Restaurant in Bologna, Italy
Michelin-noted Italian contemporary, easy to book.
A Michelin Plate-recognised Italian contemporary restaurant inside the Relais Bellaria hotel, Corbezzoli earns its place at the €€ tier with creative menus spanning vegetarian, meat, and fish, plus three tasting menu options. The garden-facing room makes it one of Bologna's more considered choices for a special occasion dinner. Booking is easy and the value-to-quality ratio is strong.
If you are comparing Corbezzoli against Bologna's more central contemporary restaurants, the first thing to settle is the context: this is a hotel restaurant, set within the Relais Bellaria on Via Altura, southeast of the historic centre. That framing matters less than you might expect. At the €€ price tier, with two consecutive Michelin Plate recognitions (2024 and 2025) and a Google rating of 4.4 across 478 reviews, Corbezzoli is delivering quality that most standalone city restaurants at the same price point are not. The short version: book it, particularly for lunch, and particularly for a special occasion where you want atmosphere without a four-figure bill.
The room is built around its garden view. Large picture windows frame the hotel's grounds, which give the dining room a sense of scale and calm that is difficult to find inside Bologna's denser neighbourhoods. This is not a tight trattoria with shared tables and ambient chaos. It is a properly laid room, suited to a celebration dinner, a serious business lunch, or a date where you want the setting to do some of the work. The spatial separation from the city's centro storico also means it is quieter than most alternatives in the same category. If you are staying at the Relais Bellaria, the restaurant is an obvious choice. If you are not, it is worth the short journey from the centre for the right occasion.
Corbezzoli's format, with three tasting menus and an à la carte, gives it flexibility that most Bologna contemporaries at this price tier do not offer. At lunch, the à la carte format tends to represent the sharper value proposition: you get the kitchen's creative Italian contemporary cooking, the garden-facing room, and the hotel setting without committing to a full tasting menu. For dinner, the tasting menus come into their own, particularly for special occasions where you want a structured experience with proper pacing. The menu spans vegetarian, meat, and fish options, so dietary preferences are accommodated across all formats. For a first visit, lunch on the à la carte is the lower-risk entry point. For a celebration, dinner on a tasting menu is the right call.
The dessert programme is a specific reason to leave room at the end of the meal. The kitchen's Neapolitan-style baba, served with pastry cream and sour cherries, is noted in Michelin's own commentary on the restaurant, which is a reasonable indicator that it is worth ordering. That kind of specificity in a Michelin annotation is unusual at the Plate level and suggests the pastry work here is a genuine strength of the kitchen rather than an afterthought.
Two consecutive Michelin Plates place Corbezzoli in a clear tier: the Guide considers the cooking worth attention, without yet awarding a Star. At the €€ price range, this is a positive signal. Bologna has restaurants with Stars charging considerably more per head, and the Plate recognition at this price point means you are getting Michelin-vetted quality without the Star premium. For context, I Portici, one of Bologna's most decorated restaurants, sits at €€€€. Corbezzoli operates two full price tiers below that. The Google score of 4.4 from nearly 500 reviews adds a further layer of consistency: this is not a restaurant trading on a single good review cycle.
For Italian contemporary cooking at a comparable price elsewhere in the region, you might look at venues like Ahimè or Al Cambio in Bologna, or further afield at Osteria Francescana in Modena if your budget extends to a once-in-a-trip benchmark. For Italian contemporary cooking at the higher end of the national register, Uliassi in Senigallia or Reale in Castel di Sangro give you a sense of how far the category extends.
Booking difficulty at Corbezzoli is rated Easy. This is a meaningful advantage in a city where well-reviewed restaurants at the €€ tier can fill quickly, particularly in high season. The hotel setting also means the front-of-house operation is geared toward managing reservations smoothly. If you are planning a special occasion dinner, book a week in advance to be safe, but last-minute availability is generally realistic outside peak periods. The address at Via Altura, 11bis places it outside the immediate historic centre, so factor in a taxi or a short drive if you are based centrally.
For a broader picture of where Corbezzoli sits in Bologna's dining scene, see our full Bologna restaurants guide. If you are planning a longer stay, our Bologna hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the rest of the trip.
Book Corbezzoli if you want Italian contemporary cooking at a Michelin-recognised level without paying Star prices, and you want a room that feels appropriate for a celebration or a serious dinner. It works well for couples, for business meals where the hotel setting adds professionalism, and for anyone who wants tasting menu structure without the formality of Bologna's top-tier restaurants. Solo diners at the à la carte will find it comfortable, though the experience skews toward paired dining. Groups should check capacity directly given the hotel context. If you want something cheaper and more informal, All'Osteria Bottega or Trattoria di Via Serra are the right alternatives. If you want to spend more for a fuller creative tasting experience, I Portici is the city's benchmark at the higher end.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corbezzoli | Italian Contemporary | €€ | Easy |
| I Portici | Italian, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Ahimè | Modern Bolognese, Country cooking | €€ | Unknown |
| Oltre. | Modern Bolognese, Emilian | €€ | Unknown |
| Al Cambio | Bolognese, Emilian | €€ | Unknown |
| Trattoria di Via Serra | Emilian | € | Unknown |
A quick look at how Corbezzoli measures up.
Yes. The à la carte option means solo diners are not locked into a full tasting menu commitment, which makes the pacing more manageable alone. The hotel restaurant setting at Relais Bellaria also tends to be more relaxed about single covers than a busy city-centre spot. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so last-minute solo reservations are realistic.
Corbezzoli sits inside the Relais Bellaria hotel on Via Altura, outside Bologna's central ring, so factor in travel time if you are staying in the historic centre. The format gives you a genuine choice: three tasting menus or à la carte, which is more flexibility than most Bologna contemporaries at the €€ tier. Two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) confirm the cooking is considered worth attention by the Guide, without the Star-level price tag.
The hotel restaurant format generally handles groups better than small independent restaurants, and Easy booking difficulty suggests availability is not a constraint. For larger parties, check the venue's official channels through Relais Bellaria to confirm private dining options and menu arrangements, as the three tasting menus give groups a structured format that works well for shared experiences.
At the €€ price range, the tasting menus here represent Michelin-recognised cooking at a level that would cost significantly more at a Starred restaurant. Having three distinct menus covering vegetarian, meat, and fish options adds genuine utility rather than a token choice. If you want à la carte flexibility, that is also available, which is not a given at Michelin-noted restaurants in this city.
It works well for a special occasion if you want a composed, calm setting rather than a buzzy city-centre room: the large picture windows overlooking the hotel garden give the dining room a sense of occasion that suits celebratory meals. Two consecutive Michelin Plates provide credibility without the formality and cost of a Starred venue. For maximum central Bologna atmosphere, I Portici in the historic centre is the stronger alternative.
I Portici is the direct step up: Michelin Starred, more central, and priced accordingly. Ahimè is worth considering if you want a more independent, contemporary feel in the city proper. Al Cambio is a long-standing Bologna institution that suits diners who prefer tradition over creative Italian cooking. Trattoria di Via Serra is the right call if you want straightforward Bolognese classics at a lower price point than any of these.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
