5510 U.S. 280 East (Greystone Center)
437-1005
Dinner only, reservations required. The Birmingham News' Fletcher Harvey called his dining experience "unexpectedly memorable." Small, intimate, cozy atmosphere, candlelight and whine tablecloth. Harvey gave high marks to homemade Italian meatballs, mussels, veal scallopine alla limone, shrimp in a creamy gorgonzola sauce, tiramisu and cannoli.

2240 Highland Ave. South (Southside)
939-1000
www.bottegarestaurant.com
Dinner only, Mon.-Sat. Valet Parking. Full bar. Reservations encouraged. Highlands Bar & Grill may be award-winning Frank Stitt's first restaurant, but Bottega is one of the hottest fine-dining places in town. Rustic Mediterranean and Italian cooking, with fresh seafood, meat and game all cooked "with the soul-satisfying essences of Tuscany, Andalusia and Sicily," as they say on their web site. You'll find dishes such as homemade ravioli with braised pork, bruschetta with crawfish, Parmesan soufflé, lobster with torchio pasta, tagliatelle pasta with venison bolognese.

For a more casual version, including sidewalk dining and lunch, try Bottega Café, next door in the same building, where you might have baked feta with focaccia, farm eggs stuffed with tapenade, wonderful wood-fired pizzas, Italian cobb salad, pastas such as Bottega Cafe's version of mac and cheese (baked penne with three cheeses), chicken scaloppine or salmon with polenta and olive-radicchio relish.
Click here for Bhamdining.com review of Bottega Cafe

721 Broadway, Homewood (near Green Springs end of Broadway)
871-9622
Lunch and dinner, full bar, reservations necessary (call at least a week and a half in advance for weekend reservations). The best Italian in Birmingham, hands-down. Cozy neighborhood Italian bistro offering sandwiches, salads, pasta and more. Dishes include fried calamari, eggless Caesar salad, pasta e fagioli, pork tenderloin with polenta, tuna steak with risotto, and zuppa di pesce over linguini. Don't miss the pistachio-crusted fried oysters appetizer. Lunch menu features sandwiches such as smoked turkey, grilled apples and Gorgonzola; grilled chicken with sauteed spinach and mushrooms; and grilled portobello mushrooms with roasted peppers.
Click here for Bhamdining.com review

1006 Oxmoor Road, Homewood/Edgewood
870-4733
Open for lunch and dinner
A small, very casual family restaurant serving inexpensive, homemade Sicilian pizza, pastas and sandwiches. No alcohol served.

1851 Montgomery Highway (Hwy. 31), Hoover
985-2909
www.birminghammenus.com/ladolcevita/
People love this tiny restaurant tucked away in a strip mall on Highway 31 south of the Galleria for its cozy charm. Reservations definitely recommended. However, we found the sauces a bit heavy for our taste, and we and other people have been disappointed in the service, including a City Scene reviewer.

2520 Rocky Ridge, Vestavia
979-6996
Lunch and dinner, full bar, patio, live music nightly. Homemade Italian dishes "just like what you get at our house," says owner Tony Falleta. Specialties include veal and chicken marsala, baked eggplant stuffed with ricotta. Live music ranges from accordion to piano to blues and jazz, with customer sing-alongs not uncommon. In our opinion, the atmosphere is better than the food (sugary sweet red sauce, overdone veal), with the exception of the rolls, which are fantastic. But a lot of people love the place.

420 Green Springs Highway, Homewood
942-9866
www.lovoys.com
Dinner only. In a casual atmosphere that looks like it hasn't changed much since the '70s, dine on Italian-American classics like ravioli and lasagna, plus pizza, sandwiches. Don't miss the baked oysters. If you like garlic, try the baked shells. The sauce is better if you eat later; it's had more time to simmer. Pretty basic wine list.

700 Montgomery Highway (Vestavia City Center)
978-1212
www.nonnasbirmingham.com
Lunch and dinner. City Scene called it "Italian-inspired fine dining in a friendly, upscale-casual atmosphere," and gave good marks for stuffed fried artichoke hearts, prosciutto-wrapped jumbo scallops over grilled polenta cake, Jumbo shrimp and grits, rotisserie Cornish game hen with pesto mashed potatoes, strip and Gulf shrimp, and "spectacular" white chocolate bread pudding. Veal Marsala was disappointing.

10 Meadow View Drive, off Hwy 280 (Inverness)
991-7455
www.petruccellis.com
Lunch and dinner. Soups, salads, fresh bread, pasta, steak, seafood, pizza, calzones, sandwiches. A good casual place you can take the kids but still get a drink and some good food. Catering and take-out by the pan available.

725 29th St. South (Southside/Lakeview)
323-4194
www.birminghammenus.com/rockhouse/
Lunch and dinner. So named because it is located in an old house with rustic rock siding. Offers Italian-style and American cuisine in an intimate cafe-style setting, such as lasagna, ravioli, chicken marsala, veal piccata, pasta with a choice of sauces, salads (including Casey Catering's Famous Almond Dill Chicken Salad). Paul Casey, owner and executive chef, previously worked at Boccos in New Orleans. Sous Chef Victorial Childs has worked as John Travolta's personal chef and with Kathy G & Company. City Scene's Susan Swagler gave high marks to a baked brie appetizer, pasta salad, pesto, marinara and alfredo sauce, cheese ravioli, lasagna.