Best Anniversary Restaurants in Modena (2026)
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The anniversary pick in Modena for 2026 is Osteria Francescana, Massimo Bottura's three-Michelin-star room, twice the World's Best Restaurant. Editorial runners-up: L'Erba del Re, Hosteria Giusti, Antica Moka and Franceschetta 58.
Three Michelin stars and a tasting menu around €390 sit at one end of this list; €13 tortellini in capon broth sit at the other. Fourteen Modena restaurants sit in our directory; six are worth an anniversary, and here is what each one costs in euros and how to land the table.
Six Modena Tables for an Anniversary
Massimo Bottura takes three Michelin stars and two World's Best Restaurant titles into a twelve-table room at Via Stella 22, and the reservation is the hardest part: the online calendar opens a few months out and the dates vanish the same day. The test course is the Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano; when a kitchen makes one cheese taste like five textures, the €390 tasting earns the milestone.
Luca Marchini has held a Michelin star at L'Erba del Re since 2008, a few minutes' walk off Piazza Grande at Via Castelmaraldo 45. Order the tortellino bugiardo, the 'lying' tortellino with no filling that tastes of the broth it never met. The lunch tasting runs about €70, the evening menus €130 to €165. Book a week or two out and ask for the quieter back room.
Four tables sit behind the 1605 Giusti salumeria on Via Farini 75, and Laura Galli's tortellini in capon broth is the Modena benchmark. The catch is access: Giusti serves lunch only, Tuesday to Saturday, and four tables means the book fills weeks ahead, so email the day reservations open. Around €110 a head. The most romantic anniversary lunch in the city if you can land a seat.
Anna Maria Barbieri runs Antica Moka as a family kitchen on the Via Emilia at number 1496, with a 900-label cellar a sommelier would cross town for. The tortellini come dressed with the family's traditional balsamic, and a full dinner lands near €100. A calm, white-clothed room east of the centre for an anniversary that wants the wine list more than the spectacle.
Bottura's casual room sits on Strada Vignolese 58, chef Francesco Vincenzi cooking a €48 to €65 tasting at a fraction of the Francescana bill. Order the Tortellante tortellini, hand-rolled by the Modena association of young adults with autism that the restaurant supports. Book a week out; this is the anniversary for a couple who wants the Bottura hand without the months-long wait.
Marco Bianco and Mauro Calzolari plate Modena's tortellini in capon broth for about €13 at Trattoria Il Fantino on Via Donzi 7, no creative menu and no pretension. A full dinner runs €35 to €45 a head. Walk-ins are possible midweek but call for a weekend table. The honest, low-light trattoria anniversary, central enough to walk to from any hotel.
How to Book, and What It Costs
Book Osteria Francescana the day its online calendar opens, usually a few months out, because the dates go within hours. Hosteria Giusti has only four tables and serves lunch only, so reserve weeks ahead and email rather than call. L'Erba del Re, Antica Moka, Franceschetta 58 and Il Fantino take weekend tables one to two weeks out; tell the room it is an anniversario.
The range runs from €35 to €45 a head at Il Fantino to about €390 for the tasting at Osteria Francescana. L'Erba del Re is €70 at lunch, €130 to €165 at dinner. Hosteria Giusti and Antica Moka land near €100 to €110, Franceschetta 58 €48 to €65. The smaller kitchens will hold a quiet corner table and most will not rush the courses.
Frequently Asked Questions
The editorial pick is Osteria Francescana, Massimo Bottura's three-Michelin-star room at Via Stella 22, twice named the World's Best Restaurant, with a tasting menu around €390. For a traditional Emilian anniversary at a fraction of the spend, Hosteria Giusti's four-table lunch and Antica Moka's family kitchen both plate tortellini worth the trip.
Plan on €35 to €110 a head before wine at the trattorie: Il Fantino €35 to €45, Franceschetta 58 €48 to €65, Antica Moka near €100, Hosteria Giusti near €110. L'Erba del Re runs €70 at lunch to €165 for the evening tasting. The splurge is Osteria Francescana, where the tasting menu reaches about €390.
Book Osteria Francescana the day its online calendar opens, usually a few months out, because the dates go within hours. Hosteria Giusti has only four tables and serves lunch only, so reserve weeks ahead. L'Erba del Re, Antica Moka, Franceschetta 58 and Il Fantino take weekend tables one to two weeks out; tell them it is an anniversary.
Trattoria Il Fantino gives the most for the spend: Modena's benchmark tortellini in capon broth for about €13 a plate and a full dinner at €35 to €45. Franceschetta 58 is the next step up at €48 to €65 for a Bottura-group tasting. Both leave room in the budget for the wine an anniversary deserves.
The Modenesi send first-timers to Hosteria Giusti behind the 1605 salumeria on Via Farini, where Laura Galli's tortellini in capon broth set the standard, and to Trattoria Il Fantino on Via Donzi for the everyday version at about €13. Antica Moka on the Via Emilia plates them with the family's traditional balsamic.