we stepped into a long line for this local food in blind, Everything was wonderful, we enjoyed…read moreevery bite of the foods we ordered here.

We only had a quick stop here on a food tour to try a local Puglia panzerotti and am sad to say we…read moredidn't find this place much earlier. It's a chain but grew from local love around the area and is considered a fast food spot but holds all the local and unique Puglian dishes! Everything looked enticing as we walked in the door and the panzerotti was absolutley mouth watering. I could've easily ordered everything on the menu here and plan to on my next visit to Puglia! Service was fast and friendly (good for those who aren't used to the lengthy Italian dinners and need a bite quick!)

We visited during the busy season st. Nicolas festival. Wow! It's was PACKED! We waited about…read more30minutes got sat and never was rushed to hurry up. We had salad and an antipasti with prosciutto, soppresata and burrataini. Then a had the octopus . Delicious!!! Ana kept the wine flowing and after our espresso we had complimentary limoncello! Anna and Mario were the best! I highly recommend

The Orecchiette con pomodoro was very delicious and a large portion! We also had the bruschetta con…read morepomodoro and it was amazing! The owners were very kind and gave us complimentary limoncello. The restaurant was very crowded so we waited for a while outside and it was definitely worth the wait. The decor was very pretty and there were many colorful lights outside.

In one sentence, this was a series of mishaps and disappointment…read more My friend has allergies to all seafood, so we emailed ahead of time to make sure he could get the 6 course land while I could get the fish 6 course. This is something we do with every restaurant we go to, to make sure he has things to eat and i can also have what i like. They confirmed this was okay. So we went ahead and booked it. And so the following occurs when we arrive; - we are told that in fact we cannot get our respective 6 course meals. He could get his land version, and I need to do a la carte. - instead of giving me time and space to then choose what I want, the waiter pressures me repeatedly to choose what he recommends. I eventually cave since he was clearly not listening to my request for a moment to look over the menu. - the next mishap I tried to assume was just a language barrier. When ordering wine we asked for a specific bottle, which was local. They were out of it so Brought two example bottles of Chardonnay. I asked for something more similar to Sauvignon blanc. The waiter informs me it is from France and not local, which I am obviously aware of, and was asking for something similar. After a confusing back and forth just settled for Sauvignon to just move on. - his first recommendation, was a plate with several kinds of raw fish. Basically no transformation of the food, as you'd expect from a Michelan restaurant. Unexciting and some cuts were bland and seemed poor. The waiter then told me to put olive oil and pepper on it. - next dish was actually a delicious ravioli topped with red prawn - then the main course, fish with veggies. The fish was very dry and bland. The veggie overly watery. - the dessert was alright, not good, but not terrible - then we asked for cappuccinos, were informed they don't have any but were offered coffee. We were instead served espresso which I do not drink. - my friend was not impressed with his food either - I will say the bread was great though and I enjoyed that they served it with olive oil. - the decor was nice Anyway, not at all what I would expect from a 1 Michelan star place.

Best Food and Absolutely the best service there is in Bari. A beautiful small restaurant with a…read morevery pleasant staff and even greater food! Seafood was phenomenal. I wish I was in Bari for more than just one more night so I can dine here again!

The service was very good, they were very accommodating to the party of 9. The food was absolutely…read moredelicious for all 9 of us! Would highly recommend this ristorante!

Perhaps we are in Italy which offers a different vibe. Everything we ate was amazing. I would be…read morehappy to be their repeat customers, sadly I live too far. If you're in the area, be sure to order the spaghetti with their fish or shrimp tartars. Pasta cooked perfectly then when the pasta cooled down, they place the the tartar on top, then at the table, we drizzled spicy olive oil. What a great experience over two simple ingredients.

Very good pasta, lovely restaurant. The bread was excellent, lovely local wine. Would definitely go…read moreback.

You know how you get into a routine when you are at home of going to the same places over and over…read moreagain. We are like that a little bit when we travel, and Bari is no different. We have found one place in particular that we've been to for lunch or dinner six times in the 11 days we've been here. Not last night, and boy are we glad we went to La Cecchina, it was possibly the best meal we have had here in Italy. We heard it was a busy place so we got there a couple of minutes prior to them opening, and we were already third in the queue. By 8:30 the place was jammed. After finishing our dinner and leaving at 10:20 we knew why the place is busy. Our opening dish is one we've had before, Orecchiette al ragu con bracioletta which is the famous local pasta with braised meat in a ragu sauce which was outstanding. The chew of the pasta coupled with the rich sauce and the braised beef was outstanding. They did bring us the wrong first, initially they set down Misto Frito which looked outstanding and has us planning another trip to try that. No easy task to get the lovely K to try fish, especially away from home, so dinner was already a win in my mind. The Secondi we chose was Filetto de Maialino con fiche secchi, vincotto e gelato al parmigiana. Pretty wordy stuff for pork tenderloin with figs and a parmigiana gelato. The combination of all the contents of the dish was absolutely amazing. It's something we will try to copy when we get home, but I doubt we'll do it justice. The figsthemselves along with the Demi glacé, sage and the gelato were unbelievably good together along with perfectly cooked pork. Good thing we didn't discover the place the first night we got here, we would have missed out on so many other outstanding places. One of my workmates said the food on this side of Italy wasn't up to snuff compared to the west coast. I'd have to respectfully disagree, the food in Bari and Lecce have been amazingly fantastic.

It was a cafe and pastry shop. Beautiful ambiance inside and out…read more Walked around Bari City Square and stopped for sweet. The attendant seated us on a table and got our orders. We ordered 2 cafe Americano and their Chocolate soufflé. The coffee was satisfied our chilly day but the best was the chocolate soufflé. It was cloud 9. It was warm and the presentation was appetizing. We scooped for a piece then came out the melted chocolate . It was worthy. Love the smoothness , texture and depth of chocolate flavor ....yummy. Overall , it was amazing. It has a lot of selections of different flavors inside just choose what your eyes perceive.

We ate here every morning while we stayed in Polignano a Mare. The savory and dolce were delicious…read more The staff was very friendly. And the brightly lit environment made for a great way to start the day.

Hidden Gem, Great…read morefood fresh authentic Italian home cooking. The food was so good we came back here three nights in a row to try various plates. Staff is friendly and you know the food is great when the locals line up to come to this place. The catch of the day is prepared to your liking. Would definitely come back next time we are in Bari.

Wow ! What started as a little weird experiment (8pm, empty…read morerestaurant) ended up being our favorite meal in Bari. We couldn't decipher the menu as it was in Italian, we looked forever, then our waiter asked us if he could help. We agreed, and just let him bring out food. It was amazing ! The salmon, the octopus, the string burrata, the bread, clams, prawn, local wine, beer, cheese, amazing. We were in the front part of the restaurant, and around 9 many locals started showing up. The mood lightened, but we were having the time of our lives just trusting the waiter. The restaurant was well lit and a bit sterile, but oh my. The food and the service amazing, and the price unbeatable! The best value ever. We can't wait to get back to Bari to see what treasures they serve us next time. Well done !

My wife and I ate here last evening. Even though we were early in the evening, around 6:30pm, the…read morehospitality and service that were shown were top-notch. They completely explained the menu and offered very good suggestions. We had the house red wine, it was excellent and the bread provided was simple but wonderful. For an appetizer we had the cheese and prosciutto plate. The cheese and prosciutto were well paired and there was honey provided to add to the brie; amazingly simple but the flavors were perfect and well balanced. For the pasta we had the lobster pasta. It was 1/2 lobster with linguini pasta. The way that the pasta was prepared was amazing as it took on much of the subtle lobster flavors in the sauce. Overall an amazing dish. For dessert we had the tiramisu which was prepared in a way that we'd not had before. It was presented in a shallow bowl; more as a custard with cocoa on top. It was amazing with and espresso along side. Would definitely return to this restaurant if we ever return to Bari; highly recommend!

I went to Bari with my Frenchman and another couple. This was enthusiastically our best and most…read morefavorite meal. We arrived without reservation and were quoted a 40 minute wait. No problem as we amiably moved to the bar and ordered drinks while we waited. We were seated after 20 minutes. We all chose the 20 euro tasting menu which was a steal. It was incredibly delicious and we ended up sharing 9 dishes family style which was a mix of hot and cold dishes. We were so stuffed by the 6th dish but kept eating because the food was so delicious. An excellent choice to dine while your walking through the old town. The wine selection was good and my glass of rosé was only 4 euro. Total bill for 4 adults was 104 euro which included alcohol. Much much cheaper than the San Francisco prices we are unfortunately used to. You must visit! A few reviewers make note of a prolonged wait time upon being seated. This seems to be the norm in Puglia and shouldn't detract from a restaurant rating.

The Ambience was a quaint Italian side street outside the restaurant with a little neighborhood dog…read moregoing table to table. The food was mediocre. The service and host were very lacking. Especially noted lack of service if you are not native Italian. Openly discriminatory to English, French, Netherlands. I'm not certain why so many people recommend this place. I would recommend so many other incredible places. Our party of four adults felt let down after hearing others reviews. The only foods that were above average was the brasciole sauce, NOT the meat itself, and the spiced potato skins. I give it 2 stars just for being IN Italy.