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This wealthy part of Italy has more than its fair share of restaurants, from tiny, intimate spots to a cluster of grand Michelin-starred affairs, so you will certainly not be short of a place to eat. Many ingredients are locally sourced, with excellent lake fish. The most difficult part is simply deciding where to dine. Opening times are generally lunch (pranzo) 12/12.30pm–2/3pm and dinner (cena) 7.30/8pm–10pm. In main towns and resorts, restaurants may stay open later – this is often the case with pizzerias (most of which open evenings only). Menus at lunchtime are frequently cheaper and lighter than those offered in the evening.

Along the Cannobina Valley, in the mountains behind Cannobio, this restaurant perches on the edge of the Orrido di Sant’Anna, a spectacular gorge with a beautiful waterfall. The simple menu features delicious meat dishes, excellent pasta, cheeses and home-made desserts. Wild mushrooms are available in the autumn months. The restaurant is about 10km (6 miles) from Cannobio, and you can hike, bike or go by car. €€

Price categories

Price guide for a two-course à la carte dinner for one with half a bottle of house wine:

€€€€ = over €80

€€€ = €50–80

€€ = €25–50

€ = below €25

The most refined of Cannobio’s restaurants, plum on the waterfront piazza. The building is lovely, a 14th-century palazzo with an atmospheric portico, and the cuisine is classic Piemonte fare with innovative touches; crispy veal sweetbreads, or beef carpaccio and foie gras, for example, followed by seared tuna or veal cheek. The menu changes daily. €€–€€€

Sophsticated cuisine with the occasional nod to Japan, making the most of fresh fish, local meat and home-grown vegetables, served on a lovely terrace overlooking the lake. The home-made pasta is wonderful, and presentation is exquisite. Tasting menus if you want to push the boat out. €€€€

One of Locarno’s finest gourmet restaurants. Fresh local ingredients are used to create dishes such as risotto with lake fish bottarga and gold leaf, quail with fermented melon, and bison fillet. Tasting and set lunch menus. €€€€

On the lakeshore road in Mergozzo, this is a top-class two-Michelin-starred restaurant with fabulous lake views. Intriguing menu created by chef Marco Sacco. A lovely unpretentious interior complements the views. The Gourmet Boat experience is a marvellous idea – you are given an electric-powered boat and picnic, and three hours to go wherever you like, at either lunch or evening. Details on the website. €€€€

This charming little family-run restaurant serves up imaginative, well-presented dishes – try the tasty mussels and salmon curry. Due to its small size, booking is essential, particularly if you want to eat at one of the handful of outside tables. €€

Founded in 1850 by the Brovelli family, the restaurant is now run by Davide Brovelli who fuses tradition and modernity with a light touch – a spritz of lime to lift a summer seafood spaghetti dish, a dab of kefir to add zing to a risotto of tomato, basil, lemon and thyme oil. The award-winning restaurant sits right on the lake, with an arbour for summer dining. Dishes are elegantly presented and served. It is also a hotel with fourteen rooms. €€€

Tucked away in an alley off the main square, this is a tiny restaurant where the focus is on good ingredients, home cooking and a dash of creativity – delicious pasta and simple roast or grilled meat and fish. €€

An intimate restaurant with tables neatly packed together in a dining area featuring light grey walls and wine bottles encased in small niches. The food is particularly good, with Mediterranean specialities such as lake fish balls and cod with red onions and bell pepper sauce. €€

This villa is a delightful five-star luxury hotel with two alluring restaurants: the large richly decorated Le Isole with a candlelit terrace, which serves light lunches and gourmet set-menu dinners, and the enchanting à la carte Restaurant Mori. Both have gorgeous lake views, encompassing the Borromean Islands, and are justifiably sought after for weddings and private parties. €€€€

Sample a good glass of wine or two accompanied by prosciutto, cheese or bagna cauda (crudités in hot olive oil, garlic and anchovy dip). This is the oldest and one of the most atmospheric taverns in town. €

This gastronomic Mecca in the tiny village of Soriso, 8km (5 miles) south of Orta San Giulio, attracts devotees from all over Europe for inspirational Piedmont and Mediterranean cuisine, produced by chef Luisa Valazza. This is a family-run affair, with an elegant, friendly atmosphere (sorriso means ‘smile’ as well as being a play on the name of the village), but be prepared for arm-and-a-leg category prices unless you opt for the ‘business’ lunch menu (three courses plus dessert or cheese but no drinks) served Wed, Thurs and Fri. There are also eight comfy guest rooms, should you choose to stay. €€€€

An imaginative blend of Alpine and Mediterranean flavours, presented in the sumptuous surroundings of a Moorish-style villa that is now a hotel with a wonderful restaurant. Feast on Sicilian scampi, carnaroli rice with clams and thyme, Piedmont veal, sea bass with oysters and caviar –accompanied by a fine French or Italian wine from their superb cellar. €€€

Choose a fine day and sit in the garden, looking out onto the peaceful waters of Lake Varese. This hotel restaurant serves up a fine spread of antipasti (where you can help yourself buffet-style), and a daily changing menu. Risotto (as you might expect from its proximity to Italy’s main rice growing area) is a speciality. €€€

This place enjoys a stylish modern setting right on the lake, sporting an enticing waterfront terrace. Home-made pasta, lake fish, salads and decadent desserts are elegantly presented and served. €€€€

‘The Corkscrew’ is a minute eatery, with just five tables, hidden in an alley off the main piazza of Varenna. The cuisine is simple but delicious, the atmosphere cosy and the wine cellar well stocked. The owner-cum-chef will talk you through the local lake specialities. Booking advisable. €€

Rub shoulders with celebrities (this is one of George Clooney’s favourites), gaze down onto great lake views, and feast on fish and meat specialities. The ‘Black Cat’, perched in the hills above Cernobbio, is sumptuously decorated and has soft, mellow lighting and a romantic atmosphere. The setting alone is worth a detour. €€€€

A rural retreat in the hills above Argegno. Local mountain dishes such as home-made whole-wheat pizzocheri with cabbage, potatoes and fontina cheese, potatoes and mushrooms soufflé with dried beef, venison with blueberries, salami and Alpine cheeses are served in two adjacent rooms, with a garden setting, and valley and lake views. €€

The fine restaurant of this grand hotel produces highly sophisticated and intricate Mediterranean dishes using meticulously sourced ingredients. Eat in a wood-panelled restaurant, evocative of the great lake steamers, or on the lakeside veranda. Prices are high even for the Lakes – for most people this is very much a special occasion restaurant. €€€€

In the heart of Como, on a piazza facing the Duomo, this is a stylish café and bistro in the same building as the historic Sociale Theatre. The café is open all day and evening, the bistro, with simple contemporary cuisine, for lunch and dinner. Tables are laid out on the square for alfresco dining in summer. Also a nice spot for an evening aperitivo. €

Managed by the Castiglioni family since 1987, restaurant Vecchia Varenna, is located in the historic part of town. Amid an irresistible waterside setting, with Lake Como and mountain views, Vecchia Varenna serves fish and meat, pasta, rice meals and tasty desserts. They also run evening cooking classes followed by dinner. €

Hotel Villa d’Este has three restaurants and two bars. The setting is a palatial 16th-century villa amid luxuriant gardens at Cernobbio. Formal Italian haute cuisine is served at the Veranda (jackets and ties are required in the evening), while The Grill, underneath the plane trees in summer, and Il Platano – where diners can choose among eight exquisite dishes each accompanied by the perfect wine – are more informal. €€€€

At the top of Bergamo’s San Vigilio funicular, you can sit out on this romantic restaurant’s terrace (in summer), enjoying gourmet fare and wonderful views of the Città Alta below. The menu offers a wide selection of home-made dishes. You might start with an antipasti or home-made pasta, follow with meat or fish, and finish off with one of their famous desserts. There are also 250 wines to choose from. €€€

This rustic inn is located on a family-run wine estate and farm. Brescian and Franciacorta dishes served here include casonsèi (ravioli with bacon and melted butter), tagliatelle with wild mushrooms, beef with local olive oil, and, in autumn and winter, polenta e osei, the ‘Brescian lunch’ of spit-roasted pork and chicken on polenta. Award-winning wines, olive oil, honey and grappa are all available to buy. At times may be open to residents only, so check in advance. €

Located in what was formally a cheese market, this pleasant bar with seating on a breezy shaded portico offers tasty cheese and cold-cut platters that go down a treat with a glass of one of the many wines on offer. Choose from goat’s cheeses, prosciutti crudi, Bresaola, salumi d’oca (goose) and more. €€

Located next to the beautiful and historical Piazza Vecchia, Da Franco is one of the best restaurants in Bergamo’s upper town. Pizza too in the evenings. €€

The homely fish restaurant of this welcoming family-run hotel is the place to eat mixed grilled lake fish or baked tench with polenta. It has a wonderful setting right on the lake by the ferry landing stage. €€

This romantic hilltop eyrie above Iseo is a great place for fresh lake fish. The dining room has views over the lake, and there is a courtyard for summer dining by candlelight. Also a hotel. €€

Located high up, 1.5km (1 mile) southwest of the centre of Clusane, with a lovely romantic terrace, this oasis of peace and elegance has wonderful views over the lake. Creative cuisine, with the focus on fish and seafood, is cooked with panache and presented with a flourish and has won chef Nadia Vicenzi a Michelin star. €€€

A sublime restaurant with a modern Italian design in a dreamy setting. The kitchen of Fabio Abbattista – the executive chef – offers a menu made with excellent ingredients. All meals are accompanied by great wines, mainly from the finest Franciacorta estates. Booking is essential. €€€€

The top (eighth) floor of this four-star hotel hosts an expensive haute cuisine restaurant. Expect international fine dining, nouvelle-style (tiny portions, creatively presented) in contemporary surroundings with spectacular views of the floodlit walls of the old town. An open-air terrace runs around the exterior. €€€

Clusane on Lake Iseo is famous for tinca al forno (baked tench) and this inviting, family-run trattoria is one of the best places to try it, along with other tasty local specialities such as smoked trout and fish soup. €€

An authentic wine bar and inn that makes a nice place to stop if you happen to call in to the town of Brescia. Excellent cold cuts and cheeses as well as hot dishes. Informal but informed tasting advice is offered on good regional wines. €

A delightful agriturismo with a vine-covered terrace that overlooks the herb gardens and lake. The table d’hôte food is delicious, plentiful and affordable. Many of the ingredients, including fruit, vegetables, wheat flour and pasta, are produced on the farm. Booking essential. €€

At this well-established café in the centre of the town you can enjoy anything from a morning cappuccino and croissant at the bar, a light lunch on the terrace, or a blow-out seven-course menu degustazione (tasting menu) in its fish restaurant. The fish is excellent, and includes French oysters, Sicilian scampi, sea bass and raw fish. This is also a fashionable spot for cocktails and liqueurs. Vegetarian options too. €€€

Outstanding cuisine and a panoramic lake setting combine to make this one of the most desirable formal restaurants in the region. The menu is seasonal and thee dishes sophisticated, inventive and beautifully presented. Excellent wine list. €€€€

Traditional meals with simple, fresh ingredients. A good choice if you are in the mood for grilled beef or pork and roast potatoes. €€

Specialising in chocolate, sweets and cakes, this café/pasticceria is hard to resist. Among the local favourites are pan di Salò, a rich cake made with candied peel and limoncello, a version of the liqueur made from Lake Garda lemons. €

An inviting family-run lakeside restaurant that serves a vast array of fish and vegetable antipasti, fresh lake and sea fish and a tempting selection of risotti, with citrus-spiked lake fish, with prawns and green peppercorns or with radicchio and local Monte Veronese cheese. €€

Restel de Fer is a delightful rustic locanda, which has been run by the Meneghelli family since 1400 and is known for dishes such as trout carpaccio with fennel and elderflower or marinated char salad. Closed for refurbishment at the time of writing but due to reopen in 2024. €€€

A centrally-located restaurant, with tables on a piazza with views of the lake. Some really interesting dishes you won’t find anywhere else – giant ravioli stuffed with hare, butter herbs and Bagoss cheese, foie gras risotto with sour butter (a local speciality), black garlic and walnuts. Very popular, so booking by phone is obligatory (030 916325). €€€

A romantic castle on the enchanting Lake Toblino, where the inventive local fare features some very unusual ingredients – caper powder, yuzo, beech-scented oil. Highlights include duck with caramelised peach and traditional canderdoli dumplings with chanterelles and Puzzone di Moena cheese. €€€

Ranked as one of the top restaurants in Malcesine, the King Lear offers innovative combinations. Menus change monthly, and vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free meals are available. The restaurant is in the heart of the Old Town, a stone’s throw away from Castello Scaligero, with a terrace on Piazza Cavour. €€€

Recently renovated and redecorated, this is a Michelin star restaurant located close to the castle. The creative Mediterranean cuisine includes a wide choice of seafood and meat plus a huge wine selection. Reservations are compulsory for dinner and advisable for lunch. €€€€

The broad lake-view veranda and the inspired regional cuisine make this one of the most appealing restaurants in the northern part of Lake Garda. With ingredients sourced from the lake, specialities include chub meatballs, perch salad, lake sardines and risotto with tench. Wash your meal down with a crisp Pinot Grigio or Muller Thurgau. €€

This intimate little restaurant in the historic centre of Gargnano serves exquisite dishes and great wines. Fish (both lake and sea) predominate, but you can also find vegetarian antipasti and main courses, such as scallops with a zucchini sauce and mint oil or sea bass fillet with Franciacorta and cocoa beans. There is a range of tasting menu options and a well-stocked wine cellar. €€€€

This lakeside retreat, built in 1892, was home to Mussolini during World War II, and today is a luxury hotel with a cerebral gourmet restaurant with two Michelin stars. Lunchtime is à la carte only, evenings tasting menu only. One of the most expensive restaurants in the Lakes. €€€€

This small and stylish Art Nouveau villa-hotel right on the lake is where Mussolini stayed with his mistress Clara Petacci during the Salò republic. A lunch of ravioli with Bagoss cheese and dried pear, and roast grouper with caper butter and asparagus, followed by a stroll through the grounds is hard to beat. €€€€

Restaurant offers a friendly atmosphere and delightful seafood dishes. Try tuna tartare with Bronte pistachios and avocado, tagliolini with swordfish and bottarga and grilled swordfish with fennel and orange salad. Somewhat off the beaten track – but worth the taxi fare. €€

Probably the most glamorous old washhouse ever. This 18th-century laundry, now an idyllic waterfront restaurant on the Naviglio Grande, has an evening menu of rich home-made pastas and Lombardy specialities such as creamy Milanese risotto. The locals love the evening cocktails and aperitivo buffet. €€

Opened by the famous Italian chef Carlo Cracco, this gastronomic wonder was awarded one Michelin star for high-quality cooking. Specialities include fish soup crust and yolk marinated with asparagus and black truffle, saffron risotto and grilled bone marrow. There is also a café for coffee, light lunches, drinks and exquisite pastries. €€€€

Warm and welcoming family-run restaurant serving exceptional cuisine in a rustic interior with cavernous, exposed brick walls, wooden ceilings and old-world knick-knacks. The hearty cold cut platters include wild boar and deer ham, and the menu includes some excellent Milanese dishes. The 30cm meat brochette served with baked potato and herb-flavoured butter is a must. €€

Join a queue that stretches around the block for the best ice cream in Milan. This gelateria has an overwhelming array of flavours to choose from – plus delicious semifreddo and meringue cakes. Heaven on a hot day and definitely worth the wait. It is not central, but close to Angeli and Wagner metro stations. €

Joia specialises in vegetarian haute cuisine and was the first vegetarian restaurant in Europe to be awarded a Michelin star. The setting is simple and contemporary, the clientele hip, the presentation unique. The cuisine is avant-garde and capricious. The Michelin star means high prices, but the set lunch menus are good value. Book at least one week ahead. €€€€

This atmospheric restaurant with an understated interior serves some of Milan’s best fish and seafood dishes. The oyster bar is the perfect spot for a pre- or postprandial drink, while seating is in a series of individually furnished rooms featuring maritime ornaments, including an upturned boat. The Catalan-style King Crab is superb, as is the scampi tartar with foie gras. Its sister-restaurant, Langosteria Bistrot (Via Bobbio 2), offers similar cuisine in a more informal setting. €€€–€€€€

Very handy for a quick snack by the Duomo, this famous bakery specialises in panzerotto, a freshly made Puglian pastry €

Restaurants

Price categories