At midday
Lunch
The easiest moment: there is almost always a free table and no rush. To know what the kitchen has that day, one phone call is enough.
Traditional restaurant in Trieste
Eat like Trieste, without going far.
Not on a postcard street, but on Via Giulia, where people from Trieste eat: caldaia and breaded snacks at the counter, seafood pasta and home dishes at the table.
Before you choose
What «traditional» means in Trieste
Here «traditional» does not mean one single cuisine. Trieste was the port of the Habsburg Empire, it faces the sea and borders the Karst and Istria: goulash, whipped salt cod and boiled pork share the same menu.
So a traditional Triestine restaurant is recognised more by how it is built than by one dish: the counter by the door with the breaded snacks, portions that leave nobody hungry, wine poured without ceremony, a bill that holds no surprises. Find all that and you are in the right place.
Osteria La De Jure is on Via Giulia, about twenty-five minutes on foot from the station and half an hour from Piazza Unità: not a street tourists pass through, and you can tell from the tables. The dishes, one by one, are on the pages about Triestine food and seafood.
From start to finish
What a traditional dinner looks like
It is not a set menu: it is the order in which things happen here. You may also stop at the first step.
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It starts standing, at the counter
Breaded aubergine and courgette, meatballs, pork loin, chicken, salt cod: the display case is the first taste of Trieste. Something breaded and a glass, while you wait for the table.
If you are in a hurry you can stop right there: that is the rebechin, the odd-hour snack. The whole counter is described on the page about the Triestine buffet.
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The starter looks out to sea
Whipped salt cod, sardoni in savor and prawns, together on one divided plate. Sardoni are the large Adriatic anchovies: fried, then left to rest with onion and vinegar, the way Venice taught.
If you would rather stay on land, there is the board of cured meats and cheeses. For two people it also works as the whole dinner.
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The first course, from the sea or from the kitchen
Tagliatelle with langoustines and spaghetti in fish sauce on one side; on the other, the dishes born in our kitchen, such as the purple potato ravioli.
This is where you find out whether an osteria means it: the pasta arrives without frills, and what is on the plate is what the name says.
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The most Triestine main course there is
The caldaia: boiled pork, served hot with mustard and grated kren, the horseradish that bites on the first mouthful. Beside it, patate in tecia, potatoes browned in the pan.
Or else goulash, which came from Hungary in imperial times and stayed here as a home dish.
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It ends in Central Europe
Strudel is Vienna’s last word before the coffee; otherwise there are Nutella crêpes or the dessert of the day. Then the bill, which in an osteria you can read without holding your breath.
And if hunger runs out halfway, you can stop everything and stay with the board: nobody takes offence.
Three moments
When to come
We are open Monday to Saturday, from 8am to 11pm. Closed on Sunday.
In the afternoon
The rebechin
That hour when lunch is over and dinner has not started. In Trieste this is no problem: you walk in, take something breaded at the counter and carry on.
In the evening
Dinner
This is when booking pays off, especially on Saturdays. By phone only, on +39 040 265 0413: we have no online booking system.
A review
“A cosy place with character, good and generous dishes. […] We felt welcome.”
Before you come
Where to eat traditional, on Via Giulia
Look for the red sign above the awning, at number 51. The bus stop is about fifty metres away: full directions are on the contact page.
- Where
- Via Giulia 51, 34126 Trieste, Italy
- Opening hours
- Monday–Saturday 08:00–23:00, closed on Sunday
- Bookings
- +39 040 265 0413, by phone only
- From the centre
- Half an hour on foot from Piazza Unità, or a bus to Via Giulia
Book
Traditional means here.
A table for tonight is held with one phone call. We bring the rest.