La Panetteria is a resident fixture in Bethesda - serving the finest Southern and Northern Italian specialty foods. It has won accolades from food critics and many, many loyal customers as well. La Panetteria earned and kept the well-deserved title of Premier Italian Restaurant in Bethesda through its superb menu and impeccable service.

Sitting in the beautifully sunlit indoor atrium with its gracefully hanging baskets and period paintings makes one think of relaxing in an open foyer of a well-established restaurant in old Italy. The wonderful, rich aromas from the kitchen entice your taste buds out of dormancy and they spring to life in anticipation of the bounty to come.

The meal is prepared perfectly and a good bottle of wine enhances the pleasure. This is real life at La Panetteria! No wonder the Washington Jewish Week raved, "La Panetteria has been around for 25 years. That's a record of impressive staying power in the heated up Bethesda dining scene."

Penelope Limoc of the Almanac Newspapers says, "There are no Chianti bottles on the walls, but there should be. It's that kind of old fashioned, cozy and casual Italian restaurant, complete with white washed stucco walls, ceramic tile floor and checkered tablecloths. From eggplant to veal, La Panetteria features the hearty and thick tomato sauces known as the signature trademark of the Northern Italian cuisine. La Panetteria translates to 'bakery' in Italian, so it comes as no surprise that all the bread is baked fresh daily. All this sumptuous food and home-like ambiance comes at very reasonable prices."

Choose From Our Extensive Menu Featuring:
Home Made Pasta
The Famous White Pizza
Fresh Fish and Seafood
Traditional Veal and Chicken Dishes

To See Our Menus, Click on a Link Below

Call To Inquire About Our Party Menus!
La Panetteria offers a perfect venue for private parties
such as rehearsal dinners or celebratory events.

Customer Reviews 9/26/2009 Went tonight based on all the great reviews on here and must say they are spot on. First off, the service was incredible. We felt as if we were dining at a place where the dishes run over $40. The drinks were always filled up and the staff were the most polite and courteous I have come across. The food was very good as well. I must say that it was some of the best veal I have ever tasted. Reasonably priced as well. The rest of the group said their food was top notch as well. Great atmosphere too. Will def be back! Dear Harry, sorry to be delayed in my response to you but I had a bunch of meeting details to deal with at work today. Our experience on Monday evening was wonder and everything was fantastic, especially the food! Your staff was outstanding and so very helpful! Please extend my thanks to them for their excellent service. We really enjoyed ourselves and I will certainly reserve a dinner party in the future for my meetings when near your restaurant. Also I am going to highly recommend your restaurant to the other NIH meeting coordinators for their study section dinners when conducting their meeting close by. Thank you again, Nywana Sincerely, Nywana Sizemore, Ph.D. posted June 2009 The rehearsal dinner for Eric and Shulamit was spectacular! I had to go on blind faith that the food and ambience would be satisfactory but little did I know how out of this world the food at your restaurant is. People also commented on how terrific the wine was; so thank you for your suggestions. Your staff was always available to accommodate us and as someone said, "the wine just kept flowing and flowing." With all the dietary concerns for the event, everyone had something to eat and the selection and portions were most generous. If you ever need a recommendation from anyone, please reference me. Thank you again, Beth Schweitzer JUly 2009 10/05/2009I'm sorry this is so late, but I wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful time at La Panetteria for our wedding reception. The food was fantastic, and your employees were wonderful. Everything was exactly the way we wanted it to be. Thank you for making our wedding day perfect! We will definitely be back for dinner soon. Thank you again! Julie and Dustin I was greeted by the host with a red rose (it was V-Day), and promptly seated for our 9:00PM reservations. This quaint little classic Italian restaurant is a great choice for intimate dining. Twinkle lights and candles illuminate the long narrow dining spaces and Venetian mural. After deciding on a bottle of wine, I ordered the ricotta and spinach stuffed eggplant which was extraordinary. It accompanied a very ordinary house salad. For dessert they were willing to accommodate us with a bowl of mixed berries (not on the menu). The dessert tray looked divine but our entrees were quite rich so we opted for something on the lighter side La Panetteria Ristorante is definitely not your average Italian restaurant. The cozy place is just one of those great finds in the Bethesda restaurant district. The dining room features a really beautiful atrium area that makes it feel as though you are dining on a street in Venice, while still giving you the comfort of air conditioning. The meals here are very hearty, and in large portions, so bring a good appetite. Before dining on our main course, we tried out the fried zucchini which was so lightly battered and so good, that I loved it, and typically I hate zucchini. For the main course my girlfriend went with the melanzane al florintina (eggplant wrapped around feta and spinach, covered in cheese) and I went with the spaghetti al pomodoro, which must have had a full pound of meat in the sauce. It was all very good, and the deserts were even better. A fresh chocolate mousse cake which was simply divine. Thank you for the wonderful food Italian food in the best Italian restaurant in Bethesda We sent you more people from NCI! We were in such a hurry, I did not give the driver his tip. I had it in cash, Please apologize. We will make it up for him next time, which it will be soon.I promise Again thanks so much for a great food. Hana Feb 2009 Good morning. From what I have heard so far, they really enjoyed it. Thank you for taking such good care of my group, and we will definitely be back in the future. Thank you again. Debbie Debbie Debbie Gantert Riderwood Village Special Trips Coordinator We visited your wonderful restaurant a number of times when we had the occasion to be in Bethesda. The food was so good we would eat lunch and dinner there, and take to go food back home to Cleveland Ohio. We do not anticipate being in Bethesda any time soon, but will definitely visit you again, given the opportunity. It was one of the BEST restaurants we have ever been to. The food was excellent, the service was excellent, and it was a great dining experience. I was wondering if you might be so kind as to share the recipe for your salad dressing. We bought a quart to take home (along with our other to go's) and I have no clue how to replicate this -- it was awesome, but I can't justify a 7 hour drive to get more!! Thank you for your consideration, Robbi Jones 10/05/2009 I'm sorry this is so late, but I wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful time at La Panetteria for our wedding reception. The food was fantastic, and your employees were wonderful. Everything was exactly the way we wanted it to be. Thank you for making our wedding day perfect! We will definitely be back for dinner soon. Thank you again! Julie and Dustin I'm sorry this is so late, but I wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful time at La Panetteria for our wedding reception. The food was fantastic, and your employees were wonderful. Everything was exactly the way we wanted it to be. Thank you for making our wedding day perfect! We will definitely be back for dinner soon. Thank you again! Julie and Dustin