4 Best Restaurants in Oristano, Sardinia

Steps from the tourist office, you can take a refreshing afternoon break with a coffee and a pastry or panino. The friendly café has outdoor tables on the corner of Piazza Eleonora, which retains an old-world charm thanks to a neoclassical town hall, a marble monument to Giudichessa Eleonora carved by the Florentine sculptor Ulisse Cambi in 1881, and 18th-century Mameli palace with its beautiful wrought-iron balconies.

The building dates from 1925 but the interior shows a diversity of styles, with the main dining area (one of five) inside a glass gazebo. Dishes featuring fresh catches of the day, vegetables, and herb-infused sauces are complemented by pizzas and pastas—just save room for a dessert of orange-flavored crème caramel topped with walnuts and chocolate or pastry with Chantilly cream and berries. The staff and clientele are mostly young Italians, so prepare for a buzzy, high-spirited atmosphere.

The brick walls, dim lighting, and arched ceilings here make you feel as if you've stepped into a wine cellar. Aged photographs of Oristano's Sa Sartiglia jousting festival and specialty dishes from Oristano and Montiferru do a good job capturing local flavor. Favorites include lorighittas (a local pasta) with shellfish, maccarones de busa con arselle e bottarga (macaroni with clams and mullet roe from the Cabras lagoon), and pane frattau (flatbread in a sauce of tomatoes and sheep's cheese topped with a poached egg). In winter, try the fregula al porcino, casizolu e guanciale (semolina pasta with mushrooms, local cow's milk cheese, and pig's cheek).

Light-color walls lined with bottles of wine and two simple rows of tables deck out the single room of Trattoria Gino, beloved by locals, especially at lunch, and run by the same family for nearly a century. Although the lobster is a memorable splurge, consider trying any of the antipasto selections or spaghetti ai ricci (with sea urchins).