though they are served in cans. Refills would be nice!“

“Had the Lumache. It was SO good.“

“Brian was such an excellent server! He was slammed with four tables all at once and made it work. He was super friendly and attentive.
The restaurant itself was a clean Olive Garden and either we were super hungry and that made it taste even better than the typical Olive Garden or this location just had really flavors. We did the typical soups and salads- soups were hot and tasted fresh!“

“An Olive Garden with attentive servers.

Food is what you expect from any other Olive Garden. This is a large location. One drawback, we arrived near 9pm and instead of utilizing the entire restaurant space, the hostess guided us to only one side. We asked for an area away from other patrons to enjoy our dinner. Not sure why restaurants do this but it feels a bit like herding cattle in over direction for the sake of keeping the cleaning in one area.

Our server William was very kind and funny. He provided suggestions for food and beverage choices.

Food tasted good and as you would expect. The sauce used in the lasagna is a basic marinara sauce with a few chuncks of tomatoes yet a bit on the watery side. The Alfredo sauce I heard was good and thick. The paired wine Merlot was ok.“

“The service was the best. Araceli was amazing server , help us with everything we need , the best GF menu I had so far .. I recommend this place very clean classy .. Barb the manager came and checked on us to make sure we had everything we needed .. very happy and I’m definitely going to be back soon“

“This is one of our favorite places in Madison. Every single time, the food is delicious, the staff is full of smiles and always willing to go above and beyond. 10 Out of 10 recommended.“

“Great service and great food! I highly recommend this restaurant for the great dining experience!“

“I visited a few years ago. I had so.e dish of ground beef eggola t in a garlicky onion tomatoes sauce served with jasmine rice. one of the tastiest meals I've had.“

“We had a wonderful experience and such a lovely evening the first time we spontaneously sat at the bar and had a bite before a show at the Orpheum. The atmosphere is warm, charming and cozy. We were excited to come back tonight. Again we loved sitting at the bar. The service is excellent and the restaurant/bar are very obviously well managed. Staff exhibit a lot of attention to service. We ordered drinks and shared an entree/chicken Marsala. It was good, a little salty and I was disappointed that the sauce was not lighter and not served over a bed of pasta. When we received our bill, we were shocked that the J Henry old fashion my husband orders at restaurants all over Wisconsin was $26. 😱 we get that there is an up-charge for premium booze but seemed a little ridiculous for Wisconsin. The regular old fashioned w/ Bullet is $14. There was a $12 up-charge for J Henry. Overall, we had a good experience and will be back and recommend. I told my husband he can settle for the Bullet Old fashion next time. 😜 Incidentally, the Old Fashion was VG.“

“My granddaughter and I was touring downtown Madison about two weeks ago, we came across D’Vino as we walked. The special for the day was crab cake and green fried tomatoes, of course we went in to order. The food was amazing. My granddaughter love the atmosphere of the restaurant and so did I .She order a pizza that was the best she ever had. The food was so good, even the water was great. We will be back!“

“Bunky’s is simply amazing! They catered our wedding 12 years ago. Authentic Mediterranean food, expertly prepared, with superb customer service... highly recommend!“

“I come in there for my lunch break almost everyday, I love the people who work there, I love the restaurant itself, and for the longest time the food was always great. But in the last few weeks, the food has taken a downward spiral. The fries aren't crunchy anymore, and they seem completely different than before, I couldn't even finish eating them because I thought they were so bad and it sucked because I used to LOVE these fries, the breadsticks were almost inedible this week too. I thought thr first day that maybe it was just a fluke, and then the next day I held onto hope, but now a week or so later it's still the same. 💔 I love Rockys and I love the people who work here I just wish the food had stayed the same.

UPDATE: THE FRIES ARE BACK YOU ALL CAN THANK ME!!! THANK YOU ROCKYS IM SO HAPPY“

“Always excellent pizza and sandwiches. we've never been disappointed. fun staff, Aubrey is very fun and an excellent waitperson. we love her! best pizza in Madison. highly recommended!“

“First time experience and will return!! Was seated quickly as walk-in . The facility is a bit worn from years of service. However the host who doubled as wait person was polite , knowledgeable and efficient!! The food was delicious!! Well worth a try, particularly if you enjoy Italian.“

“Chicago style pan pizza was the slice of the day. Service was fast, fastest I’ve ever seen at that time of the day. The guys were so friendly and nice. The pizza was hot and oh so delicious. Never had a Chicago pan pizza before. I’ll be ordering that again sometime. Rocky’s is still my all time favorite.“

“We came in on a Monday night in the summer. We have been coming here a lot recently. We love the food! Pizza is great, salads and meatballs too! Our table tonight was two young kids and two adults. Most people wouldn't want our table. Servers don't like kids. I assume that means low bill and low tip. However, my husband and I have worked in the restaurant business for a long time! We know how to tip and never order off the kids menu. We were told our server Lydia would be with us shortly. However she never came by. I had to ask for service after we came in to eat and we're very hungry. It was my daughter's birthday and they just got done with Ju Jitsu practice. My daughter told me she was starving. I know! She never came to the table. We were ignored for a while and told to order at the counter. There were open tables and not too many people in the restaurant. Thank you to the shift manager who finally helped us. We also asked Lydia to help with our check at the end and she told us she couldn't help us. She was so rude! Thanks Lydia. If you go on a weekday you might not even get service unless you ask. We'll be back to eat the food and hope we don't ever get Lydia. She was only serving two tables and both were finished before we got our food. She was not that busy but decided she didn't want to serve us.“