Screw Shakespeare, I want Risotto: A Foodie’s Guide to Eating and Drinking in Verona, Italy
Verona: city of love and polenta.
It’s a city that has inspired playwrights, poets, artists, and lovers for centuries—and for good reason! It’s easy to feel hypnotised by Verona’s beautiful and winding, marble-covered streets and its even more beautiful residents.
But as stunning as the Roman ruins and pastel-coloured houses are, there’s only one thing I’m looking for in any new destination.
The food.
I mean really, is there anything that matters more? My memory of a city is tied to what I ate there. A bad meal can mean bitter recollections of a place, but I still think back almost daily to all of the good food I’ve tried in different countries.
So, I packed my passport and my stretchy pants and took off for fair Verona in search of tasty memories. Read all about it in my guide to where to eat in Verona!
Contents
Where to eat in Verona
Verona is blessed with the amazing produce of northern Italy. To the north, there’s the Alps and its foothills covered in vineyards and orchards. The west holds Lake Garda, ringed with olive groves. To the south, you have green plains, home to a whole lot of cheese-making animals.
What could go wrong?!
The answer: Not much. But sometimes, things surprise you. Things like horse meat and veal nerves.
Breakfast Cake
People in Verona have a massive sweet tooth. Not only do they like to start the day with something sugary, but also finish it and have sweet snacks throughout the day! It’s my kind of place.
The traditional breakfast here is made up of a range of local cakes and tarts, based on the produce found throughout the countryside.
Don’t miss zaletto–a kind of rock cake made with polenta and raisins–or risino–a tart made with sweet, creamy rice.
So where should you eat breakfast in Verona? I had delicious versions of these dentists’ nightmares at:
- Caffè Pasticceria Pradaval (Piazza Pradaval, 12),
- Caffè Wallner (Via Dietro Listone, 1), and
- Pasticceria Cordioli (Via Cappello, 37).
Where to eat Risotto in Verona
These people are mad keen on rice.
Not only is it stuffed into their breakfast cake, it’s also served for lunch and dinner—meaning it’s rice three meals a day and for dessert. And the most highly prized rice dish of northern Italy is, of course, risotto.
Creamy, nourishing, and packed with more flavour than rice has any right to be, it’s something I would happily eat all day, every day.
Verona is no exception to the north’s risotto obsession, and you’ll find it in most restaurants (but normally served for a minimum of two people!). To give it their own regional flair, the Veronese dump in a whack of their local wine, Amarone, into the pot. The resulting risotto is bright purple and jam-packed with heavenly flavour.
Where to eat risotto in Verona:
- Hostaria La Vecchia Fontanina (Piazzetta Chiavica, 5)
- Ristorante Tre Marchetti (Via Tre Marchetti, 19)
- Ristorante Scapin (Via Armando Diaz, 22).
Weird Eats in Verona: Offal, offal, and more offal.
This is where it gets tricky.
I’m a big fan of most offal—I think if you’re going to eat an animal, the least you can do is eat all of the animal. But even by my admittedly loose standards, the offal in Verona is just weird.
We’ll start off light.
One of the speciality dishes of the region is trippe: braised tripe loaded with spices and red wine. It’s bloody delicious, but I’m someone who likes to order tripe whenever its offered to me. Served over creamy polenta or with a big hunk of rustic bread, it’s a great winter comfort dish aside a glass of Amarone red wine.
I devoured a plate of tripe at:
- Osteria Sottoriva (Via Sottoriva, 9).
It’s a simple tavern with wood panelling and blaring Verdi operas, and with every dish clocking in around 10 euros, it’s definitely worth a visit.
Putting tripe to one side, now we’re going to move to the hard part: veal nerves.
Yep.
That’s not a typo; one of the speciality dishes of the city is, in fact, nerves. Like, I didn’t even know that was possible. I was happily living my life in blissful ignorance of the fact that there are people in this world who eat the nerves of baby cows.
I seriously may never sleep again.
The nerves and cartilage from the shin are boiled into submission, and then served in cubes alongside bitter greens, onions, and beans. Imagine the texture of a raw fish, but fattier. For flavour, think of licking a piece of paper that had been resting on a piece of pork for a few hours.
I’m not sure where to eat nervetti in Verona, but I’m convinced that you shouldn’t.
Bring me my horse
Assuming you’ve still got an appetite, let’s move onto our next hurdle: horse.
I didn’t say this was going to get any easier.
I’ve eaten horse a few times before—deliberately, and probably accidentally as well given the ambiguity of frozen meats in Europe. And every time I have it I can only think of one thing:
THIS IS WHY THE REST OF THE WORLD DOES NOT EAT HORSE.
It’s just no good. Stringy, tough, and with a flavour that makes you think of a mad scientist trying to cross a cow with a lizard.
But, it’s a classic dish of the region, dating to a time when other meats were scarce. You’ll find it all over Verona in a variety of dishes, such as a ragu served over pasta or just as a steak.
Like anything, it’s worth trying… once. I ate both the nervetti di vitello (veal nerves) and a gnocchi with horse ragù at:
- La Taverna di Via Stella (Via Stella, 5).
Neither dish blew me away, but I’m not sure they would anywhere else, either.
Where to Eat Pasta in Verona
Maybe you prefer your pasta sans horse. Well, you’re in luck, because you can find plenty of places to get your unhorsed pasta fix throughout the Verona.
Bigoli, a kind of thick spaghetti, is the other main pasta of the region. Being such a chunky monkey, it has pretty serious sticking power, making it ideal for holding meatier sauces. You can find it with protein-heavy ragùs pretty much anywhere. I also had an incredible version with nettles and smoked ricotta (YES) at:
- Hostaria La Vecchia Fontanina (Piazzetta Chiavica, 5).
Aside from the various restaurants and cozy taverns, you can also get pasta direct from the source. Whether you’re after fresh or dried, there are several pasta shops throughout the city selling direct to the public, and some even serve it fresh for a snack!
I visited a tiny family-run pasta store in the old town to watch fresh tortellini being rolled and stuffed with a chestnut and veal cream—and then stuff my face with it. Stuff your own face at:
- La Bottega Della Gina (Via Fama, 4).
I scream, you scream, we all scream for gelato: Where to eat it in Verona
Would a trip to Italy have been complete without gelato? Of course not.
In a country known for its confected milky goodness, Verona is no exception. I visited the city’s oldest gelateria (complete with walls built from Roman stone taken from the arena!) to try the best ice cream I have ever had.
Seriously. It was chestnut honey, with no added sugar—all the sweetness coming from the honey.
Try/demolish it for yourself, at:
- Vittoria 1938 Gelato Caffe (Via Armando Diaz, 6). Or, try other organic, recently made gelato at;
- L’arte del Gelato (Via Leoni, 3).
What to drink in Verona
Did you know that Verona is Italy’s second-biggest producer of wine? I sure didn’t—at least until I arrived! Because you can’t go five minutes without realising that “man, these people love wine”.
It’s everywhere!
Even your average bar has at least half a dozen varieties of wine on offer, all of them made locally from grapes almost unheard of outside of this small pocket of Italy. So, it’s not surprising that locals set aside a lot of time in the week set aside for taking advantage of this bounty.
A wine by any other name
To the north of Verona and the east of Lake Garda lies Valpolicella. Hot on the heels of Chianti, this is the country’s second most productive Denominazione di Origine Controllata (D.O.C.).
Deriving from a Latin or Greek phrase meaning “Valley of Cellars”, this area has been making fermented grape juice a loooong time. It’s a region known for reds, made mostly from a local grape called Corvina. The eponymous Valpolicella wine served in most bars is light-bodied and easy drinking, full of fruity, sour cherry flavours. With light tannins and nice acidity, it’s also a perfect accompaniment to any of the food you’re likely to try in the city!
Now, if you’re feeling fancy, you might also want to get your hands on some Amarone. It’s the Pavarotti of wine—big, bold, and beautiful.
Usually clocking in around 15% ABV, it’s a wine that comes about from drying out the grapes before pressing. After aging in oak, what you get is a hearty wine complete with delicate notes of chocolate, tobacco, and mocha. Have it with some aged Pecorino cheese or a hearty roast and be prepared to be blown away.
Wondering where to drink wine in Verona? I found great wine bars at:
- Antica Bottega del Vini (Via Scudo di Francia, 3)
- Caffè Dante Bistrot (Piazza dei Signori, 2)
- Osteria la Mandorla (Via Alberto Mario, 23).
Aperitivo in Verona
Just like Milan and the rest of the neighbouring regions, in Verona you’ll find the magical time that is aperitivo. In the hours before dinner (and lunch if you’re not working/don’t care about work), locals meet at a cozy bar to have a glass of wine or a spritz and a small snack.
You’ve gotta respect any culture that dedicates part of each day to an afternoon drink.
Squeeze into crowded bars amongst hordes of locals enjoying their aperitivo at:
- Osteria del Bugiardo (Corso Porta Borsari, 17)
- Osteria Caffè Monte Baldo (Via Rosa, 12)
- La Tradision (Via Guglielmo Oberdan, 6)
- Locanda della Seconda Balena (Vicolo Balena, 2).
A curse on both your coffee houses
I love Italian coffee culture.
How is it so good! While the English-speaking world happily goes about drinking Starbucks’ burnt cardboard water by the gallon, the Italians have managed to keep their own approach to caffeine completely intact.
It seems that the idea of a coffee break is as Italian as driving a Vespa/using your hands for 90% of communication. Throughout the day, waves of people crash upon their local cafes for a quick, 10-minute coffee and a chat with their neighbours, before heading back to the office until their next break an hour or so later.
It’s like the Verona internal body clock is perfectly synchronised to these frequent caffeine recharges, so coffee houses go from quiet and empty to packed mad-houses in a matter of seconds. Time your visit to duck between these breaks if you fancy a relaxed drink, or work your way through the 10:30 a.m. crowd for a truly local experience!
Grab a morning cappuccino or an afternoon espresso at:
- Caffe Borsari (Corso Porta Borsari)
- Caffè Pasticceria Pradaval (Piazza Pradaval, 12).
Read more
I was introduced to several of these places and tasty treats by Irene from Veronality, a food tour company in Verona! Check out their great tours here.
Learn more about the history of Italian food and how it’s changed through the ages.
Still travelling in Italy? Check out my food guide for Naples! And while you’re at it, head over to all of my foodie guides to my favourite cities.