Where to eat in Lucca, the 6 best restaurants for Gambero Rosso

Always a centre of trade due to its strategic position, Lucca has also been an important hub of cultural exchange, and has hosted intellectuals, musicians, architects and poets. It is therefore a favourite destination for art lovers as well as for those who love good food, thanks to excellent - and historic - traditional cuisine that peacefully coexists with tables of experimentation and research. There’s more: from November 1 to 5 - but exhibitions and events are on from mid-October - Lucca becomes the European capital of comics and contemporary languages with the multidisciplinary festival Lucca Comics & Games, this year in its 30th edition.

Where to eat in Lucca

Giglio

Restaurant. Opposite the theatre, here is one of the most interesting restaurants in the city, and not only. Here, local cuisine dialogues with French cuisine, which is present in Lucca with its refined touch. The menu, restrained and measured, embraces sea and mountains with beautiful execution, research and simplicity, playing with boiled prawns, crunchy seasonal vegetables and citronette with honey and pink pepper; risotto in tomato water, puffed capers, anchovies, olives, paprika; blackberry ice cream and edible flowers. Vegetarian tasting. Attentive service. Wine list guaranteeing international and non-trivial assortment. Gigliola is the spin off a few steps away (Via Garibaldi, 17) with a bakery and “borderless” delicatessen for more relaxed breaks.

Giglio – p.zza del Giglio, 2 – 0583 494058 - ristorantegiglio.com

Da Giulio in Pelleria

Trattoria. A historic spot, with almost half a century of history, it started out as a small venue where you could enjoy well-made farinata and rosticciana and that has now become a renowned osteria with a proposal designed and made for large numbers, especially at weekends. The menu is a hymn to the gastronomic tradition of Lucca, with typical soups, quinto quarto (fifth quarter, offal), filled pasta - such as tortelli lucchesi al ragù - and plenty of meat among the main courses. The wine cellar is not extensive, but offers some good references. The service is helpful and friendly.

Da Giulio in Pelleria – via delle Conce, 45 – 0583 55948 - trattoriadagiulio.it

L’Imbuto

Restaurant. Once you cross the threshold of the restaurant, set in a context as beautiful as Palazzo Pfanner and its garden amidst the greenery, an authentic gastronomic journey begins in the company of Cristiano Tomei and his staff, led by Marta Passaseo and dressed - not surprisingly - like the team on board an aircraft. There is no map: the only choice is which route to take and how many stages, from 6 to 10, to be surprised by daring combinations and unusual flavours, but with guaranteed taste.

It is difficult to recount in their dialectic and successful complexity dishes such as the courgettes in tomato sauce with marinated oyster and scarpaccia base; the cecina, a local totem, here served with lentisk, black pepper mayonnaise and mortadella; the mullet with fallow deer, pine nut butter and their bottoms; or the incredible agnolotti stuffed with grilled lettuce, peanut butter and vermouth sauce. Just examples, however, because the dishes are constantly evolving according to the seasons and Tomei's inexhaustible flair. The wine cellar, in turn, is by no means trivial, with many labels from so-called natural and small artisans, and opportunities for valid pairing. Careful, attentive and relaxed service.

L’Imbuto – p.zza del Collegio, 7 c/o il Palazzo Pfanner – 331 9308931 - limbuto.it

Mecenate

Trattoria. Cuisine of the heart and passion, the one brought to the table in over a quarter of a century by the host Stefano and his wife Sole in the kitchen, in the lively trattoria overlooking the central Piazza San Francesco. Their cornerstones include strict respect for the seasons and careful selection of local raw materials (indicated on the menu by their often heroic producers). From the typical tordelli to the rovelline, passing by the garmugia (in spring) and without forgetting cold meats and cheeses, it will be a pleasant, convivial stop. In the wine list, with its 300 labels, there are also rarities to discover.

Mecenate – via del Fosso, 94 – 0583 511861 - ristorantemecenate.it

Pesce Briaco

Restaurant. On the outskirts of Lucca an inn, Vigna Ilaria (four rooms and parking) and this restaurant with a beautiful garden. Maurizio Marsili's cuisine focuses on well-prepared dishes, good technique and linear but not banal combinations, especially with seafood. Menu for the whole table at 95 euro; a la carte 4 dishes at 80, 6 at 110 and 8 at 130. Start with crudo di pesce or lardo di mare (smoked squid served on marble with confit tomato); then seafood risotto with two broths or maltagliati with gallinella, courgettes and olives; cacciucco 2.0. Interesting desserts and pralines by Lucchese artisan Damiano Carrara (neither gluten nor lactose-free) with a shop in town. One also drinks well by the glass. The service is professional and courteous. Under the same ownership is the less demanding “Pesciolino Briaco” bistro in Viareggio.

Pesce Briaco – loc. Sant'Alessio – via della Pieve Santo Stefano, 967c (incrocio trav. IV) – 0583 332091 - pescebriaco.it

Ristorante Tambellini dal 1870

Restaurant. Historic, reliable family-run restaurant. The cuisine focuses on the richness of products and the traditional recipe book of the Lucchesia (rovellina alla lucchese, tordelli lucchesi, minestra farro, zuppa alla frantoiana, biroldo, torta d'erbi, potato bread), for dishes prepared with wisdom and on the basis of a rigorous selection of ingredients. Also wine bar and speciality shop. Good service, good cellar.

Ristorante Tambellini dal 1870 – loc. Sant’Alessio – via per Sant'Alessio, 1403 – 0583 342077 - tambellini1870.it