Pizzeria Il Montino, Pisa

Pizzeria Il Montino is a much-loved Pisan institution tucked into Vicolo del Monte in the historic centre of Pisa, close to the university, and a long-standing favourite for the city's students, workers and residents. It is renowned both for its thin-crust pizza and, above all, for cecina, the savoury baked flatbread made from chickpea flour that is a speciality of Pisa and the wider Tuscan coast. The cecina, cooked in a wood oven until golden and slightly crisp, is the signature item and is often eaten folded inside a piece of pizza bianca or focaccia to make the local snack known as cinque e cinque, a classic Pisan way of combining the two. Alongside the cecina, the pizzeria serves pizza by the slice and whole, schiacciata and other baked specialities, all in the unpretentious, good-value style for which it is known. The atmosphere is informal and lively, with the place busy at lunchtime in particular as students and locals stop in for a quick, cheap and authentic meal, and it captures the everyday street-food culture of Pisa far from the tourist crowds at the Leaning Tower. Spuma, the traditional local soft drink, is the classic accompaniment to a cecina and pizza lunch. Prices are very low, making it one of the best-value places to eat in the city, and no reservation is needed; visitors simply order at the counter or grab a table in the simple dining area. The pizzeria keeps split hours, typically open for lunch and again in the early evening, Monday to Saturday, closing between services. For travellers exploring Pisa beyond its famous monuments, Il Montino offers a genuine taste of the city's food culture, with the local cecina as the star, in a setting frequented by Pisans rather than tourists. Trying the cecina, perhaps in the traditional cinque e cinque form, is an easy and characterful way to experience an authentic Pisan speciality at very modest cost in the heart of the old city.