Italian Restaurants in Halifax

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Since 1976, Tony’s Donair been feverishly keeping up with the demand for two transnational specialties: Italian pizzas and Greek donairs. The eponymous Tony maintains a menu that includes twists on classic dishes throughout the Mediterranean, such as customizable pizzas, plates of souvlaki pork sided with a Greek salad, falafel-filled pitas, and panzerotti stuffed with mozzarella. His donair spit-cooked meat has risen in local popularity over the last 35 years, encouraging Tony to use the versatile cuts as pizza-topping, pita-filling, poutine-accoutrement, and wall-paper. When clients become too busy to stop in and say "how-do-you-do," they can order combo specials with pizza, sides, and soda that can be delivered straight to any given door.

Vinnie's Pasta Bar's unassuming exterior of muted green brick and a petite awning opens to a quaint dining space filled with warmth. Red tiled flooring, golden-hued walls, and droplet-shaped ceiling lamps surround patrons as they settle into tables topped in red and gold linens. The kitchen staff dispenses thin-crust pizzas and classic pastas to sate Italian cravings, although patrons seeking more eclectic entrees can opt for red curry chicken or Cajun fettucine.

Trattoria della Nonna fires up chef Terry Vassallo's extensive menu of traditional Italian dishes, mouthwatering pizzas, and delectable desserts. Warm up esophagi for a multitudinous munchie marathon with grilled lamb riblettes and toasted-barley risotto with double-smoked bacon and thyme ($13) or flash-fried calamari ($12). Wood-fired pizzas are baked in the house's own brick oven, providing a more convenient form of edible two-dimensional art than the lickable Sistine Chapel ceiling. Keep to the classics with a margherita pie ($14), or sample succulent splendour with a calabrese, on which italian sausage, chicken, caramelized onion, fontina, and a sun-dried-tomato pesto assemble before performing a kick line across tongues ($18). Homemade gnocchi doused with quattro formaggio crema headlines the fresh pasta selection and double as miniature pillows for reposing forks ($17). Authentic entrees from land and sea include hazelnut- and herb-crusted rack of lamb with a lamb shoulder ragout ($32) and grilled salmon with crispy prawns ($26). Sample desserts and choose liquid accompaniments from the vast wine menus, featuring pours from regions as local as Gaspereau and as far as New Zealand.

It’s hard to know where to look first upon walking into one of Jungle Jim’s two-dozen locations. Nearly every inch of wall space overflows with such safari-themed accoutrements as palm fronts, bamboo poles, colored lights, and a tiki bar. Although the restaurant aims to transport families to an exotic tropical wonderland, the huge menu is stuffed with familiar favorites designed to appeal to nearly every kind of diner. Chicken panini wraps and zesty buffalo wings swing quickly from the kitchen, but for more ceremonious occasions there are also a number of upscale, steakhouse-style options. A favorite is the St. Louis-style Rhino Ribs, a heft half-rack made sticky with honey garlic or barbecue sauce. Alongside such decadence, the special Slim Jim menu showcases entrees with 550 calories or fewer, such as pan-seared tiger shrimp and grilled chicken salad. Kids can dig into smaller portions on their own menu—which, once they’ve decided between alfredo pasta and animal-shaped chicken nuggets, they can fold into a tiki-style mask.

Candlelight casts an untroubled glow across the basement dining room of Tomavino's. The cozy den surrounds diners with exposed brick and stone walls from the late 19th century, which reverberate with the gentle sounds of an in-house pianist on weekends. The romantic ambiance befits owner Tom Vacon’s Italian cuisine, which he lovingly crafts with ingredients sourced from local suppliers.

Specializing in pizza, Tom bakes his 10 small or medium specialty pies with a deftly balanced blend of ingredients. He also leaves the gustatory decision-making up to diners who can customize their own pizza with toppings such as fontina cheese and housemade meatballs. Housemade meat sauce douses plates of spaghetti, one of six pasta dishes, which also includes the lobster, scallop, and mussel medley of the fruiti de mari, named for the aquatic creatures considered fruit in a shark’s diet. Classic cocktails, liquor-infused specialty coffee, or imported wine complement each sauce-soaked bite, and housemade cheesecake or organic gelato ends meals on a sweet note.