I’ve rounded up the best Turin restaurants and bars to make your trip the tastiest yet!
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Turin is a fantastic city for food and wine. There are so many fabulous restaurants and apertivo bars. Eating and drinking was my main objective on my last trip here, and I’d say it was a roaring success!
I’ve already put together a travel guide for Turin, but there are so many great Turin restaurants and bars they needed their own post.
The Best Turin Cafes
Caffe Elena
If you come to Turin, you absolutely have to try a bicerin. It’s made with milk, espresso, and Italian hot chocolate layered over each other and it is glorious. It’s the best of hot chocolate and a cappuccino in one cup. I could drink it every day.
If you only try it at one place, head to Caffe Elena! It sits on the Piazza Vittorio Veneto, which feels like an iconic Turin spot anyway and you should see it. The bicerin was delicious – I nearly ordered a second just to enjoy it all over again!
This spot is equally good for an evening cocktail or spritz if you don’t make it over in the morning.
Caffe al Bicerin
Caffe al Bicerin claims to be the inventor of the bicerin, so I headed here to try one as well. Inventors or not, they’ve been serving them since 1763. They only have about 4 tables inside, so save yourself the wait and sit outside. The bicerin was great if a bit pricey for a coffee drink. The croissant filled with whipped cream was heavenly as well, so get that while you’re here!
La Hacienda
La Hacienda was a great little cafe near my hotel. It’s a cute place focused on quality coffee beans and delicious quick breakfast options. They have a great cappuccino and the croissant selection (in northern Italy they’re called brioche, don’t ask me why) was excellent!
The Best Turin Bars & Apertivo Spots
Turin has a huge apertivo culture, meaning that it’s very common to go out for a drink – spritz, wine, and cocktails are all popular – before dinner. This is normal throughout Italy: think of it like Italian happy hour. However, Italians take it one step further by providing bites with their food. Culturally, you always eat when you drink.
Some cities like Turin go all out on these, providing enough for to happily call it a light dinner! While the individual drinks may be a bit more expensive than in other cities, the amount of accompanying food makes it 100% worth it. While it’s less common for them to lay out a buffet in these pandemic times, there are way more small plates of bites brought to your table than you might expect!
Before we get going, credit for most of these bars comes from my friend Evelyn. She’s been living in Italy for a decade and calls Turin home, so she was a fountain of inspiration for my time in Turin! We’d planned to try some of these spots together, but unfortunately, she got COVID right before I arrived. So I took her list and ran! Here are my favorites from her recommendations.
Bar Zucca
If you go to one place for an apertivo, this is it. Bar Zucca feels like the kind of place friends have a standing meet-up after work, and it’s usually crowded even on a random weeknight. They offer a specialty menu of about 15 different drinks, some spritzes, and a few classic cocktails. You can also order from the bar, but I recommend trying one of their spritzes!
I had the spritz frutti bosco, a berry drink mixed with raspberry liquor and prosecco. It was so good – light and refreshing, a little sweet but balanced with a hint of bitters. I’m already dreaming up a recipe to recreate it.
Caffe Mulassano
For classic old-world Torino bar vibes, go to Caffe Mulassano. It’s a small place, but if you can, score a table inside. It’s a great example of how Italians use the term bar for both coffee shops and bars because they are almost always both! You’re equally likely to see someone ordering an espresso as you are a cocktail.
Here, order Vermouth! Historically, it was a popular drink with Italian royalty here and caught on in the area. Caffe Mulassano has a house variety that’s lovely. The red (rosso) is more traditional and a bit sweeter, while the white (bianco) is drier. I tried the white here and it was crisp and refreshing, perfect for getting off my feet in an afternoon of exploring!
Maison San Federico
Maison San Federico sits inside a gorgeous galleria of the same name, a sort of old-school mall with beautiful architecture, a glass ceiling, and an art deco theater at one end. The bar itself feels swanky, with just enough seats to be intimate.
The spritzes are enormous here – the biggest ones I’ve seen at a restaurant ever! And unlike some of the more southern cities in Itay, Turin bars make really good spritzes. There aren’t bites included here, but the drinks are really reasonably priced. Evelyn says the salsiccia di bra is a must-order to go with your spritz.
Il Barotto Taglieria
Il Barotto is another super popular one: if you want to come at dinnertime (7 pm or later), you definitely need a reservation. The bites don’t come included here, but the name tells you they offer great sliced meat and charcuterie options!
Order wine here – the staff will ask you what types of things you like and have excellent recommendations. Everything is from the Piedmont & Valle d’Aosta regions, so everything is super local! You can’t go wrong.
Enoteca Parola
This place has classic enoteca vibes. Come to Enoteca Parola to order wine – either a glass from the chalkboard list or a bottle to share with friends! You’re practically guaranteed to find a few little Italian men sitting at the bar catching up on the latest gossip.
Cantine Meccaniche
Cantine Meccaniche offers great wine choices, and sitting at the bar is fun because the staff is friendly and give good advice on the menu options. It’s a good place to taste local wines and try something new. You can order a combo of a drink and two small plates for 10€. You can order their dinner here if you don’t want to leave!
The Best Turin Restaurants
Taverna dell’Oca
Of all the Turin restaurants I tried, Taverna dell’Oca was my favorite. It’s a Michelin-starred restaurant, but their prices won’t make you think that! If you want a cheap and high-quality lunch, come here for their menu completo options. They offer combinations of pasta, meat, and side for 10€ – possibly the cheapest Michelin meal ever. Add water and wine and you still won’t break 20€.
At dinner, they have a more extensive menu and sometimes do themed menu nights! I went for lunch, but next time I visit Turin I’m coming back for dinner.
Piola da Cianci
Piola da Cianci is my other must-eat for Torin restaurants. The walls are covered in retro ads and knickknacks and the tables are full of Italians. The food is homestyle and the menu simple; the kinds of dishes you’d likely get if someone invited you over for dinner at their mom’s house.
The best part? This place is almost laughably cheap. Pasta dishes are about 5€ and the mains aren’t much more. It’s a no-brainer: eat here.
Porto di Savona
Porto di Savona is one of the oldest Turin restaurants and also sits on Piazza Vittorio Veneto. I highly recommend getting their Piemonteses antipasti platter – it’s a way to try a bunch of the local appetizers! I also loved the tajarin al Castelmagno, which is the local favorite pasta (similar to spaghetti) covered in a rich cheesy sauce. To finish off, make sure to get a Bonet – a local dessert that reminds me a lot of a lightened-up chocolate flan with crispy amoretti crumble on top and honey swirled all over.
Scannabue
Scannabue is another great Turin institution. On a Saturday lunch, it was packed with locals catching up with friends. It’s also Michelin-starred and reasonably priced. I loved the agnolotti del Plin, a ravioli-like pasta stuffed with meat and served in a brothy sauce. It’s rich and perfect on a cold day!
But the surprise star for me was the dessert: a tart shell, painted with raspberry jam and filled with chocolate, then topped with berries and served alongside raspberry gelato. It was one of the best desserts I’ve ever tasted!
Pandarritto
Goofy name, decent food. If you need a break from Italian food, I grabbed a takeaway lunch at Pandarrito. For 10€ you could order a custom poke bowl with a drink, and it was delish! It allowed me to significantly up my vegetable intake for the weekend. 😉
If you need a break between all the eating, I’ve put together a highlight guide to Turin as well! But there are so many great Turin restaurants and bars they needed their own post.
Want an easy way to save and navigate Torino? Check out my guides on Thatch for all this info and more in an easy-to-use format!
