The Best Restaurants in Orvieto, Italy

This very cute wine bar and trattoria is right next to the duomo. It has a panoramic terrace with a partial view of the soaring cathedral’s gold-painted facade, and overlooks the crooked rooftops of the Centro Storico. Inside, the worn floorboards and frescoes are balanced by elegant table settings. Try the salt cod, or the rich tagliatelle in duck sauce, complemented by a local wine.

Umbrian cuisine is reassuringly Italian: rich, indulgent and heavy. This place, located down a picturesque alley off an unassuming piazza, plays to those strengths with rustic decor, a warm welcome and traditional grub. Order the rabbit stewed with peppers or the tagliatelle in wild boar sauce, after a very generous antipasti board to warm up your stomach.

Founded by a former banker and his friend, this is Orvieto dining at its finest. The financier in question, Mauro, is the sommelier – following in the footsteps of his father – and he and chef Anna Rita have run I Sette Consoli since 1992. The interior is cosy and refined, and the food is amazing – mushroom-stuffed cappellacci pasta or cod puttanesca.

Time to take it underground. This Orvieto institution is as atmospheric as it is intimate, housed in an Etruscan grotto with rustic furniture and craggy, uplit spaces carved into the belly of the city. This is the place to indulge in the traditional flavours of the region, reimagined in modern fashion. The menu prizes local truffles, porcini mushrooms, game and a variety of seafood – and there’s an excellent wine list.

Since 1965, the Cinti family has purveyed traditional Orvieto cuisine, and venturing to their trattoria feels like paying a visit to an old friend. There’s a local antipasti board, wild boar and game, and the highly recommended spaghetti all’ascaro – a carbonara with black truffle. It’s all seasonal, too, with local cheese to finish.

This long-established haunt, a few steps from the Moro tower in the city centre, uses local ingredients and traditional regional recipes that match its old-school decor. On polished wooden chairs and at tables draped in red cloth, work your way through local delicacies including boar ragu pasta, fava bean and fennel scafata, and pasta nests with pecorino cheese and warm honey. Make sure you ask for added truffles.

A stone’s throw from the duomo, L’Antica Piazzetta caters mainly to tourists, meaning it’s all about easy eats. Pizza, pasta and a range of traditional dishes give you local flavour along with a good wine menu. There’s a pleasant outdoor area for the summer months in the shade of two giant umbrellas, and the atmosphere both in and outside is welcoming. Staff are happy to look after first-timers dipping their toe into Umbrian cuisine.

It’s near all the tourist traps, but this unassuming backstreet trattoria is a well-kept secret. The family-run outfit has a comfortable and cosy dining room and a pretty walled courtyard, setting the scene for expertly prepared, traditional dishes that are always based on local produce such as truffles, pork and beef. If you try one thing, make it the casseroled wild boar – and get your dining buddy to order the gnocchi with bacon, spinach and truffle sauce.