Pisa has the usual variety of bars and restaurants that you find anywhere, from very inexpensive to very expensive. Of course the choice is commensurate to the size of the town, and also to the fact that Pisa is both a university and tourist town. As a consequence, two categories of bars and restaurants are well represented: those targeted to students and locals, which are generally interested in lunches (sandwiches or pasta or fix-price menus); and those targeted to tourists, which generally try to privilege appeareance and service in order to attract those one-time customers.
Bar
In general, bars are very popular during morning hours for coffe (or variants) and pastry. They are typically open between 6-7am and 8pm. Coffee is the main drink consumed in bars. You generally cannot choose the blend other than i'normale' (with caffeine, you don't have to specify as it is the default) or 'decaffeinato' (decaf). The default size is 'espresso' (very short) served in a ceramic cup. You can still multiply your choice by asking it 'lungo' (tall), and have it 'al vetro' (served in a glass cup), and optionally 'macchiato freddo' (a little bit of cold milk) or 'macchiato caldo' (a little bit of warm, foamy milk as the one in the cappuccino). The options for pastry vary a lot depending on the place. In tuscany, at the register you just say 'un pezzo dolce' to indicate that you want a piece of pastry. Typically you have a kind of croissant, very different from the french ones, either empty or filled with a little bit of marmalade or custard. Other popular items are the 'sfoglia' (made of puff pastry, typically with a filling of custard, rice, ricotta) or also the 'budino di riso' (made of pasta frolla and with a filling of rice). Apart from coffe or pastry, of course you will find bottled water (either flat or sparkling, sold by the glass or 500ml or larger bottles), sodas (apart from the usual coke and orange, you will find some peculiar flavours such as 'chinotto', 'cedrata' (cedar) and 'ginger'; also popular, sold by the glass, is a soda called 'spuma' - either blonde, orange or cedar). And of course beer and wine and all sort of alcoholic drinks.
- Casa della Panna - via dei Mille its "caffe` con panna in tazza grande" is a must. Also good icecream.
- Salza - borgo stretto very good pastry, locally made. A bit expensive.
- Lilli - viale delle Piagge good pastry, pleasant location along the river (for a walk).
- Antico Caffe - piazza Giusti 800m from the airport, has good neapolitan pastry (sfogliatella riccia, baba`).
Gelaterie
Ice cream is a popular food in Italy and there are some good places for it in Pisa (you can also find it in bars):
- Bottega del Gelato - piazza Garibaldi
- De Coltell - lungarno Pacinotti 23
- Coppelia- piazza della Berlina
- Casa della Panna - via dei Mille
Pubs
I pubs are mostly located in the central area of the town along the river, that the choice of beers is generally small, and that they often offer a limited choice of food - typically sandwiches and fries. During the warm seasons (april to october) it is very popular for them to sell drinks (in plastic glasses) to be consumed sitting or standing on the river banks. Here, as in restaurants, tipping is not expected nor required:.
- Amaltea - piazza della Berlina
- DAB - via San Bernardo 20 (near via S.Martino)
- Kinzica - lungarno Galilei 30
Restaurants and pizza places
Prices for a meal here vary between 10 and 30 euros depending on the place and on your selection. Remember that typically (but it should specified on the menu), on the list prices you have to add 10-12% 'service', and (not for pizza places) another 2-3 euros for bread and cover. Tipping is not expected nor required. Speaking of pizza, you can find three types of pizza in Pisa. The neapolitan style is very tasty and good, unfortunately very few places know how to make it. The traditional way to make pizza in Pisa is to put them into pans witl a little bit of oil on the bottom, and then cook in the oven - as a result it is tasty and soft but totally different from the neapolitan-style pizza. It is often sold 'al quarto' (in slices) as takeaway. Then there is the third kind of pizza, very thin and not as good as the other two. A popular item, sold in pizza places, is the 'cecina', a salty cake made with chick-pea flour. Typically eaten alone,or as the filler in the 'schiacciata' (round white pizza).
- Pizzeria Vesuvio - via Carducci, neapolitan-style pizza
- Pizzeria Montino - via del Monte, (near Borgo Stretto and via U. Dini), traditional pisa-stile pizza and 'cecina'.
- Pizzeria Bagni di Nerone - Bagni di nerone (end of via carducci, corner via Maffi), traditional pisa-style pizza and 'cecina'.
- La Cereria - via Gori, pizza 'al metro'
If you are looking for more traditional restaurant with decent prices. and average quality, you can look at the following:
- La Tana - via San Frediano
- Trattoria S. Omobono - piazza S. Omobono
- Trattoria I Santi - via S. Maria
- Emilio - via Carlo Cammeo 44
High end restaurants
The restaurants below are on the high end of the price spectrum:
- Osteria dei Cavalieri - via S. Frediano
- Nando - via Contessa Matilde 8 (fish)
- Cagliostro - via del Castelletto 26 (good wine selection)
- La Mescita - via Cavalca 2 (dinner only)
- Osteria del porton rosso - via Porton Rosso 11
- Da Bruno - via Bianchi