Best Italian Restaurants in Scottsdale (2026)
Our ranked guide to the best Italian restaurants in Scottsdale for 2026, anchored by The Americano, Matt Carter's Fat Ox, and Marcellino Ristorante.
Why we wrote this guide
Scottsdale runs a deeper Italian bench than most people expect from a desert resort town, and the range is what makes choosing hard. In one weekend you can eat fine-aged steak and house-made pasta in a glamorous North Scottsdale chophouse, sit down to a handmade garganelli with black truffle at a modern Italian flagship, and hand the whole evening to a chef-owner rolling pasta by hand in a candlelit Old Town ristorante. What ties the best rooms together is a real pasta program, made and cut in house daily, not heavy red sauce out of a chain playbook. This is our ranked guide to the best Italian restaurants in Scottsdale for 2026, built from the tables our guests ask for by name. Every venue below is one we know well and send our guests to. Last updated September 2026.
Looking for the table, not the reading? Tell us the night, the group, and the occasion and we will route you to the right room. The order below blends the quality of the kitchen with the setting and the occasion each room fits best, not just the accolade count. A note on how Scottsdale works: outside Las Vegas the restaurant reservation itself sits with the venue, so you book the table direct with the restaurant. What we do is point you to the right room, help you time it, and build the rest of the trip around dinner, from Old Town's nightlife district to the dayclub and pool side.
The ranked guide
1. The Americano (North Scottsdale)
A modern Italian steakhouse in North Scottsdale, and the apex Italian occasion room in Scottsdale. The kitchen builds the menu around fine-aged prime beef and American Wagyu alongside house-made pastas, Mediterranean seafood, and Italian antipasti, with European-style tableside moments that set it apart from a traditional steakhouse. The room reads glamorous but never stiff, built for celebration, with ice-cold martinis and a curated wine list. Dinner runs Wednesday through Sunday from 5pm with complimentary valet out front.
See The Americano.
Best for: the special-occasion Italian dinner where steak and pasta share the table.
2. Fat Ox (North Scottsdale)
Chef Matt Carter's modern Italian flagship, and one of the Valley's most serious Italian kitchens. Set on the corner of Scottsdale Road and Lincoln Drive just north of Old Town, Fat Ox was built around a simple obsession: pasta made the traditional way, extruded and sheeted in house daily and finished with premium imported and seasonal ingredients, not heavy red sauce. Regulars build the meal around it, the Garganelli with black truffle butter, speck and Parmesan and the Radiatori alla Buttera with cured pork sugo are menu fixtures, and the 25-layer lasagna and burrata with charred tomato jam and pickled strawberry are perennial talking points. The dark, sultry dining room opens to a spirited bar and a courtyard patio that comes alive in the temperate months, reading equal parts date night and celebration room. Prime evening tables move fast, so book ahead.
See Fat Ox.
Best for: the handmade-pasta dinner and the polished date night.
3. Marcellino Ristorante (Old Town Scottsdale)
Old Town Scottsdale's most personal Italian room, a chef-owned ristorante where the cooking, the service, and the mood all carry the fingerprints of one family. Chef Marcellino Verzino grew up on a farm in Italy's Campania region, cooked through Rome and New York, and has run this ristorante with his wife Sima for more than two decades, turning out what the couple calls cuisine "alla Marcellino": fresh, seasonal, and unapologetically hand made. The menu is built around handcrafted pastas rolled in house, Mediterranean seafood, and imported wild game, with a Chef's Personal Tasting menu for guests who want to hand the evening to the kitchen. The wine list earned a Wine Spectator Best of Award, and the room, all tablecloths, fresh flowers, and candlelight, is the opposite of a scene restaurant. Live music on Saturdays turns date nights and anniversaries into a night in Italy.
See Marcellino Ristorante.
Best for: the anniversary or the quiet, unhurried Italian evening in Old Town.
4. North Italia (North Scottsdale)
Where the whole idea started. The North Italia at Kierland Commons is the original location, the room where restaurateur Sam Fox and chef Christopher Christian turned a vacant storefront into a modern take on handmade Italian cooking, and it still sets the tone for every North Italia that followed. Everything is made from scratch daily, which is the point of eating here: the pasta is rolled and cut in house, the pizzas come out of the oven blistered and fast, and the kitchen leans on fresh, seasonal produce, not red-sauce cliches. Order the strozzapreti, the bolognese, and one of the chef's daily pizzas and you have the core of what put this place on the map two decades ago. The room is warm and buzzy without tipping into loud, and the patio is a real draw on a mild Arizona evening, which makes it our pick for a lively group dinner or the start of a bigger night.
See North Italia.
Best for: the lively group dinner and the from-scratch pasta at an easy price.
How to choose, fast
Best handmade-pasta pick: Fat Ox for the garganelli and radiatori, or Marcellino for pasta rolled by hand tableside-fresh.
Special-occasion Italian: The Americano, the North Scottsdale celebration room, or Marcellino for the intimate anniversary.
Group and lively Italian: North Italia at Kierland, built for a buzzy table that wants to share and linger.
Old-Town-walkable Italian: Marcellino Ristorante, steps from the Entertainment District so dinner rolls straight into the night.
Steak-and-pasta in one room: The Americano, where fine-aged beef and American Wagyu share the menu with the crudi.
Why the Scottsdale reservation is worth planning
The best Scottsdale Italian tables move fast, and they move faster on the weekends that draw a crowd. Reservations get hard to land around the WM Phoenix Open in early February, the single biggest week on the local calendar, and around the Barrett-Jackson collector-car auction in January and Cactus League spring training across February and March. Layer in the spring and fall resort high season and a steady run of weekend Old Town nights, and the marquee rooms book out well ahead for prime-time seatings. The public reservation apps show you what is left, not what is possible. Outside Las Vegas the dining reservation itself runs through the venue, so what we do is point you to the right room for the occasion, flag the chef's-counter and tasting-menu formats that often stay open after the main book closes, and build the rest of the trip around dinner.
The rest of the night
Our Scottsdale partner focuses on the nightclub and pool-club side of the trip, with dinner as the anchor point. Tell us the Italian room you want and the night around it, and we coordinate the Old Town club, the dayclub, or the pool day so the whole evening runs in order.
The process for you is short:
Tell us the night, the group size, and the room (or tell us the vibe and we will pick).
We come back with the plan: the dinner to target, the timing, and the nightlife booked around it.
You confirm. We handle our part.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Italian restaurant in Scottsdale?
For the single best Italian dinner in Scottsdale, The Americano is our answer: a modern Italian steakhouse built around fine-aged prime beef and American Wagyu alongside house-made pastas. Fat Ox runs a close second as chef Matt Carter's modern Italian flagship and one of the Valley's most serious pasta kitchens. The right answer depends on the occasion, so we rank by fit above, not just accolades.
Which Scottsdale Italian restaurant has the best handmade pasta?
The best Italian food in Scottsdale starts with the pasta program, and three rooms make it in house daily. Fat Ox extrudes and sheets its pasta on site, with the garganelli in black truffle butter and the radiatori alla buttera as fixtures. Marcellino Ristorante rolls its pasta by hand in the Campanian tradition of chef-owner Marcellino Verzino, and North Italia makes everything from scratch at the original Kierland location. Any of the three is a safe bet for a serious pasta night.
Old Town or North Scottsdale for Italian?
Both, depending on the night. In Old Town Scottsdale, Marcellino Ristorante is the walkable pick, steps from the Entertainment District so a candlelit Campanian dinner rolls straight into the clubs and lounges. In North Scottsdale and Kierland, The Americano, Fat Ox, and North Italia deliver the bigger, glossier rooms and the deeper pasta programs, a short drive from Old Town when you want dinner and nightlife in different parts of town. We help you time the handoff either way.
How far in advance should I book an Italian restaurant in Scottsdale?
For a normal week, a few days out is usually enough for a prime-time table at most of these rooms. For peak weekends, plan much further ahead: the WM Phoenix Open in early February, Barrett-Jackson in January, and Cactus League spring training in February and March all close the reservation book furthest out. If the main dining room is full on your date, ask about the bar, the chef's counter, or a tasting-menu slot, which often stay open after the primary book has gone.
Do you book Scottsdale restaurant reservations?
Outside Las Vegas, the dining reservation itself sits with the restaurant, so you book the table direct with the venue. What our partner handles in Scottsdale is the nightlife and pool-club side of the trip. Tell us the Italian dinner you are building around and we will coordinate the Old Town club, dayclub, or pool day so the whole night lines up.
Reserve your Scottsdale table
Tell us the night, the group, and the occasion. We will point you to the right Italian room and build the rest of the trip around dinner, from the Old Town club to the pool day.
Build a plan with us
Browse every Scottsdale restaurant we book to round out the trip.
Build a custom itinerary with our concierge team. Pair the venues mentioned above into a single concierge-confirmed evening. See the full Las Vegas events calendar for every upcoming DJ and pool party across the city.
Keep reading
- Best Restaurants in Old Town Scottsdale (2026) · Our ranked guide to the best restaurants in Old Town Scottsdale, from The Mission and FnB to Toca Madera, with the walkable night built around dinner.
- Best Restaurants in Scottsdale (2026) · Our ranked guide to the best restaurants in Scottsdale for 2026, anchored by Mastro's City Hall, Nobu Scottsdale, and Toca Madera, built from the tables our guests ask for by name.
- Best Italian Restaurants in San Diego 2026: The Ranked Guide · Our ranked guide to the best Italian restaurants in San Diego for 2026, from La Jolla hearth cooking at Marisi to Roman pasta at Cesarina, and how to land a table at each.
- Best Restaurants in Beverly Hills 2026: The Ranked Guide · Our ranked guide to the best restaurants in Beverly Hills for 2026, from Wolfgang Puck's Spago and CUT to the Polo Lounge and Mr. Chow.
- Best Restaurants in Downtown Los Angeles 2026: The Ranked Guide · Our ranked guide to the best restaurants in Downtown Los Angeles and the Arts District for 2026, from Bestia and Bavel to the rooftop views at 71Above and Cara Cara.
- Best Restaurants in La Jolla 2026: The Ranked Guide · Our ranked guide to the best restaurants in La Jolla for 2026, from the oceanfront Marine Room and three-level George's at the Cove to the Italian rooms Marisi and Catania.
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