ROC in Louisville’s Tuesday special includes tableside show
Only on Tuesdays, chef Rocco at ROC in Louisville prepares meals in front of guests for his cacio e pepe special. Get a taste of what to expect.
USA TODAY Network journalists selected 39 establishments for the Restaurants of the Year 2026 list.Volare, an Italian restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, was featured on the national list.In honor of Volare’s inclusion, this article highlights seven other notable Italian restaurants in the Louisville area.Many of the highlighted restaurants are long-standing, family-owned establishments with deep roots in the community.
The USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year 2026 list, released today, features 39 restaurants from barbecue joints to fine-dining establishments to seafood staples.
USA TODAY Network food journalists from across the country pooled their expertise to select the restaurants, which include the places they know, love, and recommend.
Volare, an Italian restaurant located in Louisville’s Clifton neighborhood and helmed by chef Josh Moore, who sources ingredients from his own farm, made the list. However, many other restaurants are worth celebrating in the Louisville area.
That’s why we put together this collection of other Italian restaurants we wish were on the Restaurants of the Year list.
Louisville is lucky there are so many restaurants worth including. In the 2024 and 2025 versions of this list, we shouted out iconic Louisville eateries such as Jack Fry’s, Le Moo, Seviche, Le Relais, Buck’s, The Fat Lamb, Hammerheads, La Chasse, MeeshMeesh Mediterranean, North of Bourbon, Perso, and Vietnam Kitchen.
Not to mention Barn8, the now-closed Nami and Decade, which were previously named USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year.
To switch things up this time around, and in honor of Volare’s cuisine, we decided to round up some of the top Italian restaurants in Louisville. This list also comes with stand-out honorable mentions, including Osteria Italian Seafood, bar Vetti, and Benfinita Modern Italian.
Without further adieu, here are seven Italian restaurants we wish were on the 2026 Restaurants of the Year list, presented in alphabetical order.
Italian restaurants to try in Louisville
Walking into this neighborhood restaurant, you can’t help but notice rustic touches, like unique wooden bar chairs and industrial piping used to store wine bottles and for the draft system. Everywhere you look, from an open pizza kitchen to the dreamy backyard patio with plants and colorful umbrellas, something at Ciao catches your eye.
And the place has gone through some changes since first opening in 2016. Chef Emil David, also the owner of Perso and Segreto on Oak Street, took over the eatery in 2024. He aims to keep the spirit of Ciao alive, with a new weekend brunch, late-night happy hours, and “Magic Mondays,” when a magician performs tableside.
Details: 1201 Payne St., Louisville, Ky., ciaolouisville.com
This upscale Italian restaurant from restaurateur Kevin Grangier drips with over-the-topness. Consider, for example, the “Gucci Booth,” a seating area wrapped in vintage Gucci fabric and surrounded by framed, high-fashion moments. From this booth, patrons also get a good view of the piazza-style dining room, complete with a town square fountain.
There are plenty of other luxurious details around Grassa Gramma, which Grangier opened in 2019. The restaurant that offers a $22 Monday meal deal (which includes salad, an entree, fresh-baked focaccia and a glass of wine) and Sunday brunch buffets also is here for some fun. Its name loosely translates to “plump Gramma” in Italian.
Details: 2210 Holiday Manor Center, Louisville, Ky., grassagramma.com
Just down the street from Volare you’ll find another longtime go-to for Italian. The elegant Porcini, recognized for its red front door, has been around since 1992 and is helmed by executive chef John Plymale, who has more than 45 years of culinary experience and 30 years at the restaurant he helped open with owner Tim Coury.
The classic menu includes starters like pan-seared jumbo scallops and four-cheese stuffed tortellini, pizzas, and pastas like a house-made ravioli stuffed with butternut squash and ricotta.
Details: 2730 Frankfort Ave., Louisville, Ky, porcini502.com
If you’re in Louisville, then chef Rocco Cadolini’s expressive face might show up on your social media pages as a fixture of local TikTok, where he dances along to trendy songs, breaks plates, or makes funny faces in the light of a cell phone screen. In the last year or so, many of those videos featured ROC’s Tuesday cacio e pepe special, during which Cadolini prepares the decadent pasta dish with a tableside show involving fire and lots of pecorino cheese and black pepper.
While ROC may be enjoying a recent flash of attention, the popular restaurant has been around since 2017. That’s when Cadolini moved from New York City with his family. Cadolini built ROC with his wife, Stacy, and help from their two daughters, Alessia and Sofia.
“When you say family-oriented restaurant…,” Cadolini previously told the Courier Journal. “Everything is family.”
Details: 1327 Bardstown Road, Louisville, Ky., rocrestaurant.com
The pasta doesn’t fall far from the tree. Brothers Carmelo and Michael Gabriele opened this Italian spot in Germantown in 2017, following in the steps of their father, Agostino Gabriele, the revered chef and partner at Vincenzo’s.
Since then, Sarino has made a name for itself as a go-to restaurant for brunch, Neapolitan pizzas and fresh pastas like ricotta gnocchi, chicken parmigiano, bolognese and arrabiata. Across the street from popular establishments such as The Post, Four Pegs and The Pearl, Sarino also stands out for its A-Frame rustic exterior and cool, lit-up front patio.
Details: 1030 Goss Ave., Louisville, Ky., sarinolouisville.com
This St. Matthews spot opened in 2015, but its roots go back much further. Years after the beloved Melillo’s on East Market Street closed in 2008, Bill Silvio Melillo brought his family’s Italian fare back to Louisville.
Somewhat hidden among a strip of businesses like Penny and Pearl’s Bakeshop and Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe off of Shelbyville Road, Silvio’s is known for dishes such as baked ziti, seafood pasta, veal Parmesan and grilled romaine salad.
Details: 104 Fairfax Ave., Louisville, Ky., silviositalianrestaurant.com
When talking to chef Josh Moore about Volare, among the 2026 USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year, you’ll inevitably hear about his first job at Vincenzo’s. Same for plenty of Louisville chefs, who got their start at the legendary Italian restaurant in downtown Louisville. And in 2025, owner Vincenzo Gabriele celebrated 50 years in Louisville.
Originally from Italy, he moved here in 1975 and opened his namesake restaurant, Vincenzo’s, in 1986. With tableside white-cloth service and the option to order a five-course Champagne dinner, Vincenzo’s stands out with dishes like Linguini con Gamberetti, served with shrimp and zucchini, ravioli stuffed with mascarpone cheese, and spaghetti with South African lobster tail, among other toppings. Other popular choices include pistachio-encrusted sea bass, a rack of lamb, gouda-stuffed veal, and dessert soufflès.
Details: 150 S. 5th St., Louisville, Ky., vincenzositalianrestaurant.com
Reach food and dining reporter Amanda Hancock at ahancock@courier-journal.com.
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