Given Forno Brisa’s motto “fanculo la dieta” (fuck diets), you can trust this independent bakery enterprise for carbs. The team emphasizes slow, wild fermentation, ancient grains, and an all-inclusive work culture. Come here to see how Bologna does bread artistry, third-wave coffee, savory breakfast pastries, and vegan cakes. Plus, if you’re craving a slice, Brisa offers highly digestible, Roman-style pizza with delightful flavor hits like ’nduja and burrata, anchovies, or classic tomato. They offer craft wines by the glass and bottles to take away with the pizza, too.

Parmigiano-Reggiano lovers rejoice; this shop was built for you. Emilia-Romagna boasts the highest number of DOP food products — including the storied aged cheese — protected by Italian law of any region in the entire country. At Al Regno Della Forma, you can trust you’re getting the real thing, made by extremely specific production protocols. Walk into the shop and you’ll be inebriated with the nutty aromas of the Parmigiano wheels lining the walls, alongside a dizzying array of other Italian cheeses. If you’re looking for food souvenirs to take home, bring back a slab of this concentrated dairy umami to tide you over until the next visit.

Ristorante al Pappagallo, opened in 1919, closed after a century in September 2022. It reopened soon after as Bottega Pappagallo, a fast-casual bottega focusing on high-quality, traditional, fresh pasta. Dishes are sold to go, so you can conveniently enjoy gold-standard tortellini anywhere, or to eat in, when items are dressed in broth or an umami-rich Parmigiano sauce. The trusted sfogline (pasta masters) fold every tortellino in an open kitchen before chef Federico Gasbarro plates them up.

Chef-owner Elisa Rusconi has quickly earned numerous accolades in the male-dominated Bologna dining scene since opening in 2015. Her fervor is evident in the trattoria’s complex menu, which melds influences from her Sicilian father’s home cooking (taglioni with tomato and soft squacquerone cheese), local staples like lasagna (served on Sundays), and her own creative takes, such as a starter of savory cheese gelato or licorice saffron risotto.

The team of young chefs at Ahimè produce fermentation-forward, casually creative dining in a city known for heavy traditional fare, breathing life into Bologna’s nonexistent modernist dining scene. While the restaurant is generally underappreciated by some locals, Ahimè has found its own open-minded clientele, who tend to lean international. Start with slow-risen sourdough with juniper butter alongside free-range salami and oyster plates from the nearby Po Valley delta before digging into flavorful small plates like squash ravioli accented by apricot vinegar, turnips with lardo, gnocchi in dashi and parsley oil, and roasted brassicas with miso and various fruit-ferment reductions. Then move onto the gummy bear-inspired spaghetti with wild licorice or chitarra tossed in duck liver and lemon, along with meaty offerings such as duck tartare dusted with berbere spices. Desserts are simple, like baked quince with fresh whipped cream and crushed dried rose.

This craft coffee roaster has been sourcing single-origin coffee beans and whole-leaf teas in Bologna since 2002. The brand’s coffee is served around the city, but the original bar is a delight, with its sophisticated vintage decor and dainty details down to the ceramics.

The ultimate wine bar for natural wine enthusiasts and charcuterie lovers, Enoteca Faccioli has a classy interior fit more for bankers and lawyers than for the funky crowd natural wines tend to attract. However, the tagliere (charcuterie) plates are a must, composed of artisan cheeses and local cured-meat specialties, including mortadella from one of Bologna’s last wholly artisanal producers, Pasquini. The wall is covered with wines from around the boot, but insider advice is to explore the lesser-sung wine region of the Emilia-Romagna and its small yet fascinating selection of indigenous wines, plus Lambruscos made in the style of Champagne.

Trattoria Bertozzi is a little off the beaten path (about a 30-minute walk from the heart of the city center or a 10-minute taxi ride), but the journey along tree-lined residential streets charms those who decide to make the trek to one of Bologna’s best traditional trattorias. Tables inside are few and fill up, so booking in advance is a must — though there is additional veranda seating for nice days. You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu, but the trattoria does make one of Bologna’s best plates of gramigna, a type of hollow, corkscrew macaroni. The Bertozzi version is smothered in a bold, fragrant saffron and Parmesan cream with zucchini, at times with crispy guanciale. The restaurant has a decent bubbles fridge and an extensive wine cellar; the staff don’t offer up a list but instead pair according to your wishes.

Craft beer lovers should make a stop at this contemporary pub, which started in San Lazzaro (a suburb of Bologna) before opening this outpost within the city walls. Beyond the selection of craft beers, there are also natural wines and modern cocktails made with ingredients like hop infusions and homemade shrubs. The food menu consists of gastropub staples like fatty panini, made with fillings like mortadella or pulled pork between slices of bread from respected local bakeries, along with charcuterie boards with meats and cheese from nearby small producers.

This vintage restaurant sports Parisian vibes with the attitude to match. Come for the pasta (including some of the best tagliatelle in ragù in town), gourmet versions of cotoletta (like mortadella in lieu of prosciutto served in a buttery Parmigiano fondue), soup du jour, French cheese plates, fine wine, and a cozy cabin atmosphere spackled in old-timey photos of notable opera icons like Pavarotti.

Tucked into a hard-to-find alley, Ruggine, formerly a bike workshop, is part vintage craft cocktail bar, part pub. The food is decent, but come for the drinks in one of Bologna’s artsy enclaves. The bartenders have respectful command of classic cocktails, utilizing bottles from independent distillers and an ace ice machine (as a compromise between the hand-carved ice of mixologists and the slivers of quick-melting cubes that can ruin even the best Negroni). Given the quality, consistency, and service, this spot can get crowded.

Florence and Rome get most of the attention for Italian gelato, but Bologna deserves equal accolades, albeit with a smaller selection of quality scoops to choose from. After all, just outside Bologna is a gelato university operated by the country’s leading gelato machine manufacturers, Carpigiani. Cremeria Santo Stefano is the poster child for a truly artisanal, old-fashioned Italian gelateria. The space is cozy and quaint, and owner, gelato master, and chocolatier Mattia Cavallari has a discerning eye when sourcing caliber cacao, crafting distinct chocolates, and churning dreamy patisserie cream. The pistachio flavors are especially worth traveling for; there are two types, both made with nuts toasted in house: a Turkish-sourced salty pistachio and a Sicilian variety from the volcanic region of Bronte.

Despite being hidden off the main thoroughfares, this casual, homey osteria is always bustling. Husband-and-wife team Antonella De Sanctis (front of house) and Mirco Carati (in the kitchen) opened the humble eatery in 2005. The pair whip up an ever-changing traditional menu written on construction paper taped to the walls or on a chalkboard. A meal includes fresh pastas, crescentine (Bologna’s fried bread pillows), local cured meats, seasonal takes on local pastas such as tagliatelle with asparagus, Italian peasant dishes like grilled capocollo with cardoons, and cheese-centric sweets to finish. The owners choose simple wines they like to drink themselves.