Il Pino — Restaurant in San Gimignano

We found this place through the recommendation of the hotel concierge. The premise is an old house (ok, almost all houses in the ancient city of S. Gimignano are old...) in the alley right inside of the city wall. We have been there two times. At the first visit, we shared the mixed bruschetta as antipasti, then my husband had the stozzapretti with pigeon meat ragu, and I the tagliata classic as main course. The food was simple but good - my husband, as a devoted pigeon fan, liked his noodle. I was not very hungry (after a snack plate in the wine bar right beforehand), but found the tagliata a nice one. Then we noticed the two-person dinner set on the menu and decided to have another try on the next day. Normally in the region the famous biscetta florentina (T-bone steak) are sold by weight. And this set dinner offered antipasti (bruschetta), biscetta, white beans, a bottle of water and espresso with fixed price, which we found interesting. And for this set the coperto ("table charges") is included. The biscetta had some 600 g meat, which we considered a good portion for two. It looked a bit rare but not too bloody (the front part was like medium in fact). And it tasted well. The white bean with olive oil was fundamental, but tasted fine to me (as non-white bean fan). And finally we ate up almost everything. The young and energetic service staff were very friendly; the menu were bilingual with the origin of ingredients well explained. The atmosphere was pleasant...

I recently dined at Il Pino, a place that left quite an impression—though not for the reasons one might hope. The food itself was satisfactory, but the atmosphere was overshadowed by the bizarre behavior of the owner, who seemed more interested in performing antics than running a restaurant.

As we were seated and began our meal, we couldn't help but notice the owner hanging from the balcony by one arm, a sight that was both alarming and distracting. He remained there throughout our entire dining experience, grunting and snuffling in a way that was impossible to ignore. His constant, unsettling presence made it difficult to enjoy the food or the company.

While the service was adequate, and the dishes were reasonably well-prepared, the overall experience was marred by the owner's antics. Dining out should be about enjoying good food and a pleasant atmosphere, but at Il Pino, the wild behavior of the owner took center stage in the worst possible way.

If you’re looking for a quiet, enjoyable meal, this might not be the place for you. But if you’re in the mood for something truly out of the ordinary—though not necessarily in a good way—you might find Il Pino worth a visit. Personally, I found the experience off-putting and...

We made a roundtrip from south Tirol to Rome and this restaurant in the beautiful San Gimignano was the best we‘ve experienced in our whole trip!

We‘ve visited it 3 times in total, because the food was every time amazing and we also managed to taste a local speciality called „Arrosto“ which was pre-ordered by a group of locals days before. We‘ve seen what they are eating and asked if we could also try it - they gave us a portion for a really small money.

We also ate a amazing 3 course menu including a T-bone steak (see the pictures) for 25€ per person in total.

Also the Wine (San Gimingnano Cabernet Sauvignon) for 30€ the bottle was really amazing and probably the best wine I’ve had in my entire life. Later we found out that the bottle is priced 26,90€ in the shop.

The waiters are also very friendly and competent and we really felt like we are part of their family and „eating at home“!

To us the best experience of our entire holiday! Thank you very...