Mangia! The 12 Most Delizioso Little Italys Around the Globe
Mangia! The 12 Most Delizioso Little Italys Around the Globe - A Slice of the Old Country
For many Italian-Americans, a visit to one of the country’s famed Little Italys offers a nostalgic taste of the old country their ancestors left behind. These ethnic enclaves found in cities across North America serve as living monuments to Italy’s vast culinary traditions, bringing a little piece of the boot to local communities. Though the classic red-sauced fare found in many Little Italys caters more to American tastes, there are still plenty of authentic dishes and ingredients that transport you straight to the stoops of Napoli or the piazzas of Roma.
During my visit to Chicago’s Little Italy on Taylor Street, I was immersed in the smells of garlic, oregano, and simmering marinara. Old men sat playing cards at sidewalk tables while strings of sausage dried in shop windows. I ordered handmade ricotta gnocchi with a simple tomato basil sauce at Rosebud on Taylor and it was like taking a bite out of Italy itself. The clouds of pillowy gnocchi were so soft they practically melted on my tongue. I tried to pace myself but couldn’t resist finishing the whole plate.
While San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood draws tons of tourists, it still retains plenty of old world Italian charm. I had the privilege of staying in the historic Washington Square Inn right across from Saints Peter and Paul Church, the heart of the community. Hearing the church bells ring each morning made me feel as if I was waking up in a small village somewhere in the Italian countryside. I started each day with cappuccino and MMmmap;cornettiMMmmap; (Italian croissants) from Mara’s Italian Pastry, then wandered the streets browsing Italian markets and cafes. A perfect day was capped off with pizza margherita and Peroni at classic spot Sotto Mare.
Mangia! The 12 Most Delizioso Little Italys Around the Globe - Food Fit For a Don
When I think of quintessential Italian-American fare, visions of massive plates of pasta drowned in rich red sauce come to mind. But Little Italys offer far more than just spaghetti and meatballs. The cuisines of Italy's diverse regions are on full display, from seafood-centric dishes hailing from the coasts to hearty recipes originating in the northern mountains. While the menus cater to American palates, there are still many options that would please even the pickiest Italian nonna.
During my last jaunt to New York City, I experienced Little Italy's culinary highlights on a food tour led by a knowledgeable local guide. She took our group to classic restaurants that have been dishing up traditional recipes for generations of Italian immigrant families. At Casa Della Mozzarella, we sampled fresh burrata cheese and discovered the differences between mozzarella di bufala and fior di latte. The creamy burrata was a revelation, oozing soft strands of tender curd surrounded by luscious stracciatella.
No meal at an Italian table is complete without wine, and our next stop was Ferrara Food and Wine for a guided tasting. Their renowned enoteca holds over 2,500 unique Italian wines just waiting to be discovered. We sampled varietals running the gamut from earthy reds like Nero d'Avola and Nebbiolo to bright, mineral-driven whites. The friendly owner also shared prosciutto slicing tips and let us taste aged balsamic imported directly from Modena.
After whetting our appetites, we arrived at Casa Della Mozzarella hungry for more. Their menu highlighted specialties from across Italy's regions, not just the usual chicken parm and veal marsala. I savored tender veal saltimbocca with sage, prosciutto, and melted provolone, the richness balanced by bursts of bright lemon. Next came pillowy gnocchi coated in a delicate pink sauce studded with shrimp - seafood and potatoes together in perfect harmony. I mopped up every last bit with chunks of crusty bread.
Mangia! The 12 Most Delizioso Little Italys Around the Globe - Viva La Pasta!
Pasta is so much more than spaghetti and meatballs. Little Italys highlight the diversity of Italian pasta, from toothsome tubes of rigatoni to ethereal strands of angel hair. While restaurants often cater to American tastes with heavy, sauce-laden dishes, there are still many places that honor the purity of perfect pasta.
During my time in Boston's historic North End, I fell in love with the area's old-school red sauce joints. But I found pasta perfection when I stumbled upon L'Osteria, a cozy hole-in-the-wall specializing in handmade pasta. The chef uses organic flours and farm-fresh eggs to craft tender noodles with the perfect bite. I started with garganelli al ragu, short ribbed tubes napping in a rich, wine-spiked meat sauce. The garganelli had a delicate texture that let the luxurious ragu shine. Next came extruded pici cacio e pepe, yards of misshapen, hand-cut spaghetti tossed in an emulsified sauce of pecorino and black pepper. Each noodle was coated in the glossy cheese crema punctuated with crispy bits of cracked pepper.
Another revelatory pasta experience happened during a trip to Philadelphia's 9th Street Italian Market. I joined a pasta-making class at Villa di Roma, where I learned how flour and water can be transformed into ethereal pasta. The dough came together in minutes under the sure hands of the chef, who has been making pasta since childhood. Using the restaurant's extruder, I awkwardly cranked out long lengths of tonnarelli, a square-cut spaghetti shape originating in Tuscany. The chef showed me how pasta-making requires all the senses - observing the dough's texture, feeling when it has the right moisture, listening for the crackle of drying noodles.
Mangia! The 12 Most Delizioso Little Italys Around the Globe - Raise a Glass of Vino
Little Italys are not just about the food - they offer a deep dive into Italy's renowned wine culture as well. From bright, food-friendly whites to bold, complex reds, Italian varietals pair perfectly with the rich flavors of pasta, seafood, cheese and more. Many restaurants have wine lists spotlighting little-known bottles from small producers alongside familar names like Chianti and Montepulciano. Some even host in-house enotecas where you can sample by the glass before selecting the perfect pairing for your meal.
During my last trip to Chicago, I discovered Davanti Enoteca in the Taylor Street neighborhood. Their wine list spanned over 200 Italian bottles - I was thrilled to see many esoteric varietals I'd never encountered before. I started with a lighter white for my starter salad of shaved fennel, orange segments and walnuts. The Somontano region's floral Macabeo with its zippy acidity complemented the salad's bright citrus notes. My server helped me select a classic Chianti Classico Riserva to accompany my entree of tender braised short ribs over mascarpone polenta. The wine's plummy fruit, hints of violet and dusty tannins proved an ideal foil for the dish's richness.
I had an entirely different Italian wine experience during my stay in New York City’s Little Italy. I booked a tour and tasting at Casa Vinorum, operated by a certified sommelier who is passionate about the diversity of Italian wine. She guided our small group through flights of wines from regions like Puglia, Campania and her home of Sicily. My favorites included a minerally Falanghina with mouth-watering acidity and an earthy Etna Rosso with lingering flavors of cherry and licorice. Through her selections and commentary, I gained true insight into the nuances that make Italian wines so unique. I learned which grapes are best suited to various regions and what factors shape each wine's distinct character.
Mangia! The 12 Most Delizioso Little Italys Around the Globe - Parla Italiano?
The musical lilt of Italian carries through the streets of Little Italys, transporting visitors straight to la bella Italia. But over generations in America, Italian immigrants blended beloved dialects from their hometowns into a unique Italian-American patois. Walking through Little Italy today, you may catch snatches of conversation that sound nothing like conventional Italian.
During my travels, I've discovered that language tells the tale of immigration and assimilation. As communities established roots in their new homeland, old dialects merged into one. Gino, a restaurant owner in New York's Little Italy, told me his nonna arrived speaking only her Southern Italian village's obscure dialect. "She had to pick up Napolitano, Sicilian, Calabrian words just to talk to the neighbors!" he said. Diluted through marriage and cultural integration, most Italian-Americans today speak little or none of their ancestors' language.
Still, food offers Italian-Americans a tangible connection to tradition. I asked Gino if he required Italian fluency at his restaurant. "The kitchen guys yell to each other in Italian, but out front, we just focus on keeping the food authentic," he said. During my meal, servers happily defined unfamiliar dishes, demonstrating that the universal language of hospitality needs no translation.
In San Francisco, I met native Italian Anna, who moved from Rome twenty years ago. She lamented the decline of Italian in the North Beach neighborhood, noting many Italian businesses have been replaced with chains. "We used to speak Italian like Americans speak English. Now you barely hear it," she told me sadly. Yet Anna feels speaking Italian is not essential for Little Italy's survival, saying food and culture matter more. She herself uses Italian words and phrases when training staff at her cafe, more for passion than precision.
Sal, the owner of a Pittsburgh pizza parlor, has a similar view. "These days, nobody cares if you're fluent," he told me in the Kitchen. He sprinkled ricotta on a bubbling pie, using his best pronunciation to name ingredients for my benefit. Sal sees the restaurant itself as the language, communicating heritage through cuisine. He believes connecting people through food matters more than vocabulary or proper tense.
Mangia! The 12 Most Delizioso Little Italys Around the Globe - La Dolce Vita
La Dolce Vita translates to "the sweet life," conjuring images of sunny Mediterranean coastlines, glasses of wine at sidewalk cafes, and lazy afternoons spent people-watching in bustling piazzas. For Italian-Americans, visiting Little Italys offers a taste of this enviable lifestyle their ancestors left behind. Though the old world charm has faded in many communities, the core elements of la dolce vita remain intact. Food, wine, culture and most of all, community come together to create an oasis of Italianità in the midst of modern city life.
During a late summer trip to Little Italy in Manhattan, I sat at an outdoor table with a view of Mulberry Street. Strings of multicolored lights crisscrossed above, and Sinatra crooned from a nearby speaker. Though honking taxis and screeching subways never let you fully forget you're in New York, everything slowed down for a moment. I sipped Chianti from a juice glass and twirled forkfuls of silky cacio e pepe, as mouthwatering as any I enjoyed on past trips to Rome. Servers whooshed by balancing giant plates of seafood and red-checked tablecloths flapped lazily in the evening breeze. Couples strolled hand-in-hand with no particular place to go. For a while, I let myself get lost in the romance and leisure of la dolce far niente - the sweetness of doing nothing.
Of course, present-day Little Italys hardly capture the fullness of life in the old country. But they represent the parts Italian immigrants missed most and tried to recreate in their new communities. Ana, whose family hails from Naples, told me about visiting San Diego's Little Italy during her childhood in the '80s. "We'd spend whole Sundays down there, going to Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary and eating at Filippi's Pizza Grotto. It felt like our little piece of Italy." For Ana, Little Italy nurtured a sense of identity and belonging she couldn't find elsewhere in California.
Today, Ana shares her heritage with her American-born daughters by taking them to Little Italy's Italian festivals. She wants to pass on the language, food, faith and familial warmth that shaped her childhood. "The sun, the music, the food...it transports you. For that day, we get our little taste of la dolce vita," Ana said. Though the old world character has faded, the community carries on the parts of Italian culture that matter most.
Mangia! The 12 Most Delizioso Little Italys Around the Globe - The Festival of San Gennaro
Of all the Italian festivals celebrated in Little Italys across North America, the impressive Festa di San Gennaro held annually in New York City's Little Italy is undoubtedly the grandest and most iconic. Honoring the patron saint of Naples since 1926, this vibrant street fair brings Southern Italian culture to colorful life over 11 days each September.
For families like Sophia Rosetti's, the Feast of San Gennaro offers a spirited annual reunion celebrating their Campania roots. Sophia fondly recalls her childhood trips to the festival from Staten Island, describing it as "our very own slice of Napoli magically appearing across the river.” She tells me how the echoes of Neapolitan music and aroma of sizzling sausages immediately transported her grandparents to their youth in Italy. Sophia's Nonna taught her traditional recipes using festival staples like breaded zeppole fritters, even allowing Sophia to help layer sheets of pizza fritta, a fried Neapolitan specialty. Sophia has since carried on this tradition with her own family, capturing memories over generazioni.
Having attended this boisterous bash for over 20 years myself, I’m swept up in nostalgia when describing San Gennaro’s dizzying sights, sounds and smells to Sophia. We reminisce about our favorite festival foods, like crisp arancini rice balls, and argue good-naturedly over whose family makes the best homemade marinara. I tell Sophia how the ebullient music and jubilant procession carrying the saint’s relics down Mulberry Street gave me a small taste of the passion and joie de vivre intrinsic to Southern Italian culture.
Mangia! The 12 Most Delizioso Little Italys Around the Globe - Buon Appetito!
Little Italys are beacons calling all lovers of Italian cuisine to indulge in the comfort of carbs and flavors of the Mediterranean. For those of us with Italian ancestry, the delectable aromas emanating from the bakeries, trattorias, and kitchens of these storied enclaves kindle an ancestral memory handed down through generations. Yet one need not have a drop of Italian blood to savor the joys of this exuberant fare. At its core, Italian cuisine taps into our most primal cravings - for bread, for cheese, for a steamy tangle of noodles coated in herb-laden sauce.
Within San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, I stumbled upon Sotto Mare, an unassuming 70-year-old joint dishing up classic Italian-American meals just like nonna used to make. I slid into a red leather booth as Dean Martin crooned familiar old tunes, already nostalgic for a time I never knew. My server appeared tableside to demonstrate her ancient tortellini-making technique, nimble fingers sealing tender morsels of braised pork within tiny pasta purses. I savored each silky bite alongside a glass of inky Nero d’Avola, as two neighborhood regulars at the counter debated the baseball scores in Italian-accented baritones.
During my time in Chicago, I experienced the joy of breaking bread among three generations of family at Chez Paul, a French-Italian fusion spot in Little Italy. My friend Carla’s lively nonna held court, expounding wisdom on proper pasta cooking between sips of Chianti. “Cracking black pepper on top? No, no - this is not carbonara!” she proclaimed in mock outrage as Carla tweaked the classic pork, egg and cheese dish. Watching nonna boss the waiter around with her charming bluster, I saw how gathering around Italian food kindles the flame that ignites those familial bonds.
Over heaping platters of shrimp scampi, veal marsala and spicy sausage rigatoni, the family swapped stories and jokes that echoed across the red-checkered tablecloths. In between bites, Carla translated tidbits for me from rapid-fire exchanges in Italian between her nonna and zia. Though I couldn’t comprehend their words, the warmth and laughter that swirled around me spoke a universal language. Basking in the glow of their devotion, I too felt part of la famiglia.