Restaurants in Siena
While a drink or meal on the Campo can be an expensive and less-than-satisfying experience, a pleasant exception is friendly Liberamente, Piazza del Campo 7 (www.liberamenteosteria.it; tel. 0577/274733), where drinks are well-priced and usually come with generous nibbles. Siena’s favorite fast-food stop, Te Ke Voi? (tel. 0577/40139)—translates as Whaddaya Want?—is a pleasant, bustling room on Vicolo San Pietro, one of the narrow, sloping alleyways leading into the Campo; pasta, pizza, and burgers are dispensed from a self-service counter, along with wine and beer. For a quick meal, step into La Prosciutteria on the corner of Via Magialotti and Via Pantaneto (www.laprosciutteria.com; tel. 0577/42026), where you can quite literally pig out on a platter of Tuscan hams or a porchetta sandwich, served on tables out front or in a medieval cellar.
The Enoteca Italiana (www.enoteca-italiana.it; tel. 0577/228843; Mon noon–8pm; Tues–Sat noon–1am) in the 16th-century Fortezza Medicea di Santa Barbara is the only state-sponsored wine bar in Italy, in vaults that were built for Cosimo de’ Medici in 1560. You can sample a choice selection of Italian wines by the glass and accompany your choices with small plates of meats and cheeses.
Every Italian city has a favorite gelateria, and Siena’s is Kopakabana, at Via de’ Rossi 52–54 (www.gelateriakopakabana.it; tel. 0577/284124; mid-Feb to mid-Nov noon–8pm, later in warm weather), with flavors that include panpepato, based on the peppery Sienese cake.
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8 Results
- Contemporary Sienese
Antica Osteria da Divo
It’s hard to know what cuisine would best suit this almost-eerie setting of brick vaulting, exposed timbers, walls of bare rock, and even some Etruscan tombs—either some sort of medieval gruel or else something innovatively refined, which luckily is the direction this menu goes. Many…$$$Around Town - Tuscan/Grill
L’Osteria
One of Siena’s culinary treasures is this simple tile-floored, wood-beamed room where straightforward local cuisine is expertly prepared and served at extremely reasonable prices. Truffles occasionally appear in some special preparations, but for most of the year, the short menu…$Around Town - Sienese
La Chiacchera
A hole in the wall is an apt description for this tiny, rustically decorated room tucked halfway along a steep alleyway. The climb can help work up an appetite or work off the large portions of ribollita (hearty bread and vegetable soup), salsicce e fagioli (sausage and white beans);…$Around Town - Sienese
La Sosta di Violante
This warm, friendly, rose-hued dining room is only a 5-minute walk from Piazza del Campo but just far enough off the beaten track to seem like a getaway (sosta means rest or break, as in “take a break”). The surroundings and menu attract a mostly neighborhood crowd that has come to…$$Around Town - Tuscan
Le Logge
This former pharmacy, where the shelves are now filled with wine bottles, provides refined and old-fashioned ambience close to the Campo, a suitable setting for the serious cooking that many Sienese come to enjoy on a night out—sometimes just to fulfill a craving for a famous house…$$$Around Town - Sienese
Ristorante Guido
Italian celebs whose photos hang among etchings and paintings are among generations of diners who have enjoyed this wonderfully old-world place. Ristorante Guido seems to radiate hospitality from every brick in the cavernous, vaulted dining room. Waiters in crisp jackets and ties…$$Around Town - Tuscan/Grill
Taverna San Giuseppe
A long, brick vaulted room from the 12th century is the setting for meals many travelers long remember as among the best they’ve had in Italy. It’s a testament to the warmth of the staff that, despite the popularity (reserve for dinner) and reputation among even the discerning…$$Around Town - Tuscan/Grill
Trattoria Fori Porta
Just outside of (fori) the gate (porta) Porta Romana, this chicly comfortable spot is slightly out of the center of things, a 15-minute walk from the Campo. The location makes a meal here feel all the more authentic, served in two intimate dining rooms where plain wood tables on…$$Around Town
