Looking for a local Italian restaurant

Submitted by dburnsii t3_10nk31o in pittsburgh

I'm new to the area, and I see there is a good selection of Italian food here, but I'm looking for something that may not easily come up in a Google search. Somewhere small, homey feeling, that Italian grandma in the kitchen sort of feel. What are some of yinz favorite places to go?

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pmp412 t1_j696e3o wrote

LeoGreta in Carnegie is what you are looking for. They grow and hand make most of the menu items.

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jxrst9 t1_j69926t wrote

Rico's off of Babcock. The owner is an old man from Italy and he's in the kitchen everyday. Seems like it would be a mafia hangout (I'm not saying it is, it just has those vibes.)

Village inn in Verona. Good food, great garlic bread. The restaurant is a little run down and dated, a real oldschool checkerboard tablecloth type Italian American restaurant.

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tmcg712 t1_j69pja8 wrote

Tillie’s in McKeesport is very good. Not a small space but great food.

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MissMurderpants t1_j69rygu wrote

Replying to pmp412 (#1,557,068)

He worked with Ivo Fatigati. A kinda local famous local Italian food family. They had a great place in moon decades ago and one of my culinary teachers was a Fatigati. I’ll have to go check them out.

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PghPat t1_j69xra9 wrote

Pasqualino's in Penn Hills

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moratapinella76 t1_j6a0c08 wrote

Il Burloni! Its in Greentree, so unfortunately not in the city, but its cozy, delicious, and service is great. Its very small and BYOB, with a corking fee. Someone else on here recommended it to me for mothers day and they had the best fried zuchini ive ever had. Somewhat pricey, atleast to me, but worth the price.

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mynamemightbealan t1_j6a15nu wrote

Despite the weird disdain I've noticed on this sub, it's Dianoia's for pasta by a massive margin. You are really asking what the number two is IF you are looking for pasta from your Italian place

For non pasta entree options I'd probably saying Dish Osteria

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BmoresFnst t1_j6a3gos wrote

DiAnoia or Garbarinos - pasta doesn’t get fresher than this

Never been but heard good things about Alla Famiglia as well

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twistedevil t1_j6a5bde wrote

Ciccanti's on Rt. 51 past Pleasant Hills. Grumpy old Italian chef, family owned, decor stuck in time, but amazing old school food, lots of it, and reasonably priced. You get fresh or garlic bread, soup or salad and a side with non pasta meals, great apps: the fried zucchini is light and delish, they also have an early bird menu with a nice scallop and shrimp pasta and different specials. I really like the classic tomato sauce they make, the pasta w/ garlic and olive oil, the beef braciola, linguini with clam sauce.

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Slopey1884 t1_j6ac2us wrote

Replying to BmoresFnst (#1,562,287)

Alla Famiglia is delicious, but it’s large expensive Italian steaks or veal served with a big side of pasta. It’s a “fancy” white tablecloth vibe (read: 1980s Italian in pittsburgh fancy), not a grandma’s kitchen vibe.

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fortheloveofbettas t1_j6ahh9o wrote

The Olives and Peppers on route 8 was excellent and closed during Covid (permanently) but I believe there’s another location, I’m assuming it’s part of the same ownership and would also be good.

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Cutter70 t1_j6ami06 wrote

Carbonaras in Mt Lebanon is great, just outside the city in the south hills. But not deep roving south hills, a respectable distance.

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mikeyHustle t1_j6amixm wrote

Replying to tarsier_jungle1485 (#1,560,022)

That's the owner's dad, I believe. He apparently likes to chat with people he already knows and ignore people he doesn't, though. I know someone who (I wasn't there, but the story goes) spent their birthday just sobbing waiting to be seated for an hour because he bumped several friends of his in front of her reservation.

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ginbear t1_j6b3szz wrote

Johnny's in Wilmerding, Mia Madre in Avalon, Sarafino's in Crafton, La Tavola in Mt Washington.

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AhPshaw t1_j6b3ua6 wrote

Leogreta in Carnegie is worth a visit

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gwhh t1_j6b9q32 wrote

Pasta Too in bethel park.

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tupperwhat t1_j6bfkov wrote

Zarra's at the very tip of North Oakland

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kaitb1103 t1_j6bkggt wrote

Lucca Ristorante in Oakland! Nice portion sizes and always delicious!

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Jupichan t1_j6c5qet wrote

Replying to XavierRex83 (#1,562,435)

Granted, the only experience I've had from them was through a catered lunch at my old job, but it was legit one of the worst pasta meals I've ever had in my life. I couldn't even finish half of my plate, which is goddamn unheard of for my fat ass.

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Pitlkj t1_j6crfzw wrote

Carbonaras is great but has gotten expensive since they have closed Monday’s and tuesdays. Way better than pasta too in my opinion.

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PonerBenis6 t1_j6cue3s wrote

Tillie’s in McKeesport is a family favorite. Talia downtown is great too.

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412201 t1_j6djb0q wrote

Cucina Vitale in South Side Flats on Carson. Sooo gooood.

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dburnsii OP t1_j6dmurc wrote

Replying to leadfoot9 (#1,559,062)

We looked into this one, which definitely matched what I think we were looking for, but ultimately I think a place that was a little less... Cramped? Definitely captures that homestyle feeling, but the reviews mentioned that I can get pretty loud and the place is small. Maybe another time.

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glotti t1_j6dwusf wrote

Tillies in McKeesport, thank me later

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just_a_reddit_hater t1_j6eup5f wrote

No one said this one yet, but Piaquadios in Castle Shannon (South Hills) is good!

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talldean t1_j6fzbnm wrote

Leo Greta in Carnegie or Di'anoia's in the Strip are amazing. Leo Greta's a narrow brick room, while Di'anoia's is an open space with two walls of windows, so Leo Greta is more what you want, probably.

For a bit fancier, Dish Osteria in Southside or Bar Marco in the Strip, both of which are small, cozy joints.

I think those are about as good as it gets for Italian, and yeah, they're real real good.

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damndinosaurs t1_j6g7h2r wrote

LeoGreta in Carnegie. Only if you’re looking for the best though.

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clp0216 t1_j6gu6yf wrote

Legends Eatery in North Shore

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davebmf17 t1_j6ho1lt wrote

Arby’s on McKnight Road

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