23 Best Restaurants in Sardinia, Italy

Slightly off the tourist track but well known to locals, this grotto-like former mill has two long rooms with low, vaulted ceilings and a brisk but cheerful atmosphere. There's a good balance between meat and seafood dishes, the menu taking in everything from malloreddus alla sarda (local pasta with sausage-meat sauce) and fritto misto di mare (fried squid, prawns, and fresh fish) to crusty pizzas. You may have to wait for a table without a booking.

Brotherly love (and ownership) and quality seafood are among the things that make this old-town restaurant so exceptional. Modern artwork, stone pillars, and arched ceilings help to provide a fitting setting for the predominantly traditional cuisine livened up with modern elements. Appetizers created by the Ladu brothers might include tuna tartare, and smoked salmon with burrata. The seasonal menu always features local fish and might include homemade pastas such as lados con ragù di galletto ruspante e casizzolu (disc-shape pasta with a sauce of free-range rooster and local cheese). Desserts such as pineapple salad with lemon sorbet or pecorino cheese with fig jam are not to be missed. Service is attentive and welcoming. Booking is recommended.

Amid the lime and lemon trees in this courtyard trattoria in the center of Pula, you'll find down-home Sard cooking at its most authentic, with the accent firmly on meat dishes. The menu (in the local Campidanese dialect, with Italian and English translations) lists a selection of meaty fare, with pride of place going to the most famous of island dishes, porceddu (roast suckling pig), which you'll find displayed sizzling on a spit to satisfy the most purist of local gourmands. Notify the staff on the preceding day if you want to order this. Other options include fregola (semolina pasta) with mutton ragù and wild boar stew. Each dish will be carefully explained by the staff, and abundant portions ensure that no one leaves hungry. For those with the capacity, the desserts are also worth sampling, not least the sebadas (cheese-stuffed pastry packets topped with honey). Booking is essential.

The gilded Antico Caffè once served as an intellectual haunt for famous writers like D.H. Lawrence and Grazia Deledda, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1926. With its street-front terrace and polished-wood interior, it has anchored the base of the Bastione di St. Remy since 1855, serving as a social center from breakfast time until well after midnight; the menu features local fish and meat specialties. You can also get pastas, salads, and such desserts as tiramisu and elaborate artisanal gelato concoctions. 

For a delicious cannolo, fruit tart, or bignè (cream puff), local cognoscenti make a beeline for this classic bar and pastry shop near Piazza Sulis, where the sweet delights displayed are made with the lightest pastry and the freshest fillings. Good coffees, ice creams, and sandwiches are also available, and there are tables inside and out back.

Steps from Oristano's tourist office, you can take a refreshing break with a coffee and a pastry or panino at this relaxed café on the corner of Piazza Eleonora. The outdoor tables are ideal for people-watching, and ice creams are also available.

In prime position with tables arrayed on Alghero's broad city walls and views down to the yachting marina and across to Capo Caccia, this makes a wonderful place to pause by day or night with a spritz or fruit juice. The menu has a number of food items, too. There's a second entrance, opposite the cathedral on Via Sant'Erasmo.

The building dates from 1925 but the interior shows a diversity of styles, with the main dining area (one of five) inside a glass gazebo. Dishes featuring fresh catches of the day, meat dishes, and herb-infused sauces are complemented by pizzas and such pastas as lados di Dorgali—a handmade pasta served with wild boar sauce and cheese. Just save room for a dessert of tumbarelle di Stintino, a delicious concoction of ricotta, walnuts, and orange zest. The staff and clientele are mostly young Italians, so prepare for a buzzy, high-spirited atmosphere.

In the hills above Porto Cervo, this soothing hideaway—where a sheltered terrace looks out onto a verdant garden—is a great place to take a break from the coast's glossy trappings. Recommended antipasti include sa cannacca (dried sausage with pecorino cheese) and octopus salad with potatoes; ravioli di cernia e carciofi (homemade ravioli with grouper fish, artichokes, and truffle) is a great pasta choice; and the grilled fish is an excellent main. Although seafood is the specialty, there are some notable meat dishes, too, such as osso buco that melts off the bone. A tasting menu is sometimes available. The restaurant lies 3 km (2 miles) south of Porto Cervo, in the Pantogia neighborhood.

This backstreet trattoria has a strong rustic flavor, its two rooms adorned with brass cooking pots, colorful embroideries, old photographs, and agricultural knickknacks. The menu, too, has a local focus and might include roast pecorino with honey, and bottarga (mullet roe) with fennel and orange. Two open fires keep everything toasty in winter, and there are tables in the alley for dining alfresco in warm weather.

Conveniently located a few steps from Cagliari's cathedral and archaeological museum in the Castello quarter, this tiny, welcoming spot offers a range of delicious lunchtime snacks to eat in at a counter or take out in a small or large box. Choices may include chicken salad, tripe and peas, caponata, and parmigiana, as well as freshly prepared filled panini. In the summer months it opens in the evening, too.

Fresh flowers on white linen tablecloths add color to the bright glass-enclosed dining area of this delightful eatery on busy Piazza Sulis; gold-framed paintings and oversize wine bottles capped in wax add Italian charm—as does the seasonally changing menu of pasta and seafood dishes such as potato-stuffed culurgiones (a ravioli-like pasta) topped with pecorino cheese, dried tomatoes, and wild rocket, and fillet of suckling pig in a Vermentino sauce. Many opt for the three- or four-course prix-fixe menus (€50 and €60), which include a traditional dessert.

At this family-run local spot, the rustic dining area—with terra-cotta floors, brick pillars, and a wood-burning stove—is packed nearly every night. The service, presentation, and wine list are as exceptional as the food: only the freshest local meats and cheeses are served, and all the dishes are made from scratch, including the pizza (available evenings only), the pasta, and the semifreddo ice cream drizzled with honey. Orchestrated by chef Francesco Nanu, the menu might feature such starters as culurgiones (ravioli) stuffed with toasted almonds, orange zest, and guanciale (cured pig cheek) followed by courses of grilled seafood, lamb with fresh broad beans, or beef fillet on a bed of braised radicchio.  The daily tasting menu is a very good deal.

Get a true taste of regional cuisine at this family-run trattoria near the tourist office in the Old Town. The menu is not for the squeamish or for vegetarians: horse, donkey, and—one of the standouts—roasted suckling pig feature prominently, as do typical Sassarese dishes such as trippa alla parmigiana (tripe with Parmesan), lumaconi in rosso (snails in a rich tomato sauce), and cordula con piselli (sheep's intestines with peas). For dessert, the seadas (honey-dribbled, cheese-filled pastry packets) are a treat. A three-course set-price taster menu (€29) is available. Tables can be had in the buzzy vaulted and terra-cotta-tiled dining room, or in summer, in the courtyard.

A covered veranda by the seafront marks out Alghero's top seafood restaurant, an expansive and sunny room complete with crustacean-filled aquarium. Summer sees crowds of both locals and tourists, many of whom come for the specialty aragosta (lobster) cooked different ways, including with fettuccine or alla Lepanto (with tomato, onions, and orange). In winter, when lobster isn't always available, sample the ricci (sea urchins). For starters, try tagliolini alla ventresca di tonno (pasta with tuna and rocket pesto).

There's always a lively crowd at this backstreet trattoria, where diners pack into three rooms to enjoy the same multicourse set menu of seafood. If this seems limiting, think again—you'll be presented with a range of fresh, delicious, seasonally appropriate dishes (perhaps prawns, squid, swordfish, or sea bass) in abundant portions. The usual formula is: five cold starters, two pastas, two mains, a dessert, and unlimited drinks—all for one price. Lobster is also normally available for a supplementary charge. Service is brisk and good-humored, and reservations are essential.

The brick walls, dim lighting, and vaulted ceilings here make you feel as if you've stepped into a wine cellar. Aged photographs of Oristano's Sa Sartiglia jousting festival and specialty dishes from Oristano and Montiferru do a good job capturing local flavor. Favorites include lorighittas (a local pasta) with game sauce or lobster, maccarones de busa alla bottarga di muggine e arselle (macaroni with mullet roe from the Cabras lagoon and clams), and pane frattau (flatbread in a sauce of tomatoes and sheep's cheese topped with a poached egg). In winter, try the fregula petza imbinada, antunna e casizolu (semolina pasta with wine-marinated pork, mushrooms, and cow's cheese). Tasting menus are often available, accompanied by local vernaccia and other Sardinian wines.

Tucked out of sight in a sequestered corner of Castelsardo's old center, this simple trattoria enjoys magnificent sea views from its outdoor terrace. The stunning panorama makes a wonderful setting for the simple and abundant seafood dishes offered on the menu, including shellfish risotto, prawn tagliolini, a mixed fish grill, and whatever else is fresh and seasonal. There's a good range of antipasti and typical local desserts, too. With a bit of luck, drivers will be able to navigate to the parking places directly below the restaurant on Spalti Manganella.

Take a tour of contemporary Sardinian gastronomy in this trendsetting place that has become a hit with the cagliaritani. You can choose between eating à la carte or the small dishes offered on the tasting menus (€30, €35, and €40, including desserts), which might include such bold pairings as tagliatelle with pesto, hazelnut, cherry, and fresh orange, beef strips with berries and myrtle liqueur, and sea bream fillet with cherry, thyme, and orange oil. The weekday "business lunches" (€11–€17) are an especially good value. Dishes can be adapted for vegetarians and others with special dietary requirements.

A meal at this restaurant in Cagliari's lively Marina quarter, near the port, makes for a quick and affordable introduction to Sardinia's rural cuisine. Dishes can be ordered as part of a fixed-price meal or separately, and portions are large, so go easy on antipasti to leave room for main courses of lamb, sausage, and the famous Sardinian maialetto (roast suckling pig, aka porcheddu). Service is brisk and informal; choose a table on the street or within the brick-vaulted interior. The same family also runs Su Cumbidu Mare, nearby on Via Concezione, that focuses on the island's sea-based gastronomy.

Light-color walls adorned with old photos and shelves of local wine provide the setting for the two rows of tables in Trattoria Gino, a presence in Oristano for nearly a century. The menu emphasizes simple, traditional dishes, such as culurgiones (ravioli) with creamed zucchini and scampi, gnocchetti alla campidanese (with a sausage-meat sauce), and spaghetti ai ricci (with sea urchins). The antipasto selections and desserts are also worth exploring, while mains include lobster.

Seafood is the name of the game in this no-frills eatery at one end of the Marina's main restaurant alley. Below a gallery of paintings and old black-and-white photographs, two rows of marble-top tables line the walls, invariably filled with local families cheerfully tucking into such dishes as seafood risotto, grilled eels, and pesce al pomodoro fresco (a mix of sea-bream, red mullet, sea-bass, and sole in a fresh tomato sauce). Booking is essential.

Steps from the tourist office, you can take a refreshing afternoon break with a coffee and a pastry or panino. The friendly café has outdoor tables on the corner of Piazza Eleonora, which retains an old-world charm thanks to a neoclassical town hall, a marble monument to Giudichessa Eleonora carved by the Florentine sculptor Ulisse Cambi in 1881, and 18th-century Mameli palace with its beautiful wrought-iron balconies.