Siena Restaurants

I booked a table here in my rudimentary Italian so didn't realize until we were seated with glasses of Prosecco that no-one, including the other customers, spoke English. I was greeted as "Bella donna", which I took as a compliment rather than an offer of deadly nightshade and from then on the language barrier disappeared. No menu, the owner recited the antipasto, then the pasta, then the main courses, and returned again to recite "La dolce". The kitchen and the two chefs are in full view, the owner and the barman wait tables and everyone is intent on you having a good time. After the meal we strolled the few steps to Il Campo which was bathed in moonlight. A magical evening!

Favorite Dish: We ate crostini, then home-made pasta, tagliatelle with ragu, ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach, then shared roast chicken and salad, finished off with pannacotta so light it melted on your tongue, but unfortunately probably settled on your hips.
The insalata mista offered in most trattoria can be a cacophony of flavours. if you prefer green salad learn to order insalata verde solo which usually gets you a bowl of salad leaves which you can dress with the olive oil and wine vinegar on the table

We stopped at Ristorante Guido for lunch at the recommendation of the owners of the house we were renting. Guido is Siena's answer to Sardi's in New York. Or maybe Sardi's is New York's answer to Guido's. Plastered all over the walls were autographed 8 x 10s of famous Italian entertainers. We challenged ourselves by trying to find one we had heard of.

The service was very good, but I thought the waiter was just a bit too friendly with my 13 year old daughter!

Favorite Dish: We liked the antipasti and my son liked his lamb dish. The food was pricey. Wine list was extensive. However, we could have found many places where the food was as good but less expensive.

Next to the portal and stairway leading to the Baptistry by the Cathedral is a gelato and bakery shop. Being the tourists we were, we had to have our standard gelato break in the afternoon.

Favorite Dish: Gelato! The bakery items looked impressive, too!

We came to this restaurant by coincidence. We were looking for a restaurant of the beaten touristic path and saw this one down a sidestreet. The restaurant is located in some kind of a cellar. It has a lovely interior and on the menu you can find local Tuscan food.

This restaurant is a ten minutes walk from the center and serves up good Sienese food. There was a good selection of vegetarian dishes, and the wine selection (although small) covered the region's specialties. I would eat here again. The prices weren't the cheapest, but weren't horribly expensive as well. I really liked that this Osteria did not seem touristy like so many restaurants did - especially near the center.

Favorite Dish: I had an amazing artichoke risotto plus a tantalizing selection of local cheeses. Both were extremely flavourful and like nothing I'd eaten elsewhere.

Guido's sounds like a cheap spaghetti place in Atlanta, but it is a really nice restaurant in Siena. My wife says it was one of the 2 best meals we had in Italy in 2 weeks. It is on a back street (aren't they all) off the Campo and has an informal but elegant feel to it. It is not the cheapest place, but well worth the money.

Favorite Dish: We had bruschetta, mist salad, cannoli ala Guido (cream sauce with eggplant), spinach, rustici ala Guido (pasta with cream sauce, asparagus, mushrooms and truffles) washed down with a nice Chianti Classico and topped of with Creme Ciliegia (a delicious custard with cherry sauce). All of it was delicious.

On the other hand, this restaurant in Siena had some of the best Veal Osso Buco (one of my favorite Italian dishes) I have ever eaten in my life.

Terrific ambience sitting out on the front terrace, good service, affordable, highly recommended.

I think it is closed on Wednesdays.

Favorite Dish: The specialize in pesce/seafood, but I loved the Veal Osso Buco.

VERY GOOD CROSTINOS,SALADS, HOMEMADE PASTA WITH RICOTTA AND VEGGIES, PAPPARDELLE WITH BOAR SAUCE, SPELT SOUP, OSSOBUCO ALLA SENESE, BEEF WITH SPINACH.

Favorite Dish: THEY SERVE VERY GOOD HOME MADE DESSERTS AS WELL

THE WAITERS ARE VERY VERY KIND.