La Bettola Del Grillo 2 - SAN GIMIGNANO

We went there off-season. Not many tourists, but filled with locals. The food was good traditional Italien dissed, nothing fancy, but authentic and tasty. The table wine was ok, but they have a good, reasonably priced wine-list if you want to become more sophisticated.

Dreadful food: rubbery, bland chicken. Tasteless pasta. Poor wine was recommended by the waiter. Slow service. A lot of other customers sat on the terrace also looked underwhelmed by the food. Absolutely no atmosphere at all!

Having checked out several restaurants on the main tourist trails in San Gimignano, my partner picked this one for dinner, some way along a side street. It turned out to be a brilliant choice. In addition to it's semi basement indoor seating, there is a mid size terrace with a view at the back, where we secured a table and watched the sun sinking slowly in the sky. If the weather is fine, I would favour the terrace over the indoor space. We ordered up a bottle of Vernaccia di San Gimignano (I highly recommend this varietal when ordered locally). After some discussion with our waitress we shared a really excellent wild boar tagliatelle as a starter, followed by thin sliced roast pork and potatoes for my partner and a Toscana salad for me. After letting that settle, we had the torta della casa betwen us. The quality and flavours of all the dishes reflected a thoughtful, local kitchen with respect for its customers. The two waiters who served us were super, and treated us as serious guests, not as tourists unlikely ever to return. Efficient, helpful and knowledgeable. I don't understand a number of the negative reviews here. The food is genuine, the staff effective and friendly, the location is much less touristy than most San Gimignano restaurants appear to be, and locals clearly eat here. A pre booked table for 10 slowly filled up beside us as we ate clearly a local dinner group which had chosen this location, not just stumbled upon it. If you want cheap and touristy, or pizza and a house wine, or to be sure that everything on the menu is available on the day, then I suggest there are better restaurants for you in San Gimignano. But if you prefer a more laid back environment, locally sourced food, a kitchen that cares, and staff who seem to know what they are doing (and do it graciously), then La Bettola del Grillo 2 should do you just fine.

Food was outstanding, seated beside a wall of glass with a spectacular view of the countryside around gorgeous San Gimignano.

We stopped for a luncheon after a short rental drive from Firenze. We were nicely welcomed and seated, promptly and attentively served for a reasonable cost, and did enjoy the pasta, vino, and pizza; and the wonderful view to the north of San Gimiglano.