Top Best Italian Restaurants in Columbia

"In reality, it’s something much more: Vaccaro’s is a testament to the institution that is dessert. Perfect as a date spot but just as viable for a late night dessert binge, the glass case is stacked with a whole variety of options, the most notable of which being the cannoli cake. The alternating layers of the richest cannoli cream and ethereally light cake will bring a single tear to your eye as you stare, dumbfounded, across the still waters of the Inner Harbor."

"Open for more than 60 years, Vaccaro's serves some of the best desserts and coffee in town. The cannolis are legendary."

"Once you get hungry, hit Charles Street:There's Afghani food like sweet, pan-fried baby pumpkin at The Helmand (also the very historic site of my very first date) and the pillow-iest gnocchi ever at Sotto Sopra. The restaurant hosts opera nights, where you'll be serenaded with live performances as you eat a multi-course dinner."

"One great thing about Baltimore is the vast amount of good Italian food we have, Sotto Sopra being one of the best. I mean, check out that table spread?!. Price Range: $$$ ($30-60)"

"Grano Pasta Bar is a super intimate BYO spot that let’s you create the pasta combo of your dreams. With no more than a dozen seats in the restaurant, it is best to takeout on a poppin’ evening. They package their pasta in neat little boxes, which for some sciencey reason produces a frustrating amount of over-the-pasta-precipitation, but they are at least are a littlemore environmentally friendly than most takeout options."

"For dinner, go to Grano Pasta Bar, a teeny-tiny B.Y.O.B. where you get to mix-and-match pasta shapes and sauce. It's great for carry-out, too, and I recommend the Aglio-olio e Peperoncino, a spicy mix of roasted garlic, hot chiles, and Pecorino Romano."

"A space like this 50 years ago might have been used for a dark little corner bar. The menu here is short and sweet ."

"The lighted courtyard at Tagliata in Harbor East provides a place for diners to enjoy the restaurant's Italian fare outside. 1012 Fleet St., 410-244-5830, tagliatarestaurant.com(Algerina Perna / Baltimore Sun)"

"Enjoy home-style cuisine prepared by a business that’s been serving Baltimore for nearly a decade. While the pizza isn’t the main attraction, it certainly isn’t second-rate."

"The best advertisement for this Little Italy restaurant is its screen door. Through it, watch the kitchen hard at work, rolling and kneading the homemade pasta that goes into every dish at La Tavola. Venetian-born chef Carlo Vignotto says on La Tavola's website that he believes "the only way to prepare any creation is to be a perfectionist and select only the freshest ingredients from beginning to end — homegrown herbs, fresh fish and meats from the market, homemade pasta." More often than not, this philosophy comes through on the plate."

"Mother's is a neighborhood tavern located in Historic Federal Hill. We are a hip, up-scale night life and dining destination in the heart of Baltimore City."

"My 8 year old son and I went to breakfast at Mothers a few months ago for breakfast and he said to me ""these are the best pancakes ever Dad."" …"

"Besides being a go-to spot for catching the latest soccer game, Claddagh Pub has an interior courtyard with its own bar and is covered by nothing but twinkling lights. Be sure to check out the surf and turf options, or an authentic Irish reuben."

"It took a while, but this outpost of the famed Brooklyn pizzeria by the same name finally opened to much fanfare this past summer. The former Hampden Republican Club has been transformed into a Neapolitan-style pizza lover’s haven with ample wood paneling, two straight-from-Italy wood-burning ovens, and a bar tucked away in the back. An impressive list of 31 pizzas includes a variety of creative toppings (Meyer lemons, local brisket, hot chile oil) and an entire vegetarian section."

"Paulie Gee’s in Hampden offers a full menu of vegan pizzas that are just as good as the non-vegan options. Try toppings like cashew ricotta, vegan sausage and vegan beetballs. And don’t forget to head past the wood fired oven in the middle of the restaurant to find the hidden bar in the back for local beer and top notch cocktails."

"Just when I thought I couldn’t love MOM’s more 😍 It’s sooooo delicious!. The restaurant is, in essence, a modern lunch counter, tucked at the front of the Mom’s Organic Market in Hamden. The food you are served is a delight to the eyes and taste buds!"

"Delve into the city’s immigration history and learn about how Baltimore was one of the largest ports of entry for immigrants from around the world."

"Start off at the Walters Art Museum, a gorgeous and free exhibition space that contains an encyclopedic collection of art, including ancient Roman sculptures, Renaissance paintings, Japanese woodblock prints, Meso-American carvings and works by French impressionists. Sated on art, take a peek inside the George Peabody Library. Its centerpiece is a soaring atrium ringed with five stories of cast-iron balconies. The collection contains 300,000 volumes, many dating to the 18th and 19th centuries."

"And while you're there, visit the Walters Art Museum; admission is free and the art spans the ages, from the third millennium B.C.E. to the early 20th century. Once you get hungry, hit Charles Street:There's Afghani food like sweet, pan-fried baby pumpkin at The Helmand (also the very historic site of my very first date) and the pillow-iest gnocchi ever at Sotto Sopra. The restaurant hosts opera nights, where you'll be serenaded with live performances as you eat a multi-course dinner."

"The museum has over 94,000 pieces of art, showcasing everything from modern, contemporary and 19th-century art. Make sure to check their page for any special exhibitions. The museum generally showcases various exhibitions for a limited time."

"At the southwest corner of the Inner Harbor is the modern Maryland Science Center, with a planetarium. The scientific displays that fill its three floors are geared primarily to engage young visitors, but the museum will also interest adults as they explore physics, space travel, and other subjects. Full size dinosaurs roam through the Dinosaur Mysteries exhibit, where kids can be paleontologists in the dig pits, field lab, and excavation sites."

"The Maryland Science Center is a fun place to explore for the whole family. There are exhibits about all kinds of different science subjects spread out over the three floors of the museum. The Davis Planetarium features different shows and displays and you can visit the rooftop observatory to explore the night sky for yourself."