The Verona List
Five editorial picks, ranked by the only filter that matters: why you are dining.
Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli
Giancarlo Perbellini's three-star move into 12 Apostoli — Italy's most venerable restaurant, now its most technically brilliant.
Il Desco
Elia Rizzo's two-star institution — thirty years of quiet excellence in a 16th-century palazzo behind the Arena.
Antica Bottega del Vino
Since 1890 — one of Europe's greatest wine lists, in a rosso-Verona room that has barely changed in a century.
Locanda 4 Cuochi
Four chefs from Il Desco, Caffè Tubino, and Casa Perbellini joined forces — Verona's best-value modern Italian.
Osteria La Fontanina
Across the Adige under Castel San Pietro — the city's most romantic courtyard, since 1963.
Best for First Date in Verona
Intimate, conversation-friendly rooms. Impressive without being intimidating. The tables where first impressions are made.
Locanda 4 Cuochi
Four chefs from Il Desco, Caffè Tubino, and Casa Perbellini joined forces — Verona's best-value modern Italian.
Osteria La Fontanina
Across the Adige under Castel San Pietro — the city's most romantic courtyard, since 1963.
Best for Business Dinner in Verona
Power tables, private rooms, considered wine lists. Where the deal gets done.
Il Desco
Elia Rizzo's two-star institution — thirty years of quiet excellence in a 16th-century palazzo behind the Arena.
Antica Bottega del Vino
Since 1890 — one of Europe's greatest wine lists, in a rosso-Verona room that has barely changed in a century.
The Top 5 in Verona
Our editorial ranking. A single punchy line per restaurant. Click through for the full read.
Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli
Giancarlo Perbellini's three-star move into 12 Apostoli — Italy's most venerable restaurant, now its most technically brilliant.
Il Desco
Elia Rizzo's two-star institution — thirty years of quiet excellence in a 16th-century palazzo behind the Arena.
Antica Bottega del Vino
Since 1890 — one of Europe's greatest wine lists, in a rosso-Verona room that has barely changed in a century.
Locanda 4 Cuochi
Four chefs from Il Desco, Caffè Tubino, and Casa Perbellini joined forces — Verona's best-value modern Italian.
Osteria La Fontanina
Across the Adige under Castel San Pietro — the city's most romantic courtyard, since 1963.
The Verona Dining Guide
Verona is the third city of the Veneto after Venice and Padua, but its dining scene punches well above its tourism weight. The city holds one of Italy's few three-Michelin-starred addresses — Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli — alongside Il Desco at two stars and a deep roster of classical Veronese restaurants built around the Valpolicella and Amarone wine region directly north of the city. The Arena Opera Festival runs each summer; dinner before an opera, in one of the historic rooms, is one of the most characterful evening sequences in Italy.
Beyond the starred kitchens, Verona rewards visitors who wander: neighbourhood bistros that have been in the same family for three generations, chef-driven rooms opened in the past five years that have quietly outperformed their more publicised peers, and seasonal menus that shift with the local produce calendar in ways rigid tasting circuits cannot. We have ranked the first five restaurants here; additional editorial coverage is added monthly.
The city's dining geography is structured across several distinct districts. Piazza Bra and the Arena area for historic rooms and opera-adjacent dining, Piazza delle Erbe for central aperitivo and trattorias, the Soave and Valpolicella hills (20–30 min out) for winery-restaurants, Castel San Pietro for panoramic terrace dining. Each has its own character — the spine of the guide below follows these divisions.
Neighbourhoods
Reservations & Practical Notes
Service and coperto (€3–6 per person) are included. Tipping is not expected; leave 5% at a fine-dining room for outstanding service, or round up to the nearest €10.
For a deeper editorial read, see our ongoing Editorial coverage — including pieces on the Best Restaurants for Every Occasion, and our Impress Clients and First Date occasion guides.