Great place for dinner groups. Service is amazing. The steak was delicious with the hot grill that…read morethey bring to the table so you can cook the steak more to your liking.

We had a free day in La Spezia after our tour was cancelled due to bad weather so we decided just…read moreto walk around the town and have lunch. Our group of 6 did some quick searches and we found Il Pichio rosso was the closest restaurant with good reviews. We were quickly greeted and seated in the small restaurant. This is definitely a locals type place as we were the only tourists there the entire time. They speak very limited english but with our limited Italian we were able to figure each other out. I would categorize this place and mostly pizza/calzones with some pasta dishes. The house red wine was excellent and inexpensive. We started off with bruschetta which was prepared so simply, just flatbread fresh tomatoes and olive oil. Absolutely delicious and a great start. Two of us ordered the calzone, three ordered the spaghetti carbonara and one ordered the veal milanese. The calzones were huge and at 7 Euro a definite bargain. The carbonara was okay for me, but I had better in Rome. It was a little bland and just needed some more saltiness like pancetta or parmigiano-reggiano. I was told the veal was very good but did not try it. For 6 of us the bill was 90 Euro which we all thought was reasonable considering we had 2 liters of wine and beer with our lunch. I would recommend for pizza or calzone but look elsewhere if in the mood for pasta.

Aloha, as we were living across the street from the park & soccer field, La Pianta is the…read morerestaurant/ bar adjacent and wow what a find. Best hamburger seriously we've ever had. The bressola salad was amazing too. We loved the burger so much we returned the next day for another, lol. A must when in La Spezia. Ciao

This place is seriously overrated... and maybe it's because there is a scarcity of good restaurants…read morein Riomaggiore, but there is usually a line to get a table, but I can tell you it is very likely not worth the wait (we waited around 30 min). Beef ravioli (€15) - Really really disappointing. It clearly tasted just like frozen ravioli with sauce likely from a can. In fact, I think most frozen ravioli I've gotten from grocery stores tastes better than this. What a shame. Steak (€36 for 260g) - It seemed like steak was this place's specialty, so I was hopefully this could redeem it from the ravioli... but I was wrong. For €36, I would have expected a high quality steak, but instead I got a very mediocre, kinda chewy steak that was of no higher quality than the cuts that I can buy from the grocery store. The owner is American (maybe with Italian heritage), but I still expected better from a place like this with the popularity and reviews that I saw. The interior of the restaurant is cozy without many tables (hence the line to get in). Bottom line is I think you are better off finding a different place to eat in Cinque Terre / Riomaggiore with actual good quality authentic Italian food.

Riomaggiore has very few high-quality dining options, which is why I chose this place based on the…read morerelatively decent reviews. If I could give it a negative five-star rating, I would. I ordered a burger and beef ravioli ragu, and I have to say, the only reason this restaurant gets any business is because there are only five restaurants open in the area. They DO NOT serve fresh pasta. I asked the owner, who is from New Jersey, if the pasta was made in-house, and she told me it was "outsourced." She said the information was included in the menu but I did not see that. I personally watched the "chef" pour frozen pasta into the pot. To make matters worse, I was expecting pasta with actual meat sauce but was served plain red sauce that seemed like it came from a can. Dining here was a deeply disappointing experience. I would recommend not being fooled by their reviews and just choosing a place that has fresh food. The owner is also extremely cold and rude. There are hidden charges so beware. Make sure to ask about the food you are ordering and any hidden fees if you do choose to dine here.

I decided to eat here on my second night in La Spezia and was not disappointed in my selection. I…read morewas getting a little tired of the usual pasta/pizza and wanted to explore more like a local. This restaurant is located away from where the tourists are and is about a 15-20 min walk from the central train station. You have to call ahead to reserve a table because this tiny restaurant fills up quickly. I think their menu is very limited and is posted just outside the entrance of the restaurant. They don't give you a hard copy when you are seated but we just went with the option they gave us. The portions are huge so we split one order of the ravioli and each had a beer to start with. The main dish was called Tagliata and was a marinated sliced steak served on what I think was a hot stone plate with several sides (potatoes, parmesan, tomatoes, etc). We ordered two servings of the meat (one for each) and barely finished half, so I suggest just splitting one serving. The meat was cooked rare/medium rare but the stone board was so hot that it continued to cook as we ate. It was very well marinated/tender and the potatoes were amazing (I wish they gave you a larger portion of those). One thing to note is that this place only takes cash so definitely have that with you, but if you forget to bring it like we did they are very nice about showing you where the closest ATM is. The atmosphere is tavern like and the service was great! Our server even gave us a free shot of some kind of liquor that tasted like fireball/cinnamon and called it a "digestive aid". He also knocked off 8 euro from our bill I think because we didn't know it was cash only. I would definitely recommend eating at this hidden gem if you want to stray away from the touristy typical Italian restaurants.

Went by the previous review and visited with high expectations. It did not turn out well. Made our…read morereservation and upon entry, we were greeted with loud disco music while we waited for a menu. No menu. Greeted by waiter who asked if we wanted wine, and with a reply of "yes, white please" he returned with a bottle and proceeded to open it. There was a large selection of wine bottles on the table nearby, but we were not offered a selection. He did not let us taste it but poured two glasses. We had no idea of the price. Then, he told us the two starters and as we were deciding, he decided for us. The 3 ravolis presented with (1) pesto, (2) cheese, and (3) mushroom were served almost cold. When I inquired about it, he had no answer for me. Further, we had to ask for the bread basket, which our neighboring table had received. He also decided we should have a serving of the meat platter for two, when we only wanted one to share. It came out as the previous review suggests, nicely presented and cooked rare. There was also pork on the platter, which was dry. To accompany this was a dish of brown mushroom sauce, similar to what we buy off the shelf in the US. Nothing special. We had no idea what the prices of anything were. By the time we left, the place was full and loud, most watching the soccer game on the wall TV. At least that drummed out the disco music. Very disappointing, but after repeated asking for the bill, he rounded it down to 50 euro. Wish we had picked our second choice for the evening.

Great food and service. Helpful servers. Wagyu rib eye was excellent. Pork bbq tender and nice…read morebbq sauce. Highly recommended.

Italy has plenty of Italian restaurants, but when you're missing home, it's nice to have a steak,…read moreburger and/or baked chicken! We had a chicken burger, baked chicken, and a chicken Caesar. All were really good. On the super plus side, staff was not rude. The chef came out to deliver food. Waiter spoke some English and was really nice. Good place to go. Grazie!