Siena Restaurants

Trattoria La Torre is a small very good restaurant located over the Torre Del Mangia. Here you can taste the delicious Tuscany cousine. A must are the homemade pasta (Picci and Tortelli are great) and the Fiorentina steak (with one Fiorentina can eat two people, so ask to the waitress how big it is:-) ). And at the end as dessert you must try the Cantucci and Vin Santo: the typical Sienese sweet with one of the better Tuscany wine!! Don't forget to order the local red wine....delicious!!!!

La Taverna del Cecco is probably the best restaurant I tried in Siena. Great service and delicious food!!! You must try the Tuscany appetizer with Bruschetta, ham and Finocchietto Salami. Then I can suggest to try Picci with boar gravy, or Tortellini with mushrooms, cream and jam. Do you can try also other kind of pasta!!!! For main dish you must taste the Fiorentina steak, the delicious Tuscany dish!!!! And at the end as dessert you must try the Cantucci and Vin Santo: the typical Sienese sweet with one of the better Tuscany wine!!

I visited Siena many years ago and this was the first restaurant that I came across after the long climb up the hill from the train station. It is just inside one fo the city gates and I had a wonderful pizza and glass of cold, white wine sitting outside under the shade of a tree - perfect.

Skip the cheap tourist menu's. This doesn't apply only to Siena, but there are so many good (and normal priced) restaurants in Italy, that you really shouldn't miss the opportunity for some fine food!

I am about to tell you about my favorite restaurant in all the world.

My first experience with Fori Porta was on a rainy Sunday afternoon. My travel partner, Janet, and I blew into Siena with a thunder storm. After finally catching a taxi to our hotel, we got a recommendation from our host to this place, "about 100 meters down the road".

By the time we got there, borrowed umbrellas aside, we were pretty darn drenched. We were seated by Paolo, who I suspected wondered if he really wanted us in the place! But how wrong I was! Paolo came back to our table with a bottle of wine which he plunked down in front of us (we had not ordered anything yet) with three glasses. Then he took Janet by the arm and off he went with her, leaving me to work on my first glass of marvelous red wine.

A little while later they returned, Janet having been blown dried and comfortable by Paolo in the back with a handy hair dryer! Janet and I tried to peruse the menu but Paolo convinced us to give them up, and just let him bring us food.

Oh and what food he brought! A starter of four delicious regional specialties had us convinced we had not made a mistake. Something done with white beans, a spot of tuna somehow blended with other things, fresh home made ravioli..... And every chance he got, Paolo would sit in the third chair he had pulled up and drink from that third glass.

I honestly don't remember what I ate that day. I just remember thinking I had died and gone to heaven. Each course (and they kept coming) was better and better. Finally Janet sat back looking like she would never ever put another bite in her mouth and then came the tiramisu. I swear she was licking her plate!

And Paolo did not let up with the wine; red, white, grappa, lemoncello..... I thought perhaps we might just have to live at that table for the rest of our lives.

Favorite Dish: Paolo was completely charming and took a photo of the three of us. We finally did leave the table. But we returned for dinner again while we were in Siena. It was just as good and again I suspected we may never get to leave.

Fast forward two years. Janet and I took a day trip to Siena from Florence. We were intent on having lunch at Fori Porto. It was a scalding hot day and we finally trekked all the way across the town to Porto Romano and down the hill. It seemed a lot farther than 100 meters this time. We were seated by a very formal elderly man who gave us a menu. After a few minutes, Paolo walked by. He stopped and did a double take. Holding up a finger as if to say "uno momento" he disappeared, returning with a photo album. And wouldn't you just know he would leaf through the album until he found that photo of the three of us!

Put down your menu and let Paolo order for you. The home made pasta will melt in your mouth. The regional specialties are so good and probably not something you'd know enough about to try to order!

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We didn't know where to have lunch in Siena so we went into a local flower shop and asked for a recommendation (my husband always likes to ask the locals and eat where they like to eat!). They sent us down the street (and it was literally "down" - a very very steep little street!) to "Bagoga". The interior looks very elegant and the space very much Siena-like, with brick columns, arches and ceiling. The food was excellent and the prices very reasonable.

Favorite Dish: My husband had the boar meat and found it very good; I had the veal with lemon and sour cream, simple but exquisitely good! In fact, I thought it was the best prepared veal I have ever had (and I have had some really good ones in different cities with 1st rate Italian restaurants, like in the North End in Boston, in NY, and, of course, in Florence). If you are not vegetarian, try that veal dish! I am not a big eater, but since my daughter took a few bites our of my plate, I ordered a second one!

It has been a long time ago since I lived in Siena and, unfortunately, I do not remember the names of any of the restaurants or the specialty dishes. Also, because I lived there and had an apartment, I ate at home a lot. I do remember that it was in Siena where I had my first dish of gnocci which I love.

Best Bruschetta That I Have Ever Eaten

When I lived with a family, my landlady made the best bruschetta that I have yet to eat just by rubbing a clove of garlic on some several days old Toscana bread which she had put in the oven to freshen up, but not to toast, topping it off with chopped tomatoes, olive oil and basil. I went to the beach with her mother and she put the whole thing together right there on the beach.

Just off the main square in Siena, but tucked away so not obvious unless you're looking for it, is Trattoria La Torre. Family owned and run, the nephew of the owner has recently agreed to keep the restaurant alive when the uncle decides to retire after over 40 years. This is a tiny restaurant with no printed menus. The owner will tell you what's on the menu, in Italian. If you reply in English, he will definitely understand you, but he will only speak Italian.

The service is pronto pronto, the portions huge and delicious.

Favorite Dish: The pischi pasta is delicious. The roasted chicken was a little dry (overcooked). The oven roasted potatoes were delicious.