When it comes to the best pasta places in America, New Jersey is home to four eateries worth twirling your fork for, according to online review platform Yelp.
Released ahead of National Pasta Day (Oct. 17), the inaugural ranking of 100 restaurants includes the following local spots:
To generate its inaugural ranking of the freshest, most authentic pastas and sauces this side of Italy, Yelp says it reviewed factors such as total volume and ratings of reviews from its community of users. Editors note the list includes a mix of Italian trattoria, pasta shops and take-out windows across 33 states.
New York and Washington state emerged as the top pasta markets in the U.S., each with nine of the 100 businesses ranked. Florida followed closely with eight restaurants, according to Yelp.
The list comes as Yelp reports a 52% surge in searches for “pasta shops” between September 2025 and August 2026.
The platform also noted a few other trends, such as:
Businesses are blending retail, restaurants, specialty groceries and classes, giving customers more ways to experience and buy pasta
More restaurants, such as Denville’s The Pasta Shop, are making pasta from scratch daily — often right in front of customers
Pasta makers are increasingly highlighting locally sourced flour, grains, eggs and produce
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About the reporter
A Bergen County native, Kimberly Redmond began her journalism career after graduating from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, starting as a reporter for one of North Jersey Media Group’s weekly newspapers.
Over the past 15 years, she’s worked at The Star Ledger, covering breaking news, courts, government and features in northwestern New Jersey, as well as at USA Today-owned The Journal News in New York’s Hudson Valley region, where she had an education beat. Along the way, she’s earned several awards from the New Jersey Press Association and New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists for deadline reporting, crime & police coverage and features.
In October 2022, Kimberly joined the team at NJBIZ, taking on the always-interesting beats of New Jersey’s retail, cannabis, hospitality, food and legal industries.
Questions? Tips? Email Kimberly at [email protected].
Dining and Cooking