Modena Restaurants

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This is a nice restaurant in the sentre of the town which offers mainly local dishes.
I suggest you to eat local pumpkin tortelli and mixed boiled meat.
It is absolutely heavy and hard to digest so may be it's better you go for lunch if you want to follow my suggestions, lambrusco is local good red sparkling wine.

Favorite Dish: The meat and the sauces were excellent.

I actually should be disappointed with this place as they did not have any of the dishes nor beers I chosed from the menu, but I can't. This is a small pub like the ones we used to have a great time in the 80s and 90s before everyone became wine expert and wine bars grew up like grass.
It is a small pub with a huge menu and nice staff.It's the only place which was not overcrowded on a saturday night, which is another good point.

Favorite Dish: Atmosphear.The name means old shoe.

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This place was like a trip in the '60, it is kind of an institution in Modena and it is well worth it.
The restaurant has been directed by the same family since I think the '20 and moved to the current location in 1959. And it freezes there. All the forniture, chair, tables, decor, ceilin lamps, even the tiles are originals from back then. The person I belive is the owner explained us that it take a special effort to mantein the historical fashion of the place as the European laws are severe about electric plant, heater etc and It is a struggle to keep everything as it was.
I got curious and ask him to give me a tour of the kitchen and, as we were the last customers he took us to the door so we can see inside. It was amazing, a real time capsule, look at my pictures to see.
The menu was a good variety of Modena specialty, a little overpriced in my opinion but it was really done as the tradition say, they take proud on serving it without fancying it up like everybody else.

Favorite Dish: Pasta with Ragu alla modenese was very good. My friend appreciate the Pork fillet with a reduction of Traditional Balsamin Vinegar and I found the Bollito Misto con Salsa verde good.
A special mention go to the outstanding dessert! Coppa Oreste is their specialty, the restaurant have been making it since ever and they keep the recipe intact. It is excellent, they serve it in a small cup but it is enough as it is very rich. I can't explain it you gotta try! in the desert photo it is the one with a cherry on top.

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This Hotel/Restaurant is easy to find straight out the A22 exit Campogagliano. I did not use the Hotel but I went to the Restaurant to dinner following the advice of a local friend.
The dining room is sophisticately decorated, tables are not too cramped and the chairs are confortable.
They have a good variery of local traditional food, including
- gnocco fritto, some sort of bread dough they fry in pig's fat and it pouf out, you eat it with prosciutto or salami inside.
- crescentine that is special bread dough they cook with a cast iron mold cald tigelliera, it turn out flat, warm and crispy outside. You cut it open and you eat it with a strutto cream and parmigiano cheese
- anything made with Modena traditional balsamic vinegar.
The food was cooked right and very tasty.
They also have a good wine list but we ordered only some red house wine.

Favorite Dish: gnocco fritto and crescentine were great. Melt in your mouth.
we also tried a risotto flavoured with parmigiano cheese and a reduction of balsamic vinegar and duck breast cooked in balsamic vinegar.
We were sorry we were not very hungry or we will have try the gran fritto, a huge portion of fried meat and vegetables that is supposed to be one of their specialty. We saw it going to several tables and it looked great! we will have to go back.

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Specializing in all types of pasta, from super fancy to speghetti.....Walk in and order by the weight.
Even if you don't want to buy...it is worth a look, check out how the locals have access to good pasta, made fresh.

Favorite Dish: Ravioli filled with squash

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At the corner of the big piazza of the Cathedral is this great bakery shop. You cannot buy drinks here, you buy and take to another bar for coffee. Always check to make sure at the bar that it is okay to do that. You don't want to show bad manners.
But most of them will not think anything bad about it.
This bakery had the most awesome apple brioche....Huge amounts of apple, and the taste was to die for.

Favorite Dish: You won't miss out, but you WILL have trouble deciding.

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If you have been misled to believe that spaghetti and meatballs is what Italians eat, then this is the place you need to go. Stereotypes will be broken and you will be in dining heaven when you sit down in Oreste and enjoy local cuisine.
The owner strives to keep the decor as it was in the past, and his food the same. Don't be misled from the decor, sit down and enjoy the taste of Modena.

Favorite Dish: prices below include wine and dessert

If you are travelling on A22 freeway, which goes from Brenner to Modena and you have arrived until Modena, you are in Campogalliano, just 10 km far from Modena, home town of the first scale of the world.

It's just a jumb into the past: everything is the same as 20 or 30 years ago. Everything is home made and you can choose from what the best culinary tradition of Modena can offer. Do not go on Sundays, it's better to phone because it's very small. I dont think they can speak English.
A pasta dish can cost 6-7 euros which is really cheap now.

Favorite Dish: the last time I ordered a tunafist fillet. half row. delicious

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Actually I crush into Costachiara by accident. But than I realized I spent some business dinner many years ago. Well, this trattoria is even better you can expect from a local restaurant in Emilia-Romagna: you can find not just traditional dishes like cappeletti in brodo, Parma Ham and traditional balsamic vinegar but also a very warm atmoshpere, a very kind owner trying to do its best to speak in English and the menu in English (not so easy to find here). Beside the menu, the owner will tell you the dish of the day. We had fantastic mushrooms tagliatelle (a sort of home-mage egg pasta, long but not cilindrical like spaghetti). As to wines, the choice is wide both for local Lambrusco (red and sparkling) and for other Italian red and white wines.

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Located on the ground floor of Palazzo Comunale, Caffè Concerto has the strategic views over Piazza Grande and il Duomo. The spacious establishment is graced by a beautiful dining room under the arches and vaulted ceilings of the palazzo and within its arched portico. It functions both as a café and as a restaurant during meal times. I stopped here for an afternoon coffee during my visit to Modena, but would have liked to try their menu with plates from the Emilia region. Perhaps next time!