Most travelers only know Chiusi as a train stop. The Chiusi-Chianciano Terme station sits on the main line between Florence and Rome, making it an easy trip from surrounding areas in Southern Tuscany.
I have been living in southern Tuscany with my family since 2012, about 20 minutes from Chiusi in Cetona. Chiusi is our closest town on the railway, and over the years I have come to know it very well. Every restaurant below is one I have eaten at myself and recommended to countless friends and family.
Today I’m sharing my five favorite restaurants in Chiusi, plus the best things to do near each one, so you can plan a whole day around where you eat. There is something for all budgets. Start with the quick guide if you need a table now, or read on for what to order and what to do nearby.
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Quick Guide to the Best Restaurants in Chiusi (+ What’s Nearby)
| Restaurant | Address (Area) | Best For | Do Nearby |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osteria La Solita Zuppa | Via Porsenna, 21 (Historic Center) | Families, Tuscan classics and desserts | National Etruscan Museum and the painted tombs |
| Il Grillo è Buoncantore | Piazza XX Settembre, 10 (Historic Center) | Slow Food cooking beyond the usual Tuscan menu | Labyrinth of Porsenna, cathedral and bell tower, Città Sotterranea |
| Pesce d’Oro | Località Sbarchino, 36 (Lago di Chiusi) | Lake fish | Biking, walking and birdwatching at the lake; Santa Mustiola catacomb |
| Le Tartare Cucina & Vini | Via Pasubio, 13 (Chiusi Scalo) | Fish and seafood near the train station | E-bike sharing and the Sentiero della Bonifica; Monday market |
| I Salotti | Villa Il Patriarca, SS 146, Località Querce al Pino | Fine dining | A special dinner after a day in Montepulciano or Cetona |
Chiusi Città vs Chiusi Scalo
Before you book, it helps to know that Chiusi is really two places. Chiusi Città is the old hilltop town, home to the Etruscan museum, the cathedral and narrow lanes where you will find La Solita Zuppa and Il Grillo è Buoncantore. Chiusi Scalo is the newer, flatter town down by the train station, where most of the shops, the supermarkets and Le Tartare are. The Monday morning market is held in the streets of Chiusi Scalo too.
Lago di Chiusi and I Salotti are both outside town, so you’ll need a car or a bike to reach those two.
Best Restaurants in Chiusi in Detail
Osteria La Solita Zuppa
Via Porsenna, 21 (Historic Center)
Best For: Families and traditional Tuscan cooking
What To Order: Pici and the desserts are quite nice
Closed: Tuesday
If you only eat once in Chiusi, eat here. La Solita Zuppa is a proper Tuscan osteria in the historic center, with a barrel-vaulted dining room and tables outside in the warmer months. It’s my no-brainer pick with kids: the menu is broad enough that there is something for everyone, the atmosphere is relaxed, and nobody minds a bit of noise at the table.
Good To Know: If you’re new to Italian menus and wondering what separates an osteria from a trattoria, read my guide to Italian eateries. In practice, the two words are often used interchangeably today.
What To Do Nearby
La Solita Zuppa is on the same street as the Museo Nazionale Etrusco (Via Porsenna, 93), so the two make an easy morning-and-lunch pair. Chiusi was one of the most important Etruscan city-states, and the museum is one of the best places in Tuscany to see what that meant: canopic jars with human heads, shiny black bucchero pottery and carved stone urns, almost all found in the surrounding countryside.
Ask at the ticket desk about visiting the painted Etruscan tombs outside town, including the Tomba della Scimmia (Tomb of the Monkey), named for the small monkey painted in its frescoes, and the Tomba della Pellegrina, where the stone urns are still in place. Tomb visits are booked through the museum, with a guide, and only run on certain days, so plan ahead.
Good To Know: The museum is free on the first Sunday of the month, like all state museums in Italy.
Il Grillo è Buoncantore
Piazza XX Settembre, 10 (Historic Center)
Best For: Slow Food cooking and dishes you won’t find on every Tuscan menu
What To Order: A local meat main course
Good To Know: The same owners run La Madia del Grillo, a pizzeria in Chiusi
Il Grillo è Buoncantore (“the cricket is a fine singer”) is where I go when I want something more interesting than the standard Tuscan food.
Having written my thesis on Slow Food, I appreciate how seriously they take their sourcing here. The menu changes with the seasons and leans on local breeds and small producers: pici with ragù made from Chianina beef or Cinta Senese pork, aglione made with the giant garlic of the Valdichiana, and the small fagiolina beans from nearby Lake Trasimeno. If you want to know more about these ingredients before you go, my guide to traditional Tuscan food covers the Chianina cow and the Cinta Senese pig.
What To Do Nearby
Il Grillo is a short walk from Piazza del Duomo, the heart of underground Chiusi. Start at the Museo della Cattedrale, next to the 6th-century Cathedral of San Secondiano (rebuilt in Romanesque style in the 12th century). From the museum, a guided visit takes you down into the Labirinto di Porsenna, a network of Etruscan tunnels that were once part of the town’s water system. Legend links them to the tomb of the Etruscan king Porsenna, described by Pliny the Elder.
The tunnels lead to a large Etruscan-Roman cistern, and from there you climb the cathedral bell tower for a view over the rooftops of Chiusi to the lake and Monte Amiata. Visits run at set times, so book ahead or arrive early, and bring a layer, since it’s cool underground even in summer.
The Museo Civico La Città Sotterranea (“the underground city”) takes you through more tunnels that the noble families above later used as cellars. A single Chiusi museum card covers the Etruscan museum, the Cathedral museum and the Città Sotterranea, and it’s valid for 15 days.
Pesce d’Oro
Località Sbarchino, 36 (Lago di Chiusi)
Best For: Lake fish after time at Lago di Chiusi
What To Order: Tegamaccio (lake fish stew) or persico (perch)
Good To Know: Has outdoor seating
Lago di Chiusi is a shallow lake just outside town, and its eastern shore marks the border between Tuscany and Umbria. It’s a lovely spot for a walk and Pesce d’Oro sits right on the shore.
This is the restaurant for trying the food Chiusi is known for but most visitors never taste: freshwater fish. Order tegamaccio, a stew made with several kinds of lake fish, or the perch, which is light and simple. It’s a great option if you have spent the morning or afternoon at the lake, and an easy one with kids, who can run around outside.
Good To Know: Pesce d’Oro gets busy on sunny weekends, so call ahead if you’re planning a weekend lunch.
What To Do Nearby
Make a morning of it at the lake before lunch at Pesce d’Oro. Lago di Chiusi is a protected natural area and a WWF oasis, home to herons, egrets and other migratory birds, so bring binoculars. There’s a pier and a picnic area along the shore.
My favorite thing to do is to bike. The Sentiero della Bonifica, a flat, traffic-free gravel path that runs 62 km from Arezzo along the old Chiana canal, ends at Chiusi Scalo, and its final stretch passes the Lago di Montepulciano nature reserve and Lago di Chiusi. You can rent an e-bike at the station (see Le Tartare, below), ride out to the lake, have lunch at Pesce d’Oro and pedal back. The path is flat, which makes it an easy ride for families. You can also rent bikes on the lake.
On the road between the old town and the lake, you’ll also pass the Catacomb of Santa Mustiola, dedicated to Chiusi’s patron saint. Chiusi is the only town on the Tuscan mainland with early Christian catacombs, and visits are organized through the Cathedral museum.
Le Tartare Cucina & Vini
Via Pasubio, 13 (Chiusi Scalo)
Best For: The best fish near the train station
What To Order: Tartare and raw fish, then a seafood pasta
Good To Know: Outdoor seating in good weather
Le Tartare is my pick for sea fish in Chiusi, and it’s right by the train station in Chiusi Scalo. That makes it a handy stop for lunch before you pick up a rental car, or for dinner before an evening train. As the name suggests, raw fish tartare is the specialty, and there’s a good wine list to go with it.
Good To Know: If you’re expecting, raw fish is one of the foods many pregnant women avoid in Italy. Le Tartare also serves cooked fish dishes.
What To Do Nearby
Le Tartare is the most practical restaurant on this list if you’re traveling by train. In front of Chiusi station there is a Green Hills e-bike sharing station, part of a network run by the towns of the Valdichiana Senese, with bikes you rent through an app and can also find in Cetona, Chianciano Terme, Montepulciano, Pienza and San Casciano dei Bagni. The Sentiero della Bonifica starts a few minutes’ walk from the station forecourt, so you can grab a bike, ride to the lake and be back for dinner here.
If you’re in town on a Monday morning, walk through the weekly market in the streets of Chiusi Scalo. The smaller Catacomb of Santa Caterina is also in Chiusi Scalo.
I Salotti at Villa Il Patriarca
Strada Statale 146, Località Querce al Pino
Best For: Fine dining and special occasions
What To Order: One of the seasonal tasting menus
Open: Dinner only, Wednesday to Sunday (seasonal winter closure)
I Salotti is the fine dining restaurant inside Villa Il Patriarca, a 19th-century noble residence turned hotel, right next to the Chiusi-Chianciano Terme highway exit.
Come here for an anniversary or the one big dinner of your trip. In summer, tables are set out in the garden, which makes for a beautiful candlelit evening. Reservations are a must, and the hotel closes for a few months in winter, so check dates before you plan around it.
Good To Know: The villa also has a more casual restaurant, La Taverna del Patriarca, set in the old cellars and serving traditional Tuscan food (a better option if you are eating with kids)
What To Do Nearby
Because Villa Il Patriarca sits right by the Chiusi-Chianciano Terme exit, I Salotti is an easy way to end a day of touring elsewhere in southern Tuscany: wine tasting in Montepulciano, the thermal waters of Chianciano Terme or a walk around Cetona. You’re back on the A1 in minutes afterward.
How to Spend One Day in Chiusi
If you want to see the best of Chiusi in a day, this is how I’d do it.
| Time | Plan | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | Museo Nazionale Etrusco, then the Labyrinth of Porsenna and bell tower | Historic center |
| Lunch | Osteria La Solita Zuppa or Il Grillo è Buoncantore | Historic center |
| Afternoon | Drive or bike to Lago di Chiusi for a walk and birdwatching | Lago di Chiusi |
| Dinner | Pesce d’Oro for lake fish, or Le Tartare if you have a train to catch | Lake or Chiusi Scalo |
With a whole weekend, add the painted tombs, the Città Sotterranea and a longer ride on the Sentiero della Bonifica, and save I Salotti for your last night.
Tips for Eating Out in Chiusi
Book Ahead: Chiusi is small and the best restaurants fill up with locals, especially on Friday and Saturday nights and at Sunday lunch.
Mind the Hours: Kitchens usually serve lunch from around 12:30 to 2:30 pm and dinner from around 7:30 pm, with nothing in between.
Eating With Kids: La Solita Zuppa and Pesce d’Oro are the most relaxed. See my tips for dining out with kids in Italy.
Vegetarians: Order from the appetizers, first courses and sides, as I explain in how to eat vegetarian in Italy.
If you’d rather learn to make pici yourself, I run a Tuscany cooking retreat and private cooking classes at Camporsevoli near Cetona, about 20 minutes from Chiusi. You can also browse my list of cooking classes in Tuscany.
More on Southern Tuscany: Montepulciano, Italy – A Traveler’s Guide | Montepulciano Restaurants | My Favorite Montalcino Restaurants | My Favorite Cafés in Montepulciano | | Cetona, Italy – A Local’s Guide To Cetona (+ Where to Eat!) | San Casciano dei Bagni – What To See And Where To Eat | Chiusi Restaurants | Best Restaurants in Pienza | Southern Tuscany in May | Southern Tuscany in September | My 8 Favorite Restaurants in Southern Tuscany | What to Eat in Southern Tuscany
Frequently Asked Questions
What food is Chiusi known for?
Chiusi is known for freshwater fish from Lago di Chiusi, such as perch and tegamaccio, a lake fish stew. Like the rest of southern Tuscany, it’s also a place to eat hand-rolled pici, Chianina beef and Cinta Senese pork. Local wines from nearby Montepulciano are on most menus.
Is there a Michelin restaurant in Chiusi?
Yes. Osteria La Solita Zuppa in the historic center has a Michelin Bib Gourmand, which recognizes good food at moderate prices. I Salotti at Villa Il Patriarca, just outside town, is listed in the Michelin Guide for creative fine dining.
Where can I eat near Chiusi train station?
Le Tartare Cucina & Vini on Via Pasubio in Chiusi Scalo is my pick near the station, especially for fish. The restaurants in the historic center, like La Solita Zuppa and Il Grillo è Buoncantore, are a short drive or taxi ride uphill.
Do I need a reservation for restaurants in Chiusi?
For dinner, yes. The best restaurants in Chiusi are small and popular with locals, so book a day or two ahead, and earlier for weekends. Fine dining at I Salotti always requires a reservation.
Is Chiusi worth visiting?
Yes, especially if you’re interested in the Etruscans. Chiusi was one of the most powerful Etruscan city-states, ruled by the legendary king Porsenna, and today you can visit the National Etruscan Museum, painted tombs and the underground tunnels of the Labyrinth of Porsenna. It’s also a major rail and highway hub for southern Tuscany.
