Viterbo’s best restaurants according to Gambero Rosso

The annual religious festivity dedicated to the city's patron saint this year is enriched by a new event, the first edition of the Viterbo Future Festival, an event that combines live music performances by leading artists with a large area dedicated to the Truck Food Village by Italy Food Porn, with typical specialities, both from Lazio and elsewhere. An excellent pretext to visit a city that boasts many beauties, starting with the medieval quarter, the largest in Europe, a real gem.

Where to eat in Viterbo

Agriturismo Braciami

Trattoria. The Gibellini family passionately runs this fine establishment reminiscent of 1970s American grill restaurants. An agritourism establishment where you can stay overnight or even just sit down to enjoy roasts, braised meats, burgers, chops, chickens, kebabs, and arrosticini cooked over an open grill. There is no shortage of tasty antipasti and handmade pastas, as well as mouth-watering desserts. Valuable wine selection to support and interesting cocktail menu.

Agriturismo Braciami – s.da prov.le Cassia Cimina, 21 – 391 3400095 – agriturismobraciami.com

Buongusto Piadineria

Street Food. Three doughs to choose from - classic, with organic soft wheat or organic wholemeal Khorasan durum wheat - and the piadina is served in this restaurant in the city centre, where owner Matteo Carbone offers it in many different toppings, also allowing bespoke choices, always with local ingredients. Also available folded into a roll with double fillings. Salmon or chicken poké bowls complete the offer.

Buongusto Piadineria – piazza del Plebiscito, 17 – 393 6619127 

Agriristorante Il Casaletto

Trattoria. Tre Gamberi for the Guida Ristoranti d'Italia and Tre Spicchi for the Pizzerie guide, the Ceccobelli brothers' restaurant, just a few kilometres from the city centre, is a must-visit destination for anyone visiting the city. You will find a friendly welcome, well-kept rooms, but above all a highly satisfying cuisine, based on ingredients from their own land and farms, or the result of painstaking research among local producers. Excellent pizzas, in terms of dough and toppings. Wine list with labels chosen with heart and passion on the territory, but there is also much more (at truly honest prices).

Agriristorante Il Casaletto – frazione Grotte Santo Stefano strada Grottana, 9 – 0761 367077 – agriturismobraciami.com

gur.me

Restaurant. Pleasant ambience, suggestive dehors, local cuisine revisited between skilful touches and attention to ingredients. From the menu: onion crystallised in its puff pastry with Parmigiano cream, duck speck and gorgonzola ice cream, burrata cappellacci mixed with truffle butter on a Parmigiano fondue and lemon crumble, Leprino rabbit porchetta stuffed with potatoes on sautéed lettuce cream. There is no shortage of gourmet pizzas at the weekend. The wine list is national in scope but with a focus on the area.

gur.me – via Vallepiatta, 2 – 0761 346804 – ristogur.me

Osteria del Vecchio Orologio

Trattoria. In the heart of the old town centre, you will find this valid sign where you can appreciate the many gastronomic specialities of the Tuscia viterbese area through dishes that exalt its peculiarities, as in the case of lake fish. From the menu: smoked whitefish panzanella, fettuccine alla carbonara di lago, whitefish fillet cooked in porchetta with chips and wild fennel, stuffed Leprino rabbit. Wines mostly from the area. For a less demanding stop there is La Bolla del Vecchio Orologio.

Osteria del Vecchio Orologio – via dell’Orologio Vecchio, 25 – 335 337754 – alvecchioorologio.it

La Pergoletta

Trattoria. A few kilometres from the town centre, in the locality famous for the beautiful Abbey of San Martino, here is a solid, family-run establishment with well-kept rooms and dehors, ideal for savouring the straightforward cuisine of the area, which relies above all on mushrooms (porcini included), truffles, chestnuts and game according to season. And then there are soups, fresh homemade pasta dishes, professionally cooked meats, and homemade desserts. There is good drinking at honest prices.

La Pergoletta – frazione San Martino al Cimino via A. Doria, 38 – 0761 378666 – lapergoletta.it

O’ Sarracino

Pizzeria. Rosita and Mario Di Dato (she in the dining room, he in the oven) are the friendly owners of this popular address. The pizzas are of the Neapolitan faith, with a few variations linked mainly to types of flour and “dialectal” nuances, as in the case of the panuozzo. The ingredients are highly selected and seal the happy encounter between Tuscia and Southern Italy. Also traditional are the appetisers, very tasty, and the desserts. Next to the pizza, there is a proposal of purely seafood cuisine, also well done.

O’ Sarracino – via Cavour, 39 – 333 5668100 

Where to buy in Viterbo

Coccia Sesto

Meats & Cold Cuts. Since the early years of the last century, the Coccia family has been active in the field of pork processing, respecting tradition but at the same time making use of modern techniques that do not distort the craftsmanship of the products. Among the most popular items, first place goes to the susianella (Slow Food Presidium), a typical sausage of the area, but also worth mentioning are the guanciale, prosciutto, lardo, salami (the red onion salami is very special), mortadella, and tasty sausages. Also dining on site.

Coccia Sesto – via Lega dei Dodici Popoli, 7/d – 0761 250879 – salumificiococcia.it

Piccola Formaggeria Artigiana

Cheese shop. In his workshop with retail outlet, Marco Borgognoni passionately produces quality artisan cheeses from local milk, combining classics with original creations, especially soft cheeses. This gives rise to specialities such as “Il Borgognone”, a blue-veined sheep's milk cheese, “Stracchinato dei Pap” made from soft sheep's milk, and “Toma di Pecora Viterbese”, in two types.

Piccola Formaggeria Artigiana – via Belluno snc – 328 0063238 – piccolaformaggeriaartigiana.com

Grandori

Café & Bar. A bar, pastry shop and restaurant, it caters for all occasions with a proposal that combines variety and quality. This is the case, for example, with the fragrant sourdough croissants, which together with maritozzi with cream, viennoiserie and maison cakes accompany drinks and coffee at all hours. Inviting sandwiches, panini and focaccia, well-made dishes from the kitchens. For an aperitif, a good glass or a well-mixed cocktail, accompanied by tasty snacks or rich grazing boards. There is also a popular ice cream. Another location in Via Romiti.

Grandori – piazza della Rocca, 32 – 0761 092308 

F.lli Stefanoni

Meats & Cold Cuts. The farms are family-run, where in addition to pigs, there are rabbits, chickens and other animals for fresh cuts. In the well-stocked butcher's shop, in an off-centre area, you can find home-made meats and cold cuts: hams, salumi (including the typical cooked salami) and the famous Susianella di Viterbo, a Slow Food Presidium, a peasant sausage made from pork meat and offal. The products are dried (in some cases smoked) by the fireplace, as was once done.

F.lli Stefanoni – via Cassia Nord km 89,700 – 0761 250425 

San Bartolomeo

Shop and kitchen. This is the sales outlet of the organic farm of the same name based outside the city on the Tiberina, with its own poultry farm and processing workshop. Here you can buy the now famous (and excellent) eggs, but also poultry (chickens, hens, turkeys), either whole or already prepared in convenient cuts suitable for home consumption. In addition, it is possible to taste excellent rotisserie chicken or wings and other tasty dishes on site.

San Bartolomeo – via della Palazzina, 20 – 335 1355279 – pollosanbartolomeo.it

Un Sacco Buono

Gelateria. Close to the sports ground and the new part of town, it is a well-known and popular establishment for those who want a good natural gelato. Teodora Dodi De Luca runs the production together with her son Lorenzo, who takes care of the evening aperitifs. There are excellent gluten-free and lactose-free flavours, for vegans and also sugar-free ones made with stevia. Try the fabulous malaga, the peanut cream with caramel, pear and ginger, and the delicious sorbets. Small handmade biscuits are also on sale.

Un Sacco Buono – via A. Gargana, 35 – 0761 364585-328 6811844 –

Viterbium

Enoteca. The assortment has around 700 labels, most of them Italian, with a small area dedicated to the best of foreign products. Alongside the classic brands, small artisanal producers are increasingly popping up that are currently in vogue. Viterbium also specialises in the sale of confectionery products; plus gourmet products, pasta, balsamic vinegars, oil, vegetables, jams. There is also a large selection of spirits, about 300. Fair prices.

Viterbium – via I. Garbini, 1/a – 0761 304779 – viterbium.it