Da Leo

Frommer's Review

It isn't often that a homespun trattoria dramatically improves its cooking while retaining its low prices and devoted following of local shopkeeps, groups of students, and solitary art professors sketching on the butcher-paper place mats between bites. This place is now good enough to recommend for the best cheap meals in the town center. There's usually an English menu floating around somewhere -- the good-natured waiters are used to dealing with foreigners who've discovered one of the most authentic Lucchese dining spots in town, run by the amiable Buralli family. This isn't as much a bare-bones tavern as Guido's, not quite as polished an operation as the well-regarded Giulio's, but still as beloved by a devoted local following nonetheless. Its location, two steps from the central Piazza San Michele, draws tourists who happen by, lured into the peach-colored rooms by the aroma of roasting meats and the scent of rosemary. The food isn't fancy, but they do traditional dishes well: minestra di farro, spaghetti pancetta piselli (with pancetta bacon and sweet peas), arrosto di manzo con patate arrosto (roast beef and potatoes), and the excellent zuppa ai cinque ceriali (a soup with emmer, red and green lentils, barley, a cousin to black-eyed peas, and cannellini beans).

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

Back to Top