Restaurant in Rivisondoli, Italy
Honest Abruzzi cooking at budget prices.
A Michelin Bib Gourmand trattoria in the upper alleyways of Rivisondoli, Da Giocondo is owner-operated, €-priced, and grounded in Abruzzi tradition. Daily specials shift with the seasons — arrosticini, named house-made pastas, and a short regional wine list are the constants. Book ahead, especially in ski or summer season. One of the most honest-value Michelin-recognised meals in central Italy.
If you've eaten at Da Giocondo once and found yourself planning a return, the question isn't whether to go back — it's whether anything has changed, and what to order when seasons shift. The short answer: the kitchen stays faithful to Abruzzi tradition, but what appears on the specials board changes with what's available locally, which means a winter visit and a summer visit can feel like two different meals. For a special occasion in this price bracket, it's one of the most honest-value propositions in central Italy, holding a Michelin Bib Gourmand in both 2024 and 2025.
Da Giocondo is a small, rustic trattoria occupying a position in the upper alleyways of Rivisondoli, one of the quieter hill villages in the Abruzzo Apennines. The owners run the room and the kitchen themselves — no brigade, no executive chef remove. That self-contained model is part of why the Bib Gourmand recognition lands: you're getting genuine home cooking at a single-euro price point, not a scaled-down version of something larger. The room itself reads visually as an Abruzzi interior , stone, timber, the kind of surface patina that comes from decades of actual use rather than design intent. It is the setting you see before you read the menu, and it sets expectations correctly.
The food follows Abruzzi tradition closely. Local cheeses, cured hams, and meat dishes anchor the à la carte, with the region's arrosticini , skewered grilled lamb, cooked over charcoal , appearing among the specialities. House-made pastas each carry their own names, which signals regional specificity rather than generic Italian. Daily specials are announced verbally at the table, a format that only works when the kitchen is buying and cooking what's actually in season. The wine list is short and regional, pulling from across the Abruzzo province rather than reaching for northern Italian or international labels.
The verbally announced specials are the key seasonal signal here. In winter, expect heavier meat preparations, legume-based dishes, and pasta forms suited to cold-weather eating. The summer and autumn months shift what arrives on those specials , lighter preparations, different local produce, and the sheep and lamb that define Abruzzi mountain cooking at their peak. Arrosticini is year-round, but the supporting cast changes. If you're planning a second visit, come in a different season from your first and prioritise the specials over the fixed à la carte to see the version of the menu that isn't permanent.
Rivisondoli sits at altitude, which affects the rhythm of the village itself: winter ski traffic and summer hikers create two distinct dining seasons with different levels of competition for tables. Booking in advance is recommended in either peak window. The Bib Gourmand designation will have increased awareness beyond the local base, so assume the room fills faster now than it did before the 2024 recognition.
Da Giocondo is not a special-occasion restaurant in the formal sense , no tasting menus, no elaborate service choreography, no sommelier presentation. What it offers instead is a meal that feels specific to a place, cooked by people who live there, at prices that don't require justification. For a celebration that calls for something genuine rather than something formal, that framing works well. A dinner here before or after a day in the Abruzzo highlands carries more weight than a comparable meal in a generic hotel dining room. The €-tier pricing means you can order properly , start with the cheeses and hams, work through a pasta course, take the arrosticini , without the bill becoming part of the occasion.
For a date or intimate dinner, the room's visual character and the owner-operated service create a warmth that larger kitchens rarely replicate. For a business meal, the format is too informal and too dependent on verbal specials to be a reliable backdrop for structured conversation. Stick to celebratory or personal occasions here.
Reservations: Booking in advance is recommended , walk-ins may find the room full, particularly during winter ski season and summer high periods. Booking difficulty: Easy, but do not leave it to the day. Budget: € price tier , expect a full meal with wine to remain well under the regional average for Michelin-recognised dining. Dress: No formal dress code indicated; the rustic setting makes smart-casual the practical ceiling. Address: Via del Suffragio 2, Rivisondoli (use Via Paradiso / Piazza Principale 10 for navigation). Phone and website: Not publicly listed , approach via direct visit or local accommodation recommendation for current booking contact.
For more options in the area, see our full Rivisondoli restaurants guide, our full Rivisondoli hotels guide, our full Rivisondoli bars guide, our full Rivisondoli wineries guide, and our full Rivisondoli experiences guide. For Abruzzi cuisine elsewhere in the region, Bacucco d'Oro in Mutignano and Borgo Spoltino in Mosciano Sant'Angelo apply the same regional focus in different parts of the province. For the highest expression of Abruzzi-adjacent fine dining, Reale in Castel di Sangro is the reference point.
Yes, with the right expectations. Da Giocondo holds two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmands and costs a fraction of what most recognised restaurants charge in Italy. It suits celebrations where you want a meal that feels genuinely rooted in a place , owner-cooked, regionally specific, unpretentious. It is not the venue for formal service rituals or tasting-menu theatre. For that, look at Reale in Castel di Sangro instead.
The menu is heavily meat- and dairy-led, following Abruzzi tradition. House-made pastas, local cheeses, cured hams, and arrosticini are the core. No phone or website is publicly listed, which makes advance communication about dietary needs difficult. If you have significant restrictions, try to make contact through your accommodation before arriving. Vegetarians will find the menu limited; the format is not well suited to vegan requirements.
Da Giocondo does not operate a tasting menu. The format is à la carte with daily specials announced verbally. This is a trattoria, not a multi-course tasting experience. The value case is strong precisely because there is no fixed format forcing a particular spend , you can order as much or as little as the occasion calls for, at a € price point with Bib Gourmand-level cooking.
No bar seating is indicated in the available information. Da Giocondo operates as a trattoria with table service. If a quick drink before a meal is part of your plan, Rivisondoli's village piazza area has the kind of small café-bars typical of Apennine mountain villages. Check our Rivisondoli bars guide for current options.
Yes. Two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmands , specifically a recognition for good cooking at a moderate price , combined with a 4.6 Google rating across more than 1,000 reviews makes a strong case. The € tier means this is among the most accessible Michelin-recognised restaurants in Italy. You are getting owner-cooked Abruzzi food with a regional wine list at trattoria pricing. Comparable cooking in a city setting would cost significantly more.
Lead with the local cheeses and cured hams, then move to one of the named house-made pastas. Arrosticini , the region's skewered grilled meat , is a speciality and worth ordering if available. Prioritise the daily specials, which are announced at the table and reflect what the kitchen is actually working with that day. The wine list is regional; ask for a recommendation from Abruzzo rather than defaulting to something familiar.
Da Giocondo is the only Michelin-recognised venue in Rivisondoli itself. For Abruzzi cuisine elsewhere in the province, Bacucco d'Oro in Mutignano and Borgo Spoltino in Mosciano Sant'Angelo operate in the same regional tradition. For a step up in formality and investment, Reale in Castel di Sangro is the destination restaurant of the Abruzzo region. See the full Rivisondoli restaurants guide for current local options.
Book at least a few days in advance, and earlier during peak windows: winter ski season (December through March) and the summer hiking season (July and August). The Bib Gourmand recognition in both 2024 and 2025 has raised the profile of this small village trattoria beyond its local base. Walk-ins are possible in the quieter shoulder months, but the room is small and fills. No online booking system or website is listed , contact via phone or through local accommodation is the most reliable route.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Da Giocondo | A simple, rustic trattoria perched among the alleyways in the upper part of the village, where the owners themselves are at the helm in the kitchen and front of house. Delicious home-cooked Abruzzi dishes are to the fore here, with daily specials often announced at your table. The à la carte features specialities such as local cheeses, cured hams and meat dishes (including the region’s renowned arrosticini – skewered grilled meat), as well as traditional home-made pastas, each of which has its own name. The small wine list focuses on the region, with labels from across the province. Booking in advance is recommended.; Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025); Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024) | € | — |
| Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Dal Pescatore | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Enoteca Pinchiorri | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Enrico Bartolini | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Le Calandre | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
A quick look at how Da Giocondo measures up.
It depends on what you mean by special. Da Giocondo holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024 and 2025), which is recognition for serious quality at accessible prices — but there are no tasting menus, no elaborate service sequences, and no sommelier. If your occasion calls for a relaxed, memorable meal rooted in regional Abruzzi cooking rather than formal ceremony, it works well. For a milestone dinner requiring full-service choreography, look elsewhere in the region.
The menu centres on meat dishes including arrosticini (skewered grilled meat), cured hams, local cheeses, and homemade pasta, so this is a difficult room for vegetarians and a near-impossible one for vegans. Specials are announced verbally at the table each day, which gives some flexibility, but the kitchen's identity is firmly tied to Abruzzi meat and pasta traditions. check the venue's official channels before booking if you have specific dietary requirements.
Da Giocondo does not offer a tasting menu. The format is à la carte, supplemented by daily specials announced verbally at your table. That structure is part of the appeal at this price point — you order what you want from a focused list of regional dishes rather than committing to a fixed sequence. If a tasting menu format is important to you, this is not the right venue.
No bar-seating option is documented for Da Giocondo. The venue is a small rustic trattoria in the upper alleyways of Rivisondoli, and the setup is table service in a traditional room. Given the recommendation to book in advance, treating this as a drop-in bar-style experience is not the right expectation.
Yes, clearly. A single-euro price range combined with back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition in 2024 and 2025 is a strong value signal — the Bib Gourmand category exists specifically to flag good cooking at moderate prices. Homemade pasta, arrosticini, regional cheeses, and a locally focused wine list at this price tier in a Michelin-recognised room is a straightforward yes.
The à la carte features arrosticini (the region's skewered grilled meat), local cured hams, regional cheeses, and homemade pastas — each with its own traditional name. Beyond that, the daily specials announced at the table are the best guide to what the kitchen is focused on that day. The wine list draws from across the Abruzzo province, so ask for a local recommendation to match your food.
Da Giocondo is the only Michelin Bib Gourmand holder documented in Rivisondoli itself, which makes direct local comparisons limited. For broader Abruzzo Bib Gourmand or recognised regional cooking options, check Pearl's Rivisondoli and wider Abruzzo restaurant guides. If you're looking for a higher-end Abruzzo experience with more formal service, the province has options at higher price tiers, but none at this price point with the same level of external recognition.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
