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Throughout the years, celebrity chef Guy Fieri has taken viewers around the country — and even overseas — with “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” During dozens of seasons, the host is known to have referenced his love for the cuisine of his heritage: Italian. But out of all the pasta parlors and trattorias, which Italian restaurants are the best?
Figuring that out required much more than looking at which kitchens found Fieri swooning over fresh ground sausage as his mouth watered for ravioli. Reviews across social media, nominations, and awards were all weighed in deciding which restaurants did the best job bringing the flavor and feel of the Old World to the United States with savories and sweets alike.
From proofing pizza dough for days to aging prosciutto for over a year, classic techniques in scratch cooking abound at restaurants — and markets doubling as restaurants — from coast to coast. If you’re wondering whether your favorite Triple D spot made the cut, or you’re trying to plot out your own ragù and ricotta-fueled road trip, read on.
Rino’s Place (Boston, Massachusetts)
On an episode that first aired in 2010, Fieri stopped in Boston, Massachusetts to enjoy some Italian cuisine from a native-born chef. As owner Tony DiCenso detailed, emigration to the United States with his family in the ’80s ultimately led to him taking over Rino’s Place from his parents. In the same kitchen he’s been leading since 1994, DiCenso walked Triple D’s host through preparing lobster ravioli from scratch.
Fieri wasn’t just hamming it up for the camera when he professed the lobster-filling was good enough to eat even before adding the ricotta These ravioli are the talk of Bean Town with many naming them specifically when recommending Italian cuisine in the area. Heaping helpings are packed into firm, fresh rolled pasta before a lobster-loaded tomato and cream sauce is ladled over the hearty portion.
Although the website doesn’t list prices for the cash-only establishment, testimony considers the food a fair value, especially given how much is on each plate. In fact, diners are willing to forego enjoying cocktails with their meal at the bar-less restaurant, as well as the convenience of using a card for payment. As for Fieri’s fanfare, having floated the idea of kidnapping the chef to take him home, the host featured him on a 2020 “Takeout” installment of Triple D where DiCenso shipped him all the ingredients for Pasta al Forno with pappardelle and meatballs before walking him through the preparation.
rinosplace.com
(617) 567-7412
258 Saratoga St, East Boston, MA 02128
Grammy’s Italian Goodies (Wheat Ridge, Colorado)
The success of a festival business built around her grandmother’s recipes ultimately led Vicky Corder and her husband, Jeff, to open Grammy’s Italian Goodies with their children. It was at the restaurant outside Denver, Colorado that Fieri had a small taste of some of the tremendous portions in Season 34. While the host was especially complimentary of the sauce — reaching for another taste with a mouthful of the fresh baked bread, it was the sweet rather than the savory that stole the show.
Described as a one-pound cream puff, Corder’s piped dough is baked and then split to make room for her grandmother’s whip cream. Light, fresh, and delicate were all descriptor’s used by Fieri who considered the dessert good enough to be the only dish on the menu. Likewise, a local fan of the desserts describes the spot as a treasure.
As for what others find popular, baked goods continue to stand out when covered in garlic and served as knots or bread. It also is the base for its Italian sausage sandwich which, just like the enormous serving of lasagna, uses sausage produced by a century-old business with which Corder’s grandmother was friends and truly speaks to those homesick for sandwiches that are hard to come by.
grammysitaliangoodies.com
(303) 422-0380
4601 Harlan St, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033
Mrs. Robino’s (Wilmington, Delaware)
A family business spanning five generations, Mrs. Robino’s in Wilmington, Delaware not only boasts of repeat customers spanning decades, it’s also been recognized as an icon of the Little Italy neighborhood. In 2024, the Delaware Restaurant Association honored the establishment built off of homemade pasta dishes with its Cornerstone Award. Years before that in Season 32, Fieri stopped in with Triple D to experience firsthand how it makes guests feel like family.
Expanding into neighboring row homes over time, dining in what was once someone’s living room doesn’t deliver nearly as cozy a sensation as the food itself. Decades-old equipment aides in traditional pasta-making to support rich dishes one of the co-owner’s says send most home with leftovers. Touches like catering to first responders who’ve had to run out keep things personal while the fork-tender braciole keeps bellies happy. Locals, Fieri, and Delaware’s own former President Joe Biden aren’t alone in enjoying the cuisine. Along with Mrs. Robino’s making our list for the best restaurant Triple D visited in the First State, it also made our list for one of the best family-owned Italian restaurants in all of America.
mrsrobinos.com
(302) 652-9223
520 North Union St, Wilmington, DE 19805
Italian Corner (East Providence, Rhode Island)
The designators of deli and market may not call to mind dining, but that is just one of the ways that the Milan born owners of Italian Corner have been feeding Rhode Islanders since 2005. Sandwiches are definitely a star attraction for the business which earned the nod for “Peoples Choice for Best Sandwich” from RI Food Fights in 2025. Others agree its worth traveling out of the way for one of the handhelds served on bread baked fresh daily.
When Fieri visited in Season 15, the owners explained they keep dine-in service strictly to Saturday nights because of the amount of work that goes into preparing the food — even with a machine that left the host in awe. Stuffed pasta is one of the hardest Italian dishes to make at home. After pounds of meat went through the grinder and fresh pasta dough was mixed and spooled onto a roll, the challenge was removed as the duo were combined in a tortellini machine cranking out the familiar shapes, stuffed and ready to cook. Though you can only eat in the market once a week, the same food is available to buy any day and fans consider it gift-worthy.
italiancorner-ri.com
(401) 431-1737
10 Boyd Ave, East Providence, RI 02914
Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant (Valley Glen, California)
Fans of the big and small screen alike may recognize Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant from such productions as “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “The Office.” While Steve Carell, star of the latter, is just one of numerous celebrities to endorse the pizza in particular after 20 years of patronage, the California restaurant hasn’t always served one of its most popular items.
When Fieri visited the restaurant with Triple D in Season 25— himself a fan for about a decade — owner Tom Monteleone explained that the original owner, his father Frank Monteleone, never heard of pizza when The Bowery Boys actors made the request. Aiming to please, a sheet pan was employed and has been the go-to for Barone’s rectangular pizzas ever since.
It remains the favorite pizza for many in Tinsel Town and the crust is a big part of that. The yeast dough is proofed for 24 hours and Fieri opined that the taste remained consistent from the first time he’d dined there. Along with kudos for other entrées, like the meatballs made with steak shipped from New York, the restaurant earned the 2018 Spectrum Award for excellence in customer service
baronesla.com
(818) 782-6004
13726 Oxnard St, Valley Glen, CA 91401
Catelli’s (Geyserville, California)
In all likelihood, most of us will never be billionaires. That said, a trip to California’s Sonoma County can score you a taste at how one of the world’s wealthiest women ate for nearly a decade. Resurrected by the original owners’ grandchildren in 2010, Santi and Virginia Catelli’s Rex became Domenica and Nick’s Catelli’s in 2010. There, chef Domenica delivers the same quality cooking she provided to private clients — like Julia Roberts, John Travolta, and Oprah Winfrey — to customers Wednesday through Sunday.
Catelli’s is among the restaurants to which Triple D gave the “Takeout” treatment when the chef shipped Fieri all he needed to prepare some chicken parmesan. On his original visit with the show in Season 12, the host helped with the numerous steps of mixing, roasting, and grinding just to make the meat filling for the ravioli he described as “perfection” and some of best he’s tasted in his life, owning it to the delicate and tender craftsmanship along with the rich flavors.
He isn’t alone in singing high praise for the restaurant. Along with being a seven-time winner of The Best of Sonoma County reader’s choice award from The Press Democrat, positive reviews abound on social media. Al dente pasta, old school sauces, and family-style options pair as well with some wine as they do the atmosphere and customer service.
mycatellis.com
(707) 857-3471
21047 Geyserville Ave, Geyserville, CA 95441
Rose’s Daughter (Delray Beach, Florida)
Perhaps you’re among those who’ve wondered, given all the food they’ve had opportunity to try, what would celebrity chefs choose for their last meals. What’s morbid to some is fascinating to others, and though it isn’t guaranteed to be at his table, Fieri deemed the short rib pappardelle at Rose’s Daughter to be worthy of considerationwhen he stopped in for Season 45.
To many locals in Delray Beach, Suzanne Perrotto’s restaurant honoring her mother is a top recommendation — as is the pasta dish. Roasted for 18 hours with red wine, chicken stock, honey, and vegetables, short rib is then added to a pan with broth, a parmesan béchamel sauce, along with a great way to use truffles: paste. The addition of the house made pappardelle, peas, and parsley finishes the dish in the pan before its plated with Grana Padano and pea tendrils.
On top of Fieri’s glowing review, diners have reveled in the chew of the pasta, the earthy sauce, and the tender meat with hardly any wait time. Melty, crispy, generous, and airy are just some of the descriptors used weighing in on other dishes at the trattoria.
rosesdaughterdelray.com
(561) 271-9423
169 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach, FL 33444
The Saucee Sicilian (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
When The Saucee Sicilian first opened a restaurant in Oklahoma City in 2022, the scratch-made Italian already had quite the following. The same can also be said about the wood fire pizza prior to Triple D featuring the food in a 2020 episode. That’s because the business actually started on the go while earning accolades as Oklahoma City Gazette’s Best Food Truck in OKC and as one of the top food trucks in the nation throughout the second half of the 2010s.
Much like the food truck, The Saucee Sicilian’s restaurant delivers old school charm in atmosphere and flavor thanks to the wood fire oven. Plus, the service gets nearly as much praise as the Italian Stracciatella appetizer. This focaccia flatbread features cheese, pistachios, seasonal fruit, and a hot honey said to deliver a real zing.
When Fieri visited, he learned about the recipes handed down by the owner’s grandmother and how the pizza dough proofs for three days. The host sunk his teeth into another popular menu item, the Trapani pizza. Its flavor comes from pairing roasted red peppers, two kinds of cheese, roasted garlic, sliced figs, and prosciutto topped with a maple balsamic reduction.
thesauceesicilian.com
(405) 493-9023
1807 N Classen Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73106
Di Pasquale’s (Baltimore, Maryland)
Fieri’s homebound “Takeout” editions of Triple D aren’t the only time he’s revisited standout restaurants. The Food Network also released a number of webisodes that included a “Do-Over” at Di Pasquale’s in Baltimore. It was then the impact of some celebrity chef publicity was put in perspective as co-owner Joe Di Pasquale said the deli, market, and restaurant became an attraction drawing folks to Charm City after the Season 5 episode.
Each trip featured arancini, that, along with different meats and sauces, include some of the fresh made mozzarella. While Fieri admitted he would’ve fattened himself up on the rice balls as a child and the lasagna was among the best he’d ever had, the sandwiches get considerable attention. The large meatball sandwich has been voted the best in the city by Baltimore Magazine and not something easily finished alone. The handhelds, like the Italian sub with fresh bread also happen to be some of the preferred carryons for those leaving town as a number of customers confirm they have made it through security at the airport.
dipasquales.com
(410) 617-0455
3700 Gough St, Baltimore, MD 21224
Andreoli’s (Scottsdale, Arizona)
The last of the list to make it to a Triple D “Takeout,” Andreoli’s Italian Grocer of Scottsdale boasts a Calabrian chef who also happens to have been nominated for a James Beard award. Chef Giovanni Scorzo made it to the semifinals in 2022 as one of the best chefs in the Southwest. Bringing the Old World to the New, on top of baking bread and making his own mozzarella, the owner cures his own prosciutto for at least a year.
The food, aged chairs and tables surrounded by imported goods make customers feel like they’re in Italy. In fact, Fieri deemed it worth considering a move to Arizonain Season 22. Of the foods, customers describe the breads as soft and not overly crispy as well as challenging to stop eating. Fresh seafood is admired as much as the vibrant flavors of sauces and giardiniera. One customer describes the Italian pickled topping — served more akin to the American variety than the traditional — on Yelp as a “slap in the face to your taste buds.” Then there’s still dessert which, along with the rest of the menu, leave many asserting recommendations for any area restaurant before Andreoli’s is outright criminal.
andreoli-grocer.com
(480) 614-1980
8880 E Vía Linda, Scottsdale, AZ 85258
Methodology
Jason Koerner/Getty Images
Determining which of the Italian restaurants Guy Fieri visited with “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” are the best required finding broad consensus. Reviews from customers extolling depths of flavor, customer service, likelihood to recommend, and overall experience at the various locales were gathered from Facebook, Reddit, X and Yelp. Additionally, accolades from notable publications and organizations such as the James Beard Foundation were considered along with the opinions of the host.
Dining and Cooking