West of Castello, the quarter that sends off the Sant'Efisio procession each May, and where Via Sassari has become the city's serious eating street.
Josto in Cagliari is Pierluigi Fais's Via Sassari dining room, an open kitchen working bottarga, mullet and Sardinian meat into minimal modern plates.
Order: The tasting menu, bottarga and mullet included.
Tip: The tasting menu runs 70 euro; Sunday is the one day the room stays dark, and the kitchen works Monday to Saturday.
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.
Josto in Cagliari is Pierluigi Fais's Via Sassari dining room, an open kitchen working bottarga, mullet and Sardinian meat into minimal modern plates.
Order: The tasting menu, bottarga and mullet included.
Tip: The tasting menu runs 70 euro; Sunday is the one day the room stays dark, and the kitchen works Monday to Saturday.
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.
Framento is Pierluigi Fais's Cagliari pizzeria on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, sourdough and long fermentation, 51st in 50 Top Pizza Italia 2026.
Order: La Rimuginata, smoked mullet, cherry tomato, fiordilatte and mint.
Tip: It runs lunch as well as dinner every day, which is rare for a Cagliari pizzeria; book, because the room turns over slowly.
Locanda Sa Matracca bakes light-dough pizza on Via Ospedale in the Stampace quarter of Cagliari, with Sardinian toppings and a short island wine list.
Order: A pizza built on Sardinian cured meat and pecorino.
Tip: Dinner only from 20:00, seven days a week, and 50 Top Pizza has put it on the Pizzerie Eccellenti list twice, in 2024 and again in 2026.
Gintilla cooks a certified-organic, entirely plant-based menu in Cagliari on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, where raw plates share the daily list.
Order: The raw plate of the day with local vegetables.
Tip: It is fully vegan and Bioagricert-certified organic, run by Paolo and Giulio with Vladimir Gregorean in the kitchen.
INU Sardinian Wine Bar works Via Sassari in Cagliari as an island-only list, boards of pecorino and salumi built to whatever you are drinking.
Signature pour: Cannonau by the glass
Wine focus: Sardinian growers only
Food: Cheese and salumi boards
Order: Lardo with myrtle on warm bruschetta.
Tip: The boards are customisable, so ask for Sardinian cheeses only and let them pour a Cannonau or a Vermentino against them.
INU Sardinian Wine Bar works Via Sassari in Cagliari as an island-only list, boards of pecorino and salumi built to whatever you are drinking.
Signature drink: Cannonau by the glass
Food: Sardinian boards
Order: Lardo with myrtle on warm bruschetta.
Tip: The boards are customisable, so ask for Sardinian cheeses only and let them pour a Cannonau or a Vermentino against them.
Mercato di Santa Chiara is the oldest civic market in Cagliari, 300 square metres above Piazza Yenne on the site of a convent bombed during the war.
Try: Market food court plates
Tip: Renovation turned part of the hall into a food court, so the stalls now run from breakfast into the evening above Piazza Yenne.
Mercato di Santa Chiara is the oldest civic market in Cagliari, 300 square metres above Piazza Yenne on the site of a convent bombed during the war.
Tip: Renovation turned part of the hall into a food court, so the stalls now run from breakfast into the evening above Piazza Yenne.
Mercato di Santa Chiara is the oldest civic market in Cagliari, 300 square metres above Piazza Yenne on the site of a convent bombed during the war.
Try: Market food court plates
Tip: Renovation turned part of the hall into a food court, so the stalls now run from breakfast into the evening above Piazza Yenne.