La Locanda dei Buoni e Cattivi in Cagliari is a villa restaurant and guest house that trains young staff, cooking seasonal organic Sardinian plates.
Editorially verified August 1, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Must order: Sunday's Sa Picchettada buffet lunch.
Tip: Weekday lunch runs a fixed-price menu alongside the carte; the garden and terrace are the reason to book ahead in spring.
Address: Via Vittorio Veneto 96, 09123 Cagliari
Trattoria Lillicu has fed the Marina from Via Sardegna for generations, marble tables, no printed menu, and whatever the Cagliari boats landed that morning.
Order: Spaghetti with arselle clams and bottarga.
Tip: Do not ask for a menu, the waiter recites the catch; arrive by 13:00 or after 14:00 to miss the queue. Monday the trattoria stays shut.
Sa Domu Sarda on Via Sassari is the Cagliari address for cucina regionale di terra, the inland Sardinian side of the island rather than the harbour.
Order: Whatever the inland menu is running that day.
Tip: Book for dinner, the two plain rooms fill with locals; the kitchen runs straight through from 12:30 and again from 19:30, seven days a week.
Su Cumbidu on Via Napoli feeds the Marina fixed-price Sardinian menus under brick arches, culurgiones and seadas at prices Cagliari students accept.
Order: Culurgiones, potato and mint, in tomato sauce.
Tip: The set menus are the value play at around €20 to 30; go early, because groups book out the arched back room.
Stella Marina di Montecristo works the far end of Via Sardegna in Cagliari, sixty covers of maritime kit and fish bought fresh that morning.
Order: Whatever came off the boats that morning, cooked simply.
Tip: It shuts for a variable stretch in August, and the sixty covers go fast in summer, so call the mobile number to hold a table.
Sa Schironada on Via Baylle runs long hours for the Marina in Cagliari, Sardinian fish and roast plates and a crisp fritto misto from the Gulf.
Order: Zuppa di cozze with pane carasau, then seadas.
Tip: Open every day and late, which makes it the fallback when the smaller trattorias in the Marina have shut their kitchens.
Trattoria da Serafino works a corner of Via Lepanto in Cagliari, an air-conditioned room of local fish plates and a back room for long lunches.
Order: Whatever local fish is on the board that day.
Tip: Closed Wednesday; the private back room takes the business lunches, so the front fills with regulars.
