34 Best Restaurants in Tuscany, Italy

Cialde, a local specialty, are circular wafers made with flour, sugar, eggs, and almonds from Puglia. The Bargilli family has been serving them with their equally delicious ice cream since 1936. Try them at Bargilli, the family's shop and probably the best gelateria in town.

It's open only for lunch and it's well off the beaten path (even if it is in the center of Livorno's shopping district), but getting here is worth the trouble: this tiny place has a short menu that changes daily, a superb wine list, and a gregarious staff. Its baccalà alla livornese (deep-fried salt cod served with chickpeas) is succulent and crisp; soups, such as ribollita, are very soothing. You could also pop in to sample a glass at the wine bar or to browse the shelves filled with wines from all over Italy.

This institution—it's been around since 1806—began life as a butcher shop and, indeed, it still is. But it also has a little restaurant inside the shop which serves great taglieri (plates of mixed cured pork products, usually, though cheese does prominently figure as well). Soups, lasagne, various tartares, and sandwiches are also on hand. The quality of the products is exceptional.

The name means "the usual soup," but there's hardly anything usual about the soups on offer—as wait staffers often explain, this restaurant is committed to cooking seasonally, using what's currently available at the market. Expect wonderfully tasty soups and brilliant secondi (second course), all served in a room with high vaulted arches dating from the 17th century.

As high in Montepulciano as you can get, just behind the Duomo, this small and intimate restaurant is expertly run by the mother-and-son team of Lorena and Paolo Brachi. Passionate about the food they prepare, both have a flair for the region's traditional dishes—the pici all'aglione (pasta with garlic sauce) and the filetto ai funghi porcini (steak with porcini mushrooms) are mouthwateringly good. The wine list, though limited in range, presents a decent selection of wines from both Montepulciano and Montalcino. For a change from the usual Tuscan meat dishes, fresh fish is served on Friday. Outdoor seating is limited.

Tasty dishes based on the region's cheeses are the specialty at this simple and inexpensive osteria on a quiet, pleasant, central square. Try versions of pici or the starter of radicchio baked quickly to brown the edges. The local pecorino cheese appears often on the menu—the pecorino grigliata con pancetta (grilled with cured bacon) is divine. Can't decide? Try the pecorino tasting menu.

At lunch and dinner time, this social hub for San Miniatans turns into a full-blown trattoria serving up local specialties. You can't go wrong with any of the wonderful panini, which are made with bread baked on-site and which you can eat seated at a table with a splendid valley view.

This spot just outside the walled town of Monteriggioni is the perfect stop on the way to Siena from Florence or vice versa. The bar serves excellent coffees and sweets, and the highly informal dining room serves up terrific local specialties. Sublime panini, which can be topped with sott'olii (vegetables preserved under olive oil), can be taken to go, or you can sit outside with a nice glass of wine while you eat.

It's a most unassuming bar a stone's throw away from a massive Medici villa up the hill, and you might be tempted to walk right past it. Besides serving the usual array of coffees, spritzes, panini, and wines by the glass, it turns out terrific pizzas.

Blend is open 10 am to 9:30 pm (after most places are closed) and serves sandwiches, pasta, and creative salads. It's on a quiet little piazza right around the corner from the Duomo. Outdoor dining may be had in warmer months.

Lots of shaded outdoor seating makes this a pleasant place for lunch on a warm day. Pecorino cheese, spicy salami, and grilled vegetables sott'olio (preserved in olive oil) are served cafeteria-style. And, if you want something even spicier, the stuffed hot peppers are delicious. There is a good selection of wine, but the choice of desserts is limited and they don't serve coffee.

If you need a break from sightseeing, stop here for a cappuccino, sandwiches at lunchtime, or the array of appetizers set out during the cocktail hour. In summer, a few outdoor tables are set up directly on Via Nazionale, Cortona's main pedestrian street, and provide a great perch from which to people-watch.

Outdoor seating on Arezzo's main pedestrian square and a tasty range of chef's salads (named after the servers) make this a very pleasant spot for a light lunch during a tour of town. If you're here in the early evening, the dei Costanti serves up an ample buffet of snacks to accompany predinner aperitifs. In continuous operation since 1886, it's the oldest café in Arezzo, with a charming old-world interior.

Come here for a finely crafted sandwich (they have 18 different varieties on the menu), or something more substantial like the crostone ai funghi (a very large portion of toasted bread topped with local, fragrant porcini mushrooms). Tiny local blueberries, in season, appear in numerous guises on the dessert menu. At après-ski time, the place positively hums as the pizza oven is fired up, and happy skiers seat themselves on furniture that looks as if an Alpine Fred Flintstone designed it.

Family-run Da Badò—with Lucia in the kitchen and her sons, Giacomo and Michele, waiting tables—is the best place in town to eat traditional food elbow-to-elbow with locals. Lucia likes to concentrate on just a few dishes, so it won't take long to decide between the standards, all prepared with a sure hand. Consider the zuppa alla volterrana (a soup made with vegetables and bread), pappardelle alla lepre (wide fettuccine with rabbit sauce), or a stew of either rabbit or wild boar. A slice of homemade almond tart is a must.

Locals don't flock to this restaurant on the outskirts of Strada in Chianti for the art on the walls, some of it questionable, most of it kitsch, but instead for the bistecca fiorentina. As big as a breadboard and served rare, one of these justly renowned steaks is enough to feed a family of four, with doggie bags willingly provided if required. First courses are typical, desserts are standard, but the wine list is a varied and extensive surprise. Outdoor seating on the upstairs terrace provides great views of the surrounding countryside.

If you're tired of Tuscan food (it can happen), this place on a side street near the Duomo serves up typical Asian dumplings, as well as those that are completely Italian, such as manzo e porcini (beef with porcini mushrooms). The insalatina di trippa piccante (spicy tripe salad) pays homage to both Asian and Italian cuisine. A fine list of artisanal beers is on offer, as are nicely priced glasses of wine.

There's no shortage of places to try Vernaccia di San Gimignano, the justifiably famous white wine with which San Gimignano is often singularly associated. At this wine bar, you can buy a glass of Vernaccia di San Gimignano and sit down with a cheese plate or one of the fine crostini.

The outstanding gelato, sorbet, and ices, some of which are sugar-free, served here are prepared three times a day according to the same recipes used by the Arnoldo brothers when they opened the place in 1927. The pièces de résistance are frozen fruits stuffed with creamy filling: don't miss the apricot sorbet–filled apricot.

It's small, but the very cheery staff is only too happy to provide you with wonderful plates of typical Tuscan food. The kitchen stays open a little bit later than most, which makes this a perfect stop after seeing some of the amazing art that Arezzo has to offer. Reservations are a necessity if you are attending the monthly antiques fair.

The very unassuming decor (wooden tables, wooden chairs) sets the scene for terrific Tuscan food. Though there's not a truffle dish to be found on the menu, there's lots to satisfy the palate. The tasty food arrives in nicely sized portions; excellent house wine is on offer, as are other wines by the bottle, which are all nicely priced; and desserts are pretty good here.

You can enjoy straightforward Tuscan fare in the massive tower at the abbey's entrance, or, when it's warm, on a flower-filled terrace. The pici ai funghi (extra-thick handmade spaghetti with mushroom sauce) or zuppa di funghi (mushroom soup) take the sting out of a crisp winter day, and the grilled meats are a good bet at any time of year. If you want lighter fare, there's a bar serving panini that has outdoor seating.

Wine lovers shouldn't miss this wine bar/eatery, which is just off Piazza Grande and has more than 700 labels on its list. Seasonal traditional dishes, such as acquacotta del casentino (porcini mushroom soup) or baccalà in umido (salt-cod stew), are served in the simply decorated, vaulted dining room. You can accompany your meal with one, or more, of the almost 30 wines that are available by the glass. Limited outdoor seating is available in warm weather.

This place could be mistaken for a grandmother's kitchen—it's completely unpretentious, with red-and-white-checked tablecloths and a waitstaff who treat you like an old friend. The restaurant teems with locals who appreciate the rock-bottom prices for well-prepared Tuscan specialties that include a superb tagliolini sui fagioli (thin noodles with beans).

On the daily menu you're likely to find both Sienese standards, such as spaghetti saporiti con agli aromi (with tomatoes and herbs), as well as more offbeat selections like bocconcini di pollo alla mediterranea (tender chicken cooked in a robust tomato-and-olive sauce). Husband-and-wife team Simone Romi and Sabrina Fabi are committed to including piatti di verdura (vegetarian dishes) among the choices, and they've put together a great wine list. A tasting menu allows you to sample just about all the daily specials. The little restaurant with high vaulted ceilings is in the oldest part of town.

Although it calls itself an osteria (tavern), this place much more resembles a wine bar, with a bill of fare that includes several different types of pâtés and a short list of seasonal soups and salads. The sampler of goat cheeses, which can be paired with local wines, should not be missed. Operatic arias tend to play softly in the background, and service is courteous.

If you're wiped out from too much sightseeing, consider a meal at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant where locals congregate for a simple lunch over a glass of wine. There's a collection of verdure sott'olio, a wide selection of affettati misti, and various types of frittatas—all of which can be washed down with the cheap, yet eminently drinkable, house wines. A few tables provide outdoor seating in summer. Don't be put off by the absence of a written menu. All the food is displayed at the counter, so you can point if you need to.

Silvia Bonechi's experience in the kitchen—with the help of a few precious recipes handed down from her grandmother—is one of the reasons for the success of this small restaurant in the tiny hamlet of Lucarelli; the other is the front-room hospitality of Nada Michelassi. These two panzanelle (women from Panzano) serve a short menu of tasty and authentic dishes at what the locals refer to as il prezzo giusto (the right price).

This one-room prosciutteria, which opens late in the morning and closes late at night, serves salads and sandwiches featuring pork products in their various incarnations. The wine list is particularly strong with bottles from the area, and its prices are reasonable. Locals flock here for good reason: portions are not small, and the hosts are gregarious. For those who don't eat meat, but do eat fish, the anchovy/sliced potato salad soaked in top-notch olive oil and dotted with capers, is a winner.