6 Best Restaurants in Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria, Italy

Renowned for its simply crafted dishes made with the freshest seasonal catch, Cosenza's best seafood restaurant has (appropriately enough) a minimalist, blue-and-white, nautical-theme interior. Guided by a waiter, you might start with a selection of antipasti to share, followed by a classic pasta allo scoglio (spaghetti with mixed seafood) and a main fritto misto di mare (medley of fried seafood).

One of Diamante's most popular restaurants, in the old town center just off the seafront promenade, has atmospheric stone interiors. In the summer, sidewalk tables are the perfect relaxed place to watch the evening passeggiata while savoring inventive fish dishes.

Within shell-like earshot of the sea, this professionally run trattoria with sleek white interiors and a panoramic terrace serves some of the finest seafood in the Salento. Expect classic Pugliese salty preparations like crudi, grigliate, and fritture (raw, grilled, and fried) beautifully cooked and elegantly presented.

Built on wooden piles in the shadow of Aragonese Castle, this restaurant—in business for more than a century—seems to float like a ship in the bay by the bridge connecting new town with the island that contains the borgo antico. Its flower-filled terrace has outdoor tables in summer; in winter, eat inside and enjoy the view through panoramic windows.

In the lively heart of the old town, opposite the castle, stands one of Bari's best seafood restaurants. The interior is rather sparse, with whitewashed walls and a vaulted ceiling, and the dining room can be crowded and noisy, but during the summer you can sit on the quieter outdoor veranda. Try the house specialty, crudo di mare (a platter of mixed local seafood), accompanied by a crisp salad and a carafe of uplifting Pugliese wine. Reservations are essential in July and August. Note that the restaurant also has six contemporary bed-and-breakfast rooms.

Waves lap at the shore just inches from your table at this elegant but unpretentious trattoria, which often has a cozy fireplace ablaze in winter. You must follow a narrow twisting lane to get here, but it's worth the effort for specialties like the raw seafood antipasto, which features shellfish you might not find anywhere else. Cozze pelose (local mussels), hiding inside their spiked-hair shells, are briny and buttery, and big local oysters are all about rich texture.