What to eat in San Gimignano
Tuscan cooking built on vegetable soup and game, with a glass of the white wine this town carries in its name.
- Ribollita
- €12
- Pici
- €14.50, thick hand-rolled pasta
- Wild boar stew
- €20, a main course
San Gimignano eats Tuscan: thick vegetable soup, hand-rolled pasta and game, all alongside Vernaccia di San Gimignano, the white wine that became Italy's first DOC in 1966.
Soup, pasta and game
Osteria Baccano, next to the Duomo, keeps to Tuscan cooking without detours: ribollita, a thick soup of vegetables and stale bread reboiled more than once, €12; pici, thick hand-rolled pasta made the Sienese way, €14.50.
The main course is spezzatino di cinghiale, wild boar stew, €20 without a side — game is an old habit in Tuscan cooking.
Cheese and wine
The pecorino tasting, several kinds of sheep's cheese with honey and mustards, runs €14.50 (per person) per person — a lighter choice than a full meal, for after an afternoon of towers.
Alongside it goes Vernaccia di San Gimignano, a white wine recorded in the town's municipal archives as far back as 1276, which became Italy's first DOC wine in 1966 and a DOCG in 1993. A glass's price depends on the bar.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What's San Gimignano's local wine?
Vernaccia di San Gimignano, a white wine that became Italy's first DOC in 1966 and has carried DOCG status since 1993.
What is ribollita, and what does it cost?
A thick Tuscan soup of vegetables and stale bread; at Osteria Baccano it costs €12.
Ready for San Gimignano?
Where to next
The best time to visit San Gimignano
→Two sets of opening hours a year, and one hour of the day when the square fills up.
Siena · 30 km
→A shell-shaped square where horses race twice a year
How well does San Gimignano suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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