Italian Restaurants in Nashville: Pasta, Pizza & Dining Options
Italian restaurants in Nashville range from polished hotel dining rooms and handmade-pasta counters to neighborhood pizza restaurants and Brooklyn-influenced small-plate spots. The useful distinction is not “best” versus “not best”; it is what kind of Italian meal you actually want and which part of the city fits your plans.
This guide focuses on restaurants with clearly different formats so you can compare downtown, Germantown, Wedgewood-Houston, The Gulch and The Nations without reading the same description ten times.
Quick Answer
For a refined downtown dinner with handmade pasta and a tasting-menu option, Yolan is inside The Joseph. Iggy’s in Wedgewood-Houston centers its menu on fresh pasta. Pelato in Germantown leans into Brooklyn Italian small plates. City House blends Italian traditions with Tennessee ingredients. Moto offers handmade pasta in The Gulch, while Nicky’s Coal Fired in The Nations is the strongest fit here for coal-fired pizza plus house-made pasta.
For the larger dining picture, use the Nashville restaurants hub. If you are staying downtown, the Downtown Nashville restaurants guide adds non-Italian options near Broadway and SoBro.
Yolan — Downtown / SoBro
Yolan is The Joseph hotel’s signature Italian restaurant. It serves breakfast, weekday lunch, daily afternoon aperitivo and nightly dinner, so it is one of the rare Italian restaurants on this list that works across several meal periods.
Dinner includes à la carte options and a tasting-menu format, with house-made pasta and seasonal regional Italian dishes. The restaurant also offers complimentary valet parking with validation for diners. Yolan official website | Address: 403 4th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37201.
iggy’s — Wedgewood-Houston
iggy’s is a modern Italian-inspired restaurant and wine bar in Wedgewood-Houston with a strong focus on fresh pasta. The sample dinner menu changes frequently, so it is better to think of the restaurant by style—handmade pasta, seasonal ingredients, craft cocktails—than by one permanent signature dish.
Walk-ins are welcomed, reservations are available, and the restaurant notes that a paid lot sits next door with limited free street parking. It also offers house-made gluten-free pasta, though it is produced in the same facility as regular pasta. iggy’s official website | Address: 609 Merritt Ave Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37203.
Pelato — Germantown
Pelato describes its approach as Brooklyn Italian reimagined. Instead of a conventional appetizer-pasta-entrée progression, the Nashville menu is designed around sharable plates, pasta and family-style flavors.
The restaurant serves dinner throughout the week and brunch on Saturday and Sunday. It has a heated, covered patio, accepts reservations and also welcomes walk-ins. The restaurant notes street parking and nearby paid lots rather than a dedicated private lot. Pelato Nashville official page | Address: 1300 3rd Ave N, Nashville, TN 37208.
City House — Germantown
City House has long combined Italian cooking with Southern ingredients, and its current menu still reflects that mix through pizza, pasta and seasonal dishes rather than a strictly traditional red-sauce format. This is a dinner-focused restaurant rather than an all-day Italian cafe.
The restaurant currently serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday. City House says free street parking is available, with paid lots nearby, and specifically asks diners not to use the neighboring Square parking lot. City House official website | Address: 1222 4th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37208.
Moto Cucina + Enoteca — The Gulch
Moto is the Italian restaurant in M Street Hospitality’s Gulch collection. The restaurant is built around rustic Italian cooking, handmade pasta and an enoteca-style wine program, which makes it a natural dinner choice if you are already spending time in The Gulch.
Moto sits on the same McGavock Street block as other M Street restaurants, so it works well for visitors staying in or walking around The Gulch. Moto official page | Address: 1101 McGavock St, Suite 201, Nashville, TN 37203.
Nicky’s Coal Fired — The Nations
Nicky’s Coal Fired is a neighborhood Italian restaurant in The Nations with coal-fired pizza, house-made pasta and seasonal Tennessee ingredients. The restaurant says its pizza is cooked in Tennessee’s only coal-burning pizza oven, which gives this stop a very different identity from Nashville’s pasta-centered Italian dining rooms.
Nicky’s opens for dinner daily. Its current FAQ says reservations are not required and service is counter-style and first come, first served, while private and semi-private group options are also available. Nicky’s Coal Fired official website | Address: 5026 Centennial Blvd, Nashville, TN 37209.
How These Italian Restaurants Differ
For handmade pasta: iggy’s and Yolan put pasta near the center of the experience, while Moto and Nicky’s combine pasta with other strong menu identities.
For pizza: Nicky’s is the clearest pizza-first option on this list because of its coal-fired oven. City House also serves pizza as part of a broader seasonal menu.
For downtown convenience: Yolan is the easiest fit for a SoBro itinerary. Moto is in The Gulch, close enough to downtown for visitors who are already spending time south of Broadway.
For neighborhood dining: Pelato and City House are both in Germantown but offer noticeably different formats, while Nicky’s gives The Nations a casual Italian option away from the tourist core.
Reservations, Parking and Large Groups
Reservation expectations vary. Yolan, Pelato and iggy’s all make sense to reserve when a specific dinner time matters. Nicky’s states that regular dining is first come, first served. City House accepts reservations, and larger parties may have different family-style requirements.
Parking also changes by neighborhood. Yolan validates hotel valet parking, iggy’s points diners to a paid lot and limited street parking, Pelato relies on street and paid-lot options, and City House publishes nearby street and paid-lot guidance. Always use the restaurant’s current parking information rather than assuming a downtown or neighborhood lot is free.
Italian Restaurants Near Other Nashville Plans
If your evening includes Broadway, the Country Music Hall of Fame or Music City Center, Yolan is the most naturally connected restaurant in this guide. For a Germantown evening near First Horizon Park, Pelato and City House fit that part of town. For Wedgewood-Houston galleries and events, iggy’s keeps dinner in the same neighborhood.
If your restaurant decision is more about the setting than the cuisine, compare our rooftop restaurants in Nashville guide. For a more casual local-food day, the Nashville BBQ restaurants and Nashville hot chicken restaurants guides cover very different Nashville dining traditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can you get handmade pasta in Nashville?
iggy’s, Yolan, Moto and Nicky’s all emphasize house-made or handmade pasta in their current restaurant information. Menus change, so check the current menu before planning around one particular pasta dish.
Which Italian restaurants are near Downtown Nashville?
Yolan is in SoBro inside The Joseph, while Moto is in The Gulch. Germantown restaurants such as Pelato and City House are north of the downtown core and usually require a short drive or rideshare.
Do Nashville Italian restaurants require reservations?
Some strongly benefit from reservations, especially Yolan, Pelato and iggy’s at popular dinner times. Nicky’s currently describes regular dining as first come, first served. Always check the individual restaurant before going.
Menus, service formats, hours and parking can change. Use the official restaurant links above to confirm current details before visiting.
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