Italian Restaurants in Gramercy for Dinner, Block by Block

The Italian restaurants in Gramercy worth building a dinner around sit between East 18th and 22nd Streets: Paul & Jimmy’s on East 18th, Rezdôra on East 20th and Novità on East 22nd, with Scarpetta a few blocks north on Madison Avenue for an occasion. Rezdôra’s kitchen runs latest, to 11pm every night, Paul & Jimmy’s serves straight through from noon, and Novità serves dinner from 5pm to 10pm seven days a week, as each restaurant’s own site listed in October 2026.

Dinner in Gramercy is easier than lunch, because the neighborhood empties of its office crowd by seven and the Italian rooms open up. The neighborhood’s Italian map stretches from the park down to Union Square and west into Flatiron, so the right pick depends on which corner you are starting from and how late you are eating. What follows runs north from East 18th Street, with the trains that get you there and each kitchen’s own published closing time. Where a restaurant does not publish its hours, this guide says so rather than guessing.

At a glance

The densest stretch of Italian dinner options sits between 18th and 22nd Streets, east of Broadway. The 6 train at 23rd Street and Park Avenue South covers the northern end, and the 14th Street Union Square station covers the southern end. For a late table, aim for East 20th Street, where Rezdôra’s kitchen runs to 11. For a destination dinner, walk a few blocks north into NoMad.

Italian dinner in Gramercy, from 18th Street north

East 18th Street

Paul & Jimmy’s has been at 123 East 18th Street since 1950, which on this block makes it furniture. Southern Italian and Italian-American cooking, handmade pasta. Published hours, unchanged as of October 2026, are noon to 10pm Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 9pm on Sunday and Monday. The kitchen does not close between services, so a 5:30 dinner and a 9 o’clock dinner are equally straightforward. Walk east from the 14th Street Union Square station and it takes about six minutes.

East 20th Street

Rezdôra, 27 East 20th Street between Broadway and Park Avenue South, is the neighborhood’s pasta destination. Emilia-Romagna cooking, rolled and filled by hand. Its own site lists dinner every day from 5pm to 11pm, and the tables go quickly, so this is a plan-ahead room rather than a walk-in. If you are weighing it against the other contemporary Italian kitchens in Manhattan, this rundown of six modern kitchens and who each suits is a useful comparison.

Park Avenue South, between 19th and 20th

Isabelle’s Osteria sits at 245 Park Avenue South. It does not publish daily opening and closing times on its own site, so confirm the night’s last seating by phone at (212) 388-1145 rather than trusting a directory listing.

What it does publish is useful for a dinner plan. The standing pasta list includes Rigatoni alla Vodka, Tagliatelle Bolognese and Bucatini Carbonara. The dining room seats 150 with a long bar, which is why a table for four on short notice is more realistic here than at the smaller rooms nearby. Reservations open 30 days ahead on OpenTable and Resy for parties up to ten, and walk-ins take the bar on a first come, first served basis. You can view Isabelle’s current menu before you decide. Best suited to a weeknight dinner where the group size is not settled, or to a plate at the bar before you commit to a table.

East 22nd Street

Novità, 102 East 22nd Street just east of Park Avenue South, is the quieter northern Italian option, the kind of room regulars book without thinking about it; its own site describes a Gramercy neighborhood trattoria opened in 1994. As of October 2026 the site lists lunch Monday to Friday from noon to 3:30pm and dinner every day from 5pm to 10pm, so there is no weekend lunch. Reservations run through OpenTable, or call (212) 677-2222. It is about five minutes south of the 6 at 23rd Street.

A few blocks farther north

Push into NoMad and Scarpetta at 88 Madison Avenue is the upscale end of a Gramercy-area dinner. Published dinner hours are 5pm to 9pm Monday, 5pm to 9:30pm Tuesday through Thursday, 5pm to 10pm Friday and Saturday, and 5pm to 9pm Sunday. The spaghetti with tomato and basil sits at the front of its own menu page. This is the reservation you make for an occasion rather than a spontaneous Tuesday.

Weeknights versus weekends

The neighborhood eats on two different clocks. Monday through Thursday, dinner here runs on the residential crowd once the offices clear, so 8pm on a Tuesday is calmer than most people expect and a good time to try a room without a booking. Friday and Saturday flip that, with the later kitchens on Park Avenue South and East 20th Street filling up and holding tables longer.

Sunday is its own case entirely, with several rooms closing an hour early and the afternoon drink menus gone altogether. There is a separate guide to what actually opens on a Sunday, because the hours are different enough to plan around.

Timing and transit

The 6 train is the workhorse here, with stops at 23rd and 28th Street on Park Avenue South. From the west, the N, R and W stop at 23rd Street and Broadway, a few minutes’ walk from most of these rooms. From the south, the 14th Street Union Square station puts everything on this list within a ten to fifteen minute walk.

For a table without a reservation, aim for 6 to 6:30 or after 9. The awkward middle, 7:30 to 8:30, is when the walk-in odds are worst. Coming in on the subway, here is how to plan the walk from the 6 train. And if you are choosing between a room that looks the part and one that cooks, the checklist for spotting a tourist-trap Italian restaurant applies to this neighborhood as much as anywhere.

Earlier in the day these same streets behave completely differently. The weekday lunch hour is a narrower window than dinner, the afternoon drink windows rarely overlap by more than an hour, and the corridor north toward Flatiron opens up options past 21st Street. If the evening ends at a venue rather than the table, dinner before a show in Gramercy works the timing backwards from the door.

Before you go

Hours above were read off each restaurant’s own website in August 2026, and Paul & Jimmy’s, Rezdôra, Novità and Scarpetta were re-checked in October 2026. One room on this list does not publish daily hours at all. Check the current page, or call, before you build an evening around a specific last seating.

For a first Italian dinner in the neighborhood, start on 18th Street and work north. The blocks are walkable, the trains are close, and the range covers a quick weeknight plate through to a sit-down occasion. Book ahead if there is a specific room you want. Otherwise come early, take the bar, and the neighborhood will feed you.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I get a good Italian dinner in Gramercy without a reservation?

Your best walk-in odds are on Park Avenue South and East 18th Street, early or late in the evening. Isabelle’s Osteria holds bar seating for first-come walk-ins, and Paul & Jimmy’s serves continuously from noon, so an odd arrival time works in your favor at both. Rezdôra is the exception, since it fills its tables well ahead. Arrive between 6 and 6:30 or after 9, and be willing to sit at a bar.

What time do Italian restaurants in Gramercy close?

Rezdôra runs latest, to 11pm every night. Paul & Jimmy’s closes at 10pm Tuesday through Saturday and 9pm on Sunday and Monday, Novità at 10pm every night, and Scarpetta between 9pm and 10pm depending on the day. Hours shift by day, so call ahead if you are cutting it close to closing.

Is Novità open for lunch?

On weekdays, yes. As of October 2026 its own site lists lunch Monday to Friday from noon to 3:30pm, with dinner from 5pm to 10pm every day and no weekend lunch service.

Editor’s note: Isabelle’s Osteria is affiliated with this publication. Restaurants were selected using the criteria described above.