Volterra Restaurants

After reading a possitive review tried this restaurant. After over 15 minutes of waving to get attention of 1 of the 3 waiters and hardly any tables occupied, we left for the neighbours. So try this place only if you have a lot of spare time!

Favorite Dish: None to be had

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Although it's lovely to be atop the hill looking down on the rolling hills and valleys of Tuscany, a good case can be made for finding a restaurant amidst those hills and valleys from which one can look backward to see the glories of Volterra against a setting sun or rising moon. We hadn't gone with that particular purpose in mind, but since it presented itself...why not count it a blessing of this somewhat humble but definitely well-equipped spot just a few miles outside the walls?

Our guidebooks had suggested the Osteria, and Luciana, our landlady, had enthusiastically endorsed it. It was formerly called the "San Lorenzo" but has been operated by the Franchi family since 2003, with a new name. They have attempted to make it a typical Tuscan restaurant. As the evening was a pleasant one, we chose to sit outside on the large patio. (The interior is much more intimate, with a large fireplace -- unlit at this time of the year -- and a pleasant bar.)

Service was prompt and courteous. There were a number of specials, many featuring truffles -- if you can imagine it, even our DESSERT contained truffles!

The Osteria is also a B&B, so if your meal happens to involve too heavy a dependence upon the fruit of the vine, you can ask about overnight accommodation.

Favorite Dish: I had a delicious risotto with many different sorts of local mushrooms, and my colleague had a superb filet with truffles. Both of those were on the more upscale side; people at adjacent tables seemed to enjoy the wood-fired pizzas, which certainly looked and smelled wonderful.

It is not strictly true to claim Il Giardinetto makes the best pizza in town (I didn't try it elsewhere); indeed, it is probably inaccurate to select "pizza" as its theme (there was a lot of other stuff on the menu). But our pizza there was absolutely splendid, a vast improvement over virtually all of the contenders from elite United States pizza emporia, so I'm going to toot their horn a little.

We tried three different pies. One had a selection of local mushrooms and probably a dusting of truffles. One had various meats, including cinghale (wild boar). The third was a pretty pastiche of vegetables of different colors and textures, each residing on a quadrant of the tie. All washed down with lashings of crisp, cool white wine, a mercy on a very hot day.

There is an indoor dining area, but we sat outside in the piazza under tents on a wooden-floored structure, which was very pleasant indeed.

Favorite Dish: My friend was most fond of the truffled pizza. I liked bits of both meat and veg (especially the eggplant), but would have been very hard pressed to select just ONE favorite.

We hadn't planned to dine at this particular restaurant -- there was one a little further down the street with a jaunty boar's head (wearing sunglasses) which practically invited us in, but as it was closed, we took a look at the menu offerings and decided it was time to try some rabbit, wild boar (cinghale) sausage, and lardon, which is almost exclusively fat but so delicious on the salt-free Tuscan bread! It was pleasant to dine al fresco, the service was adequate, the wine flowed freely, and all was right with the world.

Open Tuesday-Sunday from noon to 3:00 PM and 7:00 - 10:00 PM.

I neglected to photograph the restaurant, so I'll have to show you a picture of that boar's head!

Favorite Dish: I have to admit that I was hooked after one taste of lardon. Thank goodness it isn't readily available where I live...

My first meal in Italy was served some six hours after the plane touched down at Firenze's miniature airport after my overnight flight from Boston via Frankfurt. So I was very tired, even more so after a brief shopping expedition around Santa Croce and the meandering drive to Volterra. I would have been perfectly happy to shower and crawl into bed, but my hostess insisted that the jet lag would yield quickly if I got myself onto local time by enjoying a typical Italian dinner. So, shortly after nine o'clock, I found myself sitting (listlessly, I'll admit) in what reminded me vaguely of a wine cellar, studying a menu that was all but incomprehensible despite my experience on Providence's Italian Federal Hill. I knew "lasagna" and "ravioli" though, and so I ordered those and dutifully drank up several glasses of well-watered local wine while waiting for them to be prepared. I really didn't think I was hungry, but when the lasagna was set before me, covered in bubbling cheese and rich Bechamel, I tasted divinity and was nearly churlish about sharing any of it with my dining companion! But she shared her truffle ravioli, which was equally delicious.

Favorite Dish: We had other things that night, too. A salad, I think, and probably some kind of spinach or other greens, but that exquisite lasagna sticks in my memory just as it stuck to my ribs. And my friend was right...after ten hours' sleep, I was feeling myself again and extremely glad I'd arrived in Tuscany!

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Frommer's gave Etruria three stars; some of the other guides claimed there was nothing worth eating within the walls. We'd met a charming Welsh couple at the villa, and thought it would be fun to go out for a festive meal. It turned out we'd chosen very well, as the Piazza dei Priori was jammed with representatives of all the local hill towns, there to compete in the Astiludi, an annual competition for sbandieratori (flag-throwers) -- although some of the older contingents also included various musicians. So as we drank our Prosecco and meandered our way through Etruria's extensive menu, we were royally entertained.

The main dining areas are inside, and apparently are quite ancient. Given the balmy evening and the riveting scene in the piazza, we opted to dine outside under the "tent", which had a lot of potted hedges and other greenery to demarcate the transition from public to private space.

Favorite Dish: Candidly, the only disappointment was the baby artichokes. Everything else was terrific, and the service was prompt and courteous. One of us had a seafood ravioli which she pronounced celestial. My pal the truffle-lover was thrilled to get a double- or treble-helping with her main course. All of us ordered desserts -- a decadent chocolate souffle for me.

And the nicest thing as we were preparing to leave: our server presented us with a bottle of wine and asked us to enjoy it together. We promptly suited action to words. Such a relatively inexpensive way to build a loyal clientele!

Nothing gives you an appetite like climbing up and down the steep hills which comprise Volterra's central core. (Once you're up, it is possible to stay on relatively level ground, but you miss a lot of interesting shops.) When we were ready for lunch on a sweltering June afternoon, we decided to go no further than Bar Priori, which had a lovely area under canvas in the Piazza dei Priori, from which it was possible to obtain refreshment while enjoying the passing spectacle of Volterran street life. The menu wasn't vast, and it took a bit for a waitress (they seem to be attached to the hole-in-the-wall which contains a soda fountain, bakery counter, and kitchen) to notice that we'd seated ourselves.

But in due course, we received a massive salad with wonderfully fresh ingredients, and a couple of panini. The former was cold and crisp, the latter both piping hot, and the carafe of wine and bottles of water were just what we needed to recharge our batteries so that we could buy and cart back to the villa all the alabaster our little hearts desired.

It's true that it took awhile for us to get a bill, and eventually I had to pay it inside. I've read some other reviews that had difficulties at this place, and speculated that it was because they were tourists. Perhaps, but it simply looked to me like the set-up wasn't an easy one for the waitstaff, who were obviously trying to handle clientele in two environments.

For the money, and given our appetite by the time we got to Bar Priori, it was acceptable -- and even, for me, a nice introduction to Italian panini.

Apologies for the photo -- it's what you see when you're lunching outside, but I can't figure out how to rotate it so that you can view it properly. Just turn your head ninety degrees to the left (okay, I'm kidding).

Our host recommended this restaurant so we gave it a try. We only had one night in Volterra so I can't compare to other restaurants. And to be honest, it has been a few years since this trip (it was 2004!) so I don't even remember exactly what we had! But I do remember that I enjoyed it very much. I recenty ran across the receipt for our dinner in a box full of travel maps & mementos. I had meant to write the review much sooner! Anyway, I'm sure I had either a chicken or veal dish. We had antipasti, primi piatti and the meat dish with a bottle of house wine which was very good. All for 50 Euro. Not bad. What I remember most about the place was the atmosphere, which was lovely. Lots of stone and ceramic tile; Vaulted ceilings, columns.... Lovely! And I do recall that the service was spot on. Leisurely & unhurried, but we didn't have too long pauses between service. If the place is still there, don't hesitate to give it a try!