Ristorante Allabona Pisa — Restaurant in Pisa

What a find!!! On a street close to the attractions in Pisa, surrounded by souvenir shops and tourist-trap restaurants, is this delight. They feature regional food and we were not familiar with many of the dishes so we asked a lot of questions. That's how we met Anna who was very knowledge and very proud of her food. She took great delight in introducing us to the cuisine and recommending dishes. My wife is a real foodie and Anna took special care to see to it she experienced the flavors of the region. We felt we were visiting a local friend rather than being treated like just another tourist. The menu offers some choices that are different from so much of the typical fare we've encountered which was a nice change of pace. The food was possibly the best we've had on our trip...every morsel was perfect and we discovered some new flavors and dishes. That includes the desserts which were also fantastic. If we ever return to Pisa we will plan to eat here AND do all the courses this time. Incredibly enthusiastic and talented people are running this place. We were so into the food we forgot to get pictures of it, but here's one of Anna...

This restaurant gets great reviews. For us this was unfortunately not a good experience. The staff were too confused running around back and forth and we had to wait quite a while for everything. There were some people outside waiting for a table that actually left cause they got angry that things took so long even though the place was not full. The food was ok, but underseasoned and another strange thing was that the waitress we had did not offer any grated cheese for our dishes, even though the other table ordering the same dishes were offered that. A mistake of course, but it was one to many. We also did not get any bread, which we saw on most other tables. Perhaps it depends on what you order, but it felt strange.

Another thing I want to mention was that they only had one tablet to take the orders on. Why is that? Get more or let the rest of the staff take the orders the usual way to avoid people having to wait. The environmental thought behind the restaurant is good, but the execution was not...

GOOD FOR A TASTE OF TUSCAN FOOD. I tried this restaurant in Covid times when only a few in the city were open. They were totally not expecting to have so many people on that day but they managed the situation well, being always smiley and kind. The restaurant serves tasty and local food from different areas in Tuscany. You can't leave the restaurant without trying a first and second courses. Filled pasta (ravioli) was very tasty and the beef meat with pepper (Impepato) was well cooked, tender and savory. The bread served with the meal is great and definately to be enjoyed dipped in the sauce of the pasta or in the oil of your meat. Don't forget to enjoy your meal with a glass of wine. For dessert, I went for a special tiramisù, which was prepared in an alternative way, completely worth those extra calories. I truly recommend it. The location is essential, great choice to share a good meal with a small group of people. Price is good for the location, just few steps away from the Leaning...