Italian Restaurants in Fayetteville, NC: 2026 Guide

The table below compares each restaurant, and the sections that follow cover downtown Hay Street, Luigi's and pizza-first options. All listings were checked against restaurant websites, current Google listings or 2025 local reporting in October 2026 (DistiNCtly Fayetteville).

Italian Restaurants in Fayetteville at a Glance

Restaurant	Area	Style	Best for
Antonella's Italian Ristorante	Downtown (300 Hay St)	Sicilian family recipes, dinner only	Date night, house-made sauce
Pierro's Italian Bistro	Downtown (217 Hay St)	Casual bistro with lounge	Lunch downtown, patio, weekly specials
Luigi's Italian Chophouse & Bar	McPherson Church Rd	Italian chophouse	Celebrations, steaks, large wine list
Gusto Napoletano	Raeford Rd	Neapolitan pizzeria and kitchen	Wood-fired pizza
Capri Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria	Bragg Blvd	Family pizzeria	Strombolis and baked pasta near post
Little Italy Pizza & Restaurant	Walter Reed Rd	Neighborhood Italian	Lunch near Cape Fear Valley Medical Center
Elizabeth's Pizza	Hope Mills Rd	Pizza and pasta, gluten-free menu	Southside family dinner

Downtown Italian on Hay Street

Downtown has two Italian restaurants within a block of each other, so it is easy to pair dinner with a show, a gallery walk or 4th Friday. Our downtown Fayetteville guide covers parking and what else is nearby.

Antonella's Italian Ristorante

Chef Antonella Scibilia opened Antonella's in 2017. Born in Brooklyn to immigrant parents, she cooks from Sicilian family recipes, and the kitchen makes its tomato sauce daily. Dishes she has described include seared halibut caprese and filet mignon topped with shrimp scampi. Nightly specials are named after places such as Santorini.

The dining room at 300 Hay St is small and opens for dinner only, starting at 4 p.m. Call (910) 486-0046 to confirm the night's hours before you go.

Pierro's Italian Bistro

Pierro's has been at 217 Hay St since 2002. It is family owned, with exposed brick, a travertine floor and an outdoor patio. Unlike Antonella's, it serves lunch: hours run 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday.

The bistro runs a weekly schedule of Martini Mondays, Tapas Tuesdays and Wine Wednesdays, and its lounge makes it a good choice when half the table wants a full meal and the other half wants drinks and small plates. Reviewers on its site point to the lobster ravioli.

Luigi's Italian Chophouse & Bar

Luigi's is the longest-running name on this list. Peter Parrous, a Greek immigrant, opened the original Luigi's downtown in the early 1950s. It closed in the early 1960s during downtown's renovation and reopened at 528 N. McPherson Church Rd in 1982. The third generation of the family now helps run it.

The menu pairs house-made sauces and pan-sautéed pastas with hand-cut Black Angus steaks and chops and fresh fish daily. CityView singled out the ribeye marsala and Chilean sea bass. The wine program lists more than 300 selections and a 2,500-bottle cellar, and there are two private dining rooms, the Jones Room and the Collison Room, for promotions, retirements and rehearsal dinners.

Dine-in hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. Takeout and reservation calls are handled from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and the restaurant sells family-style takeout packages. It sits near Cross Creek Mall; see the Cross Creek Mall and Skibo retail guide for the rest of that corridor.

Pizza-First Italian

Gusto Napoletano

Chef Nadia Minniti, a native of Naples, runs Gusto Napoletano at 2711 Raeford Rd, Suite 112. She is a certified VPN pizzaiolo, the Neapolitan pizza association's credential, and PMQ Pizza Magazine named her among 10 women pizza industry leaders in March 2024. She opened the restaurant in 2019.

Hours are short and split, so check before you go. The posted schedule runs 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, lunch and dinner Thursday through Saturday, with no Monday or Sunday hours listed. Our pizza guide compares it with the city's other pizzerias.

Capri Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria

Capri at 2734 Bragg Blvd is a family pizzeria that also serves pasta, baked specialties, sandwiches and strombolis. It is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, which makes it one of the easier Italian lunches on the Fort Bragg side of town.

Little Italy Pizza & Restaurant

Little Italy at 1400 Walter Reed Rd, Suite 130 is near Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. It is closed Monday and opens at 11 a.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with Italian wines and local beer on tap. It is a useful option for hospital staff and visiting families; see our Cape Fear Valley Health System guide for the campus layout.

Elizabeth's Pizza

Elizabeth's at 2468 Hope Mills Rd says it has more than 30 years of experience and offers a separate gluten-free menu. CityView readers praised its consistent quality and friendly service. It works well for families in the Hope Mills and Gray's Creek area.

Which Italian Restaurant Should You Pick?

• Anniversary or proposal: Antonella's for a small, chef-driven room, or Luigi's if you want a private dining room.
• Steak and pasta at the same table: Luigi's, which is as much a chophouse as an Italian kitchen.
• Weekday lunch downtown: Pierro's, the only downtown Italian option on this list that opens at 11 a.m.
• Neapolitan pizza: Gusto Napoletano.
• Gluten-free pasta or pizza: Elizabeth's, which publishes a dedicated gluten-free menu.
• Near Fort Bragg: Capri on Bragg Boulevard.

Planning Tips

1. Check the night. Antonella's opens for dinner only, and Gusto Napoletano keeps limited hours, so a Sunday or Monday plan needs a backup.
2. Call during the day for Luigi's. Reservations, private parties and takeout orders are handled from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., before the dining room opens.
3. Use downtown parking. Both Hay Street restaurants are a short walk from the Market House area.
4. Order family-style takeout for gatherings. Luigi's sells takeout packages, and Little Italy offers catering.

For other cuisines, see our guides to Mexican restaurants, seafood restaurants and fine dining, or start with the best restaurants in Fayetteville.