From the red sauce palaces of North Beach to the flood of modern Californian-Italian restaurants that have folded seasonal produce, meats and cheeses into pizzas and handmade pastas, Italian food is deeply entrenched in the Bay Area’s culinary history. In Oakland, Michele Belotti, born in Bergamo, Italy, and his team fill and fold tender agnolotti by hand at Belotti’s eponymous restaurant; in San Francisco’s Glen Park, Sharon Ardiana produces farm-to-table Neapolitan pizzas at Gialina, a restaurant modeled as a tribute to her family who came from Emilia-Romagna. Non-Italian Bay Area chefs and purveyors are just as enamoured with Italian ingredients, a fact that has given us numerous new wave pizzerias, charcuterie brands and homegrown wines with Italian grape varieties. As you can tell, the influence runs deep. Here are the top places in the Bay Area where you can experience the best of Italian food and drink.
Dining and Cooking