Braceria dello Sport — Restaurant in Polignano a Mare

There was a lot that I liked about this place but unfortunately poor service and unexplained extra charges ruined our experience. The good: the restaurant seems to be a local favourite and is something between a butcher and a steakhouse. As soon as you enter you’re told ‘no pasta and no pizza.’ You immediately go inside to pick the meat that you would like and then go outside where a waiter takes your drinks and side dishes order. We went on a public holiday so their side dishes were very limited, which we completely understood, so we had their delicious potatoes and some cucumber. The meat was grilled very well and was tasty. It’s definitely a no frills restaurant. Now for the bad: I completely understand if restaurant staff are unable to speak english and I really appreciated the fact that the waitress made the effort of using Google translate to communicate with us. But I didn’t appreciate her visibly gossiping about us and snickering at us nor her rolling her eyes at me when I simply and politely asked a question about a festival happening that day. If she didn’t want to answer she could have simply said so. We treated her with nothing but friendliness and respect, she just seemed to be annoyed that she had to wait on tourists with limited Italian. When the bill came the waitress said they don’t charge coperto but clearly they do (as seen on the receipt). I understand coperto is normal in Italy however considering they also added 6 euro banco (which is usually added instead of coperto, not together with) it seemed a bit ridiculous considering you get a paper plate and we were the only table not to receive or be offered bread. When we queried the banco charges the staff became visibility agitated and their answer didn’t make any sense as they said it was for the cucumber and cucumber couldn’t possibly cost 6 euro. At best this was a case of serious miscommunication (due to the lack of menu) (which still dampens the experience) at worst this is the ugly side of Italy’s tourism industry rearing its heading: adding extra charges to confused tourists. Regardless the extra unexplained charges together with the clearly irritated waitress left a bad taste in our mouth and I can’t recommend this restaurant to...

A wonderful butcher and restaurant that serves delicious fresh cuts of meat and vegetables. Rosana tried her best to communicate using google Translate, which was so much fun. She really knows how to sell her menu! Her husband has excellent control over the oven grill flames. They sell until they run out. Which horrified my family and I, as they had run out of the chicken, we wanted to try.

I strongly recommend their breaded pork belly, chicken thighs/wings, and mushrooms. They were simply the stars of the show for us. Please make sure to try the local specials from the meat, cheese, wine, and most importantly, the carrots! The carrots were just like fruit, especially the darker coloured ones.

If you're someone who likes to eat organs, please try the diaphragm and brain! I personally liked the sussages and cutlets, but they weren't as popular with other family members. For location, it felt quite inexpensive, so try everything would be my suggestion.

Overall, it was one of my favorite restaurants to visit again and again in italy 🇮🇹. 9.3/10

P.s. If you like a product like the chilies and local mushrooms, you can just buy a jar of them, which we thought we...

Such a great meal and wonderful people working there. You can tell how passionate they are about the quality of the food there. Definitely visit while in polignano a mare unless you are vegetarian!

If you’re intimidated by the process:

1. take a number
2. when number is called you go inside to a butcher counter where the loveliest lady explains everything available. You choose what you want and they’ll bbq it up for you. She’ll ask your name
3. go outside and you’ll get a table right away if it’s not busy. If it’s busy you may wait a bit for the front of house to call your name and seat you
4. once seated, wait staff will then take your drink order and you can get sides (salad and potatoes but I see other reviews with more so may depend on what’s in stock)
5. food arrives (may be in batches depending on how much you order)
6. food ecstasy - enjoy this bit
7. go inside and pay your bill
8. review and give...