Best Italian Restaurants in Midtown Manhattan: Six Picks
Dana Whitfield · October 22, 2026 · 8 min
Midtown Manhattan’s best Italian restaurants split at Fifth Avenue. East of it are Giulietta, Bucatini and La Pecora Bianca; west of it are Osteria La Baia, Quality Italian and Ci Siamo. Giulietta opens at 7am on weekdays, La Baia serves until midnight on Friday and Saturday, and a shared starter plus two pastas costs 74 to 91 dollars at the five that list prices. Hours, prices and policies below come from each restaurant’s own website, checked in October 2026.
Six Midtown Italian restaurants at a glance, as of October 2026
| Restaurant | Address | Best for | Key verified detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giulietta | 200 Park Avenue, at East 45th Street and Vanderbilt Avenue | Early weekday starts | Open from 7am Monday to Friday; Saturday from 10am |
| Bucatini | 2 East 45th Street, just off Fifth Avenue | A weekday lunch or an early Saturday dinner | Weekdays 11:30am to 10pm; weekends from 4pm (confirm Sunday) |
| La Pecora Bianca (Midtown) | 950 Second Avenue | A set-price lunch or a weekend morning table | 2-course prix fixe lunch listed at $30, days not stated; opens 10am Saturday and Sunday |
| Osteria La Baia | 129 West 52nd Street | A late table | Serves to midnight Friday and Saturday; $38 weekday prix fixe lunch |
| Quality Italian | 57 West 57th Street | Pasta in a steak-led room | Lunch seven days; dinner to 11pm Tuesday to Saturday |
| Ci Siamo | 440 West 33rd Street, Manhattan West | An early dinner | Dinner from 4:30pm daily; weekday aperitivo from 3pm |
How these six were chosen
Each restaurant has a working official site with posted hours, and five of the six list item prices. East and West follow each address, with Fifth Avenue as the dividing line. Cost for two is one shared starter plus two pastas, added up from the named dishes’ posted prices before drinks, tax and tip.
Which Midtown East Italian restaurants are worth booking?
Giulietta: the earliest opening of the six
Giulietta is at 200 Park Avenue, on the corner of East 45th Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, next to the MetLife Building’s 45th Street entrance. It posts 7am to 9:30pm Monday to Thursday, 7am to 10pm Friday, 10am to 10pm Saturday and 10am to 9pm Sunday. For other tables within walking distance of Grand Central, The Nearest Table ranks them by distance in its closest-first guide to Italian near Grand Central.
What to order: the Mezze Maniche Carbonara ($29), with farm egg, guanciale and black pepper. The menu states that all of its pasta is made in house.
Cost for two: about 76 dollars, from Whipped Ricotta Toast ($19), Rigatoni ($28) and the carbonara ($29).
Booking: phone 212.597.2424.
Bucatini: two floors just off Fifth Avenue
Bucatini, at 2 East 45th Street, describes “2 Levels of Dining and Drinks, just off-5th Avenue.” Weekdays run 11:30am to 10pm and weekends 4pm to 10pm, and the hours block adds that “last call must be seated by 9:45PM.” Its menu page lists Sunday dinner as “coming Soon,” although the hours show weekends, so call before planning a Sunday.
What to order: Bucatini al Gusto ($30), house-made bucatini with a choice of seven sauces, including vodka, puttanesca and carbonara.
Cost for two: about 91 dollars, from Whipped Ricotta ($25), Bucatini al Gusto ($30) and Pappardelle alla Bolognese ($36). The PDF food menu prints bare numbers with no dollar signs (the risotto of the day is marked “M/P”) and has no printed date, so confirm before booking.
Booking: (212) 258-0675.
La Pecora Bianca: a $30 lunch and a weekend morning
La Pecora Bianca’s Midtown location is at 950 Second Avenue. Hours are 11:30am to 10pm Monday to Wednesday and to 10:30pm Thursday and Friday. Weekends have a 10am to 4pm service and a second from 5pm, closing at 10:30pm Saturday and 9:30pm Sunday. The menu lists a “2-Course Prix Fixe Lunch” at $30 without saying which days it runs, so confirm when you book.
What to order: the Rigatoni with vodka sauce and stracciatella ($28). Its menu prints “All of Our Pastas Are Made in House.”
Cost for two: about 74 dollars, from Whipped Ricotta ($17), Rigatoni ($28) and Tagliatelle ($29), level with Ci Siamo for the lowest basket here.
Booking: (212) 899-9996.
Which Midtown West Italian restaurants are worth booking?
Osteria La Baia: the late kitchen on West 52nd Street
Osteria La Baia, at 129 West 52nd Street, posts lunch and dinner from 11:30am to 11pm Monday to Thursday, to midnight Friday and Saturday, and to 10pm Sunday. Midnight is the latest published close of the six. Breakfast runs 8am to 11am on weekdays. The main menu page names dishes such as Pappardelle alla Bolognese and Spaghetti Vongole & Bottarga without prices, so the one firm number is the prix fixe lunch: $38 per person, Monday to Friday, “for groups up to 6 people only.” The lunch menu also marks some dishes with an extra charge.
What to order: the Pappardelle alla Bolognese, on both the main menu and the prix fixe lunch, where it is one of the main-course choices.
Cost for two: 76 dollars for two weekday prix fixe lunches at the $38 base price; no dinner total can be computed from the site.
Booking: in person, by phone on 917 671 9898, or through Resy.
Quality Italian: pasta in a steak-led room
Quality Italian, at 57 West 57th Street, pairs “renowned steak and delicious Italian food,” in its own words. Its Housemade Pasta section, described as handmade daily, runs from Pesto Mafaldine ($29) to Spicy Lobster Rigatoni alla Vodka ($58). Lunch is 11:30am to 3pm on weekdays and 11am to 3pm on weekends; dinner is 5pm to 10pm Sunday and Monday and 5pm to 11pm Tuesday to Saturday.
What to order: the Paccheri Amatriciana ($35), with guanciale, tomato and pecorino.
Cost for two: about 85 dollars, from Whipped Ricotta with sesame focaccia ($21), Pesto Mafaldine ($29) and the Paccheri Amatriciana ($35).
Booking: 212.390.1111.
Ci Siamo: early dinner at Manhattan West
Ci Siamo is at 440 West 33rd Street in the Manhattan West plaza, between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, the far-west edge of this list. Its site describes “live-fire cooking, housemade pasta, and a robust Italian wine list.” Lunch runs 11:30am to 3pm and dinner 4:30pm to 10pm every day, with aperitivo in the bar and lounge from 3pm to 4:30pm Monday to Friday.
What to order: the Rigatoni Alla Gricia ($31), with guanciale and black pepper.
Cost for two: about 74 dollars, from Cast Iron Focaccia ($18), Tagliatelle with tomato and buffalo butter ($25) and the gricia ($31).
Booking: (212) 219-6559.
Which Midtown Italian restaurants are open for lunch and late dinner?
Five of the six publish a Saturday midday service: Giulietta and La Pecora Bianca from 10am, Quality Italian from 11am, and La Baia and Ci Siamo from 11:30am. Bucatini is the exception, with weekend hours that begin at 4pm. For a lunch that must end inside an hour, see this site’s fast Italian lunch picks.
Late tables are thinner. On a Friday or Saturday, La Baia closes at midnight, Quality Italian at 11pm (Tuesday to Saturday) and La Pecora Bianca at 10:30pm (Thursday to Saturday), while Giulietta, Bucatini and Ci Siamo post 10pm. A close is not a last seating, and only Bucatini’s hours block states one. More late kitchens are in Italian after 10pm in Manhattan.
Early dinners start at 4pm at Bucatini on weekends (confirm Sunday), 4:30pm at Ci Siamo every day, and 5pm at Quality Italian every night and La Pecora Bianca on weekends. All six post Monday hours, so none is closed that day; Italian in Manhattan on a Monday covers the rest of the city.
How much does dinner for two cost at a Midtown Italian restaurant?
On the menus each site had posted in October 2026, a shared starter plus two pastas adds up to 74 dollars at La Pecora Bianca and Ci Siamo, 76 at Giulietta, 85 at Quality Italian and 91 at Bucatini, a spread of 17 dollars. Whipped ricotta appears on four of the five priced menus and gives a rough check, though the plates differ: $17 at La Pecora Bianca, $19 as a toast at Giulietta, $21 at Quality Italian and $25 at Bucatini. La Baia is the gap, since its main-menu page lists no prices. Every figure excludes drinks, tax and tip, so confirm before booking.
Frequently asked questions
What are some good Italian restaurants in Midtown New York City?
On what their own sites publish in October 2026, Giulietta (200 Park Avenue), Bucatini (2 East 45th Street) and La Pecora Bianca (950 Second Avenue) lead the east side, and Osteria La Baia (129 West 52nd Street), Quality Italian (57 West 57th Street) and Ci Siamo (440 West 33rd Street) the west.
What are the best Italian restaurants in Midtown East?
Giulietta, Bucatini and La Pecora Bianca’s Midtown location are the three on this list east of Fifth Avenue. Giulietta opens at 7am on weekdays, and La Pecora Bianca lists a $30 two-course prix fixe lunch.
Which Midtown Italian restaurant is open the latest?
Osteria La Baia posts the latest close of the six, serving lunch and dinner until midnight on Friday and Saturday. Quality Italian is next, closing at 11pm Tuesday to Saturday, according to its own hours page in October 2026.
Is there a prix fixe lunch at a Midtown Italian restaurant?
Two of the six sites list a prix fixe lunch on the pages checked in October 2026. Osteria La Baia offers one at $38 per person, Monday to Friday, for groups up to six, and La Pecora Bianca’s Midtown menu lists a 2-course prix fixe lunch at $30 without naming the days it runs.