Where to Eat Thoughtful Romagna Food in the Centre of Imola
Osteria del Vicolo Nuovo has occupied a small corner of central Imola since the early 1980s, long before seasonal sourcing, artisan wines and local producers became standard restaurant vocabulary.
Its cooking remains rooted in Romagna, but this is not the predictable sequence of oversized tagliatelle, grilled meat and heavy sauces. The kitchen takes familiar ingredients — squacquerone, mortadella, fresh pasta, rabbit, local wine and seasonal vegetables — and gives them a more measured, contemporary form.
Fish also has a genuine place on the menu. That matters because Vicolo Nuovo is not simply repeating a fixed idea of inland Romagna. The menu changes with availability and moves naturally between meat, seafood and vegetarian dishes without losing its regional identity.
When we returned in 2026, the restaurant still felt strongest in this balance: recognisably traditional, but never trapped by tradition.
A Quiet Osteria in the Centre of Imola
The restaurant sits in Via Codronchi, a short walk from Piazza Matteotti and the main streets of the historic centre.
The room is intimate and understated, with the warmth expected from an osteria but none of the artificial rustic decoration now used to manufacture authenticity. In warmer weather, the outdoor tables add a more relaxed dimension to lunch and dinner.
Service is attentive without becoming formal. The atmosphere suits couples, small groups and anyone looking for a proper meal after visiting Imola rather than a hurried plate near the motorway.
The current management has preserved the restaurant’s historical identity while giving the menu enough freedom to evolve. That continuity is important: Vicolo Nuovo feels established, not nostalgic.
The Starter That Best Explains the Kitchen
A dish combining spinach, squacquerone and mortadella mousse immediately establishes the restaurant’s approach.
Every ingredient belongs naturally to Emilia-Romagna, but the composition is more precise than a conventional salumi-and-cheese starter. Spinach brings vegetal depth, squacquerone supplies soft acidity and mortadella adds richness without requiring an enormous cured-meat board.
This is exactly where the kitchen works best: local flavours, clearly recognisable, reorganised rather than reinvented.
Other starters change with the season, often moving between vegetables, seafood and small warm preparations. One shared opening is enough. The fresh pasta deserves most of the appetite.
Fresh Pasta Is Still the Main Reason to Book
The pasta section gives the meal its strongest regional character.
The most distinctive plate is the double raviolo with braised guinea fowl and squacquerone. The idea depends on contrast: dark, savoury meat against the fresh acidity of the cheese. The pasta must remain thin enough to keep both fillings distinct, while the sauce should connect them without adding unnecessary weight.
This is a more interesting order than a routine plate of tagliatelle because it shows the restaurant’s ability to develop Romagna cooking without disguising it.
The second route may come from the sea. Gratinated lasagnette with small cuttlefish and basil combine handmade pasta with a lighter marine structure. The dish works when gratination adds only a fine crust and the cuttlefish remains tender.
A third pasta may follow the season, but there is no reason to describe the whole menu. Ask what has been made that day and choose between the strongest land and seafood options.
Rabbit with Albana Has a Real Sense of Place
Among the meat dishes, roast rabbit with Albana di Romagna is the most meaningful order.
Rabbit requires precise cooking: enough time to become tender, but not so much that the lean meat turns dry. Albana brings acidity and regional identity, producing a sauce with more freshness than a conventional dark reduction.
This is a better expression of the restaurant than a generic beef cut. It connects the dish directly to the Romagna countryside and demonstrates the kitchen’s preference for measured richness.
Seasonal vegetables complete the plate more effectively than a heavy potato garnish. The restaurant understands that traditional food does not need every component to be substantial.
Seafood Is More Than a Token Alternative
The fish dishes are not included merely to accommodate one diner at the table.
Preparations such as citrus-scented king prawns with vegetables show the same restraint used in the meat courses. Sweet shellfish need acidity and freshness, not cream or excessive sauce. Citrus should sharpen the flavour without turning the plate perfumed.
Depending on the season, cuttlefish, sea bass or other fish may appear in the lunch plate and evening menu. The strongest preparations remain simple enough for the ingredient to lead.
This makes Vicolo Nuovo particularly useful for mixed tables. Meat, fish and vegetarian dishes belong to the same kitchen rather than feeling like separate menus assembled for convenience.
The Lunch Formula Is One of Imola’s Best Practical Meals
From Tuesday to Friday, the restaurant offers I Colori del Mezzogiorno, a daily plate combining a first course, second course and side dish.
The choice is divided into meat, fish, vegetarian and vegan versions, currently priced at €15. This is not a reduced tourist menu. It is a compact expression of the kitchen, designed for lunch without sacrificing proper cooking.
The format makes particular sense for visitors exploring Imola or anyone wanting something more thoughtful than a conventional business lunch.
For dinner, the à la carte or tasting route gives a fuller view of the restaurant. At lunchtime, the daily plate is difficult to improve as a combination of quality, variety and price.
Artisan Wine Is Part of the Restaurant’s Identity
The cellar favours small producers and artisan wines, with particular attention to Emilia-Romagna.
Albana is the natural starting point with rabbit, fresh pasta and vegetable dishes. A dry version has enough structure to move beyond a simple aperitif wine.
Sangiovese di Romagna works with guinea fowl, mortadella and roasted meat, while sparkling regional wines can handle richer starters and fried elements.
The list also extends beyond local labels, but the most coherent first dinner stays within the region. The restaurant’s food is built around territory, and the wine should reinforce that direction.
Torta Sabbiosa Is the Dessert to Remember
The torta sabbiosa with mascarpone is the natural ending.
This traditional cake has a dry, delicate crumb that needs the mascarpone’s softness, but the cream must remain restrained. The pleasure comes from texture rather than elaborate decoration.
Another characteristic dessert is zabaglione with preserved fruit, particularly when Albana passito gives the cream greater aromatic depth.
Both make more sense here than a generic chocolate dessert. They close the meal in the same language in which it began: familiar Romagna ingredients treated with care.
Prices and Value
Vicolo Nuovo sits in the middle range for a carefully run restaurant in central Imola.
A complete dinner costs more than a basic trattoria meal, but the difference is visible in the sourcing, pasta work, changing menu and wine selection. The three-course tasting format has recently been offered around €36, excluding drinks, while the weekday lunch plate remains particularly competitive at €15.
The best dinner for two does not require excessive ordering:
one starter to share, two different pasta dishes, one main course and one dessert.
That sequence shows the kitchen’s range without turning a restrained osteria into an endurance test.
What to Order on a First Visit
Begin with the spinach and squacquerone tartlet with mortadella mousse, when available.
Continue with the double raviolo filled with guinea fowl and squacquerone or the seafood pasta of the day.
Choose rabbit with Albana for the clearest regional main course.
Finish with torta sabbiosa and mascarpone.
At lunch, choose one of the Colori del Mezzogiorno plates and allow the daily menu to decide the meal.
The Verdict
Osteria del Vicolo Nuovo remains one of Imola’s most dependable restaurants because it has found a convincing way to preserve tradition without repeating it mechanically.
The kitchen is strongest with fresh pasta, rabbit, seasonal vegetables and regional dairy products, while the seafood dishes add range without weakening the restaurant’s identity. The wine list and weekday lunch formula make it useful both for a considered dinner and a practical midday stop.
This is not the place for huge portions, fashionable tasting-menu theatre or a catalogue of every Romagna classic. It is better suited to diners who appreciate quiet technique, thoughtful sourcing and a menu concise enough to change with the season.
Order the ravioli if they are available. Choose rabbit rather than an anonymous steak. Leave room for the torta sabbiosa.
Vicolo Nuovo has lasted because it understands that an osteria does not have to remain unchanged to remain authentic.
Our Rating of Osteria del Vicolo Nuovo
Food: 8.7/10
Romagna cooking with precision, seasonality and a clear personal style.
Fresh pasta: 8.9/10
The strongest part of the menu and the clearest reason to book.
Regional identity: 8.8/10
Squacquerone, mortadella, rabbit and Albana are used with purpose rather than nostalgia.
Wine: 8.7/10
An intelligent selection centred on artisan producers.
Atmosphere and service: 8.6/10
Intimate, calm and professional without becoming formal.
Value: 8.7/10
Particularly strong at weekday lunch.
Overall score: 8.8/10
Practical Information
Address: Via Codronchi 6, 40026 Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Telephone: +39 0542 32552
Email: [email protected]
Cuisine: traditional and contemporary Romagna cooking, fresh pasta, meat, seafood and vegetarian dishes
Best dishes to look for: double raviolo with guinea fowl and squacquerone, seasonal seafood pasta, rabbit with Albana, torta sabbiosa and mascarpone
Best for: a traditional dinner in central Imola, artisan wine, couples, small groups and weekday lunch
Less suited for: oversized trattoria portions, very large groups or diners seeking a long fixed menu
Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 12:00–14:00 and 19:00–22:00
Closed: Sunday and Monday
Booking: recommended, particularly for dinner and weekends
