Beautiful space with a generous charcutterie platter…read more Black pork sausage, pecorino and sundried tomatoes were the highlights. The bread and cheese shine alongside the Materan primitivo the sommelier selected for us.

We recently dined at Ai Palmenti Ristorante during a trip through Southern Italy, and unfortunately…read morethe experience was quite mixed. The food itself was decent--there were some good flavors and the dishes showed promise. Nothing extraordinary, but certainly enjoyable enough. However, the service was among the worst we've encountered during several weeks traveling across Southern Italy and Sicily. It was inattentive, slow, and at times felt dismissive, which really detracted from the overall experience. What was most surprising--and disappointing--was the billing. The restaurant added what was effectively an "American-style" extra charge, including a bread fee and a cover charge that came to about €15 per person. While a small coperto is common in Italy, this felt excessive and was not clearly communicated upfront. Overall, while the kitchen shows potential, the poor service and unexpected charges make it difficult to recommend. There are many better options in Matera that offer both great food and a more welcoming, transparent experience.

This is a charming place cut into a mountain in Matera. It has a blend of casual feel with fine…read moretable settings and table cloths. The team if servers is very helpful in describing the meals and selecting wines. My wife and I split the nochi with local sausage in a delicious cream sauce. Next we shared the slice beef which was surprisingly tender and went well with the potato cakes and mushrooms. Finally, for dessert we had a ricotta and chocolate cake that was like none I'd had before. All this gray food came with a very reasonable price so our entire experience was one we will always remember fondly.

This place is delicious! We waited to get a table and it was well worth it for a late night dinner…read more Great service and friendly staff. We ordered other appetizers to start with that are not pictured, like the local cheese. We chose a local wine of course and it was very good. They have gluten free pasta, crackers to try the local cheese and plenty of dishes that are naturally gluten free.

Super friendly staff, delicious food. We ordered the antipasti and asked for vegetarian ones, plus…read moreFave e Cicoria. All the food was amazing. Highly recommended.

Please go here. If you have any interest in traditional Pugliese cuisine in a very nice setting,…read morethis is the place you want to be. Place yourself in the chef's hands for the endless parade of phenomenal antipasti. Get a nice bottle of local wine to go with it. (Not everything in Puglia is sugar-sweet, particularly on this wine list.) Because you're a crazy person and you'll want an endless run of food, get a main course, too. It won't be quite as good as the antipasti - because nothing is - but I'm not sure you've really eaten a meal in Puglia unless you feel obnoxiously full at the end of it. Reservations are a good idea! I think we were walk-ins, but it was early in the evening. Finding the place can be tricky - know that the restaurant is located about a block or two into a small, pedestrian-only street. You'll need to park on the road outside. There are also some stairs in the restaurant. Accessibility could be tricky if you're dealing with mobility problems.

Solo entrar, Pascuale y Mariella nos trataron como una familia. Nos recomendaron los platos que…read moreestaban buenisimos todos. Los pimientos dulces, el T-bone, el queso, absolutamente todo estaba buenisimo. El ambiente en el restaurante excavado en la cueva de película. Estuvimos con niños, que comieron carne y pasta magnífica. Destaco todo del restaurante: servicio, ambiente y comida! Llegamos tarde y Pascuale y Mariella se pusieron a comer cuando estabamos acabando para no apresurarnos... repetiremos seguro cuando volvamos a Matera! El vino (tambien recomendado) estaba muy rico también!

Amazing food and wonderful service. The restaurant is a museum to the olive oil industry.read more

Forget the words vegetarian. This place is all about creative Southern Italian cuisine with ties to…read moreits origins with uncharacteristic ways. The hosts are great and the food got me at first bite

What a wonderful little gem in the heart of Ceglie Massapica…read more Wonderful service with delicious food and superb local wines. Great price for the quality of the food. This place is a must have.

Amazing food and service…read more First time I've had sheep and it was delicious. Make sure to get a cheese plate. They have a vegan cheese that is actually insanely good. Go here 100% The waiter Luigi was especially nice and helpful!

Terrible - avoid ...charges us $8 to move inside due to mosquito infestation in their plants…read moreoutside....

We were looking forward to a special occasion night out, but since other restaurants were closed on…read moreMonday night, we ended up here. The prices are reasonable, the wine was an excellent red from the region, the food and service however were not. My order of prawns in a cream sauce over fresh pasta arrived with what looked like 4 little 1/2 inch pieces of not sure what. Maybe they only had one left from a week ago, and had to cut it into 20 pieces and put only 4 of them on my plate, but as of this morning my stomach is gurgling and I'm having Pepto Bismol for breakfast - probably lunch too. After two bites of this pasta I had to stop. The fishiness of the "prawns" combined with some sort of grit in the pasta was disappointing, but what followed left an even worse taste. Instead of noticing I had set my plate on the other side of the table and was not eating, our waiter could not be found. After quietly explaining the problem to the other waiter, he did not ask what they could do to make things right, instead he, and later the owner when we went to pay, argued with me that in his restaurant those were prawns. Maybe, but my understanding is; they are the size of a finger and taste better than the nail, and arguing with a customer is never a good tack for a restaurateur of good character.

Amazing from the start to the end!!! Great service.. great food..!!must try in polignano a mare!!read more

This is a fabulous Italian restaurant in Matera Italy. We started our meals off with a few…read moreappetizers mainly the known foods around the area of southern Italy. Eggplant Parmesan, potatoes, ricotta cheese, fried zucchini flowers with cheese inside these were so good! Sliced meats and olives. Everything was delicious! For our mains my husband had the lamb, it is like a stew and on the bone. He enjoyed it, portions are quite large here. I had the home made cavetelli with red pepper and pecorino cheese my cousin and her husband had the orecchiette pasta. My cousins daughter just wanted pasta with tomato sauce and fries. I tasted the fries and even the fries were delicious! For dessert we shared the lemon sorbetto it was devine!! A little pricey but worth it for the food and the ambience.

Based on the Yelp reviews we gave this restaurant a try. I think it might have changed since…read moreCOVID, because it was just o.k. The service was very good, but the food was nothing special. The ambiance was also just ok. I did enjoy the insalate due, which had crispy proscuitto and homemade croutons, but it didn't come with dressing - rather, they served little packets of oil and aceto balsamico with it. Orchietti is apparently a local specialty, so I ordered theirs, with bacon and crispy peppers (also a local specialty) but the fava bean sauce was not great - thick snd starchy. I appreciated that they had half bottles of local wine, which was nice. My husband enjoyed the baccala, which is a baked cod dish. So not bad, but not as good as noted by prior reviewers. There are better choices in the Sasso Caveoso.