The market quarter north of the centre, built around the great covered hall on Via Cocco Ortu, now closed for reconstruction with its traders in a temporary hall on Piazza Nazzari.
CUCINA.eat in Cagliari is shop, kitchen shop and counter in one on Piazza Galilei, cooking Sardinian recipes for communal tables near San Benedetto.
Order: Whatever is chalked up that day at the counter.
Tip: Counter seats beat the tables for solo lunch; wine by the glass and craft beer make it work as an aperitivo stop too.
Duanima in Cagliari is chef Luca Floris's small contemporary room on Via Satta, a short menu rewritten every week around Sardinian produce and market fish.
Order: The weekly menu, whichever way it runs.
Tip: Only Saturday and Sunday have a lunch sitting; the rest of the week it is dinner from 20:00 and the room fills fast.
Gaijin Izakaya brings small Japanese plates to Cagliari on Via Giacomo Puccini, a narrow room of skewers and donburi that the Gambero Rosso guide rates.
Order: A run of skewers off the charcoal counter.
Tip: Only four days a week, Wednesday to Saturday, and both sittings are small, so book ahead rather than walking up.
Duanima in Cagliari is chef Luca Floris's small contemporary room on Via Satta, a short menu rewritten every week around Sardinian produce and market fish.
Order: The weekly menu, whichever way it runs.
Tip: Only Saturday and Sunday have a lunch sitting; the rest of the week it is dinner from 20:00 and the room fills fast.
CUCINA.eat in Cagliari is shop, kitchen shop and counter in one on Piazza Galilei, cooking Sardinian recipes for communal tables near San Benedetto.
Order: Whatever is chalked up that day at the counter.
Tip: Counter seats beat the tables for solo lunch; wine by the glass and craft beer make it work as an aperitivo stop too.
Sa Scolla brought its Marmilla countryside cooking to Cagliari on Via Galvani back in 2019, thin crisp pizza built on Marmilla produce and a seasonal list.
Order: Zucchine e bottarga, the pizza the guides single out.
Tip: Ranked 64th in 50 Top Pizza Italia 2026; dinner only and closed Monday, and the kitchen also sends out fresh pasta.
Gaijin Izakaya brings small Japanese plates to Cagliari on Via Giacomo Puccini, a narrow room of skewers and donburi that the Gambero Rosso guide rates.
Order: A run of skewers off the charcoal counter.
Tip: Only four days a week, Wednesday to Saturday, and both sittings are small, so book ahead rather than walking up.
CUCINA.eat in Cagliari is shop, kitchen shop and counter in one on Piazza Galilei, cooking Sardinian recipes for communal tables near San Benedetto.
Signature drink: Wine by the glass
Order: Whatever is chalked up that day at the counter.
Tip: Counter seats beat the tables for solo lunch; wine by the glass and craft beer make it work as an aperitivo stop too.
Pasticceria Piemontese has worked a counter on Via Enrico Lai in Cagliari since 1974, turning out cream pastries, chocolate and cakes to order.
Order: A cream pastry off the counter.
Tip: Closed Monday and shut between 13:30 and 18:00, so the morning is the reliable run; Sunday is mornings only.
Worth the queue: Cream pastries
CUCINA.eat in Cagliari is shop, kitchen shop and counter in one on Piazza Galilei, cooking Sardinian recipes for communal tables near San Benedetto.
Signature pour: Wine by the glass at the counter
Wine focus: Sardinian wines by the glass
Food: Counter cooking
Order: Whatever is chalked up that day at the counter.
Tip: Counter seats beat the tables for solo lunch; wine by the glass and craft beer make it work as an aperitivo stop too.
Cagliari's biggest civic market trades from a temporary hall on Piazza Nazzari, some 170 stalls of fish, produce, cheese, bread and cured meat.
Tip: The 1957 building on Via Cocco Ortu closed for reconstruction in March 2025, so the market you want is the Piazza Nazzari hall, shut on Sunday.
CUCINA.eat in Cagliari is shop, kitchen shop and counter in one on Piazza Galilei, cooking Sardinian recipes for communal tables near San Benedetto.
Order: Whatever is chalked up that day at the counter.
Tip: Counter seats beat the tables for solo lunch; wine by the glass and craft beer make it work as an aperitivo stop too.