Restaurant in Marina di Pietrasanta, Italy
Three menus, strong wine list, resort pricing.
Alex earns its consecutive Michelin Plate recognition (2024, 2025) with three tasting menus that balance meat and fish across modern Mediterranean cooking in a relaxed, contemporary room. At €€€ with easy booking, it is the most accessible quality dinner on the Versilia coast, and the international wine list is strong enough to be a reason on its own to book.
Alex is not the fine-dining destination that its Michelin Plate recognition and three tasting menus might lead you to expect. It is a polished, personality-driven Mediterranean restaurant on the Versilia coast, designed for people who want considered cooking and a strong wine list without the formality of a starred room. If you are looking for a special-occasion dinner in Marina di Pietrasanta that balances ambition with accessibility, Alex delivers. If you want the full white-glove tasting experience, you are in the wrong town.
What you see when you walk into Alex sets the tone immediately: the interior reads as contemporary with an ethnic inflection, a design choice that distances it from the linen-and-crystal traditionalism common at this price point in Tuscany. The atmosphere is described as trendy, which in this context means relaxed enough for a celebratory dinner without the reverent silence that can make tasting-menu restaurants feel more like a ritual than a meal. For a date, a milestone birthday, or a business dinner where you want the food to impress without the room to intimidate, the setting works well. Google reviewers back this up with a 4.2 rating across 714 reviews, a volume of feedback that gives the score meaningful weight for a restaurant of this scale in a coastal resort town.
Alex runs three tasting menus, which tells you something about the kitchen's priorities. The format signals genuine culinary ambition, not a single crowd-pleasing prix fixe thrown together to justify the price tier. The cooking is described as modern and personalised, with a deliberate balance between meat and fish options across the menus. That balance matters if you are booking for a group with mixed preferences, and it is a more thoughtful construction than the seafood-dominant menus that dominate the Versilia coast at this level. The Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025 confirms the kitchen is cooking at a consistently high standard, even if it has not crossed into starred territory. A Michelin Plate is not a consolation prize; it is a recognition that the food is good and worth your attention.
Signature dishes are not listed in the public record, so arriving with specific expectations about what will be on the menu is not advisable. What the available information does confirm is that the kitchen operates with a clear philosophy rather than a crowd-pleasing approach, which is the right sign for a tasting-menu format at the €€€ price point.
This is where Alex arguably outperforms its category. The wine list is one of the restaurant's own highlighted strengths, featuring an international selection that extends beyond the Italian-coastal defaults. Critically, wines from the list can be purchased at the wine bar, which makes Alex a practical two-visit destination: dinner on one occasion, wine exploration on another. For serious wine drinkers, that flexibility adds real value and separates Alex from restaurants where the list exists to support the food rather than stand alongside it. If wine is a priority for your table, this should factor heavily into your booking decision.
At €€€ in a Versilia resort setting, the service needs to match the ambition of three tasting menus and a curated international wine list. The available evidence suggests Alex positions itself as approachable rather than formal, which can read as warm and well-judged or as inconsistent depending on the night. The volume of Google reviews and the sustained Michelin recognition across two consecutive years indicate that the overall experience holds up repeatedly, not just on best-behaviour occasions. For a special-occasion dinner, that consistency matters more than a single exceptional visit. The ethnic-inflected, contemporary atmosphere suggests the service style is relaxed and personable rather than choreographed, which will suit some diners and frustrate others who equate tasting-menu prices with precision service theatre. Know which camp you are in before you book.
Alex is located at Viale Versilia, 159 in Marina di Pietrasanta, on the Tuscan coast between Viareggio and Forte dei Marmi. The price range is €€€, positioning it below the €€€€ tier occupied by most of Italy's starred destination restaurants, which makes it a more accessible entry point for serious dining in the region. Booking is rated as easy, which is a meaningful advantage in summer when the Versilia coast fills with Italian and international visitors and reservation windows at good restaurants compress quickly. No phone or website is listed in the public record, so checking current booking channels directly on arrival in the area or via third-party reservation platforms is the practical approach. Hours are not confirmed in the available data, so confirming service times before you travel is advisable. For more dining options in the area, see our full Marina di Pietrasanta restaurants guide, and for nearby seafood specifically, Vesta Mare is worth considering. You can also explore hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences in Marina di Pietrasanta to build a fuller trip.
Within Italy's broader fine-dining circuit, Alex operates at a different altitude than the country's flagship restaurants. Osteria Francescana in Modena and Dal Pescatore in Runate are both €€€€ destinations with multiple Michelin stars and booking windows that stretch months ahead. Reale in Castel di Sangro and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico are also €€€€ and require significant destination travel. Alex at €€€ is the practical choice if you are already on the Versilia coast and want serious food without reorganising your trip around a booking. For Mediterranean cuisine comparisons further afield, Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone operates at €€€€ with a coastal setting that invites comparison, and Il Buco in Sorrento offers a southern Italian take on the same cuisine category. Among other notable Italian tables worth knowing, Uliassi in Senigallia, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Piazza Duomo in Alba, Le Calandre in Rubano, and Enrico Bartolini in Milan all sit at €€€€ and represent more demanding bookings. For Mediterranean cooking in a Swiss lakeside setting, La Brezza in Ascona offers an interesting comparison.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alex | Mediterranean Cuisine | €€€ | Easy |
| Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler | Italian, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Dal Pescatore | Italian, Italian Contemporary | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Osteria Francescana | Progressive Italian, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Quattro Passi | Italian, Mediterranean Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Reale | Progressive Italian, Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
Comparing your options in Marina di Pietrasanta for this tier.
No group-specific details are confirmed for Alex, but a €€€ restaurant built around three tasting menus typically requires full-table commitment to a single menu format, which can complicate mixed-preference groups. check the venue's official channels at Viale Versilia, 159 to confirm private dining or group minimums before assuming flexibility. For larger parties wanting à la carte freedom, the format here may not suit.
At €€€ in a Versilia resort setting, Alex justifies the price mainly if you are committed to the tasting menu format and want a serious wine pairing alongside it — the wine list is the restaurant's own flagged strength, with an international selection also available at the wine bar. The Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 signals consistent kitchen quality, not just a good year. If you want à la carte flexibility or a lighter spend, this is not the right call.
Alex is described as a trendy, contemporary space with an ethnic design touch — not a traditional fine-dining room. That setting points toward polished casual rather than formal: think well-put-together without a jacket requirement. The Versilia coast in summer skews dressed-up resort casual, which aligns with the atmosphere here.
Go in knowing this is a tasting menu restaurant — three of them — so you are committing to a set format, not grazing à la carte. The kitchen balances meat and fish across its menus, which is worth knowing if you have strong preferences. The wine list is a genuine highlight and worth engaging with, either at the table or at the wine bar. Michelin Plate recognition in 2025 puts it in competent company without the pressure or price of a starred room.
Within the Versilia corridor, Quattro Passi in Nerano (Michelin-starred) is the natural step up if you want more formal fine-dining credentials on the Tyrrhenian coast. For a Tuscan fine-dining comparison further afield, Dal Pescatore in Canneto sull'Oglio or Reale in Castel di Sangro represent higher-stakes tasting menu experiences. Alex sits between resort dining and serious gastronomy — useful if that middle ground fits your trip, less so if you are specifically chasing starred kitchens.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
