23 Best Restaurants in Tuscany, Italy

The staying power of Buca di Sant'Antonio—it's been around since 1782—is the result of superlative Tuscan food brought to the table by waitstaff who don't miss a beat. The menu includes the simple but blissful tortelli lucchesi al sugo (meat-stuffed pasta with a tomato-and-meat sauce), as well as more daring dishes such as roast capretto (kid goat) with herbs. A white-wall interior hung with copper pots and brass musical instruments creates a classy but comfortable dining space.

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 is, without a doubt, one of the region's most creative restaurants—an intimate place with a menu that's Tuscan but not (its signature egg yolk starter is done with élan). Not a step is missed, and although it's possible to order à la carte, the tasting menu is also popular. When it's warm, you can sit outside in an enclosed courtyard.

"The old mill" has an antique marble serving counter filled with free nibbles and two large wooden tables in a room lined with wine bottles. The enthusiastic host, Andrea Bertucci, proudly touts local products on his simple menu, which usually consists of superior cheese and affettati misti (mixed sliced cured meats); traditional local dishes with farro grain, polenta, pecorino cheese, trout from the many local streams, and salami round out the selections. Finish your meal with a caffè al vetro con miele di castagno (coffee in a glass with chestnut honey). This osteria is open from 7:30 am to 8 pm in the warmer months and from 11 to 8 in winter.

As at his other eateries, Dario Cecchini, Panzano's local merchant of meat, offers two set menus for lunch—one where beef products dominate every course and the other vegetarian. The musetto al limone e brodo vero (an interesting salame served with stunning beef broth) might kick off the proceedings. On the table is pinzimonio, a dish of raw sliced vegetables (carrot, fennel, onions) to be dipped into terrific olive oil and sprinkled with Dario's special house-made herbed salt.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A short drive down a steep, serpentine road from San Miniato brings you to this rustic country ristorante with sponged walls, stenciled decorations, and checkered tablecloths. The main courses are mostly Tuscan classics, such as bistecca fiorentina (a generous cut of grilled steak), but white truffles, the local specialty, are also showcased, and you can get them with pasta, crespelle (thin pancakes filled with ricotta), tripe, eggs, beef fillet—there's even a postprandial truffled grappa. All this good fare pairs marvelously with a fine selection of local, lesser-known wines. If truffles don't float your boat, there are nontruffled things on the menu and, at night, the staff fires up the pizza oven.

The name means Happy Tufa, and you will be happy, too, if you eat at this fine restaurant cut directly into the tufa rock plateau upon which old Pitigliano sits. The cuisine is local and regional: pappardelle al ragù di cinghiale (pappardelle pasta with wild boar sauce) is particularly tasty, and fish also figures on the menu from time to time. For the particularly hungry, there are usually several four-course, fixed-price menus to choose from.

Jazz plays softly in the background as you sip wine and dine either indoors, at rustic tables amid exposed brick-and-stone walls, or alfresco with a splendid view of the Piazza del Duomo. Typical wine-bar fare, such as plates of cured ham and cheese, shares the menu with a surprisingly sophisticated list of daily specials. For example, you might try insalatina con foie gras condita con vinaigrette (foie gras with dressed greens).

An elegantly restored monastery in the upper part of Montepulciano is home to this excellent enoteca (wine bar), which has a wide selection of wines by the glass.

Photographs from theatrical productions spanning many years line the walls of this tavern off Cortona's large Piazza del Teatro. The food is simply delicious—try the filetto al lardo di colonnata e prugne (beef cooked with bacon and prunes); service is warm and friendly.

Honest Tuscan cooking prevails at this simple trattoria next to a large parking lot. No matter that there's no view: the terrific food and pleasing service—all of it served in a typical Tuscan dining room with high timbered ceilings—make a stop here well worth the detour. Locals swear by the affettati misti (sliced cured meats), which include the stellar biroldo (cured pork from nearby Garfagnana). The ravioli di castagne (ravioli stuffed with chestnut puree, sauced with radicchio and pancetta bits) should not be missed.

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).

The first things you'll see upon entering this mercato e cucina (market and kitchen) are a row of dazzling, just-caught fish on ice and a display case with prepared foods to go. Select from a large array of crudi (including several raw oyster options) before opting for the fry (either mixed, anchovies, zucchini with squid, or fish croquettes) or the very tasty fish burger. Nice wines by the glass are on offer, as are bottles.

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.

Panini are the order of the day here, and they come with historic names (bearing no relation to what's actually contained between those two pieces of bread). Cured Italian pork products figure heavily, but there are vegetarian and pescatarian options, too. As evidenced by the caramello burro saltato con mascarpone (caramelized butter with a soft, spreadable, cow's milk cheese), dessert might also be served on the restaurant's tasty bread.

This rustic taverna with a large stone fireplace is amid vineyards that produce excellent Brunello—as well as its younger cousin, Rosso di Montalcino—a few minutes south of Montalcino, in the direction of Sant'Antimo. The estate farm produces many of the ingredients used in soup, gnocchi, bruschetta, and other traditional specialties.