Restaurants in the province of La Spezia

La Spezia is the Gulf of Poets and the Cinque Terre: vertical terraces, heroic viticulture, and a sea cooking that uses very little.

What you eat here

• Stuffed mussels — gulf mussels filled with bread, mortadella and cheese, cooked in sauce.
• Testaroli from the Lunigiana — a batter cooked on a hot stone, cut into diamonds and reheated, traditionally with pesto.
• Mesciua — the local soup of chickpeas, beans and spelt, with raw oil.
• Salted Monterosso anchovies, and a savoury rice tart.
• Farinata and focaccia, as everywhere in Liguria.

The wine

Cinque Terre DOC is made on terraces reachable only on foot; the sweet Sciacchetrà is rare and expensive for a reason: the yield is tiny. Towards the Lunigiana lie the Colli di Luni with Vermentino.

Opening hours change. The ones on the listings come from public sources and may be out of date. Where a restaurant confirms tables with us, the availability you see is the real one.