Italian food in Madison, WI: handmade pasta, red-sauce classics and Neapolitan cooking

Handmade pasta and modern Italian

• Bar Corallini (2004 Atwood Ave.): a neighborhood osteria with pastas like Rigatoni alla Bolognese, Cacio e Pepe and Paccheri, plus Pollo Parmigiano and a Muffaletta. Gluten-sensitive pasta and a gluten-sensitive pizza crust are available, and the vegan menu has a Vegan Cacio e Pepe and a Vegan Muffaletta.
• Cento (122 W. Mifflin St.): handmade pasta like Rigatoni al Ragu, Tagliatelle and Seared Gnocchi, wood-oven pizzas like the Margherita and Spicy Salumi, and entrees like Brick Chicken and Bistecca alla Fiorentina. Gluten-sensitive pasta and pizza crust are available on request, and several pastas and pizzas are marked vegetarian.
• Osteria Papavero (128 E. Wilson St.): a rustic Italian restaurant a block off the Capitol Square with house-cured salumi, wild boar ragu with pappardelle and a caramel budino. Gluten-free items are marked on the menu.
• D'Vino (116 King St.): a wine and cicchetti bar with an Italian kitchen, serving seasonal pastas and braised meats that draw on the chef's Sicilian roots, with a list of Sicilian and other Italian reds.
• Lombardino's (2500 University Ave.): at this address since 1952, now serving seasonal Italian built on local farms, such as orecchiette with Fraboni's sausage and rapini, brick-oven pizzas and chicken al mattone, with an all-Italian wine list.

Neapolitan and southern Italian

• Naples 15 (15 N. Butler St.): Neapolitan cooking from a Naples-born chef, with Paccheri al Re di Napoli al Ragu Napoletano, Spaghettone alle Vongole, lobster Ischia-style and wood-fired pizzas. Gluten-free pasta is offered in several dishes.

For wood-fired Neapolitan pizza specifically, see our pizza guide.

Red-sauce classics and Italian-American

• Fabiola's Spaghetti House & Deli (1301 Regent St.): a red-sauce spaghetti house in Greenbush carrying on the Spaghetti Corners tradition, with Sunday gravy, chicken Vesuvio, spaghetti and meatballs, and steaks and chops.
• Greenbush Bar (914 Regent St.): a speakeasy-style basement in the Italian Workmen's Club, serving tavern-style pizza since 1993, with stromboli, a porchetta sandwich and house lasagna on Friday and Saturday nights.
• Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano (1611 Aspen Commons, Middleton): a casual Italian-American chain restaurant at Greenway Station with Lasagna Bolognese, Chicken Marsala and Baked Penne al Forno. It has a separate gluten-free menu that includes cauliflower-crust pizzas and gluten-free pasta dishes.
• Benvenuto's Italian Grill (1109 Fourier Dr., west side): family-style, with fresh pasta and wood-fired pizza, plus dishes like Italian meat lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs and chicken parmigiana. There's a fireplace bar and a private dining room.

Casual and family-run

• Strada (Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.): the Wisconsin Union's Italian street-food counter, open to the public, with hearth-fired pizza like the Margherita and build-your-own pasta bowls.
• Oliva Italian Mediterranean Cuisine (751 N. High Point Rd.): a family-owned west-side restaurant mixing Italian and Mediterranean, with handmade pizzas, kebabs, a Caprese salad, hummus and tiramisu.

Around the area

• Middleton: Villa Dolce Cafe (1828 Parmenter St.) is an Italian cafe with Bolognese, Abruzzo pizza, arancini and tiramisu, plus gelato and a patio. See also Biaggi's above.
• Monona: Fratelli's Trattoria (5801 Monona Dr.), a trattoria from two brothers with dishes like Penne Pollo e Pesto, Fettuccini Tricolore, Zuppetta di Vongole and Castaletta di Agnello (lamb chops).
• McFarland: Angelo's (4706 Farwell St.), a modern Italian restaurant with weekly specials like lobster ravioli, chicken and broccoli tortellini and homemade vegetable lasagna, plus a Friday fish fry. Gluten-free options are noted on its site.
• Oregon: La Rocca's Pizzeria (971 Janesville St.), a family-run pizzeria with a full home-style dinner menu and a recurring penne with homemade sausage.

Browse every Italian restaurant in the directory, or see where to eat in Madison.