Restaurants in Lecce
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A
Gelateria Natale
One of the best ice-creams in Lecce is available here. You might have to queue but this will give you time to choose. It’s also a fabulous confectioner, gleaming with jewel-like treats, truffles, panna cotta and dark chocolate cakes that pool like oil slicks on golden plates.
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La Rusticana
A fiendishly popular place for takeaway is La Rusticana, where you can fill up on rustica, a confection of puff pastry, mozzarella cheese and tomato.
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Cucina Casareccia
Ring the bell to gain entry here. This place feels more like a private home, with its patterned cement floor tiles, desk piled high with papers, and charming owner Carmela Perrone. She’ll whisk you through a dazzling array of Salentine dishes from the true cucina povera (cooking of the poor), including horsemeat done here in a salsa piccante (spicy sauce). Booking is a must.
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D
Trattoria di Nonna Tetti
A warmly inviting restaurant that is popular with all ages and budgets and serves a wide choice of traditional dishes. Try the most emblematic Pugliese dish here – braised wild chicory with a puree of boiled dried fava beans, along with very more-ish contorni (side dishes) like patate casarecce (home-made thinly sliced fries).
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E
Alle due Corti
For a taste of sunny Salentina, check out this no-frills, fiercely traditional restaurant. The seasonal menu is classic Pugliese, written in a dialect that even some Italians struggle with. Go for the real deal with a dish of tajeddha (layered potatoes, rice and mussels) or ciceri e tria (crisply fried pasta with chickpeas).
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F
Osteria degli Spiriti
Possibly the best restaurant in Lecce with the Slow Food badge of approval and an intimate vaulted dining room. The menu is also more varied than usual with some Sicilian-inspired dishes such as caponata and arancini. Otherwise, the orecchiette with chickpeas and clams and the lamb stand out.
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G
Borgo Antico
Probably the most pricey place in Lecce, Borgo Antico is a tiny restaurant, again specialising in fish. Dine in refined rusticity on Gallipoli-inspired dishes such as maccheroncino with prawns and clams or potato gnocchi with shrimps.
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H
Mamma Lupa
Looking and tasting suitably rustic, this osteria serves proper peasant food – such as roast tomatoes, potatoes and artichokes, or horse meatballs – in snug surroundings with just a few tables surrounded by dark ochre walls.
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Blu Notte
Highly recommended by locals, this place is famed for its spectacular antipasti and wonderful seafood. It’s a relaxed, pretty place, just by Porta San Biaggio at the edge of the bar district, with outside tables.
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Guido & Figli
A big cavernous restaurant with well priced food and few pretensions. The self-service buffet with its large choice of antipasti is what everyone comes for although you can order off the menu or have pizza.
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Il Rifugio della Buona Stella
A self-consciously rustic restaurant, decked out in gingham. It's friendly and popular and the simple local cooking is tasty, with dishes such as mushroom lasagne and lemon and pine nut pastries.
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K
Il Fornaio
For freshly baked bread, all manner of foccaccia, pizza and pasticciotto (custard-filled pastry) take a ticket and line up in Il Fornaio .
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L
Caffè Paisiello
Popular with shoppers, this high-ceilinged cafe has excellent light snacks and a charming old-fashioned feel. There are some outside tables.
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Gusto
Gusto has great views over the Villa Comunale.
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Picton
This backstreet restaurant has an elegant dress-for-dinner feel. It is housed in an old palazzo with a cool barrel-vaulted interior and a refreshing internal garden, and the cuisine is traditional with a twist, including dishes such as saltimbocca (veal dish with sage and prosciutto meaning ‘leap in the mouth’).
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