I Need A Good Italian Restaurant In Amarillo. Are These The Best?

I love Italian food. Give me pasta every day of the week and I'm a happy camper.

Problem is, I haven't had a chance to really check out any Italian restaurants since I moved to Amarillo. Can you help me please?

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I'm craving some really good Italian food, so I need a good recommend where I can find a beyond solid pasta. I went on to Yelp and according to that, these are the places with the best ratings.

NAPOLI'S

They check in with 175 different reviews with an overall 4 star rating. With so many reviews, it was the first one I looked up.

The thing that immediately grabbed me was that they make their pasta fresh every day. That's a big deal. A lot of the chain restaurants most definitely do not do that. It makes a HUGE difference in taste and texture.

Their menu looked pretty solid at first glance. The stuffed mushrooms look super solid. Anytime you stuff something with crab, I'm in. Just better have those perfectly toasted bread crumbs on top.

As I move over to the entrees, I saw a ton I'd be interested in putting in my stomach. However, I'm in a pasta mood so the chicken entrees are out for me on this trip. I'm probably going to lean to the Pasta Combo here I think. I can get a taste of the stuffed shells, manicotti and lasagna. Most definitely 3 of my favorites.

Dessert? You know I'm getting it. Question is, do I go with the cannoli or tiramisu here?

Another important thing for me here is the kids meals. I mean, they gotta eat too right? A review I read said the kids portions were large, and that's a huge win in my book so they aren't asking for more food in an hour like they are after most restaurants.

PESCARAZ

The next one on my list is Pescaraz. It clocks in with 81 reviews on Yelp and an overall rating of 4 stars. The thing I liked right out the gate was that the most recent ratings were predominantly 4 and 5 stars. A quick look at their website shows they were named Best of Amarillo in 2019, so it cant be TOO bad right?

The appetizer that stands out on this menu is the Fried Ravioli. I can honestly say I've never had ravioli that got dropped in a friar, so I'm super intrigued by this one. This looks like an absolute must.

It's time for dinner. What am I diving into? I know I said previously chicken was off the menu. That was until I got to Pescaraz. They're taking my two favorite cuisines, Italian and Cajun, and blending them together. The Cajun Chicken and Tortellini dish looks truly divine. You can sub the chicken for shrimp, but I can't wait to dive into the sauce on this one. It's gotta be a creamy Cajun style sauce that is to die for.

For dessert, I may try and dive into their Italian Cream Cake. I've only ever had it once, and it was just ok. The description of it on this menu though looks far better than the one I've had. Let's try something new here.

MACARONI JOE'S

Here's the 3rd ranked Italian restaurant on Yelp. With 77 reviews and a 4 star rating, I felt that was pretty darn close to Pescaraz. I will say however, the name almost ran me off. It just sounds a little kitschy right?

Glad I didn't write it off. As I get to their website, I see pictures of the restaurant and it's absolutely gorgeous. Let's dive into this menu.

Looking at the appetizers, I realized this is a bit of a different style of Italian restaurant. I didn't see your "typical" Italian appetizers on here, so I was forced to think a bit outside the box. I'm cool with that because the Pepper Crusted Tuna looks pretty solid to me.

So what am I going to be dining on for a main course here? Well, Macaroni Joe's DOES have a Cajun infused pasta and that's tempting here as well. However, I can't seem to take my eyes off the Lemon Butter Shrimp. I have a feeling that lemon butter cream sauce is super tasty.

For dessert, I'm going to completely change course. Instead of eating something, I'm going to finish the evening with a glass of wine. Why you ask? Well they promote over 600 different wines to choose from, so I'm going to go big here and find a nice $30-40 glass of wine to sip on after my meal.

So I throw it to you. Is one of these 3 the top dog? Or is there somewhere else I should be looking? Steer me in the right direction Amarillo!