Pizza & Co.
…I also want to assert that this is a fantastic pizzeria, that I visit often and I am not slagging it off at all. Other than my semantics about dough (which I realise for many are boring and tiresome) they are obviously as Italian as it gets. The ingredients are excellent and are always fresh (the pizzeria is always busy and they never make pizzas too far in advance). In fact I’m not sure you’ll find a fresher cooked slice anywhere else in Lecce. I’ve often dropped in for a ‘quick’ slice and then walked off, slice in hand, only to find myself turning back around to go and get another one. And then another one. In fact a good tip (especially if all the tables are full) is to eat on the steps of the church next door. My advice: get a slice and a beer and settle in, bum-on-steps, for a couple of rounds of pizza… until you’re definitely full. I can tell you from experience that this is much more relaxing and efficient than constantly walking up and down Via Giuseppe Libertini, as lovely as it is, telling yourself you’re not going to eat anymore pizza, when clearly, you are.
You can also order a whole pizza which they’ll cook for you to order (which is massive and requires about 4 people to get through).
Pizza & Co. is already a well known pizzeria in Lecce especially amongst the tourist community, and with good reason. They know their way around flavour extremely well and deliver slice after slice after slice.
Just Desi
I’ve never visited India so I can’t speak to its real authenticity, but every plate I’ve had in Just Desi packs that classic spiced and fragrant flavour punch signature to indian food, whilst also being in someway lighter than I’m accustomed too. I’m used to eating really heavy curry, but after eating a takeway from Just Desi you don’t feel like you need to enter a deep, 6 month, digestion-hibernation period. It just doesn’t destroy you like that.
Samosas are big, super crispy and well spiced. Chicken Curry is similar to what gets labelled ‘Korma’ in the UK, but with a touch more spice and less creaminess. When you go in they have the currys on a dispense counter, so I tend to just point at things and have a little chat and decide that way. We usually get another chicken curry with a rich and spicy vegetable sauce, but I’ve no idea what its called I’m afraid. Dahl is wonderful, although a tad thin for me, but its still so good I order it every time.
Takeaway portions are massive, eat-in portions are pretty small, I believe the prices are the same. I leave you to work out where the value for money is there.
Juras
At the time of writing Juras is probably the best burger I’ve eaten in Lecce. It’s because their meat is the closest thing I’ve had here to that kind of juicy soft chuck style patty you get in the UK/US. And the medium was almost medium. The buns are a bit bappy, with the maccy d’s style sesame finish, but basically everything else is either good or great.
Il Pizzicotto (#2 Via Taranto)
On it’s day Il Pizzicotto is easily as good as any of Rome’s world renowned Pizza al Taglio joints (their potato and truffle cream & mortadella and stracciatella are notably good) and on other days simply has a good selection of tasty bites. It sometimes suffers from thinking it’s a little bit better than it really is. However, all of the staff are super helpful and speak several languages and will talk you through all the toppings. Sometimes they’re not forthright about which was the pizza that most recently came out of the oven, or if it was cooked that day, so you have to use your eyes to judge.
Il Pizzicotto (Original Location)
On it’s day Il Pizzicotto is easily as good as any of Rome’s world renowned Pizza al Taglio joints (their potato and truffle cream & mortadella and stracciatella are notably good) and on other days simply has a good selection of tasty bites. It sometimes suffers from thinking it’s a little bit better than it really is. However, all of the staff are super helpful and speak several languages and will talk you through all the toppings. Sometimes they’re not forthright about which was the pizza that most recently came out of the oven, or if it was cooked that day, so you have to use your eyes to judge.
Mezzo Quinto
Mezzo Quinto sits in the middle of Via Degli Ammirati, which is a great little road to know about as you'll also find Il Pizzicotto, Bar Moro, and ‘00’ here.
If you want a fast bite of hearty local food, you literally couldn't find a better local spot. The core menu: polpette (meatballs), pezzi di cavallo (horsemeat stew), and parmigiana (aubergine) are the classics that generations of salentini have survived on. You can get a panino for 5€ or a plate for around 7.50€, there won't be any frilly bits, just rustic flavour and plenty of it.
If you can't be bothered messing around with restaurants, getting a table, waiting to be served, waiting in general, in Mezzo Quinto you have a quality, local, authentic, and cheap option- what more could you want.
Piadina Salentina
Undoubtedly the best Piadina in Lecce. But really? This place?
Let me walk you through it. On the corner of Piazza Sant'oronzo, opposite the Roman amphitheater; there's an unassuming takeaway joint, with a large, attention seeking, vegan kebab sign written on the front. It has the air of a place that dishes out lowest common denominator tourist kebabs, probably for an extortionate price.
But if you know, you know. And most of the locals do know. Even in the hey day of the 2021 coronavirus lockdown, the steps of Chiesa di Santa Maria della Grazia were still littered with eager lunch time punters, chomping their way through some of Lecce's finest Piadinas washed down with a beer.