Monday, August 31, 2026

The Top 67 Places to Eat Near Lo Squalo


  1. A restaurant where salt cod gets its own dedicated menu, sharing the room with serious meat cookery, is a fairly confident statement of priorities. The chef comes from a family of butchers and spent years cooking in a hill town whose annual festival is devoted entirely to baccalà, so the obsessions here run deep. The space is calm and tucked away from the seafront, the kind of place where you eat what the cook actually believes in.



  2. Neapolitan-style pizza on the Adriatic coast, at a pizzeria that takes its crust seriously enough to have landed on the 50 Top Pizza Italy list. The dough is the point, with toppings that move between classic and gourmet without making a fuss about it. Fried starters and a cocktail menu designed to pair with pizza keep things interesting. The room has the kind of considered aesthetic that suggests someone cared, and the staff are the relaxed, helpful sort.


  3. Brick vaulted ceilings meet quietly contemporary furniture in this tucked-away dining room in Giulianova's old town. The chef runs a loose tasting format where you pick your own dishes and portions, most of them plant-forward, seasonal, and vivid enough to make you wonder how vegetables got that confident. Much of the produce comes from his own garden, and a no-waste ethos runs through the whole kitchen. Ask the staff what the name means.


  4. Rank 6. Lucia

    Seafood

    Langoustines arrive at the table still in the pan they were cooked in, with oil, wine, garlic, and rosemary, which tells you most of what you need to know about this seafood restaurant on the Adriatic coast. The fish comes almost entirely from that same sea, the menu never strays onto land, and the wine list follows suit with mostly whites. An old-school institution in Giulianova Lido, and one locals have been counting on for a long time.


  5. What was once a farm equipment building on a landed estate now holds one of Abruzzo's more serious dining rooms, earning a Michelin star. The chef studied under Niko Romito and carries that precision into tasting menus built around estate-grown ingredients, kept deliberately spare so each one does its job. The land feeds the kitchen directly, calves, pigs, and kitchen gardens included, and the plates land somewhere between local tradition and quiet invention.


  6. A pizzeria in Mosciano Sant'Angelo where the name is half pun, half tribute: Peppe is the owner, cacio is the obsession. The dough runs high-hydration and long-fermented, so the crust comes out light enough to make you suspicious. The menu moves between white, red, and gourmet pies, with Abruzzo specialties and first courses rounding things out for anyone who arrived with company that doesn't share the pizza fixation.


  7. The concept is baked into the name: "ristorante diffuso" means the dining room is actually a series of period salons and intimate spaces threading through a hilltop village, with contemporary art on the walls. It holds a Michelin star, and the kitchen leans into Abruzzo's old traditions while slipping in the chef's Puglian roots. The owner's storytelling about the place adds real texture to the meal.


  8. The tables are close enough to smell the Adriatic, which turns out to be the point. Vecchia Marina is a no-frills seafood trattoria on the Roseto waterfront where the kitchen stays focused on whatever came off the boats that morning, served in straightforward traditional preparations. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, and the kind of place that books up fast precisely because it hasn't decided to be anything other than what it is.


  9. The wood-fired oven and barbecue grill share the floor like co-stars at this rustic, exposed-brick osteria in a small Abruzzo wine village, and the ember-to-ember cooking chain that connects them shapes much of the menu. The young team works regional traditions without being enslaved by them, landing somewhere between grandmother's kitchen and genuine curiosity. The Michelin Guide has handed them a Bib Gourmand, which for a place this new is a notable way to start.


  10. Rank 12. Osteria Ophis

    Modern Italian

    Brick vaulting overhead and the bones of an old palazzo stable beneath your feet set the scene at this intimate osteria in Offida's pedestrianised centro storico. The chef reinterprets Marche's regional pantry with a light, precise hand, and the Michelin Guide has noted it with a Bib Gourmand. Cannelloni finished on the barbecue grill is the kind of detail that makes you stop mid-sentence and ask the waiter to repeat it.


  11. Rank 13. Arca

    Abruzzo Italian


  12. Rank 14. LieVita Pizzeria

    Neapolitan Pizza

    The crust here rises so high it practically frames the toppings like a picture border, which is either the point or the whole point. This Neapolitan-style pizzeria in Monsampolo del Tronto lets the chef's baking background do the talking: dough made the night before, easy on the stomach, and topped with ingredients pulled from across Italy's regions. Start with the fried montanarine before the pizza arrives. Loredana runs the dining room with evident care.


  13. Rank 15. Oishi

    Fusion Japanese

    A Japanese and fusion restaurant tucked into central Teramo, Oishi holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and runs a menu of sashimi, nigiri, rolls, and tempura that occasionally detours through local Abruzzese ingredients. The room was recently redone in a minimalist, quietly colorful style that earns the name, which means "delicious" in Japanese. Italian craft beers, chosen with an eastward lean, round out a wine list that keeps pace.


  14. A short regional menu rooted in the Marche, tucked into the old upper town behind a medieval tower. The team keeps the selection tight, leaning on whatever came from the market that morning, so a few fish dishes appear and disappear with the week. The boned caramelised rabbit, a riff on a classic local preparation, gives a sense of the kitchen's thinking: familiar flavors, quietly reconsidered. A neighborhood trattoria for people who actually live here.


  15. A pizza spot in a small Marche village where the menu splits into more styles than most places can manage: round, fried, the square "quadra" with its high-hydration dough that goes crispy then dissolves, and a crumbly biga-based version that changes with the toppings. The fried pizza with fig puree sets the tone for a kitchen that treats the combination as less strange than it sounds. Good wine list, and reservations are the smart move.


  16. Rank 18. Attico sul Mare

    Contemporary Seafood

    Perched on the top floor of the historic Kursaal building on the seafront, this contemporary Italian restaurant makes a meal of the view before the food even arrives. The menu leans on Adriatic fish and seafood, with classic regional preparations alongside more restless cooking, a turbot dish that uses fillets, cheeks, and something approximating the crackling being a fair example of how the kitchen thinks. Tableside finishing keeps things theatrical.


  17. A contemporary pizzeria a short walk from the center of San Benedetto del Tronto, Crunch keeps the look pop and the menu restless, with classic pies alongside odder, reimagined ones and a double-cooking technique that actually changes what arrives at the table. Fried starters and desserts fill out the card. The service is the kind that notices you without hovering, which is rarer than it should be.


  18. A pizzeria in Roseto degli Abruzzi where the menu runs across traditional, gourmet, shovel, and double-cooked styles, all built around a serious obsession with dough. The team leans hard into fine-dining ideas, so toppings arrive in pairings that feel more composed than improvised. Dessert gets the same treatment, which is either impressive or a lot, depending on your mood. The room is quiet enough to hear yourself think, which helps when the menu requires decisions.



  19. A wood-fired pizzeria that doubles as the kind of neighborhood anchor where arrosticini are as expected as the dough. The menu stays rooted in Abruzzese tradition, with toppings that name-check local landmarks, and the beer and wine list leans toward two nearby producers. Nothing here is trying to impress anyone, which is probably why the service feels so easy and the room fills with regulars.


  20. Rank 23. Bacucco d'Oro

    Abruzzo Italian

    A winding uphill road from the coast leads to this family-run trattoria, where the terrace looks back out over the sea. The menu is almost entirely meat, rooted in Abruzzo tradition: arrosticini, barbecued cuts, fragrant mushrooms, and one token salted cod for the outliers. Save room for the pizza dogge, a layered dessert of sponge, custard, and Alkermes liqueur that has absolutely nothing to do with pizza. The wine list stays local.


  21. Rank 24. Spoon

    Abruzzo Italian

    A small, unfussy restaurant in Teramo's historic centre, close enough to the medieval cathedral that you can hear the bells. The chef trained under Niko Romito and channels that rigour into contemporary Abruzzese cooking, coaxing something refined out of peasant staples without making them feel ashamed of their origins. Two tasting menus lean heavily on meat, though the vegetable work quietly steals the show.


  22. A trattoria in Teramo's historic centre run by three friends, two in the kitchen and one managing the room and wine, all of them young enough to still be excited about it. The cooking stays rooted in Abruzzo, with the occasional contemporary nudge that sharpens rather than distracts. The menu is short, the sourcing is local, and the desserts tend to linger in the memory longer than expected.



  23. A pizza place in Roseto degli Abruzzi where the first real decision of the night is which style of pizza you want, not what to put on it. High-crust Neapolitan, pan, Roman paddle, they're all on the menu, built on a blend of type 1 and wholemeal flours. The kitchen pairs bold flavors with enough precision that anchovies and lime on the same pie reads as a plan, not an accident. Save room for the dessert that looks like a margherita.


  24. Dough made from local Abruzzo flours gives the pizza here a lightness that holds up across a menu that swings from classic to gently ambitious gourmet toppings. This is a proper sit-down pizzeria with over 200 seats, a young floor team that keeps things moving, and a terrace that fills out when the weather cooperates. Ingredients lean heavily local, and the sourcing shows. It made the 50 Top Pizza Italy Excellent Pizzerias list.


  25. Rank 29. Caffè Meletti

    Regional Italian



  26. The open kitchen pulls your eye the moment you sit down, and the small crew inside it works with the focused quiet of people who have something to prove. This intimate, Michelin-starred dining room in Porto San Giorgio's old town runs a ten-course tasting menu built around a sharp, restless use of acidity, with a cellar and by-the-glass list that take the wine as seriously as the food.


  27. Rank 32. Il Cugnolo

    Modern Italian

    A restored noble residence perched above the Marche maquis, with the Adriatic glinting in the distance, is a pretty good room in which to eat well. This is a gourmet restaurant where a young Neapolitan chef produces contemporary Italian cooking that leans hard into the region and the Mediterranean without drowning in either. The kitchen's own agricultural estate supplies the olive oils and wines, which is the sort of farm-to-table claim that here has paperwork behind it.


  28. The bread arrives unbidden, crumbly and worth the detour on its own. This is a roomy pizzeria with a veranda in the Marche hills, where the dough is the whole argument: soft and feather-light in a way that makes the standard Roman-versus-Neapolitan debate feel beside the point. Ascolana olives and other classics fill out the menu for anyone who needs more than a reason to order another pie. The owner runs a tight room.


  29. A pizzeria on the Adriatic coast of Abruzzo where the dough is light enough that a second pie seems reasonable. New Sporting has been a regional touchstone for a while, turning out careful, crisp pizzas alongside fried starters that locals seem equally serious about. The outdoor terrace fills up in summer, when the sea view does most of the decorating. The drinks and desserts get the same attention as the pizza, which is more than most slice spots can say.


  30. Rank 35. Nole

    Contemporary Italian


  31. Rank 36. Estrò

    Contemporary Italian

    Terrace tables face the piazza, which is either ideal or a problem depending on how you feel about pigeons. This is a lively bistro in central Pescara where the kitchen splits its attention evenly between meat and fish, always chasing whatever the season offers. The Michelin Guide picked it up for a Bib Gourmand, and the cooking earns the notice without making a fuss about it.


  32. Rank 37. Taverna 58

    Abruzzese Italian

    The address has changed since the name was set, which tells you most of what you need to know about this trattoria's relationship with pretension. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and has been feeding the historic Rambaldo quarter for decades, turning out arrosticini and slow-braised meats rooted in Abruzzese tradition. The cellars below hold medieval and Roman ruins, which makes the house nougat feel like a reasonable way to end the evening.


  33. Rank 38. SOMS

    Abruzzese Italian



  34. Getting here means winding through hilly, pastoral Abruzzo, which is half the point. This family-run country restaurant in Civitella Casanova puts Abruzzese tradition on the table, with pasta made from the family's own wheat flour and produce from the kitchen garden out back. One brother runs the room, one runs the kitchen, and the whole thing runs on a kind of cheerful conviction. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand.


  35. Rank 41. La Bandiera

    Abruzzo Italian

    The drive into the Abruzzo hills takes a while, and that's part of the deal at this Michelin-starred family restaurant in a village most GPS systems seem to resent. Two generations cook together in the kitchen, drawing almost everything from their own gardens and olive trees. The wine list, overseen by another family member, leans deep into by-the-glass options, which suits the kind of meal that keeps extending itself past any reasonable hour.



  36. Rank 43. Emilio

    Classic Seafood


  37. A pizzeria steps from the Adriatic shore, named directly after the chef, which sets a certain tone. Three ovens and three cooking methods, double-baked, pan, and contemporary Neapolitan, give the menu more range than the beachside setting might suggest. The house Finarella style is its own thing. The wine list runs deeper than you'd expect, including international sparkling bottles that regulars take seriously. Spacious enough for a whole group to pile in without planning.


  38. Rank 45. Il Tiglio

    Marches Italian

    The Sibillini mountains take some getting to, and Il Tiglio is another half-hour past anywhere you'd call convenient. It's a contemporary restaurant where chef Enrico Mazzaroni draws almost entirely from his own agriturismo for ingredients, trout and venison and mushrooms finding their way into dishes that are far more technically ambitious than the surroundings suggest. A Michelin star, earned in a place this remote, tells its own story.


  39. A hilltop village in the Marche hills is a slightly unexpected place to find a pizzeria with this much ambition, but here we are. The crust splits the difference between Neapolitan and Roman, slightly raised and satisfyingly crispy, and the toppings swing from classic to creative without losing the plot. The fried pizzas hold their crunch, and the whole room runs with the kind of warmth that makes the drive up feel like a reasonable idea.


  40. A pizza spot in Chieti where the dough comes two ways: pinsa style, thick and pillowy, or classic Roman, thin and snappy. Either way, the toppings lean hard into Abruzzo's larder, which gives the menu a distinctly local character that the Roman base doesn't usually have. The kitchen clearly enjoys the pairing more than you'd expect from the setup, and the result tends to quietly outlast whatever you planned to do afterward.


  41. A cocktail bar and Neapolitan pizzeria sharing the same room in the main piazza, which sounds like it shouldn't work but mostly does. The dough runs through a 48-hour rise, landing crispy at the edge and soft through the middle, with toppings that lean into regional Marche ingredients. Tasting menus are on offer for those who want the full tour. The room is modern and polished, and the staff seem to actually enjoy being there.


  42. Rank 49. Futura

    Contemporary Italian


  43. Rank 50. Trita Pepe

    Abruzzo Italian



  44. Rank 52. Alto Bordo

    Neapolitan Pizza

    A high, cloud-soft crust is the signature move at this contemporary Neapolitan pizza spot a short walk from the main square in Civitanova Marche. The room is clean and bright with proper restaurant seating, none of that fold-up-chair energy. Classic pies sit alongside reworked versions, and the toppings lean on ingredients sourced from Southern Italy. Friendly, unhurried service rounds it out.


  45. Rank 53. Galileo

    Seafood


  46. Rank 54. Villa Maiella

    Abruzzo Italian

    A family-run fine dining restaurant on the edge of the Parco della Maiella, where the Tinari family has been cooking Abruzzo's traditions for generations, earning a Michelin star along the way. The menu leans into the region's pantry with occasional creative detours, served across tasting menus you'll choose when you book. The wine list shares shelf space with over a thousand beer labels, which is either a surprise or exactly what you wanted.


  47. The route to the table winds through a sequence of small rooms before opening into the Sala del Vespasia, the fine dining room inside Palazzo Seneca. A Michelin-starred kitchen run by a Japanese chef, her cooking draws on Umbrian staples like black truffle, Sibillini lamb, and local cured hams, shaped by years working across southern Italy. The Bianconi family has been hosting in Norcia forever, and the warmth at the front of house shows it.


  48. A Michelin-starred restaurant inside a sports centre is either a very good sign or a very bad one, and here it's the former. The chef returned to his native Marche to cook the region's traditions in a way that feels lighter and less fussy than the setting might suggest. Two tasting menus plus an à la carte, with the focus squarely on meat and the surrounding countryside, in a room that keeps things quietly elegant.


  49. Rank 57. Locanda Le Logge

    Marche Italian


  50. Rank 58. Casa D'Angelo

    Abruzzo Italian

    The old family home in Fara Filiorum Petri still feels like one, all warmth and worn-in elegance, now given over to serious Abruzzese cooking. The menu runs from cured ham and charcoal-grilled local lamb to pheasant terrine lifted with apple, and the kitchen's own olive oil turns up in dishes the way a good host slips something extra onto your plate. A four-course tasting menu keeps the whole thing remarkably grounded on the bill.


  51. One dining room still has the frescoes from when the building served as the town granary, which sets the tone nicely. This trattoria inside a small hotel on Norcia's main street leans hard into the region's cured-meat traditions, with a 24-month prosciutto that needs no introduction and pasta dishes that update old recipes without apologizing for them. The grill runs constantly. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, and the prices won't cause a scene.


  52. Tucked into a quiet residential corner of L'Aquila's historic centre, FØRMA is an intimate contemporary restaurant with a minimalist room that means the food does all the talking. The chef keeps his dishes to three core ingredients, leaning on local Abruzzo produce and the occasional fermented note. A dessert that disguises white-chocolate mousse as meringue with a dusting of liquorice gives you the general idea: restrained until it isn't.


  53. Rank 61. Locanda del Barone

    Abruzzo Italian





  54. A pizza restaurant tucked into the Abruzzo hills where the dough is half the point, light and structured in a way that makes most other crusts feel like an afterthought. The chef, known as Giangi, treats a pie more like a composed dish, layering local ingredients with enough audacity to pull off a pizza that riffs on sushi without embarrassing itself. It ranks on both 50 Top Pizza Italy and 50 Top Pizza World. The wine list has grown up to match.


  55. Tasting menus named after places, built around ingredients that change with the season, served at just a handful of tables in a warmly lit room in Tolentino. The chef came from Albania and spent years absorbing Italian culinary tradition, and the cooking sits at that interesting crossroads, contemporary but grounded. Book ahead, because the room fills fast and walking in is optimistic thinking.


  56. A pizzeria in the Abruzzo hill town of Guardiagrele where the dough itself is the conversation, the kitchen rotating through different styles, hydrations, and fillings with something close to academic seriousness. The Zulli family runs it now, carrying forward a project built on local ingredients and a lot of careful thinking about what pizza can be. It ranks among 50 Top Pizza Italy's top listings, and the room matches the kitchen: warm, attentive, and happy to explain everything.


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