CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Back when, dinner at an Italian restaurant meant a platter of spaghetti big enough to feed an army, large green salads and a basket of crusty bread.
You can still find plenty of reliable places that offer hearty Italian-American fare -- but today you're just as likely to find authentic and artfully composed regional cuisine from Tuscany, Milan, Bologna, even Compobasso and Calabria. These days, chefs with Italian heritage (or simply a penchant for the diverse nuances of dishes from the peninsula) offer a spectrum of flavors.
Here are some of the finest Italian restaurants in Northeast Ohio. Click on the restaurant name for the full review.
, 8459 Memphis Ave., Brooklyn, 216-749-7060. The sounds of laughter and enthusiastic appreciation for well-executed Italian classics make this small, noisy spot the place for a cheerful evening.
(Joe Crea, Northeast Ohio Media Group)
25550 Chagrin Blvd., Beachwood; 216-831-8625. Exceptional cuisine, exacting service, Old World charm combine to make dining at Giovanni's a singular experience. (Joe Crea, Northeast Ohio Media Group)
3164 Fulton Road, Cleveland, 216-281-0055. Head to the original restaurant on Fulton Road for upscale Italian, seafood and pasta. Johnny's has not slipped a bit. The menu is still dotted with many of the favorites from 20 years ago, dishes like grilled long-bone veal chop, cold-smoked filet mignon, and a variety of pastas and seafood specialties.
(Bob Migra, Special to cleveland.com)
2644 West 41st St. (between I-90 and Clark Avenue), Cleveland, 216-961-7087. Cleveland's classic Italian-American, neighborhood restaurant.
(Debbi Snook, The Plain Dealer)
2077 East Fourth St., Cleveland, 216-298-9080. Zack Bruell's contemporary view of Italian food on downtown Cleveland's trendy East Fourth Street. Chinato is another jewel in the crown of Cleveland's "eat street," bringing pastas, meats, pizzas and salads with elegant presentations and full-flavored accents.
(Debbi Snook, The Plain Dealer)
1438 Euclid Ave. Playhouse Square, Cleveland, 216-862-9212. Rich pastas, buttery cheeses, crisp pan-fried fish and tender braised meats in a Tuscan countryside setting-just across from PlayhouseSquare. Convenient, if a little chaotic, for before theater dining, a quiet respite if you choose to eat while everyone else is at the show.
(Beth Segal, Special to cleveland.com)
5669 Broadview Road, Parma; 216-741-0220. Sophisticated Italian fare of Corleone's Ristorante in Parma offers so much more than simple red sauce. (Bob Migra, Special to cleveland.com)
1100 W. Royalton Road, Broadview Heights, 440-237-7378. Sign me up for the cult of D'Agnese's. It's easy to understand why so many food-savvy Italians of my acquaintance frequent this Broadview Heights restaurant. They can cook Italian in their sleep, yet this is one of those rare spots you look forward to revisiting -- for the unvarnished pleasure of well-prepared fare served in a genial atmosphere.
(Joe Crea, Northeast Ohio Media Group)
12214 Pearl Road, Strongsville; 440-238-8500. With an array of pastas and meatballs (and lots of portion sizes) as its centerpiece, D.C. Pasta Co. in Strongsville makes you want to want to try lots of dishes. Gather some friends and pass the plates. The combined team of Dante Boccuzzi (Dante, Ginko, DBA) and Carmella DelBusso (Oggi and the former Portofino) – the "D" and "C" in the name.
(Joe Crea, Northeast Ohio Media Group)
7305 Broadview Road, Seven Hills, 216-236-6007. Quality Italian fare, perfect pizzas, modest prices and a comfortable atmosphere have patrons flocking to Eddie's Pizzeria Cerino in Seven Hills.
(Bob Migra, Special to cleveland.com)
34205 Chagrin Blvd., Moreland Hills; 216-464-3700. Flour's menu, design and location strike me, respectively, as polished, sophisticated and urbane. You can enjoy Flour for what it succeeds at being: a starkly modern eatery (zinc-topped tables, cement floor, gray walls) emphasizing a variety of flavors and textures. The guns are certainly in place to achieve it. The back of the house is helmed by executive chef Matt Mytro and chef-owner Paul Minnillo.
(David Farkas, Special to cleveland.com)
1406 West Sixth St., Cleveland. 216-623-0055. Johnny's Downtown, the Warehouse District offspring of Johnny's Bar on Fulton Road, lives up to the tradition of gilding the plate with rich flavors and textures. Order extra bread to sop up the piquant broth bathing the mussels Provencal. The filet and crab gratin dinner entree was a petite tower of full beef flavor, cooked perfectly, topped by the crab and a swaggering hollandaise made with blue cheese.
(Debbi Snook, The Plain Dealer)
27337 Detroit Road (just west of Dover Center Road), Westlake; 440-871-1771. Rarely have I found Italian food as lusty and nuanced. A proficient practitioner can do plenty of sleight of hand, given enough garlic and parmesan, but chef-owner Carmella Fragassi coaxes all sorts of flavor from a considerably broader battery of ingredients. Unlike most dining destinations, the menu at La Campagna changes more-or-less daily. Though you're likely to find a handful of offerings carrying over from day to day, Fragassi hews to the old world tradition of embracing both the season and... well, whatever looks good in the market.
(Joe Crea, Northeast Ohio Media Group)
1091 W. 10th St., Cleveland (Flats East Bank); 216-862-8065. Friendly service and mostly very good food makes dining at Lago in Cleveland's Flats East Bank a memorable affair. (
David Farkas, Special to cleveland.com)
8001 Rockside Road, Valley View; 216-524-9404. Affordable options and sophisticated fare meet on an Italian-inspired menu at this restaurant in Valley View. Portions are generous, and will likely leave enough for lunch.
(David Farkas, Special to cleveland.com)
2198 Murray Hill Road, Cleveland, 216-721-0300. Few Italian restaurants in town rival Michaelangelo’s for Italian fare beyond the familiar. It's a rare restaurant that could coax me out of my den to drive enthusiastically across town for . . . a bowl of soup. Chef Michael Annandono shows the same respect for the humblest dish on his menu as for the grander creations.
(Joe Crea, Northeast Ohio Media Group)
8900 Mentor Ave. (U.S. 20, east of Ohio 615), Mentor, 44060. 440-974-2750. ine dining is disappearing in a lot of places, but this American restaurant with Italian roots continues to go all out. There’s the food, both adventurous and generous; the wine, a deal from the in-house wine store; and the service, which comes with a lot of knowledge. After about 20 years, it still looks swanky, too, with the frame of a house standing inside the dining room.
(Debbi Snook, The Plain Dealer)
19070 Old Detroit Road, Rocky River, 440-331-3944. Classic and creative pastas and interesting veal, chicken and tilapia dishes (especially a version that combines a beautifully sauteed filet with three perfect shrimp) populate Stino's menu, along with specials of the day. The chef's version of Veal Marsala should be the template for all others.
(Joe Crea, Northeast Ohio Media Group)
12421 Cedar Rd. Cleveland Heights, 216-229-8383. Stylish, svelte and flash-baked in a 900 degree firewood oven, Vero raises the craft of pizza-making to a fine, and delicious, art.
(Beth Segal, Special to cleveland.com)