Da Nando

Da Nando, Mortegliano: Should You Go Back?

If you've already eaten at Da Nando once, you already know the answer: yes, go back. The question on a return visit is what to order next. The cjarsons ravioli drew you in the first time, it should again; but the truffle menu (available in season) and the depth of the wine cellar give a second visit a different texture entirely. Da Nando holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025, a signal of consistent kitchen quality at a €€ price point that is genuinely difficult to find alongside this level of regional specificity in Friuli.

What Da Nando Does Well

The menu's dual identity is its real asset. Regional Friulian cooking sits alongside more classic Italian options covering both meat and fish, which means the table works for mixed groups who don't all want to commit to one direction. The cjarsons are the clearest reason to visit: these Friulian stuffed pasta come in both savoury and sweet versions, which is unusual enough to warrant ordering both if you haven't already. The menu is written in Friulan dialect as well as Italian, a choice that signals genuine regional commitment rather than surface-level branding.

The wine cellar is substantial. For a €€ venue in a small Friulian town, the cellar's scale is worth factoring into your decision, particularly if you're planning a longer meal. Friuli-Venezia Giulia produces some of Italy's most serious white wines, a cellar that takes the region seriously gives you access to bottles you won't find easily in bigger-city restaurants at comparable prices. If wine is part of why you travel, this matters.

Truffle menu operates seasonally, so timing your visit around it is worth planning if that's your focus. Don't show up expecting it in summer. Check availability when you book.

The Counter and Bar Dynamic

Da Nando's regional format lends itself well to counter or bar seating if available, the kind of position where you can watch the kitchen's pace and order more spontaneously; a second portion of cjarsons, a glass from the cellar you hadn't planned on. In a venue where the menu spans regional dialect dishes and a serious wine list, sitting closer to the action tends to produce a better meal than anchoring yourself to a table and working through a fixed order. If bar or counter seats are on offer when you book, take them. They suit the exploratory approach this kitchen rewards.

Practical Details

Da Nando is on Via Divisione Julia in Mortegliano, a small town in the Udine province of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Mortegliano is not a destination in its own right for most visitors, you're coming here as part of a wider Friuli itinerary, or specifically for the restaurant. The €€ pricing makes it accessible without requiring a special-occasion justification, though it works for one if you want it to. Booking difficulty is low, but Michelin recognition at this price tier means weekends fill faster than you'd expect for a venue of this size and location. Book ahead rather than assuming you can walk in on a Friday or Saturday. For more on what else to eat and drink in the area, see our full Mortegliano restaurants guide, our full Mortegliano bars guide, and our full Mortegliano wineries guide. If you're staying overnight, our full Mortegliano hotels guide covers your options, our full Mortegliano experiences guide is useful for building a fuller trip around the region.

Regional Context

Friuli-Venezia Giulia has a cluster of restaurants doing serious regional work, Da Nando sits comfortably in that group at the accessible end of the price range. For a broader sense of the region's dining range, Trattoria al Cacciatore - La Subida in Cormons is the other anchor for Friulian regional cooking worth comparing. Across the border into Slovenia-adjacent territory, Thaller Gasthaus in Sankt Veit am Vogau covers similar regional-cuisine ground in a different cultural register. Both are worth knowing about if you're building a multi-day food itinerary through this part of northeast Italy and the wider area.

For Italian fine dining at higher price tiers, the reference points are institutions like Osteria Francescana in Modena, Uliassi in Senigallia, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Piazza Duomo in Alba, Le Calandre in Rubano, Enrico Bartolini in Milan, and Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli in Verona, all operating at €€€€ and aimed at a different kind of occasion. Da Nando is not in competition with those restaurants; it's the answer to a different question: where do you eat serious Friulian food without committing to a tasting-menu budget.

The Verdict

Da Nando earns its Michelin Plate recognition by doing a specific thing consistently well: grounding a genuinely regional menu in Friulan identity, dialect menus, cjarsons in two forms, a serious local wine cellar, seasonal truffle, at a price that doesn't require an occasion to justify. If you're in Friuli and haven't been, go. If you've been once, the seasonal truffle menu and the wine cellar give you a concrete reason to return and order differently.