Last updated September 2026
San Marino is its own landlocked country inside Italy, situated right between Emilia Romagna and the Marche, a 30-minute drive inland from Rimini and the Adriatic coast. San Marino has nine castelli, or, generally translated, municipalities, with “Città” being the most popular of the municipalities with tourists. Città di San Marino is located at the tip-top of San Marino, on Monte Titano, boasting both mountain and sea views, as well as a walkable old town and its three castle-like towers.
While the food can be iffy, San Marino restaurant views are on point.
While San Marino is a fully operational country with its own customs, food, and culture, to many tourists, San Marino, particularly Città di San Marino, is somewhat of a “gimmick.” An easy way to tick off another country while visiting Italy, and a pretty place to stop for a few hours, take photos, and depart back into Italy. As such, many restaurants in Città are simply not great, because there is no reason to be. They cater to tourists who are looking to get in and out and will never return (at least not in the near future). This results in a lot of not wonderful meals. In planning our trip, I did a DEEP dive into San Marino restaurants and found some winners, and one big loser. This post details where you should eat and drink, and where you should not eat and drink in San Marino based on my personal experience. For the rest of the trip, including where we stayed, the towers, and the cableway, here is how we spent a long weekend in San Marino.
What is the best restaurant in Città, San Marino?
The best restaurant in Città di San Marino is Ghetto da Ottavio. I found this restaurant on Facebook (of all places!) and it is incredible. Owned by locals, with Sammarinese patrons and Sammarinese staff . The food was fantastic, homemade, and featured numerous San Marino specialties, such as local pasta dishes, San Marino wine, and the famous Torta Tre Monti dessert. No views, but the food makes up for it. Make a reservation in advance. We wished that we had come back a second night for dinner. The cover photo is from Ghetto da Ottavio.
A Sammarinese sampler.
Where to have aperitivo in Città, San Marino?
Aperitivo, or pre-dinner drinks, in San Marino is a bit of an easier task, and something you should absolutely prioritize, as the views are insane. The best aperitivo in Città di San Marino is the bar at Ristorante Cesare, followed by Bar Piadineria La Capanna.
The entrance to Città, San Marino.
Ristorante Cesare
The bar at Ristorante Cesare is located inside Hotel Cesare right as you enter Città di San Marino through the old town wall. Go inside to the small bar in the back, order a cocktail, pay there, and take the cocktail to the small patio attached to the restaurant to enjoy with amazing views of the surrounding mountains. There is no specific “drink” menu, so you need to know what you want without reviewing a menu. It made an excellent Select Spritz (which we learned about in Rome!). This drink is an Aperol Spritz but made with Select liqueur instead of Aperol.
The bar at Ristorante Cesare.
A Select Spritz at Ristorante Cesare (at Hotel Cesare).
Bar Piadineria La Capanna
The second aperitivo spot I enjoyed is an unassuming restaurant in Città di San Marino between Hotel Cesare and the start of the walk to the towers called Bar Piadineria La Capanna. La Capanna has an outdoor seating area with wonderful views. Unlike Ristorante Cesare, La Capanna has a full cocktail menu to select from. Prices are reasonable. We enjoyed more drinks here, including a simple Fernet and soda.
Drinks at La Capanna.
La Capanna also serves simple food. The piadina here, along with standard frites, were quite good.
A piadina at La Capanna.
Frites at Bar La Capanna.
Where to have gelato in Città, San Marino?
The best gelato in Città di San Marino is Antica Gelateria. While strolling around town, we grabbed walking gelato at Antica Gelateria. Located on a main street not too far from Bar Piadineria La Capanna, Antica Gelateria serves gelato out of silver tins, as is proper, and it’s not crazy neon-colored. All good signs of great gelato in a touristy area. While I cannot say that this is the best gelato in all of San Marino, I am confident it is the best in Città. I ordered the stracciatella (fior di latte and chocolate) and zabaione, a custardy-style gelato made with egg yolks with a slightly boozy flavor (I first had it on a food tour way back in 2018 in Rome!).
Where to go wine tasting in San Marino?
Yes, of course San Marino makes wine, but the only wine tasting easily accessible to the public is at Cantina di San Marino. San Marino is close to two great Italian wine regions, Emilia Romagna and Marche, and it has similar, yet distinct, wine growing terroir. I wanted to visit an actual winery in San Marino, but that is not really a “thing.” Instead, we made a tasting reservation at Cantina di San Marino, which is a consortium of grape growers in San Marino that come together to produce Sammarinese wine and sell it to the public. Cantina di San Marino offers wine tasting to the public at a cost of 15 euro (basic tasting) or 18 euro (riserve tasting) per person (as of May 2026), which includes three glasses of wine paired with San Marino meats, cheese, and bread. Visitors can also purchase wine by the bottle or by the glass if you want to try more. The Cantina is located about 10 minutes down the hill from Città di San Marino- we took a taxi. We saw no other tourists, and really enjoyed this “foodie” activity. The tasting is also part of our San Marino weekend itinerary.
We started with a white wine.
Local salami from San Marino. This was delicious.
Local cheese.
Local bread.
Me at Cantina San Marino.
Where not to eat in San Marino?
This may be a hot take, but our meal at La Terrazza Ristorante was the worst meal of our entire 10-day trip through San Marino and Italy, and probably the worst meal we have ever had in the Italian adjacent world. Like numerous restaurants in Città di San Marino, La Terrazza Ristorante bills itself as an upscale restaurant offering stunning views of San Marino, particularly at sunset. Located on Monte Titano just next to Piazza della Libertà, the sweeping views are wonderful. What is not wonderful, however, is its food. Between three of us, we split three pastas and two starters. Nothing was great, and some were just bad. We did not even stay for dessert. The prices matched the view, not the food. I have heard that many of the “view” restaurants are like this, so proceed with caution if you are booking such a restaurant.
The views were incredible.
One of the pasta dishes. We had to give it some taste by loading it up with cheese.
Cheese couldn’t help this one.
How do you find good places to eat in San Marino?
The restaurant to skip in Città di San Marino is La Terrazza Ristorante.
Finding a good restaurant in San Marino takes luck, a lot of internet research, or knowing a local. It doesn’t help that a lot of San Marino restaurants don’t have a large web presence and don’t have an easy way to make reservations. San Marino is also difficult to get around at night without a car, so you are largely limited to the castelli where you are staying unless you want to take a pricey taxi to another castello from Città.
Città, San Marino. You can see the touristy shops to the side, showing just how touristy it is.
One restaurant that I really wanted to try, and receives great local reviews, is Cacio e Pepe, located right on the border of Città di San Marino and Borgo Maggiore, which claims to serve traditional Roman pasta dishes (like its name suggests). We ended up skipping Cacio e Pepe due to distance from our hotel and lack of a car. I also wanted to try Altro Gelato in Domagnano, which apparently serves excellent gelato, but we did not make it down that far into San Marino. Next time!
Cost of Restaurants in San Marino
Given the touristy nature of Città di San Marino, restaurants are a bit more pricey than in other areas. That being said, nothing was too pricey, and nothing felt expensive compared to NYC prices. Below is a menu, with prices in 2026, from La Terrazza Ristorante, which is one of the nicer and more expensive restaurants in San Marino. Starters ranged from 15 to 16 euro, with pastas ranging from 15 to 18 euro. Mains were more expensive.
La Terrazza Ristorante.
You will find less expensive restaurants if you leave the Città area of San Marino.
How to pay?
Almost all restaurants in Città di San Marino accept credit card. If not, San Marino, despite not being in the EU, uses the euro as currency. Fun fact – San Marino uses the euro under a monetary agreement with the EU and mints its own euro coins! Sit-down restaurants bring a bill at the close of the meal, while bar drinks and gelato are generally paid when ordered.
STEAL OUR TRIP
Hotel Cesare (Ristorante Cesare): Salita Alla Rocca, 7, 47890 Città di San Marino, San Marino.
Ghetto da Ottavio: Contrada Santa Croce, 29, 47890 Città di San Marino, San Marino. Open Wednesday through Monday 12:00 PM to 11:00 PM. Reservations recommended. I made a reservation via Facebook Messenger.
Antica Gelateria: Contrada dei Fossi, 21, 47890 Città di San Marino, San Marino. No website or hours publicly listed.
Cantina di San Marino: Strada Serrabolino, 89, 47893 Valdragone, San Marino. Open Monday to Friday 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM and 2:30 PM to 6:30 PM and Saturday 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Closed Sunday. Email for a tasting.
La Terrazza Ristorante: Contrada del Collegio, 31, 47890 Città di San Marino, San Marino. Open daily 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM and 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Reservations recommended.
Cacio e Pepe: Strada di San Gianno, 48B, 47890, San Marino. Open Tuesday to Saturday 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM and 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, Sunday 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM. Closed Monday.
Altro Gelato: Via XXV Marzo, 4, 47895 Domagnano, San Marino. Open Monday – Friday 12:00 PM to 10:30 PM, Saturday 3:00 PM to 10:30 PM and Sunday 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM to 10:30 PM.
San Marino Taxi: This is the taxi company that I personally used, referred to me by Hotel Cesare. I contacted San Marino Taxi via email. The owner was responsive via email and WhatsApp. Email: infotaxisanmarino@libero.it. WhatsApp: +39 331 628 2025.