Pisa Restaurants

Wandering around Pisa the other day (a lovely thing to do and very easy to escape the crowds), we stumbled upon a friendly, odd little cafe bar. They serve very generous glassfuls of first class local wine at a very reasonable €3 to 4, and the staff are quite happy to help guide you through the wine menu. It attracts an interesting bunch of amiable oddbods, so is quite good for people watching. Great little discovery and if you're into your beer and wine, visit here and then also a couple of doors up there's a shop which sells "birra artisanale"--which unfortunately we didn't have time to go to.

Favorite Dish: I'll come back and edit this later but it was the first wine in the reds section of their list--a gorgeous almost petroly, dark- looking and tasting quite fullbodied but very drinkable Chianti (I think).

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Vuole mangiare, mentre a Pisa? Hungry while walking around Pisa? Most people get this desire for food after walking the walk at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 294 steps up and then down, burns off more calories than you care to, and with all the wonderful aromas of Italian kitchens in full fury of food preparation, a stop at a Trattoria, that is also a Pizzeria, is the place to regain that sudden loss of caloric intake. The restaurant "LA BUCA" has not let me down. With a view of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, I sit indulging in pizza. How appropriate. Pizza in Pisa.

Favorite Dish: The pizza was special. Ten years ago , my wife and I ate pizza at LA BUCA, sitting in the outdoor patio while gazing up in amazement at the Campanile, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was a sight to behold and a feeling to remember. The beautiful architecture of the white marble arches rising above the patio umbrellas while ingesting a delicious pizza was a memory not to be forgotten. Many well prepared dishes are available with the gnocchi (potato drop dumplings) melting in your mouth. The waitstaff were extremely friendly and helpful.

Well, we returned to LA BUCA, in September, 05, to relive that special moment my wife and I had ten years ago. The restaurant was closing for the afternoon to prepare for the dinner hours, which was going to be too late for us to enjoy due to travel times. We explained to the staff our reason for being upset at not being able to enjoy the memory of ten years ago. With that, the manager, chef, and server all smiled at us and led us to the table area we sat in all those years ago. A delicious pizza was brought to our table to relive that simple but most memorable moment, having pizza in Pisa.

To all the staff at La Buca, "Molto Grazie". If you choose to visit and enjoy the savory dishes of this wonderful Italian restaurant "La Buca", please give a big Ciao from "travelgourmet" of Virtual Tourist. Trust we can return again one day as the wind continues to whisper, "Ritorno a me".

This is definitely somewhere I'd have no hesitation in recommending, and unless you know about it there's little chance that you'd stumble across it. It's not near the tourist trail, somewhere between the river and the station, but nowhere in Pisa is very far from anywhere else so it's easy to get to, when you know where it is.
We booked a table for 10pm before we set off from the UK, and I'm very glad we did. We arrived a little early and the place was full, so we sat in the reception area and looked through the huge selection of whiskeys they had.
Once at the table we had a little wait before we could order, but they were very, very busy, and it gave me chance to watch people (a hobby). But the food when it came was incredible. I ordered the smoked sword fish carpaccio to start, and I don't think I will ever taste a better fish dish! It was incredible. My husband ordered the proscuitto and figs and he was very happy with his choice.
For my main course I ordered sea bream with a potato crust, it looked amazing, grilled sea bream topped with the thinnest shoe string fried potatoes I'd ever seen, perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned.

Favorite Dish: The smoked sword fish carpaccio is possibly the greatest fish dish I have ever tasted, anywhere in the world.

Owned and run by a family of immigrants. In the photo you see the owners, Dalia,Suruj and Mafiz whom we met and complimented on their excellent pizza.
If you are visiting the Leaning Tower of Pisa, ask where this restaurant is, about a 5 minute walk from the Campo dei Miracoli.

Favorite Dish: Pizza, Pizza, Pizza, the 6 of us ordered 4 different kinds and ALL were excellent.

I wrote "Breakfast" because you cannot choose many things. This modern-styled cafeteria was born as a typical Italian bar (where Italians go and drink a coffè standing, seldom sitting) but now it's much more. At lunch time it offers a small but fine choice of dishes, either pasta or meat, fish and cheese. It deveoped also in a very richy enoteca. The atmoshere is nice, locals are there with the few tourists which have escaped from the 1000 tourists' traps around Campo dei Miracoli.

Opening:
Mond-Thu: 11:30-1:00
Fri-Sat.11:30-2:00
Sun 18:00-21:30 (only appetizer's time: it means you can sip a glass of wine or something else and you can find something goog to eat served in a buffet. everything standing)

Favorite Dish: I do not really remember what I ordered. I just remember both mine and my husband's dish to be very tasty. The price suggested is for 1/2 antipasto, 1 dish, water, wine and coffee.

This family owned restaurant claims to be one of the oldest in Pisa. According to the owners, Casanova himself dined there. The staff is very friendly and offers great service. Book ahead on the weekends and in summer. It is not uncommon to sit down for dinner at 1130pm. An outside table offers a great view of the Arno River.

Favorite Dish: Stuffed Ravioli

Beautiful and cosy interior! The food is delicious too, especially the "bruschetti" for starters! The service is a bit awkward, the personnel seemed to disagree all the time ( they were probably man and wife :-)) and the bill didn't correspond at all. Well, it was in our advantage, so we didn't say anything.

Favorite Dish: I had tagliatelle with truff mushrooms.

My best friend found this restaurant while we were wandering around Pisa. We had read the excellent reviews on TA but hadn't been able to locate it. Our last night in Pisa I wandered down a street I'd never been down and voila my husband pointed it out to me. We made a reservation for that night and eagerly anticipated the experience. it was the last night they were going to have what my husband called the Pirate Ship (outside deck) open so we ate outside since the weather was beautiful. It definitely lived up to our expectations. Our first course was the Appetizer of "4 Maritime Republics". OMG utterly delicious. Grilled shrimps in a vegetable puree (it was yellow so I couldn't put my finger on what it was but it was delicious), squid sliced thin and rolled up, and a raw white fish "cooked" in acid and dressed with olive oil with very thinly sliced onions that just knocked me out and a little spoon of fish, farro and tomatoes. Sorry not to be more descriptive but just eat it, it was wonderful. Didn't think I could be any happier until our pastas arrived. Second course shrimp with bottarga and pasta with saffron and porcini mushrooms for me. Luckily for us it's mushroom season so we lingered over the pasta which was very well done. Third course I had the bistecca with fagioli beans and it was perfect (they ran out of the spinach but I didn't mind). The bistecca was cooked as it should be, medium rare and perfectly seasoned. The beans tasted of garlic and herbs and although they were the slightest bit mushy they were still very good. My husband had the fried seafood plate which although pedestrian was very well done, the fish and seafood still moist in its golden brown batter and wonderfully fresh tasting. The tomatoes in the simple salad were ripe and sweet. The house red wine actually had some taste to it (we'd had watered down wine at another restaurant) and we finished the meal with a panna cotta with chocolate sauce, also creamy and excellent. In short it was a wonderful end to our trip to Pisa and we were absolutely lucky to have literally stumbled across this wonderful find. We spent 108 euros and it was worth every penny.

Favorite Dish: The antipasti done 4 ways. If you have to ask for a pinch of salt it's all good but eat the white fish with the thinly sliced onions with the salty squid and you should be just fine.