Restaurant in Pietrasanta, Italy
Seafood-first cooking. Book for the raw plate.
Michelin Plate-recognised for 2024 and 2025, with a 4.8 Google rating from nearly a thousand reviews, La Martinatica is Pietrasanta's most consistent seafood-focused restaurant at the €€€ tier. The raw seafood preparations are the kitchen's clearest strength. Booking is straightforward — easier than comparable options in the area — making this the practical choice for a considered dinner without a weeks-long wait.
At that rating depth — 983 Google reviews — you are past the point where scores can be gamed or inflated by novelty. La Martinatica, a Michelin Plate-recognised restaurant in Pietrasanta, has built sustained approval across a broad dining public, and that consistency is the first reason to book. The second is the setting: an old mill conversion in which wood beams and considered furnishings do much of the atmospheric work before a dish arrives. If you are touring Tuscany's Versilia coast and want a dinner that rewards a longer evening rather than a quick stop, this is a serious option.
La Martinatica's kitchen tilts clearly toward the sea. Fish and seafood are the owner-chef's primary territory, and the raw seafood option in particular is where the kitchen shows its range , small-format bites that demonstrate technical control alongside a willingness to surprise. For food and wine enthusiasts who want more than direct grilled fish, the raw preparations are worth prioritising. Meat dishes appear on the menu and cover the bases, but if you are ordering your way through the table as an explorer rather than a default diner, follow the seafood.
The room itself is worth arriving for. The mill architecture gives the dining space a character that Pietrasanta's more contemporary restaurant interiors do not replicate , exposed beams, warm materials, a sense of age and intention working together. In summer, the outdoor terrace extends the experience into the evening air, making La Martinatica a particularly good choice for long July and August dinners when Pietrasanta's cultural calendar is at its peak and the town fills with visitors for the sculpture festivals and gallery openings that define the town's summer identity.
La Martinatica sits at the €€€ price tier, positioning it as a considered but not extreme spend for the Pietrasanta market , appropriate for a special dinner without requiring the commitment of the area's higher-priced alternatives. Booking difficulty is rated easy, which means you are not fighting weeks-long queues, but making a reservation rather than walking in is still the sensible approach, particularly through the summer months when Pietrasanta draws visitors from across Europe. The owner-chef's habit of taking orders in the dining room personally adds a directness to the service experience that distinguishes an evening here from larger, more impersonal operations. If you want to extend the evening after dinner, Pietrasanta's centro storico is compact enough that the walk to bars and piazza seating is short , La Martinatica does not need to be the final stop if the night calls for more.
Book this if: you are a seafood-focused diner who wants technical cooking rather than tourist-friendly simplicity; you are looking for a Michelin-recognised experience in Pietrasanta at a price point below the area's most expensive options; or you want a setting with genuine architectural character rather than a generic dining room. The raw seafood preparations in particular are the reason to choose La Martinatica over more broadly appealing neighbours. If your priority is modern Italian cuisine with a contemporary tasting-menu structure, Filippo offers that format in Pietrasanta. If you want to stay within the Italian seafood genre but at a higher-spend, more formal register, Vesta Versilia operates at €€€€. For the explorer diner who wants depth and craft at a reasonable price in one of Tuscany's most culturally active small towns, La Martinatica makes a strong case.
For reference on where La Martinatica sits within the broader Italian fine seafood conversation: the country's leading seafood-focused restaurants , places like Uliassi in Senigallia or Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone , operate at Michelin star level with corresponding price points. La Martinatica's Michelin Plate recognition, held for both 2024 and 2025, signals kitchen quality that Michelin's inspectors consider worth noting, without the full starred formality. That is a useful position: serious cooking, approachable format. For those building a broader Italian dining itinerary, Pearl's guides to restaurants at Osteria Francescana in Modena, Reale in Castel di Sangro, and Piazza Duomo in Alba cover the country's higher register. Closer to Pietrasanta, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence remains the regional benchmark for full fine-dining commitment. La Martinatica occupies a different and more accessible tier , and for a Versilia summer evening, that positioning is exactly right.
If you are building a longer stay around this part of Tuscany, Pearl's local guides cover the full picture: our full Pietrasanta restaurants guide covers the dining options worth knowing; our Pietrasanta hotels guide handles where to stay; and our Pietrasanta bars guide covers where to continue the evening after dinner. For wine-focused visitors, our wineries guide maps the regional producers, and our experiences guide covers what to do beyond the table. For Italian dining beyond borders, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong and cenci in Kyoto show how seriously Italian cooking travels.
Go to the raw seafood option first , it is where the kitchen shows the most range and creativity, and it is the preparation that Michelin's inspectors specifically flagged. The small-bite format across raw seafood dishes rewards a patient, exploratory approach rather than a single main course. Fish dishes are the house strength broadly; meat is available but secondary. If you are ordering for a table, anchor around the seafood and build from there.
Filippo is the clearest alternative at the same €€€ price tier, with a modern Italian cuisine format that suits diners who want a more structured tasting approach rather than a la carte seafood. Vesta Versilia stays in the seafood lane but operates at €€€€, so if budget is a factor, La Martinatica gives you comparable seafood focus at a lower spend. Apogeo is another Pietrasanta option worth checking for availability. For the full comparison across the town's dining options, see our Pietrasanta restaurants guide.
Specific tasting menu details are not confirmed in the available data, so call ahead or check on arrival to understand current format options. What the Michelin Plate recognition and the strong Google rating do confirm is that the kitchen consistently delivers at a level worth paying for within the €€€ tier. If a tasting format is available and seafood is your priority, the raw preparations are the reason to commit to a longer meal here rather than ordering selectively.
Yes, with some calibration. The mill setting , wood beams, considered furnishings, an outdoor terrace for summer evenings , gives the space enough character to carry an anniversary or celebratory dinner without feeling generic. The Michelin Plate recognition for two consecutive years adds credibility to the kitchen. At €€€, it is a genuine occasion dinner without the full commitment of the area's most expensive options. For a higher-formality experience with a longer wine list, Vesta Versilia at €€€€ is the upgrade path.
Seat count is not confirmed in available data, but the mill conversion setting and the combination of indoor dining room and outdoor terrace suggest reasonable flexibility for small groups. For parties larger than six, contact the restaurant directly to confirm capacity and whether a dedicated section or private arrangement is possible. Booking in advance is advisable regardless of group size, particularly in summer.
Solo diners travelling through Pietrasanta will find La Martinatica a comfortable option. The owner-chef's presence on the floor taking orders creates a personal dynamic that can make solo dining more engaging than in larger, more anonymous operations. The a la carte format , with the raw seafood preparations as the highlight , suits a single diner ordering selectively rather than committing to a multi-person sharing spread. At €€€, a focused solo meal here is a reasonable investment for the quality on offer.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| La Martinatica | €€€ | — |
| Vesta Versilia | €€€€ | — |
| Filippo | €€€ | — |
| Apogeo | — |
How La Martinatica stacks up against the competition.
Go straight to the raw seafood option. It is the clearest expression of what the owner-chef does best: small creative bites that show genuine technique rather than safe crowd-pleasing. The menu covers both meat and fish, but the fish dishes are the main speciality — ordering off that side of the menu is the right call at a Michelin Plate restaurant at the €€€ tier.
Filippo is the most direct comparison for seafood cooking in the area. Vesta Versilia offers a different format and is worth considering if you want a more accessible price point. Apogeo sits at the higher end of the local market and makes sense if you want a more formal progression through the meal. La Martinatica sits comfortably between casual and celebratory — it is the right middle-ground pick for the Pietrasanta area.
Tasting menu details are not confirmed in available records, so committing on that basis alone would be premature. What is documented is that the raw seafood option functions as the kitchen's showcase format, and the Michelin Plate across 2024 and 2025 confirms consistent quality at the €€€ tier. If a tasting route exists, it will centre on fish — the kitchen's declared strength.
Yes, and the setting supports it: an old mill dining room with wood beams and an outdoor terrace makes this feel more considered than a typical neighbourhood fish restaurant. Two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) give it credibility to hold up as a celebratory choice. At €€€ in Pietrasanta, it is a special occasion spend without requiring a destination-level budget.
Group-specific capacity details are not confirmed, but the venue has a full dining room and an outdoor space, which suggests room for larger tables. The owner-chef typically takes orders in the dining room, so service at La Martinatica runs on a personal, attentive model rather than a high-volume format — worth factoring in if you are organising a large party that expects pace.
It works for solo diners, particularly if seafood is your focus. The owner-chef presence on the floor means solo guests tend to get genuine interaction rather than being parked at a side table. The €€€ price point is a committed solo spend, so come with a specific intention — the raw seafood plate as a standalone choice is a reasonable way to experience the kitchen without a full multi-course commitment.
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