A Guide to Eating and Drinking in Turin

  Turin's Famous Chocolate

In Turin, like Italy as a whole, much of life centers on food, drink and the social spaces in which they’re consumed. And in order to really get the most from the city, plenty of time can be dedicated to moving from café to bar to restaurant – and back again.

Every morning, the people of Turin trundle blearily towards one of the many cafés, refuel on coffee and begin to face the day. This is where Turin’s soul can be found and it’s said that King Vittorio Emanuele ruled by simply asking every morning “What news from the cafés today?”

The most ornate fin-de-siecle cafés are not a cheap experience, although their gorgeous interiors and sophisticated offerings more than make up for the euros that you shed. And they’re not merely morning retreats, either: many places in the Old Town stay open well into the night.

And as the hours wear on, and that drink (naturally!) becomes alcoholic, the surrounding region provides Turin with a wonderful range of wines like heavy hitter Baralo, a powerful red. For something lighter, the Gavi or the famous sparkling Asti are also well worth trying.

If you’re looking for a less intoxicating pick-me-up then Turin’s chocolate duly obliges. It was in Turin that drinking chocolate was finally made solid and the city’s cafés remain famous for their cakes and generally tireless dedication to all things chocolaty.

In addition to this choco-mania, much is made of the gluttonous Piedmont culinary tradition. When it comes to an evening meal, there’s the usual selection of ‘tratorie’, ‘osterie’ and ‘pizzerie’ but there’s little let up in the deliciously fattening selection of meats, cheeses and rich sauces.

There’s a cluster of smarter places to the north of the Quadrilatero, around Via Agostino (along with much of the area’s nightlife). A range of slightly more modest places can be found on Via Giuseppe Verdi, around the university campus and to the west of the city center.

Cheaper options still can be found in plentiful supplies in the San Salvario district, to the south of the Porta Nuova Train Station. The slightly sleazy Via Nizza, in particular, has a number of fast-food places to choose from.

From the elegant eateries to an early evening aperitivo or a quick pizza elsewhere in the city, there’s one thing that defines a meal in Turin: value. While it may not always be cheap, it’s still significantly more so than Rome, Florence or Venice… and that can never be a bad thing for backpackers and independent travelers.

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