Trieste’s so-called buffets are simple inns where people eat ready-made food, buy local street food like sandwiches of cooked ham, mustard, and fresh grated horseradish or stop for an aperitivo with cicchetti (small, Venetian-style snacks). The most famous buffet of all is located in the city center. The offering is almost exclusively limited to meat, mainly boiled from the caldaia—the emblematic Triestine boiling pot.

More than 40 years ago, owner Lorenzo Facco bought this place and the now-85-year-old has been standing behind the counter since, in suspenders and a white boat cap, while his wife runs the kitchen with her daughters, Morena and Monica. At the caldaia, his son Mauro carves sausages and smoked meat and grates the horseradish. The food goes beyond the usual scope of a buffet, and everything is homemade and of exceptional quality.

Fresh, local fish and good value in a quaint osteria, their specialties are pesce povero (“poor man's fish”) dishes. Among these are the best breaded anchovies in town and wonderfully fresh antipasti made of sardines, red mullet, mackerel and the like combined with fresh vegetables. They have a small but interesting selection of wines, including many naturally produced from the Karst around Trieste, and from Slovenia, Istria, and Friuli, plus an outdoor terrace with a view of the marina.

In the nearby hamlet of Grignano and in an enchanting location at the foot of Miramare Castle, this restaurant scores with excellent fish and a terrace right by the sea. (Accessible also by bus line 6 and in the summer months by the passenger boat “Delfino Verde”).

At least to the Guide Michelin, who gave it two stars, the restaurant in the traditional Hotel Duchi d'Aosta is one of the two best in the entire region. The young chef Matteo Metullio uses excellent local products to create exciting and ambitious dishes.

Head to this restaurant and bar above the San Giusto yacht club to have an aperitivo among the marina’s many bobbing sailboats.

Hang out with the local hipsters in this pub and bar on the always crowded Piazza Barbacan.

This historical wine shop in the center of town has a great selection of the excellent local wines.

A couple of architects run this original shop and workshop where they produce and sell locally designed objects made exclusively of wood.

Natural sponges, spices, ostrich feathers and brooms made of horsehair— entering the beautiful, 115-year-old Toso store is to step back in time.