Italian restaurants in Salem, NH

Salem takes its Italian food seriously, and the range is wide. You can watch truffle pasta finished at your table under a hotel at Tuscan Village, or eat a veal cutlet parm in a Route 28 dining room that has been open since 1978. These are the Italian restaurants in Salem NH worth knowing, what each does best and when to go.

Italian restaurants in Salem NH at a glance

Tuscan Village: Tuscan Kitchen and Tuscan Market

Tuscan Kitchen

Tuscan Kitchen is where Joe Faro’s Tuscan Brands began. It opened in Salem in 2010, and the restaurant calls it the town’s first authentic artisan Italian restaurant. Faro, the son of Sicilian immigrants, later built Tuscan Village around it, and the restaurant now sits on the ground floor of The Artisan Hotel.

The menu runs from shared boards to steaks. Start with an assagi board of cured meats and Italian cheeses, sized for three, four or six. Pastas include rigatoni Bolognese with a beef and pork ragù ($32), butternut squash ravioli with maple and amaretti ($29) and gnocchi with Maine lobster ($48). The showpiece is the Tagliatelle al Tartufo: 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano, grappa and shaved black truffle, finished tableside at market price. There are pizzas too, from a Margherita ($22) to a cacio e pepe pie ($23).

The restaurant’s site lists hours of 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m. Sunday, with happy hour 3–5 p.m. on weekdays. 19 Via Toscana, (603) 952-4875, tuscankitchen.com.

Tuscan Market

A short walk away, Tuscan Market is an Italian grocer and café in one, with imported meats and cheeses, prepared food, desserts and table service. Its Neapolitan pizzas are the quickest way into Tuscan Brands cooking: a Margherita ($19), the Polpetto with meatball ($21) or the Fichi, with Gorgonzola, fig jam, rosemary and prosciutto di Parma. The brunch menu adds a Breakfast pizza with eggs, prosciutto cotto and hollandaise, plus fresh pastas such as carbonara and rigatoni alla vodka. Bring at least two people and order the Sunday Sauce, served per guest: bronze-cut pasta in slow-simmered San Marzano sauce with fennel sausage, meatball, braised chicken and tenderloin.

The market opens at 8 a.m. every day and closes at 9 p.m., or 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Its Cooking School, run with Williams Sonoma, holds hands-on cooking classes, mixology classes and wine tastings. 9 Via Toscana, (603) 912-5467. For everything else in the village, see our guide to Tuscan Village restaurants.

Route 28 classics: red sauce and family recipes

Ralphie’s Cafe Italiano

Ralphie’s opened in Salem in 1978, and generations of the Feole family have run it since. This is the town’s red-sauce standby: hand-breaded cutlets, extra-large hand-rolled meatballs and the house red sauce. Pasta with a homemade meatball is $16.95. Pasta with a homemade veal cutlet parmigiano is $24.95. The Italian Combination Platter ($30.50) is for big appetites, tripe is the chef’s special, and kids’ meals come with a small soft drink.

Ralphie’s takes no reservations or call-aheads, so expect a wait at peak times. It is open seven days: 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon–8 p.m. Sunday. 91 S. Broadway, (603) 893-3777.

Trattoria Amalfi

Near the south end of Route 28, Trattoria Amalfi is a family operation. Owners Gerardo and Sandra Cammarano were both born and raised in Italy. Sandra comes from Albanella, near the Amalfi coast that gave the restaurant its name, and their children work alongside them. The menu leans on veal and chicken: Veal Saltimbocca ($33.95), Chicken Amalfi stuffed with prosciutto, broccoli and mozzarella ($31.95) and, in Gerardo’s words the most popular dish, Stuffed Pork Chops baked in a Marsala sauce ($35.95). Entrées come with a side of pasta, and the menu says the pasta is imported from Italy.

It is dinner only: 4:30–9:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 4:30–10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 3–10 p.m. Saturday. It is closed Sunday and Monday. Everything on the menu is available for takeout. 385 S. Broadway, (603) 893-5773, tamalfi.com.

The Colosseum

Chef Annibale Todesca opened The Colosseum on North Broadway in 1987, and it is still family-run. Expect Southern Italian cooking with plenty of seafood. The namesake Seafood Colosseum over linguine ($59.95) is the splurge, and NY Steak alla Pat Whitley is a house dish. The restaurant also hosts celebrations and corporate dinners and runs a catering menu.

Hours: 4–9 p.m. Tuesday–Thursday, 4–10 p.m. Friday, noon–10 p.m. Saturday and 1–8 p.m. Sunday. It is closed Monday. 264 N. Broadway, Unit 101, (603) 898-1190.

Casual Italian: pizza ovens and sub shops

Some of Salem’s best everyday Italian food comes out of pizza ovens. Balducci’s Wood Fired Pizza (419 S. Broadway) bills itself as an Italian family restaurant and fills its cannoli when you order. Romano’s Pizzeria on Main Street has had the same owners since 1994 and keeps 12 kinds of slices going every day. At Tuscan Village, OakCraft Pizza bakes in a wood-fired oven and makes a Vodka Pie with prosciutto, peas and mushrooms. Our guide to pizza in Salem NH has the full list.

Tips before you go

• Check the day. Trattoria Amalfi is closed Sunday and Monday, and The Colosseum is closed Monday. Ralphie’s and Tuscan Kitchen are open all week.
• Go early on Route 28. Ralphie’s does not take reservations, so a 5 p.m. dinner beats a 7 p.m. wait.
• Plan for the meals tax. New Hampshire has no sales tax, but its 8.5% meals and rooms tax applies to restaurant checks. Here is how New Hampshire taxes work for visitors.
• Time it with a festival. Tuscan Village holds its Parmigiano Reggiano Festival Oct. 10–11, 2026, with whole wheels opened and sampled Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. and free cooking demos. See the events calendar.

Planning a night out for two? Start with our date night guide. For every cuisine in town, open the full Salem dining guide. Hours and menus change, so call or check each restaurant’s site before you go.