Below is a sample of some restaurants in the historic centre of Lecce:
Il Rifugio della Buona Stella: a wonderful trattoria and a third-generation family restaurant in a gorgeous Leccese building with sandy stone walls and medieval decor.
Address via L. Prato, 20. Tel: 08321810511
La Torre di Merlino. It's hard to imagine that anyone couldn't be satisfied by the Merlino's all-encompassing menu, which includes (according to Lonely planet) the best pizza in Lecce, some stalwart Puglian pasta dishes, and innovative modern main courses. Creative but not pretentious. Address via Giambattista Del Tufo, 10. Tel. 0832242091
Blu Notte. Highly recommended by locals, this place is famed for its spectacular antipasti and wonderful seafood. It’s a relaxed, pretty place, just by Porta San Biagio at the edge of the bar district, with outside tables. Address via M. Brancaccio, 3 Tel.0832304286
Trattorie Le zie. Ring the bell to gain entry to this place that feels like a private home, with its patterned cement floor tiles, desk piled high with papers. It's known locally as simply le Zie (the aunts). Here you'll taste true cucina povera , including horse meat done in a salsa piccante (spicy sauce). Booking is a must. Address. Via Costadura 19 Tel: 0832-245178/ 339 4640452
Trattoria di Nonna Tetti restaurant on the Piazzetta Regina Maria keeps things simple. The décor is a humble amalgam of rough stone, tiles and wood. The culinary components are equally rustic, as befits a restaurant specializing in cucina povera, the “poor people’s food” that has traditionally made up the local diet and is now gaining favor among foodies for its authentic salt-of-the-earth flavors and healthy Mediterranean ingredients. Address: Piazzetta Regina Maria, 17 Tel. 0832246036
Wine bars in Via Umberto I, north of the Basilica of Santa Croce: as night falls, grad student types and young professionals fill their stone-vaulted interiors and spill onto crowded sidewalk tables. Decorated with books, artworks and shelves of wine bottles, boho-cool Vineria Santa Cruz has a lengthy wine list that includes a regional primitivo. Nearby at Shui, the suspended contemporary lighting creates a medieval-modern ambience in the stone chapel-like interior. Salice from the Cantele winery, made from the negroamaro grape, is acidic and juicy.
Vineria Santa Cruz, Via Umberto I 25; (39-0348) 771-3559. Shui,Via Umberto I 21.
Tucked next to Piazza del Duomo, Doppiozero is a hip, modern, delicatessen-style restaurant. Under a jazzy soundtrack, convivial groups fill long communal tables illuminated by abstract arty lamps made from half-melted glass bottles. Address: Via Guglielmo Paladini, Tel. 0832-521-052.