Osteria Permalico — Restaurant in Siena

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Where Locals Actually Eat - Exceptional Value & Heart"

June 2025 - Found this gem after fleeing a tourist trap

Discovered this place after being charged €9 to leave another osteria without eating - what a difference authentic hospitality makes!

The welcome: Before we even ordered, they brought a portion of bread plus their own homemade focaccia. This is how you treat guests properly.

The food (photos attached):

Pici Cacio e Pepe: Handmade pasta that puts Roman versions to shame - creamy, perfectly seasoned, generous portion Ravioli: Obviously made fresh that day, filled with local ricotta and herbs Pecorino selection: Properly aged, served with local honey - you can taste the difference Dessert: €5 for what's actually a proper slice of homemade cake (see photo) - not some tiny restaurant portion

Why this matters: After being scammed at a tourist trap, Permalico restored our faith in Sienese hospitality.

You can tell this is where locals bring their families — always the best sign.

Value proposition: Half what tourist spots charge for twice the quality and portions. The kind of place that makes you fall in love with Italian food culture.

Atmosphere: Unpretentious, warm, focused on the food and experience rather than Instagram appeal. Exactly what you hope to...

Note, not a bad restaurant.

The food was good. We had carpaccio that was nice, followed by two pasta dishes that was good. We shared a steak as «secondi» that was tender and had a good meat taste. But in my opinion could be even more aromatic as the menu said. The Tiramisu we had as a dessert was not authentic, but tasted really good. Would recommend!

Impressive wine collection and you have plenty to choose from. The waitresses was also very helpful in finding what you liked.

So all in all I want to say again that this is not a bad restaurant but I have a few issues that I think be improved.

The waitresses seemed way to busy and that impacts the whole experience. They did a really good job, but seemed stressed and running around with plates all the time with little time to chat with each customer to make the experience better. The manager should hiring more staff.

Drop the digital iPad/tablet for the menu. It’s a plague that should be stopped. Digitalizing is all good but something is better left the more old school traditional way. Bring back the traditional menu or atleast provide on tablet per person.

I would rate this...

We ate here on a busy Sunday night after being turned away from a few other restaurants nearby. We were seated outside on a shared table after waiting about 10 minutes, the waiter organising the tables was very good as it seemed to just be him serving outside. The setting on the steep street is lovely and it was a warm evening so no bother (the inside looked absolutely gorgeous too) We had tartare to share as a starter which was very good then the pappardelle with beef ragu, which we loved and the spaghetti briciole that neither of us were too keen on, it was just a bit too fishy/salty and was missing the kick from chilli to cut through, then we shared the pulled pork, it was a long wait between the pasta and the pork but it was definitely worth it, so juicy and tasty. It was getting late by this point so we got a tiramisu to go which we had later and was possibly one of the best of our trip! Our total bill was €50 including a carafe of the house wine (this was surprisingly good, a very light, drinkable red at €5 for 1/2L) Would absolutely recommended but maybe...