Restaurant in Cuneo, Italy
Local Piedmontese cooking at fair prices.
A Michelin Plate-recognised Piedmontese restaurant in the heart of Cuneo, Osteria della Chiocciola makes a strong case at €€ pricing. The kitchen sources locally and cooks traditionally, with a fish alternative for non-meat-eaters and a ground-floor wine bar for lighter visits. Book for autumn if you want the regional ingredient calendar at its peak.
Yes, book it — particularly if you want a genuinely local Piedmontese meal in Cuneo without paying fine-dining prices. The Michelin Plate recognition (2024) signals cooking that meets a credible standard, and at €€ pricing this is one of the more direct value cases in the city. If you have been once and ordered the meat-focused menu, the next visit is worth exploring the fish alternative, which gives the kitchen a different dimension and suits anyone who finds the typical Piedmontese roster of braised meats and cured cuts a little one-note by the second sitting.
What defines Osteria della Chiocciola's menu is less about chef-driven creativity and more about disciplined sourcing from the Piedmont region. The kitchen's stated commitment is to local ingredients, and in a province that produces some of Italy's most ingredient-driven cooking — think Alba truffles, Fassona beef, Castelmagno cheese, and the vegetable gardens of the Cuneo plain , that commitment carries real weight. This is not a restaurant trying to import luxury produce from elsewhere and charge accordingly. The price point reflects a menu anchored in what the surrounding countryside genuinely offers, and that focus is why the cooking reads as coherent rather than eclectic.
For a return visitor, the distinction between the ground-floor wine bar and the first-floor restaurant is worth thinking about in advance. The wine bar is the livelier, more casual option , a good call for a mid-week evening when you want something lighter. The restaurant upstairs is the right choice if you want to work through a full meal. Both spaces share the same sourcing philosophy, but the upstairs format gives the kitchen more room to sequence dishes in a way that makes the local-produce focus legible across a full sitting.
The interior is an additional differentiator: works by Pignatelli, Andy Warhol, and Valerio Berruti hang across the dining room. This is not decorative filler , Valerio Berruti in particular is a Piedmont-born artist with serious institutional recognition, and his presence here alongside Warhol reflects a considered curatorial instinct rather than generic Italian restaurant décor. For a return visitor who may not have looked closely the first time, the room itself rewards attention.
Timing matters here more than at many restaurants in this tier. Cuneo's position at the foot of the Alps means the local ingredient calendar shifts meaningfully across the year. Autumn is the strongest season for Piedmontese cooking as a category: white truffle from Alba peaks between October and December, and the broader harvest brings Castelmagno, late-season vegetables, and game into the regional supply. If you are planning a return visit and want the kitchen's sourcing philosophy to deliver at its highest expression, October and November are the months to target.
Day of week also matters. Weekend evenings draw a fuller local crowd, which suits the atmosphere but makes walk-ins less reliable. Midweek, particularly Tuesday through Thursday, gives you a quieter room and an easier booking. Lunch on a weekday is the least pressured option and often the smartest for a longer meal, since the afternoon is unhurried and the kitchen tends to be at full attention.
See the comparison section below for a full breakdown against Cuneo's peer restaurants.
Osteria della Chiocciola is a reliable anchor for a Cuneo visit, but the city and province have more to offer. For a broader picture of where to eat, drink, and stay, see our full Cuneo restaurants guide, our full Cuneo bars guide, our full Cuneo hotels guide, our full Cuneo wineries guide, and our full Cuneo experiences guide.
If Piedmontese cooking at a higher price point interests you after eating here, the region has serious options: Antica Corona Reale in Cervere and Locanda Sant'Uffizio Enrico Bartolini in Cioccaro both represent the upper register of Piedmontese cooking and are worth the trip if you want to see what the same regional ingredients can do at a different scale of ambition. For Italy's broader fine-dining reference points, Osteria Francescana in Modena, Dal Pescatore in Runate, Uliassi in Senigallia, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Reale in Castel di Sangro, Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone, and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico all offer useful context for where Chiocciola's sourcing-led approach sits in the national conversation.
Smart casual is the right call. At €€ pricing with a Michelin Plate rather than a star, this is not a jacket-required room. Clean, presentable clothes are appropriate , jeans are fine, trainers less so. The ground-floor wine bar is the more relaxed of the two spaces; the first-floor restaurant warrants a slightly more considered look, but nothing formal.
The kitchen offers a fish alternative specifically for non-meat-eaters, which is a practical option at a restaurant whose regional menu is otherwise heavily weighted toward meat. For other dietary requirements , allergies, vegetarian, gluten-free , contact the restaurant directly before your visit. The website and phone details are not currently listed in our records, so your leading route is an in-person enquiry when booking or a search for current contact information.
The menu centres on traditional Piedmontese cuisine built from local ingredients, so follow what the region does leading: expect dishes built around Fassona beef, Castelmagno and other Piedmontese cheeses, and seasonal produce from the Cuneo plain. In autumn, anything featuring local truffle is worth the premium. On a return visit, the fish alternative is the section of the menu most worth exploring , it shows the kitchen's range beyond the standard Piedmontese meat repertoire. No specific dish names are confirmed in our data, so treat this as category guidance rather than a definitive order.
Venue's two-floor layout , wine bar on the ground floor, restaurant upstairs , gives it more flexibility for groups than a single-room restaurant. Small groups of four to six are likely direct with advance notice. For larger parties, contacting the venue directly is essential; current contact details are not in our records, so search for up-to-date information or enquire in person. At €€ pricing, a group dinner here is genuinely good value relative to the Cuneo alternatives.
Yes , the ground-floor wine bar is a distinct space with its own offer, described as colourful and suited to casual use. It is a practical option if you want a lighter visit than a full upstairs restaurant sitting, or if you want to drop in without a reservation. The wine bar and the first-floor restaurant share the same building and sourcing philosophy, so you are eating from the same kitchen's ethos either way. For a full meal with a proper sequence of Piedmontese dishes, go upstairs.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osteria della Chiocciola | Piedmontese | €€ | Situated in the historic centre just a stone’s throw from the elegant Via Roma, this restaurant is decorated with paintings by renowned modern artists such as Pignatelli, Andy Warhol, and Valerio Berruti. The ground floor is home to a colourful wine bar, while the first-floor restaurant serves traditional cuisine made from local ingredients with a natural focus on Piedmont. There is also a fish alternative for non-meat-eaters.; Situated in the historic centre just a stone’s throw from the elegant Via Roma, this restaurant is decorated with paintings by renowned modern artists such as Pignatelli, Andy Warhol, and Valerio Berruti. The ground floor is home to a colourful wine bar, while the first-floor restaurant serves traditional cuisine made from local ingredients with a natural focus on Piedmont. There is also a fish alternative for non-meat-eaters.; Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| 4 Ciance | Piedmontese | €€ | Unknown | — | |
| Bove's | Meats and Grills | €€ | Unknown | — | |
| Osteria Vecchio Borgo | Country cooking | €€ | Unknown | — | |
| I 5 Sensi | Contemporary | €€ | Unknown | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Relaxed but presentable. This is a Michelin Plate-recognised osteria in Cuneo's historic centre at €€ pricing — not a formal fine-dining room. Neat casual dress fits the room: you will not feel underdressed in a jacket, nor out of place without one.
Fish-eaters are explicitly covered — the kitchen offers a fish alternative to the meat-forward Piedmontese menu. For other restrictions, the traditional, locally-sourced format means the menu is relatively fixed, so calling ahead before your visit is sensible.
Lean into the Piedmontese kitchen's strengths: this is a regionally-sourced, traditional menu where the local meat dishes are the point. If you are not eating meat, the fish alternative is there, but the kitchen's identity is firmly built around Piedmont's larder.
The two-floor layout — wine bar on the ground floor, restaurant above — gives some practical flexibility for groups. For larger parties, contacting the restaurant in advance is advisable given the historic-centre setting and the likelihood of a compact dining room.
Yes. The ground floor operates as a wine bar, which makes it a genuine option for a lighter visit or a drink before heading upstairs to the restaurant. For a full Piedmontese meal, the first-floor dining room is the right setting.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
