These are the 8 best Italian restaurants in the Triangle, from our Top 50 list

The Triangle’s Italian dining scene is having a moment — and The News & Observer’s newly minted Top 50 Restaurants of 2026 proves it.

From hand-rolled pastas in Durham to wood-fired bites in Raleigh and seasonal pies in Carrboro, eight Italian kitchens earned spots in our Top 50 restaurants guide.

Here are our picks for the very best Italian spots in the Triangle.

Bombolo

Ambitious in its indulgences, Bombolo is fearless when it comes to flavor. Shirking definitions, though ostensibly Italian-ish, you’ll find a handful of handmade pastas, like ribbons of pappardelle with rich, wild boar ragu on a menu alongside a traditional plate of fellowship hall-worthy fried chicken and mac and cheese. Chef Garret Fleming draws inspiration from Europe and Asia and has the talent to make it all make sense.

764 MLK Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill | bombolochapelhill.com | $ $ $

Brodeto

Compared to the intimacy of Crawford & Son and Jolie, James Beard-nominated Chef Scott Crawford went big with Brodeto. The cavernous room invites a swirl of experiences, from icy oysters dressed with grapefruit or tomato, or sharply punchy razor clams tossed in Calabrian chilies and served in their shells. The pastas are tender, carefully crafted bites, like agnolotti stuffed with sweet corn and tossed with chanterelles. The wood-burning grill lends a smoky char to everything — from a thickly sliced pork chop rubbed with fennel to the burned strawberries juiced for cocktails. And after all that, somehow the simple vanilla bean soft serve, bejeweled with drops of olive oil and flaky salt, will still seem improbably delicious.

2201 Iron Works Drive, #137, Raleigh | brodeto.com | $ $ $ $

Figulina

Three cuisines are interwoven at Figulina, where British expat chef David Ellis has created a fairly traditional Italian restaurant with a distinct Southern accent. The flagship plate (one that’s been on the menu every night since Figulina opened two years ago) is the country ham carbonara, finding the same guanciale funk in local cured hams amid the rich eggy, parmy pasta. But more recently, perhaps inspired by homesickness, Ellis has added a few British standards. The best of which is a Scotch egg, currently the only one in the Triangle, coated in nduja instead of traditional sausage, then deep fried, with the soft boiled egg still miraculously gooey on the inside.

227 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh | figulinaraleigh.com | $ $ - $ $ $

Gocciolina

The view from Guess Road can be unassuming, but inside Gocciolina is one of the Triangle’s most legendary chalkboard menus. The specials, scrawled by hand before service, are the best motivation to book an early reservation, lest you miss out on lemony sauteed clams, or a pork chop we should all be talking about more. But the regular menu is also studded with bangers, including the richest, sweetest pork meatballs in existence, and a carbonara etched on the hearts of anyone in Durham who loves pasta.

3314 Guess Road, Durham | gocciolina.com | $ $ $

Mothers & Sons

Before dinner service each day, the pasta is made and rolled by hand at a large communal table near the kitchen, where later that night, strangers or large groups of friends will find it as tender tagliatelle or thin dramatic tonnarelli, dyed black with squid ink. As the name suggests, Mothers & Sons is a kind of nostalgic homecoming, where diners find the immense warmth of a bowl of freshly made pasta. Or perhaps that warmth comes from the flames of a wood-burning grill, tucked just behind a serving table stacked with books and bowls, where the fire is fed with fat dripping from a porchetta. Or warmer still, a coveted seat at the bar with a half-dozen stools, where you’ll find Durham’s most vast selection of amaro, but how do you not order a Negroni?

107 W. Chapel Hill St., Durham | mothersandsonsnc.com | $ $ $

Oakwood Pizza Box

Somehow Oakwood Pizza Box manages to remind you of the uncomplicated joy of your favorite childhood pizza place, where maybe you gently folded the slices and left the crusts for your parents. You probably don’t do that anymore, or shouldn’t if you’re eating at Oakwood, where the crust is as flavorful as a fine baguette. The pies are simple, but they’re not humble. There’s even a semi-secret wine list with fine Champagne and red Burgundy, cluing you in that you’ve found the good stuff.

610 N. Person St., Raleigh and 1842 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh | oakwoodpizzabox.com | $ - $ $

Pizzeria Mercato

The Triangle’s most obsessively seasonal restaurant happens to be a pizzeria, where the flavor and crisp of the crust rivals the very best bakeries. You’ll wait all year for the fiery sweetness of summer, because with it comes Mercato’s famous corn pizza, where shorn kernels and a cheesy sauce are set ablaze by thinly sliced serrano chiles.

408 W. Weaver St., Carrboro | pizzeriamercatonc.com | $ $ - $ $ $

Pizzeria Toro

There’s an enormous warmth in the dining room at Pizzeria Toro, perhaps fueled by the orange flames dancing in the wood-burning oven, perhaps from the feeling of being in Durham’s most effortlessly comfortable restaurant. Before the Triangle had a dozen great pizzerias, it only had one, Pizzeria Toro, turning out charred, chewy and gooey pies that elevated our sense of the slice. There’s the spicy lamb meatball, rich and bitter with crispy kale leaves, or the wild mushroom, studded with chanterelles when in season, or the clam pie, with open shells still warm from the oven and a zing of roasted garlic. And as excellent as the pizzas are, despite all that, the most famous dish is somehow, astoundingly, improbably, a kale salad, the leaves gently softened by dressing, with a salty punch of shaved parmesan cheese.

105 E. Chapel Hill St., Durham | pizzeriatoro.com | $ $ - $ $ $

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.

This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 7:00 AM.

Drew Jackson

The News & Observer

919-829-4707

Drew Jackson writes about restaurants and dining for The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun, covering the food scene in the Triangle and North Carolina.