Forkelo ranking · Updated October 2026
9 carbonaras across New York City, ranked on what people say about the dish itself — never the restaurant's overall rating.
Rubirosa · Nolita, Manhattan
12 dish-specific mentions · 83% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
Nolita carbonara with no heavy cream, smooth and buttery with green onion. Many name it the best they have had; one diner noted speck instead of pancetta.
12 dish-specific mentions · 83% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
Crown Heights carbonara at a low price. Ten of twelve reviewers loved it, many calling it the best ever; two called it oily, unseasoned or too salty.
Gelso & Grand · Little Italy, Manhattan
10 dish-specific mentions · 80% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
Little Italy spaghetti with guanciale. Fans call it the best and the only dish to order; two diners found it bland or the emulsion broken and congealed.
Roscioli NYC · Greenwich Village, Manhattan
13 dish-specific mentions · 77% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
Roman style rigatoni with guanciale, egg and Pecorino. Diners say it matches Rome and is creamy without cream; a few found it bland, or too peppery.
Rosemary's West Village · West Village, Manhattan
12 dish-specific mentions · 67% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
West Village chitarra with scallion on top. Reviewers call it fantastic and excellent, though several found it salty, light on cheese or only serviceable.
Olio e Più · Greenwich Village, Manhattan
12 dish-specific mentions · 75% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
Greenwich Village spaghetti with real guanciale and an egg yolk on top. Many call it the best they have had; a few say the guanciale is thin or the dish departs from classic.
Paesano of Mulberry Street · Little Italy, Manhattan
12 dish-specific mentions · 75% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
Little Italy cream sauce carbonara with bacon at a low price. Many call it amazing or the best; one diner objected that a carbonara with cream is not traditional.
Forsythia · Lower East Side, Manhattan
14 dish-specific mentions · 57% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
Lower East Side carbonara that some say rivals Rome and rank among the best, but many others found it undercooked, too cheesy or bad. A polarizing dish.
Da Andrea Greenwich Village · Greenwich Village, Manhattan
13 dish-specific mentions · 46% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
Greenwich Village carbonara that one fan calls the city's best, while seven of thirteen reviewers found it creamy, watery, undercooked or too salty.
Every score is built from evidence about the specific dish: how often locals recommend it, how strongly, how recently, and whether independent sources agree. A restaurant's overall star rating is never converted into a dish score.
Quality and confidence are reported separately. A dish two people loved can score high, but it is marked limited data until more evidence backs it up. The whole calculation — every constant, and three dishes worked through line by line — is written out on the methodology page.
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