I can confirm what has already been posted here. Yes, it is hard to find (look for the Hausbrandt…read moresign, see pic). Yes, there is in fact a grandma cooking the food (just as Jeff J. said, two in fact). Yes, the food is amazing. Maybe the reason this place is so hard to find is that it is a hidden gem that feels so authentic that you only hear whispers about it. But it is real folks. We started our meal with the fried polenta with ragu. The combination is a meal in itself. You can tell the ragu was fresh and well made because you could see the chunky bits of garlic, mushrooms and meat. The next course was the lasgna. It was rich with the ragu and ricotta. The noodles tasted homemade. It was a delicious dish blessed by a nonna. The last course was the steak Florentine. You can order it by weight. My conversion math may have been off because we got a HUGE cut of porterhouse. But it was absolutely tender and delicious. We enjoyed this delight to the bone. The service was exceptional. We were the only non-Italian folks in the restaurant but we were treated like family. I will also add that while I enjoyed our food selection, I noticed that the pizzas and pork/veal shank were also very popular and looked incredibly appetizing. My only regret is that we found this gem of a restaurant on our last night in Barga. I wish I had more time to taste more of the menu. The family owns another restaurant in Lucca (la Donna Clara) and one that's 3 km away that does seafood.

Writing this review is ridiculously painful because figuring out how we got there and its address…read morewas impossible. Their "webpage" is on Facebook, but their address on Facebook is inaccurate (stating that it's in Lucca city). On the receipt, there are two addresses, their page on TripAdvisor is matches one of the address on the receipt. When I put down the address here, the location on Yelp doesnt seem right. I tried to Google Map this place, but street images were taken in 2011, and this place wasnt opened yet. Long story short, we were driving down from Renaissance Tuscany Il ciocco resort on the SP20 looking for a restaurant, and happened to turn into this one off the side. It seemed like a traditional Italian restaurant you see on TV with cozy red chequered table cloths, a wood fire oven, and ladies behind the counter busy making pizza and pasta for you. We ordered a 4 seasons pizza (6EUR) and a personal sized lasagna (8EUR) - both of which came out of the wood oven! It was so delicious. We came in just before noon and there was only one other table filled but as we were leaving this place filled almost to the max and when we were driving out, people were waiting for our parking spot! WIth a beer and capuccion, our total was only 18.50 for too and we were so full.We really felt it was traditional Italian home cooking - awesome comfort food. We are still wishing to go back!

A very lovely spot located on a beautiful street. The mista salad was only fair because of the…read morebitter greens they incorporated into it. The pizza was good but not great and the Branzino was dry. Service was so so, we had to fetch the waiter to take our order. If we had had a great experience we would of course come back tomorrow.

Pretty decent but not over the top good authentic Italian. It tasted more commercialized than…read moreauthentic...especially the pasta.

This was an amazing meal. The best lunch we had on vacation (we only went out for lunch)!! This is…read morea beautiful restaurant in an old building. They do have outdoor seating but we loved eating indoors with the cooling effect of the stone building. The service was outstanding!! They had a pre fixed meal but we opted for a la carte. We loved the sparkling wine we started with. It was a brut nature. There were 4 of us so we just shared everything. We started with the prawn carpaccio, it was amazing!! Everything we ordered was delicious but our hands down favorite was the black truffle ravioli. The rabbit tortellini had a lovely red sauce and I don't even like red sauce! It was so good!! That was our second favorite. The pappardella was the last to come out and it was also amazing. The gnocchi was tender and delicious as well. The seafood in it was tender and perfectly cooked. While we may have had favorites it did not decrease the deliciousness of every single thing we ate!! We only ordered one main, and it was the best duck breast we've ever had anywhere!! We also ordered two desserts, which were great. One was a deconstructed tiramisu and the other a pistachio semifreddo. Highly recommend this restaurant for service and food!!

Amazing food! We had the spaghetti with seafood and the octopus. Thus far, this is the best…read morerestaurant we've had in La Spezia.

We had lunch at L'Incontro after visiting the Ferrari Museum, as it was very convenient. A short…read morefour minute walk. We arrived right around noon when it opens (beware on kin says that it opens at 11:30 am which is not accurate). Make sure you arrive before 12:30 because the restaurant suddenly fills up around this time. The atmosphere and service were very similar - no frills, but perfectly adequate. My dining companions all had pizza, which they report was very good. No complaints. I ordered a very basic chicken breast and French fries. It was nothing special, but that's exactly why I ordered it. I was looking for something uncomplicated and simple. This was a perfectly nice spot for lunch after visiting the museum, but I'd recommend arriving before 12:30 pm to beat the rush.

After an exciting visit at the Ferrari Museum, the nine of us had worked up an appetite! My husband…read morecalled the restaurant, to see if they could take our large number and they said they could- they were setting up our table as we got there. We had the best lunch- from the Caprese salad, to the different pastas and pizzas (not pictured) we had - all delicioso! Our waitress was very helpful, she helped us pick out a white wine that we loved, and was very friendly! I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you are in the area.

This is the second time we have been and every time the food and service are excellent. Grazie…read moremille. The Ferrari memorabilia that fills the walls are reminders of the glory days of Ferrari racing.

We were in Maranello to do a Ferrari tour and stumbled upon this cute unique restaurant. It was…read morefabulous. The interior is interesting with all kinds of racing memorabilia. We were fortunate to get a table without a reservation. There were many locals having lunch. The service was outstanding as in a 5 Star restaurant. The food was wonderful. We ate too much and had wished we saved room for dessert. They had a dessert cart and everything looked fresh and delicious.

Amazing Place! Charming atmosphere and the food is so good!…read moreI suggest to everybody the "Ravioli alla Bottarga" dish, because it's wonderful! I will surely go back very soon!

What a marvelous evening! The setting is beautiful, the food exquisite and the staff extremely…read morefriendly and willing to extend themselves to bridge the language gap between us who don't speak Italian and them who don't speak English. We felt very welcome, receiving unasked for extras.

I was in Lucca and stopped here for dinner. The reviews were good and the menu online showed more…read morefish being offered I thought they would have more seafood, but being in Tuscany, I realized that most places don't. That's OK. The inside was very homey and nice. The owners, I believe are a husband and wife team who are helpful. Salmon carpaccio was an appetizer special - it was excellent Swordfish for the main was a mistake. Should have stuck with a pasta. This fish looked like it was frozen and it's was fair, nothing special. Tiramisu for dessert was so good. totally made up for the swordfish. It was made fresh that day and you could tell. This and the service raised the rating from to 4.

Both the gorgonzola gnocchi and the lasagna were some of the best dishes we have had in Lucca…read more Great service and a super helpful staff

We were only in Vernazza for 2 days, but visited Il Pirata multiple times. The main guy running the…read morecafe is very chatty and runs the pastry side of the business, while his brother apparently runs the rest of the food menu. Everything we tried was delicious, and appealed to me more than the super-touristy spots further down the road (though obviously most of the clientele here are also tourists). Prices seemed reasonable for the amount/quantity of food. Most importantly, Il Parata sells toilet paper, which proved hard to come by in Vernazza. Be sure to arrive before 5pm if you want food (outside of cannolis, which were available later).

The only shame is that I can't remember the owners name, but I definitely remember his good…read morehospitable energy and great food. He was so passionate about each pastry and dish which makes all the difference. Some chefs are just robotically serving up something to make money, but once in a while you come across the few special ones who are crafting their passion into an experience of flavor - they care about the customer, they care about the food, they want to see smiles and make your day memorable. They create an atmosphere out of their own infectious energy. These artists are truly making the world a better place and I can definitely say that about this establishment. They served this pistachio cannoli which was loaded with ricotta and actual pistachio flavor touched with orange, which was the best cannoli we had through a month of gluttonous Italian adventure. Their pistachio croissant matched the greatness and in fact was even better than any that we found in France! The berry panna cotta was also perfectly balanced being quite the treat yet clean feeling; the trademark Cinque Terre pesto gnocchi of course hit the spot; and the walnut ravioli sheesh what flavor as well as unique factor - dare I say, I even tasted a hint of hazelnut. If you go to Cinque Terre they say have have to go to Vernazza, and if you go to Vernazza I'm saying you have to visit Il Pirata. It's a little peace away from the madness tucked into the top of the street. They will treat you right

Hidden trattoria, some troubles with parking, otherwise tasty hone-made delicious meals, cozy…read moreplace. Service is OK!

We found this gem thanks to yelp and stopped for a late lunch... Walking in we didn't expect much,…read morebut the food was delicious. Chicken that took me back to childhood, nicely flavored steak, pesto lasagna? Yes, please! A couple of days earlier we had chocolate cake and tiramisu in Florence. These were so much better so as to render the Florence version unrecognizable. Excellent, friendly service, even with our limited Italian. Thank you! Great stop!

A lovely secluded balcony that overlooks a vista seemingly untouched for hundreds of years. The…read morefood was amazing; a truly homemade Italian experience. Plus, the service was kind and helpful.

Great little place, spending the next couple of nights here in Vinci. Stop by chance and wasn't…read moredisappointed. We had the brochette, mixed salad, grilled vegetables-zucchini/egg plant, blue cheese gnocchi and grilled steak with Parmesan and arugula.