13 Manhattan Spots Make “Most Authentic Italian Restaurants” List
The national list was compiled by a professional cuisine training institute, The Cooking School Italy, and based on thousands of TripAdvisor reviews. The top Manhattan selection, Kesté Pizza e Vino on Fulton St., came in at number six.
| 30 Dec 2025 | 05:12
Kesté Pizza e Vino—which can be found on Fulton St.—is the sixth-most-authentic Italian restaurant in the United States, according to a new survey. (
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Capizzi, located at 9th Ave., was seventh on the list. (
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Thirteen Manhattan restaurants have made an intriguing list measuring the “most authentic Italian restaurants in America,” which was conducted by a professional cuisine training institute—known as The Cooking School Italy—that reviewed thousands of TripAdvisor reviews.
Five of these restaurants cracked the top fifteen, which The Cooking School says “[highlights] the borough’s role as a central hub for high-quality Italian dining.” No restaurants in New York City’s outer boroughs appear to have made the top 50 list.
The Cooking School Italy says that they made the list after surveying “restaurants in all US cities with more than 250,000 residents, looking for keywords such as ‘authentic,’ ‘traditional,’ and ‘genuine.’” Restaurants needed to have a rating above 4.0 (out of 5.0) on Trip Advisor, plus more than 1,000 total reviews.
”The study highlights that diners notice and value the elements that make Italian cuisine feel authentic, from traditional cooking methods to the flavors and presentation that reflect Italian culinary traditions,” Cooking School Italy National Director Andrea Rochetti said.
A couple of these restaurants are notably located on famed thoroughfares in the enclave of Little Italy, namely Mulberry Street.
The lucky winners are as follows:
#6: Kesté Pizza e Vino – 77 Fulton St.
#7: Capizzi – 547 9th Ave.
#8: Benito One – 174 Mulberry St.
#10: Pizza Arte – 69 W. 55th St.
#15: Rafaele – 29 A. 7th Ave. South
#18: La Masseria – 235 W. 48th St.
#19: Don Antonio – 309 W. 50th St.
#20: Mercato – 359 W. 39th St.
#26: Patsy’s Italian Restaurant – 236 W. 56th St.
#35: Rubirosa – 235 Mulberry St.
#36 (Tie): Olio E Pi (3 Greenwich Ave.) & Il Corso (54 W. Greenwich Ave.)
#41: Tavola – 488 9th Ave.
According to the survey, the top-rated Manhattan restaurant—Kesté Pizza—had 416 “authenticity mentions,” and maintained a 4.5 rating on TripAdvisor over 1,236 reviews. The runner-up restaurant, Capizzi, maintained a 4.4 rating—with 399 authenticity mentions–after 1,846 reviews.
Kesté makes its pizza in the Neapolitan style, and boasts of using “long fermentation and precise heat” to create its “authentic” slices. Kesté offers classes for at-home chefs that want to bring said authenticity into their own kitchens, which can be signed up for at https://kestepizzeria.com/party-pizza-classes/#masterclass.
Neapolitan pizza, of course, hails from the Southern Italian city of Naples. It’s partially defined by its airy crust, which puffs up around the pie’s sides; “true” Neapolitan sauce is derived from either San Marzano tomatoes or those harvested from the volcanic plains of Mount Vesuvius, known as Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio.
Indeed, Neapolitan pizza is included on UNESCO’s list of items that maintain “intangible cultural heritage.”
For curious travelers, the survey’s top prize went to Al Dente Restorante, located in Boston. Second place and third place were awarded to establishments in Texas and Wisconsin, respectively. The survey, however, noted that “East Coast dominance is clear in the findings.”
The Cooking School Italy, for its part, offers classes such as “Masters of Pasta” and “Masters of Pizza” at two separate cities in Italy—one in Florence, and one in Lecce.