What to Eat in Puglia: Where Locals Eat, Masserie, Wine & Food Tours

The short version: in Puglia, eat orecchiette with cime di rapa, focaccia barese and raw seafood at the old port in Bari, an octopus sandwich in Polignano a Mare, bombette, the little grilled pork rolls, in the Itria Valley, and pasticciotto and rustico in Lecce. Start with a slice of focaccia at Panificio Adriatico in Bari, eat orecchiette and bombette at Terranima, and book the Bib Gourmand Osteria Piazzetta Cattedrale in Ostuni for dinner. Drink Primitivo di Manduria and Negroamaro with meat, and the white Locorotondo DOC with fish. Puglia is spread out, so on a short trip a food tour, a masseria cooking class or a wine day with a driver is the shortcut. Below: what to eat, where to eat it town by town, the wineries and olive mills to visit, and the experiences worth booking.

What to eat in Puglia, and where to eat it

Where to eat in Puglia

Puglia is long, and each part eats differently: seafood and street food on the coast around Bari, Polignano a Mare and Monopoli, grilled meat and pasta inland in the Itria Valley of trulli and white towns, and pastries and cucina povera in Lecce and the Salento. You need a car for the masserie, the fornelli and the wineries. Two rules help. In the Itria Valley, eat at a fornello: you choose raw meat at the butcher’s counter and they grill it for you. And out of season, call ahead: many restaurants, especially seaside ones, close or shorten their hours in winter.

Bari

Start the day with focaccia. Panificio Adriatico on Via Nicola de Giosa, a family bakery since 1932, bakes focaccia and filled focacce and opens every day, in the morning and again in the late afternoon. Then walk into Bari Vecchia. On Strada Arco Basso, the women of the old town shape orecchiette on wooden boards outside their doors and sell it to take home; there have been reports of stalls passing off factory pasta as handmade, so buy from someone you can see making it. For panzerotti, Mastrociccio on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II has a whole menu of them.

For lunch or dinner, Terranima on Via Putignani is the reliable address for Apulian cooking: orecchiette with cime di rapa or with braciole ragù, tiella barese, and bombette made with Martina Franca capocollo. Behind the Swabian castle, Al Pescatore is the place for a full seafood meal, chosen from a counter of fresh fish. For spaghetti all’assassina, go where it was born more than half a century ago, Al Sorso Preferito on Via De Nicolò. For a modern dinner, La Bul (Michelin listing) opens Monday to Saturday evenings.

Polignano a Mare and Monopoli

In Polignano, Pescaria is the seafood street food stop: order the octopus panino, a prawn panino or one of the raw-fish tartares. There are queues at mealtimes, so go late morning or mid-afternoon. For a seafood dinner, Da Tuccino (Michelin listing) on the seafront outside town is known for raw preparations and a fish counter; it is closed on Mondays. To finish, order a caffè speciale, the town’s own sweetened coffee with lemon zest, amaretto and cream, which you only find in Polignano.

In Monopoli, Radimare (Michelin listing) cooks seasonal fish and seafood à la carte at mid-range prices; it is closed on Mondays and serves dinner only from Tuesday to Thursday. Outside town, Orto (Michelin listing) is a farm-to-table restaurant with two tasting menus, one fully plant-based; it is closed on Tuesdays and Sundays. On the coast, Lido Bianco on Via Procaccia serves the catch of the day for lunch and dinner and is closed on Mondays.

Alberobello, Locorotondo and the Itria Valley

This is the place for meat. In the historic centre of Martina Franca, Macelleria Centro Storico on Via Garibaldi is a butcher’s that sells local meat and also cooks it for you in a wood-fired oven; it is closed on Sundays. For a sit-down meal in Alberobello, Ristorante L’Aratro, in the trulli district on Via Monte San Michele, cooks local cucina povera such as orecchiette with cime di rapa; reserve in high season. Evo Ristorante (Michelin listing) is the creative option, with themed tasting menus built on Puglian produce; it is closed on Wednesdays.

In the old town of Locorotondo, Osteria Il Rosone cooks traditional Apulian dishes, lightly updated, with vegetables from the owners’ garden and local meat. Near Martina Franca, Bros’ Trattoria (Michelin listing) is a Bib Gourmand in a trullo by Relais Villa San Martino, cooking Apulian dishes and grills; it is closed on Mondays, opens for dinner from Tuesday to Friday and for lunch and dinner at weekends. For wine, Cantina MIR on Piazza Aldo Moro runs guided cellar visits and tastings, including a vineyard picnic.

Ostuni and the masserie

In the white town of Ostuni, Osteria Piazzetta Cattedrale (Michelin listing) holds a Bib Gourmand for regional cooking from land and sea, with a small traditional tasting menu; it is closed on Tuesdays and books by phone. Taverna della Gelosia, tucked away in the lanes of the old town, pairs Apulian cooking with a chef’s creativity. Trattoria Sapere e Sapori, next to the cathedral square, mixes tradition and innovation, and Osteria Ricanatti (Michelin listing) is known for handmade pasta and grilled meat. In the historic centre, Osteria del Tempo Perso cooks in the Apulian tradition in two old rooms; book ahead.

The masserie, the fortified farmhouses of the countryside, are where Puglia does its slow lunches and dinners. Near Ostuni, Masseria Moroseta (Michelin listing) cooks dinners from its own farm and garden. At Borgo Egnazia in Savelletri, Due Camini holds a Michelin star (Michelin listing) for vegetarian Mediterranean tasting menus, Tuesday to Saturday evenings. Inland at Ceglie Messapica, Cibus (Michelin listing) is a Bib Gourmand where the dish to order is marretto di agnello, lamb offal with roast potatoes; it is closed on Tuesdays.

Lecce

Breakfast in Lecce is a warm pasticciotto, eaten standing at the bar of any café in the old town with a caffè leccese, iced espresso with almond milk. Later in the morning, the bars and bakeries bring out warm rustici. For lunch, Alle Due Corti is the trattoria for traditional Salento and Lecce cooking, such as ciceri e tria; book ahead. For a special night, Primo Restaurant holds a Michelin star (Michelin listing) for chef Solaika Marrocco’s tasting menus.

The Salento coast

South of Lecce, in Gallipoli, eat fresh fish on the sea-view terrace of Il Bastione on the Riviera Nazario Sauro. In Otranto, Laltro Baffo cooks contemporary Salento fish dishes, with five- or seven-course tasting menus. Inland at Supersano, Masseria Le Stanzie, an old farm estate with underground olive presses, cooks seasonal farm food; booking is advised.

Names link to Google Maps for directions. We checked these places in October 2026. Opening days change, especially out of season, so check before you go.

Where to shop for food

In Bari, the orecchiette makers of Strada Arco Basso are the old town’s real market, and in Martina Franca, Macelleria Centro Storico sells local meat to take home. In Ostuni, Osteria Piazzetta Cattedrale also sells its fresh pasta, bread and cakes. For olive oil, visit a masseria near Ostuni: Masseria Il Frantoio, a farm founded in 1500 on the SS16, makes DOP extra virgin oil and offers olive oil tastings, and Masseria Valente, a fortified late-18th-century masseria in the Ostuni countryside, has a restored underground olive mill and sells its own three extra virgin oils.

What to drink in Puglia

Puglia’s reds are big and warm. Primitivo, at its richest as Primitivo di Manduria near Taranto, suits grilled meat and bombette. Negroamaro is the grape of the Salento, made as a dark red and as rosato, the pink wine to order with fish in summer. In the Itria Valley, Locorotondo DOC is a fresh white, good with seafood and burrata. In Manduria, the cooperative Produttori di Manduria, making Primitivo since 1932, keeps the Museum of Primitivo Wine Culture in its old underground cisterns; book a guided visit, which can include a tasting. In Locorotondo, taste at Cantina MIR. For more cellars, see our Puglia wine tours guide.

Food experiences to book in Puglia

The best of Puglia’s food happens in places you cannot easily reach alone: masseria kitchens, olive mills among ancient trees and family wineries down country lanes. A cooking class in a masseria, where you learn orecchiette, an olive oil tasting or a wine day with a driver solves the distances, and a street food tour in Bari or Lecce shows you the bakeries and stalls in one morning.

Our pick: the Bari Street Food Walking Tour with a Local, rated 4.9 (845) on GetYourGuide.

Ratings as shown on GetYourGuide in October 2026. Check the listing for live prices and availability.

Food day trips in Puglia

Base yourself in one area and spend a day in another. From Bari or Polignano, the Itria Valley is the classic inland day: trulli in Alberobello, a butcher’s lunch in Martina Franca and a glass of Locorotondo. From Lecce, head south through Galatina to the Salento coast, or west to Manduria for Primitivo. For the pasta, read our orecchiette guide; for oil, the Puglia olive oil tours guide; and for Lecce’s street food, Lecce food tours.

Frequently asked questions

What is the one dish to eat in Puglia?

Orecchiette con cime di rapa. Eat them at Terranima in Bari or L’Aratro in Alberobello, and buy fresh orecchiette from the women on Strada Arco Basso.

Where do locals eat in Puglia?

At the bakery counter for focaccia (Panificio Adriatico in Bari), and inland at butcher’s shops that cook the meat you choose, such as Macelleria Centro Storico in Martina Franca.

Where can I eat cheaply?

Street food is the cheap way to eat: focaccia from Panificio Adriatico and panzerotti from Mastrociccio in Bari, the octopus panino at Pescaria in Polignano a Mare, and a pasticciotto at any bar in Lecce.

Are restaurants open in autumn and winter?

Many restaurants, especially on the coast, close or shorten their hours in winter, so call before you go.

Do I need to book?

For dinner at Osteria Piazzetta Cattedrale, Alle Due Corti and the masserie, yes. Pescaria has queues at mealtimes, so go late morning or mid-afternoon.

Which wines should I try?

Primitivo di Manduria and Negroamaro reds, Negroamaro rosato and the white Locorotondo DOC. Visit the wine museum at Produttori di Manduria or taste at Cantina MIR in Locorotondo.

Is a cooking class worth it in Puglia?

Yes: making orecchiette in a masseria kitchen is one of the region’s best experiences. Compare the options above or on our Puglia cooking classes page.

Plan your Puglia food trip

Puglia food and wine experiences · Puglia cooking classes · Bari food tours and orecchiette classes · Lecce food tours · Puglia wine tours · Puglia olive oil tastings · Orecchiette in Puglia · Lecce food tours guide · Puglia wine tours guide · Puglia olive oil tours guide