Restaurant in Mantua, Italy
Mantuan classics, honest price, book ahead.
Lo Scalco Grasso is a Michelin Plate-recognised Mantuan trattoria at €€ pricing, delivering the city's canonical dishes — particularly pumpkin tortelli — with care and consistency that punches well above its tier. The owner-chef also works the floor, keeping the atmosphere warm and unfussy. Easy to book, honest in value, and a strong first stop or return visit for anyone eating seriously in Mantua.
Lo Scalco Grasso is one of the most honest value propositions in Mantua: a Michelin Plate-recognised trattoria at €€ pricing that delivers Mantuan classics with enough care and confidence to compete well above its price tier. If you've visited once and eaten the pumpkin tortelli, come back for the more creative plates — the lamb tartare in particular shows that the kitchen has range beyond its regional comfort zone. Booking is easy, the atmosphere is informal, and the cooking is consistent. For the price, this is exactly what dining in Mantua should feel like.
Lo Scalco Grasso sits on Via Trieste in Mantua's historic centre, and what you see when you walk in matches what you should expect: a small, intimate room with a relaxed, unpretentious feel. There are no theatrical presentations or elaborate mise en place. The visual cues here are simple — clean tables, a lively but unhurried pace, and the kind of room where the owner-chef moves between the kitchen and the dining floor without ceremony. That dual presence is telling: this is a place run by someone who cares about both the cooking and the experience in equal measure.
The cooking is anchored firmly in Mantuan tradition, and the portion sizes alone signal that. Generous servings are a regional hallmark in this part of Lombardy, and Lo Scalco Grasso honours that without using it as an excuse for laziness in the kitchen. The pumpkin tortelli , available with butter or with a tomato and sausage sauce , is the dish that defines the menu and, for many returning visitors, the reason to come back. Mantua's pumpkin tortelli is one of the most technically specific regional pastas in northern Italy: the filling balance of sweetness and savouriness, the pasta thickness, the choice of sauce , every version tells you something about the kitchen's priorities. Here, it tells you the kitchen knows what it's doing.
But Lo Scalco Grasso is not only a heritage exercise. The Emilian lamb tartare , delicately flavoured with its own cooking juices, served alongside sautéed chard, savoury sbrisolona cake, and black truffles from the lower Mantova region when in season , is a more ambitious dish that holds its own against the classics. The combination of raw lamb with the earthy crumble of sbrisolona and seasonal truffles shows considered technique and confidence with local ingredients. It's a useful pointer for returning visitors: if you already know the tortelli, the lamb tartare is the dish that tells you what the kitchen is capable of beyond tradition.
The Google rating of 4.7 across 794 reviews is a reliable signal here. That volume of feedback at that score doesn't happen by accident , it reflects consistent delivery over time, not a single exceptional service. Michelin's Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 confirms that the guide considers the cooking worth attention, even if a star is not currently on the table. For a €€ venue in a mid-sized Italian city, two consecutive Michelin Plates represent genuine credibility.
The trattoria format here is not a compromise , it's the point. Lo Scalco Grasso works precisely because it isn't trying to be a destination restaurant. The room is intimate rather than theatrical. The menu is focused rather than exhaustive. The price remains accessible. What you get is a kitchen that has identified what it does well and does it repeatedly and honestly. For anyone eating in Mantua on a budget that rules out the higher-end options, or for anyone who simply wants to eat the city's canonical dishes in a room that feels appropriate to them, Lo Scalco Grasso is the right call.
If you're building a wider trip around northern Italian dining, Lo Scalco Grasso fits naturally into the same itinerary as Corte Matilde in Pieve di Coriano or Hostaria Viola in Castiglione delle Stiviere , other venues working seriously within the Mantuan tradition at comparable price points. For a contemporary contrast within Mantua itself, Sücar Brüsc offers a more modern read on local ingredients. See our full Mantua restaurants guide for the broader picture, or pair your dining itinerary with our Mantua hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide.
Booking is direct. No specialist platform or months-in-advance planning is required. Given the intimate size of the room, reservations are advisable for dinner, particularly on weekends, but this is not a hard-to-get table by any measure. If you're in Mantua and decide on the day, a call to confirm availability is a sensible precaution. Phone and website details are not currently listed in our database , check Google Maps or local booking platforms for current contact information.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lo Scalco Grasso | A small, intimate restaurant with a welcoming ambience and simple yet lively feel, where the owner-chef at the helm in the kitchen also makes an appearance front of house. Mantuan traditions are evident in the generous portion sizes as well as in dishes such as the legendary pumpkin tortelli (served with butter or a tomato and sausage sauce), while other options are more creative in style – the Emilian lamb tartare delicately flavoured with its own cooking juices, and served with sautéed chard, savoury sbrisolona cake and black truffles from the lower Mantova region in season is particularly delicious.; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | €€ | — |
| Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Dal Pescatore | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Osteria Francescana | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Quattro Passi | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Reale | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
For Mantuan cooking at a similar €€ price point, Lo Scalco Grasso is among the most reliable options with its Michelin Plate recognition. If you want to spend more for a formal fine-dining experience in the region, Dal Pescatore in nearby Canneto sull'Oglio holds three Michelin stars and is the obvious step up. For creative Italian cooking further afield, Osteria Francescana in Modena operates at a completely different price and booking tier.
Book at least a week in advance, and more if you're visiting on a weekend or during peak tourist months in Mantua (spring and early autumn). The room is small and intimate, which means it fills quickly even without the lead times you'd face at a starred restaurant. No specialist booking platform is required — a direct approach works.
The pumpkin tortelli is the dish to order — it's a Mantuan staple done here in the traditional style, available with butter or a tomato and sausage sauce. If you want something more creative, the Emilian lamb tartare with sautéed chard, savoury sbrisolona cake, and seasonal black truffle from the lower Mantova region is the kitchen's most ambitious plate. Both represent what Lo Scalco Grasso does best: regional identity with enough craft to earn Michelin Plate recognition.
At €€ with Michelin Plate recognition for two consecutive years (2024 and 2025), yes — this is one of the stronger value propositions in Mantua. You're getting a kitchen that handles both traditional Mantuan cooking and more creative dishes competently, at a price point well below anything starred in the region. It's not a budget trattoria, but the cooking justifies the spend.
Tasting menu details are not confirmed in available data for Lo Scalco Grasso, so it's worth asking directly when you book. What is documented is that the kitchen spans both traditional and creative dishes, and portion sizes follow generous Mantuan convention — so a multi-course format, if offered, is likely to deliver good value at the €€ price range.
No specific dietary policy is documented for Lo Scalco Grasso, which is typical of small owner-operated trattorias in northern Italy. Given the intimate format and the fact that the owner-chef works both kitchen and floor, your best approach is to flag restrictions at the time of booking rather than on arrival — small rooms have less flexibility to improvise.
It works well for a low-key special occasion where quality of food matters more than formal ceremony. The room is small and intimate, the owner-chef moves between kitchen and floor, and the atmosphere is described as welcoming and lively rather than stiff. If you need private dining or a venue that signals occasion through grandeur, Dal Pescatore is the regional alternative — but for a meaningful meal without the production, Lo Scalco Grasso delivers.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
