The Top 22 Places to Eat Near Il Pellicano
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Rank 1. Il Pellicano
Contemporary Italian
The terrace hangs over the Tyrrhenian with rosemary drifting up from the hillside, which sets an unfair standard before the food even arrives. This is fine dining inside a storied Tuscan resort, and it holds a Michelin star. The chef plays with contrasting textures in a single dish while keeping flavors precise, moving between land and sea with the kind of confidence that doesn't need to announce itself. The wine list is extensive, and the service is warm without being stiff.
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A slim causeway connecting the mainland to Monte Argentario is the address, and the veranda faces the lagoon so directly that sunset is practically a menu item. This is a contemporary osteria built around sustainably caught local fish, with an organic-leaning wine list to match. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand. Book ahead; the tables fill fast and the room is small enough that showing up optimistic won't end well.
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Rank 3. Caino
Tuscan
Bread stuffed with house ricotta and their own olive oil arrives before you've opened the menu, which tells you everything about how this two-Michelin-starred restaurant in a tiny stone village thinks about hospitality. The chef's cooking is rooted in Maremma, unsentimental and un-fussy, the kind that trusts a charcoal-grilled lamb or a bowl of gnudi to do the talking without any architectural assistance. The cellar runs to around 2,500 labels.
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Rank 4. La Filanda
Tuscan
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Rank 5. I Due Cippi dal 1976
Meats and Grills, Classic Cuisine
The open-fire grill in the middle of the room isn't decor; it's the whole argument. This is a serious steakhouse in a small Tuscan thermal-spring town, built around dry-aged beef from Italian and Japanese breeds, cooked over wood with the confidence of a kitchen that's been doing this for a long time. Chianina, wagyu, and game all pass through the same fire. It holds the number four spot on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list, which the room backs up quietly.
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Rank 6. L'Uva e il Malto
Tuscan Seafood
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Rank 7. Canapone
Italian
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Rank 9. La Trattoria Enrico Bartolini
Contemporary Mediterranean
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Rank 10. Namo Ristobottega
Seasonal Italian
The menu opens with a page explaining the chef's green philosophy, which sets the tone for this seasonal Italian restaurant tucked into Tarquinia. Produce from the Viterbo region drives the kitchen, and the owner doubles as an enthusiastic guide through the food and wine list. Outdoor tables with views book up fast, so plan ahead. The Michelin Guide has awarded it a Bib Gourmand.
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Rank 11. Belle Helene
Italian
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Rank 12. Il Tufo Allegro
Tuscan
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Rank 13. Osteria del Mare già il "Votapentole"
Mediterranean Seafood
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Rank 14. Forma
Modern Italian
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A Neapolitan pizza spot on the Civitavecchia waterfront, with harbor views that make waiting for a table feel like a reasonable life choice. The wood-fired oven is front and center, turning out soft, light pies with that tell-tale puffy crust. The lingotto cacio e pepe, fried to a crackly shell, takes a hard left from the pizza menu and lands well. Staff are the kind that notice when your glass is empty.
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Rank 16. Silene
Tuscan
A one-Michelin-star restaurant tucked into a tiny village on the slopes of Monte Amiata, where the kitchen garden doubles as the menu and the chef's own olive oil from Seggiano finishes nearly everything. The cooking is deeply Tuscan, precise without being fussy, and the room is the kind of elegant-but-relaxed that makes you forget you drove an hour to get here. Bread arrives as a statement of intent.
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Rank 17. La Sala dei Grappoli
Modern Italian
The drive in through cypresses and vineyards does a lot of the work before you've even sat down. This Michelin-starred restaurant sits inside a medieval castle at Castello Banfi, with wine-themed frescoes lining the interior and a terrace that turns the surrounding Tuscan hills into the main course. The chef brings a Pugliese sensibility to the tasting menus, with the territory and the kitchen garden doing most of the talking.
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Rank 18. Pepe Nero
Modern Seafood
A small, modern seafood restaurant on the western shore of Lake Bolsena, where the terrace puts you close enough to the water to feel the logic of eating fish here. The menu leans almost entirely toward the sea, which takes a little faith this far inland, but the kitchen commits to it. You can follow a themed tasting menu or pick your way through the carte, choosing at least two dishes and letting the quiet, unhurried service do the rest.
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Rank 19. La Parolina
Italian
A Michelin-starred restaurant tucked into a residential corner of a tiny hilltop village, with a terrace that looks out over a valley so pastoral it barely seems real. The cooking is rooted in this particular patch of Lazio, country flavors sharpened by a light technical hand. The wine cellar runs deep, with bottles that have had time to think. Pigeon, when it appears on the menu, tends to be the thing people are still talking about on the drive home.
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Rank 20. Il Sottomarino
Mediterranean Seafood
A seafront terrace with panoramic views of the Tyrrhenian has made this family-run seafood restaurant a seasonal booking scramble for years. The menu leans classic Mediterranean, fish-forward and unfussy, but the desserts take a detour: dark chocolate cannoli, served upright, filled with gianduja semifreddo and finished with a Moscato d'Asti zabaglione. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, which tracks with the crowd's general mood of pleased-with-themselves regulars.
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Rank 21. Oasi
Mediterranean Seafood
A beach club that quietly grew up around its restaurant, Oasi sits on the Follonica waterfront where a husband and wife split duties between kitchen and floor. He's self-taught and lets it show in small, confident ways, the kind of seafood place where the classic preparations get a personal nudge rather than a makeover. The Ligurian coast crowd who wander in for lunch sometimes forget to leave before dinner.
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