Restaurant in Nibbiaia, Italy
Hill-village cooking that earns the detour.
A Michelin Plate-recognised restaurant in the Livorno hills, Locanda Martinelli offers a seasonally driven menu of meat and fish dishes at €€ — a price tier that rarely comes with this level of culinary recognition in Tuscany. The owner's foraging practice and wine expertise give the kitchen a distinctive character. Easy to book, worth the inland detour from the Etruscan Coast.
If you've already eaten at Locanda Martinelli once, you already know the answer: go back. This small restaurant in Nibbiaia's hilltop piazza holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025, carries a 4.7 Google rating across 166 reviews, and sits comfortably in the €€ price tier — a combination that is genuinely difficult to find anywhere in Tuscany, let alone on the Livorno coast. The detour inland from the beach towns is worth making, and not just once. For returning visitors, the question isn't whether to book but what to focus on when you do.
Locanda Martinelli occupies a rustic-style house on Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini in Nibbiaia, a quiet village in the Livorno hills above the Etruscan Coast. From the outside, it reads more like a private home than a restaurant, and that impression continues inside: the dining room is furnished individually, with the feel of a well-kept sitting room rather than a commercial space. That domesticity is deliberate, and it shapes everything about the experience, from the pace of service to the way dishes arrive.
The kitchen works across both meat and fish, which matters here because the Livorno foothills give you access to both the Tyrrhenian seafood circuit and the inland Maremma larder simultaneously. The owner brings a forager's sensibility to the sourcing side: herbs, flowers, and berries gathered locally make their way into the cooking alongside produce from further afield, and the Michelin assessors specifically flagged this combination of local imagination and broader culinary range as the thing that justifies the recommendation. That framing is useful for returning diners. This is not a kitchen that locks itself into a single tradition and repeats it. The repertoire moves with what's available and what the owner wants to explore, which means the menu you saw last time is unlikely to be the menu you see next.
The owner's wine knowledge is another reason to pay attention on return visits. Wine expertise at this level and this price point is not a given in rural Tuscany — you're more likely to encounter a competent house list than genuine depth of knowledge. At Locanda Martinelli, the owner brings her own perspective to the cellar, which makes the wine conversation worth having rather than defaulting to whatever the table wine happens to be. If you didn't engage with the wine pairing on your first visit, that's the thing to correct this time.
Seasonally, the foraging element means the menu responds to what late spring and early summer produce is available in the Livorno hills right now. The transition between cooler and warmer months tends to bring a shift in the herb and flower components of the dishes, so the flavour profile at the table in this window will differ from what you encountered in autumn or winter. The kitchen's approach to local ingredients means those shifts are genuine rather than cosmetic , the aromatics in the sauces and garnishes actually change with the season, not just the garnish placement on the plate.
Booking is direct. The restaurant is not pulling reservations three months out, and while specific booking methods aren't listed on record, the address at Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini, 11 gives you enough to locate it and enquire directly. For a venue of this size, arriving without a reservation carries risk , the dining room is small enough that a few tables of regulars can fill the room , so reserving ahead is the sensible approach even if the lead time is short. This is an easy booking relative to the quality on offer.
For context on where Locanda Martinelli sits in the broader Italian fine-dining picture, consider what €€ buys you here versus what you'd pay for a Michelin Plate-level experience elsewhere in the country. Venues like Uliassi in Senigallia or Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence represent a different tier of ambition and price entirely. Locanda Martinelli is not competing with three-star rooms; it's offering something more personal and considerably more affordable, and on those terms it delivers well above what the price suggests. For returning diners who want to benchmark the experience against modern Italian kitchens operating at a higher technical register, Piazza Duomo in Alba, Le Calandre in Rubano, and Enrico Bartolini in Milan represent that next level , but they operate at a corresponding price and formality. Locanda Martinelli's value is precisely that it doesn't try to be those places.
If you're planning a broader stay in the area, Pearl has guides to restaurants in Nibbiaia, hotels in Nibbiaia, bars in Nibbiaia, wineries in Nibbiaia, and experiences in Nibbiaia to help you build out the visit around the meal.
Locanda Martinelli is at Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini, 11, 57016 Nibbiaia LI. The village sits in the Livorno hills above the Etruscan Coast , expect a short drive inland from the coastal towns. No phone or website is listed in current records, so enquiring via the address directly or through local hotel concierge services is the practical route. Hours are not on public record; confirm before travelling. The price tier is €€, which positions this as an accessible choice for the quality level, and the small dining room means reserving ahead is advisable even on quieter nights.
See the comparison section below for how Locanda Martinelli stacks up against other notable Italian restaurants in the region.
There are very few restaurants operating at this quality level within Nibbiaia itself, which is part of why Locanda Martinelli draws the attention it does. If you're willing to extend your search to the broader Tuscany and central Italy region, the comparison set shifts considerably in price and formality. Osteria Francescana in Modena and Reale in Castel di Sangro both operate at €€€€ and offer a more technically ambitious experience, but neither gives you the intimate, home-style setting or the €€ pricing. For the Livorno hills specifically, Locanda Martinelli is the reference point , there isn't a direct like-for-like alternative nearby. Check our full Nibbiaia restaurants guide for what else the area offers.
Yes, and arguably better for solo dining than most restaurants in this category. The sitting-room atmosphere and personal service style make a solo diner feel less conspicuous than they would in a formal dining room, and a smaller table is rarely a problem in a room this size. The owner's wine knowledge also gives solo diners a natural point of engagement , arriving with questions about the list is a reasonable way to get more out of the visit than a group table typically manages. At €€, the solo spend is also proportionate to what you're getting, which is not always the case at this recognition level.
No phone or website is currently on record, which makes it difficult to confirm dietary accommodation in advance through the usual channels. Given the kitchen's foraging-driven, ingredient-led approach, there is likely some flexibility in how dishes are constructed , but this is not confirmed. The practical recommendation is to contact the restaurant directly before arriving if dietary restrictions are a material concern. The address at Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini, 11, Nibbiaia is the starting point for that enquiry. Don't assume accommodation is available without confirming it first.
No specific menu items are on record, so recommending dishes by name isn't possible. What the Michelin assessment does confirm is that the kitchen works across both meat and fish, uses locally foraged herbs, flowers, and berries, and combines local Livorno-area produce with ingredients from further afield. On a return visit, the areas worth exploring are whatever is most seasonally driven at the time and the wine pairing, which the owner's expertise makes worth engaging with directly. Ask what the kitchen is most focused on this week rather than arriving with a fixed expectation from a previous visit.
Whether a tasting menu is offered is not confirmed in current data. What is confirmed is a €€ price tier, a Michelin Plate for two consecutive years, and a kitchen with a documented commitment to seasonal, foraged ingredients. If a tasting menu is available, the value case at €€ is strong , this is a price tier where multi-course format menus rarely come with this level of culinary recognition behind them. Confirm the format options when booking, and if a tasting menu is on offer, it is the format most likely to reflect the kitchen's full range at any given time of year.
At €€, yes, without much qualification. A Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025 alongside a 4.7 Google rating from 166 reviews at this price point is a strong combination. You are not paying for a high-end dining room or extensive front-of-house theatre , the setting is deliberately modest , but the cooking delivers above what the price tier typically promises. Compare this to €€€€ venues like Dal Pescatore in Runate or Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone and you are spending considerably less for a meaningfully different but credibly recognised experience. If the cost of the drive inland is your hesitation, the Michelin and Google signals together make a reasonable case that the detour pays off.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Locanda Martinelli | €€ | — |
| Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler | €€€€ | — |
| Dal Pescatore | €€€€ | — |
| Osteria Francescana | €€€€ | — |
| Quattro Passi | €€€€ | — |
| Reale | €€€€ | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Nibbiaia itself has virtually no dining competition, so the real alternatives are down on the Etruscan Coast or further inland in Livorno province. Locanda Martinelli holds a Michelin Plate (2024–2025) at €€ pricing, which makes it the clear choice if you're already in the hills. If you want coast-level convenience without the drive, look at restaurants in Cecina or Castiglioncello, though none carry equivalent recognition at this price point in the immediate area.
Yes, in format terms. The restaurant is described as feeling like the sitting room of a private house, which lends itself to solo dining better than a large, noisy room would. At €€ pricing with a Michelin Plate credential, it's a sensible choice for a solo traveller willing to make the drive up from the coast — just confirm availability before making the trip, as the small size means covers are limited.
The menu draws on both meat and fish, with the owner known to gather herbs, flowers, and berries as flavouring elements — so the kitchen works with fresh, varied ingredients rather than a rigid fixed format. Specific allergy or dietary accommodation policies aren't documented, so check the venue's official channels before booking if you have firm requirements. The small, owner-run scale means requests are likely handled personally rather than by rote.
Specific dishes aren't documented in the available record, so a set recommendation isn't possible without risk of being wrong. What is confirmed is that the kitchen works with local produce alongside ingredients from further afield, with meat and fish both represented. The owner's foraged herbs, flowers, and berries appear as flavouring throughout — so preparations built around those elements reflect what makes this kitchen distinct from coastal competitors.
Menu format details aren't confirmed in the available data, so whether a tasting menu exists can't be stated with certainty. What is clear is that Michelin awarded this restaurant a Plate in both 2024 and 2025 at €€ pricing — which places it in a strong value position relative to other Michelin-recognised restaurants in Italy. If a tasting format is offered, the price-to-credential ratio makes a strong case for trying it.
At €€ and with a Michelin Plate for two consecutive years, yes. Michelin's own write-up calls it 'well worth leaving the coast' for — and at this price tier, that's a meaningful endorsement. The trade-off is the drive up into the Livorno hills, which adds logistical planning for coast-based visitors. If you're already in the area and want a meal above the level of standard tourist-belt restaurants, the price-to-quality case here is solid.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
