It’s a classic American Dream restaurant story: Alfredo Mojica left his 20-year tenured position as executive chef at Da Marco to open his own place. Investing his life’s savings and with help from his family, he opened Amore Italian Restaurant in December 2021. The menu plays like his own greatest hits album, from the decadently delicious Spaghetti Harry’s Bar to the red wine slow-braised short ribs with burrata to the simply grilled whole branzino.

This hidden spot located just off Richmond Avenue is inspired by the 1920s, giving off an old-school speakeasy vibe. The restaurant also offers live music and karaoke nights, so if you’re wanting to enjoy those offerings, be sure to check either Instagram or Facebook ahead of time. Although Capone’s is known for its pizza, don’t leave without trying the lobster ravioli. It’s so good that once you finish it, you’ll already be planning your next visit. Other notable pastas include the truffle mac, jumbo shrimp pasta, and lasagna.

Agricole Hospitality owner Morgan Weber and chef Ryan Pera’s handsome Heights restaurant is perfect for both dates and groups. Outdoor tables sit practically in picking distance from the raised-bed gardens, where the restaurant grows most of its herbs and some of its salad ingredients. Start your meal with the cauliflower with pine nuts and raisins appetizer and some arancini, order a pizza (we love the chicken and prosciutto), and don’t sleep on the bolognese tagliatelle.

Coppa Osteria is the place to go for anyone in Rice Village craving great Italian food after a day of shopping. Standouts include the tre burri, the tuna tartare broken arancini, the Coppa caesar, and the spaghetti carbonara made with salumi Toscano and an egg that’s broken tableside by your server. If you’re looking for the perfect spot to host a dinner party (up to 20 people), there’s the private “dough room,” formerly where pastas and pizzas were made by hand. But don’t worry, this space moved across the street, so you’re still guaranteed the same quality doughs.

Owner and chef Lynette Hawkins has succeeded in keeping her cozy Italian restaurant both casual and high-quality since opening in 2009. Her small plates and accompanying small prices encourage you to order, experiment, and share (don’t miss the eggplant involtini), though Giacomo’s is perhaps best known for its exemplary spaghetti carbonara with guanciale, a farm-fresh egg, and Tellicherry pepper. All of the pastas are made by hand at the restaurant. Wash it down with the help of the wine list spotlighting Italy’s many female winemakers and plenty of biodynamic selections.

Palacios Murphy Hospitality may have a stronghold out in Round Top, where they own Hotel Lulu, Mandito’s, Lulu’s, and Popi Burger, but it’s also a force to be reckoned with here in Houston. When the hospitality group opened a second location of fine-dining Italian restaurant Lulu’s in River Oaks in 2021, we were immediately charmed. This spot’s classic Italian fare includes must-tries like the pappardelle bolognese with black Angus beef tip and loads of fresh parmigiano and herbs, and the radiatore cacio e pepe with sheep’s milk pecorino and toasted black pepper.

Mimo is excellent in its simplicity. Opened in 2023 in the colorful Tlaquepaque Market strip, the restaurant serves fresh food and handmade pastas that overdeliver, like the crudo with ahi tuna tartare and the pappardelle with braised lamb and mushrooms. Mimo also has a nice wine list of Italian favorites and lesser-known selections to boot.

One of Montrose’s most adored spots for comfort food, Paulie’s is still going strong with housemade pasta dishes focused on unique varieties, like the frilly, U-shaped creste di gallo—tossed with sausage, chile flakes, and pickled onions in marinara—and tiny, chubby, earlike canestri, served with crimini and shiitake mushrooms and a creamy marsala sauce with garlic and sage. Paulie’s also makes one of the finer Italian hoagies in Houston, using Genoa salami and ham with provolone in oil and vinegar. Don’t sleep on the shortbread cookies to cap your meal.

In 2019, owner Shanon Scott rebranded the eatery Sud Italia, which opened as Roma Ristorante in 2015 serving Southern Italian cuisine. The restaurant now focuses more broadly on multiple regions of Italy, serving traditional pastas like spaghetti alla carbonara, and recipes unique to each region, while incorporating proteins of land and sea like octopus, salmon, and osso buco.

Top Chef Masters winner Chris Cosentino’s Houston restaurant, named after his great-grandmother Rosalie, is the chef’s most personal endeavor to date. The modern Italian spot, located inside downtown’s C. Baldwin Hotel, serves Italian-American comfort food with an upscale twist. Standouts on the menu include the bucatini carbonara and the black spaghetti made with squid ink and scampi shrimp.

Opened in 2020 by the folks behind the acclaimed Nancy’s Hustle, Tiny Champions is small in name but big in charm. The relaxed hipster haunt features great pasta dishes and small plates that rotate based on seasonal availability, as well as some of the best pizzas in Houston, like the anchovy pie with tomato sauce, garlic, and salsa verde.

Trattoria Sofia is a Berg Hospitality Group concept that serves Italian fare in a setting so convincingly Italian you’ll want to serenade your bowl of cacio e pepe with a spontaneous “Nessun dorma.” Spring for dishes like veal Milanese with castelfranco salad, clarified butter, and lemon; a campanelle lamb ragù with tomato, sage, rosemary, and Parmigiano-Reggiano; and one of the best prosciutto pizzas in the city.