Osteria Il Grattacielo dal 1840 — Restaurant in Siena

This place is a gem. It is not the easiest to find, but the food makes it worthwhile. This is a very tiny restaurant with maybe seating for 30 people including both inside and outside. Due to this, I wouldn't recommend bringing a large group of people to eat here and I suggest getting here early during busy season if you want to get a seat. The staff does not speak very good English, but the choices are simple. I highly recommend learning some simple food phrases or using an app like google translate to look at what you are ordering. We had almost no problem ordering food and we don't speak very much Italian.

We sat outside on our visit and the menu was handwritten on the wall. They had Baccala (an Italian fish) with fresh vegetables, spaghetti with ragu sauce, or a mushroom (funghi) soup as well as an appetizer platter with selected meats and cheeses. We had the Baccala and spaghetti. They were both very delicious and filing. We shared a 0.5 L carafe of house wine and a bottle of water. I can't complain about any of it. I can't remember if this place charges a coperta (cover charge) of 2 euro per person. I would just ask before sitting...

A Hidden Gem in Siena – Osteria Il Grattacielo dal 1840

This afternoon, we had the absolute pleasure of dining at Osteria Il Grattacielo in Siena, and I can honestly say it was one of the most memorable meals I've had in years. It’s rare that I feel compelled to get up from the table just to find the chef and thank them personally — let alone offer a kiss — but today, I couldn’t help myself. The food was that good.

The pici pasta was nothing short of a world champion dish — perfectly textured and bursting with rich, authentic flavor. And the prawns? Sublime. Fresh, juicy, and expertly cooked. Every bite felt like a celebration of Tuscan cuisine.

The staff — especially the kind young women serving — were warm, welcoming, and genuinely friendly, adding to the relaxed, down-to-earth vibe of the place.

This isn’t just a hidden gem — it’s an unpolished diamond. If you're in Siena and want a truly local experience, far away from the tourist traps, this is where you need to be. Osteria Il Grattacielo is the real deal.

Bravo! We'll be dreaming of this meal for...

This was one of our favorite “finds” on our trip. It’s an honest-to-God Osteria, which we love. A place where the cooks only make a few things a day and you select from the house specials. The day we went they featured an amazing lentil soup and I had a wonderful pasta con calcio e pepe. (The classic Italian staple.) My wife had the carbonara and everything was fantastic, including the service and house wines. Our favorite part of this meal was how it was both fun and delicious. I recommend reservations, since it’s pretty small. We went right at opening and they cordially fit us in, but had we waited an hour or so, it would have been a different story. Some locals who were waiting with us for it to open, said it was their favorite place and we sure found out why. Please give it a...