Siena eats what the Crete Senesi grows: hand-rolled pici, cinta senese pork, unsalted bread and almond panforte first baked for medieval pilgrims. Three days of markets, cellar tastings and contrada trattorie, all inside the walls.
Every Wednesday 07:30–14:00 around 250 stalls fill Viale XXV Aprile beside the Fortezza: pecorino di Pienza wheels, finocchiona, porcini, cinta senese salami and Crete Senesi honey among the fabric traders.
Tuscany's oldest farmers' co-op runs a food hall on Via Pianigiani: pici and pasta milled from local grain, Chianti Colli Senesi by the bottle, and a counter serving hot ribollita and schiacciata at lunchtime.
Wild boar heads and hanging salami mark this Via di Città deli, run by the Miccoli family since 1889. Panini are built to order with finocchiona, pecorino stagionato and truffle cream; open roughly 09:00–19:30.
Behind the Campo, Piazza del Mercato served as Siena's produce market for centuries. Gino Cacino at no. 31 still slices cinta senese prosciutto and aged pecorino into panini eaten on the wall above the valley.
An 1879 grocery with original walnut cabinets on Via di Città, stocking panforte margherita, cantucci, saffron from the Crete and vin santo. Staff pour small tastings of pecorino and honey pairings at the rear counter.
Family trattoria on Piazza del Mercato since 1938, serving pici all'aglione, ribollita and coniglio in umido to Sienese and visitors at closely packed tables. Book ahead for the terrace; typically closed Mondays.
A 12th-century underground cellar beneath Via delle Terme where flights of Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile and Chianti Colli Senesi are poured alongside pecorino and salumi boards. Tastings run about 90 minutes.
Carved into Etruscan tunnels below Via Duprè, this kitchen grills bistecca alla fiorentina over oak embers and rolls its own tagliatelle with truffle. The cellar list runs past 1,000 labels down in the rock.
Siena's landmark pasticceria on Banchi di Sopra has baked panforte, ricciarelli and cavallucci since 1830. Sienese stand at the bar for espresso and a slice from 08:00; the almond ricciarelli carry IGP protection.
The basement of this Banchi di Sopra gastronomia serves a weekday lunch buffet: antipasti, two hot dishes, salads, water and coffee at one fixed price. Seating is limited and it fills up well before 13:00.
Lorenzo Rossi's bakery beside the Duomo turns out panforte nero, ricciarelli and copate to recipes refined since 1997, plus the daily pane sciocco — Tuscan sourdough baked entirely without salt.
An arched brick cellar off Via dei Termini pouring more than forty wines by the glass with tagliere boards and crostini di fegatini. Aperitivo from 18:00 draws a largely Sienese crowd rather than a tourist one.