International Journalism Festival for foodies and barflies: #IJF18 guide to Perugia

From Wednesday (April 11, 2018) until Sunday (April 15), beautiful Perugia hosts the free International Journalism Festival for the 12th time. You’ll get all the basic infos here:

I prepared a map with all the festival locations and added my personal restaurant and bar recommendations before #IJF17, based on my 2016 experiences – and just added new places which I discovered during #IJF17 (I’ll add comments later). With the slider in the upper left corner, you can have a look at the list of entries:

New entries: Bottega del Vino, Civico 25, Hotel Giò Wine e Jazz Area, Il Vicolo
Societa Anonima (Restaurants); L’Artigiano del Gelato, Organ Ice (Gelati e Dolci); Free Ride, Happy Bar, Il Birrino (Bars)

Restaurants

Al Mangiar Bene ***** of ***** (Slow food recommendation)
Via Della Luna 21
06121 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 5731047
In 2016, this was my favorite restaurant in Perugia. They use organic ingredients, their menu changes with the seasons.
Website / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Since 2017, there are two additional favorites:

Bottega del Vino *****
Via del Sole, 1
06122 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 571 6181
Facebook / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Hotel Giò Wine e Jazz Area *****
Via Ruggero D’Andreotto, 19
06124 Perugia
+39 075 573 1100
Website / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Antica Salumeria Granieri Amato ****
Piazza Matteotti Chiosco
06100 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 8707258
This brilliant street food stand probably offers one of the best deals in town: A sandwich with delicious porchetta is just 3 or 4 euros.
Website / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Civico 25 **** (Slow food recommendation)
Via della Viola 25
06122 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 5716376
Website / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Il Vicolo ****
Via Ulisse Rocchi, 13
06123 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 966 2611
Website / Yelp / TripAdvisor

La Bottega di Perugia ****
Piazza Francesco Morlacchi 4
06123 Perugia
Tel +39 075 5732965
Inexpensive, freshly prepared sandwiches (panino & wine: 5 euros). This tiny neighborhood place is always cramped, there only are a few chairs available.
Website / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Ristorante Altromondo **** (Slow food recommendation)
Via Cesare Caporali 11
06100 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 572 3221
Fine Umbrian food, very friendly service, nice ambiance.
Facebook / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Ristorante Il Cantinone ****
Via Ritorta 6
06123 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 5734430
Another favorite of mine. My choices: peccorino cheese soufflé with caramelized onions, pasta and pork stew with local craft beer.
Website / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Societa Anonima ****
Via Bartolo, 25
06122 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 572 1899
Website / TripAdvisor

Ristorante del Sole ***
Via della Rupe 1
06121 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 573 5031
The food is okay – the main attraction is the view over the Umbrian valley to Ponte Valliceppi (see panorama above). Try to get a seat on the outside or at the window.
Website / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Gelati e Dolci

L’Artigiano del Gelato ****
Piazza IV Novembre, 8
06123 Perugia
Facebook / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Organ Ice ****
Corso Pietro Vannucci, 93
06121 Perugia PG
Tel. +39 075 573 4706
Facebook / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Sandri dal 1860 ****
Corso Vannucci 32
06122 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 5724112
Wonderful cakes, pastries and chocolate.
Website / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Gelateria Veneta ***½ of *****
Piazza Italia 20
06121 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 572 8576
Decent gelateria close to the festival headquarter (Hotel Brufani).
Website / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Bars/Aperitivos

In the early evening, many bars offer an aperitivo: The price of the drink includes some food, ranging from little snacks to small meals.

Caffe Dal Perugino ***** of ***** (Aperitivo)
Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, 9
06122 Perugia
Tel. +39 392 551 8745
My favorite aperitivo place. Their freshly made sandwiches with cured meats are very tasty.
Facebook / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Elfo Pub *****
Via Sant’Agata 20
06123 Perugia
Tel. +39 347 078 5981
My favorite Perugia pub has a large selection of local and international craft beers (ten rotating ones on tap).
Facebook / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Marla *****
Via Bartolo 11
06123 Perugia
Tel. +39 347 1878420
Cute „dive bar“ (self-description) and art gallery with fine craft beer and cocktails (5 euros for a Long Island Ice Tea).
Website / Yelp

Dempsey’s Perugia ****
Piazza Danti 19
06123 Perugia
Noisy and crowded, lots of expats. Although the cocktails are inexpensive (e. g., 4 euros for a margarita), the bartenders take pride in their job.
Facebook / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Frittole Vineria **** (Aperitivo)
Via Alessi 30
06122 Perugia
Tel. +39 338 2746070
Cosy wine bar with large aperitivo buffet.
Facebook / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Il Birrino ****
Via Guglielmo Oberdan, 1
06121 Perugia
Tel. +39 339 401 0445
Facebook / TripAdvisor

Living Café **** (Aperitivo)
Via del Rupe 1
06121 Perugia
Italy
Tel. +39 075 5735031
Right next door to Ristorante del Sole, has a great view over the valley.
Website / Yelp

Happy Bar ***
Via Sant’Elisabetta, 28
06123 Perugia PG
Tel. +39 339 696 8998

Ristorante Mercato Vianova **** (Aperitivo)
Via Giuseppe Mazzini 15
06121 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 5730445
High-end aperitivos from a buffet, inventive cocktails.
Website / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Shamrock ****
Piazza Danti 18
06121 Perugia
Tel. +39 392 242 8647
Loud late-night pub with live music.
Facebook / Yelp / TripAdvisor

Free Ride ***
Via della Viola, 19
06122 Perugia
Seems to be a nice neighborhood bar with cultural events (like upstairs movie screenings which make it somewhat uncomfortable to go the upstairs bathroom).
Facebook /

Loft Cafè ***
Via dei Priori 6/8/10
06123 Perugia
Tel. +39 075 372 4473
Nothing special, but its inexpensive Long Island Ice Tea is decent.
Facebook / Yelp / TripAdvisor

My previous blog posts about IJF (some in German)

International Journalism Festival 2017 in Perugia: „Trump führt uns unsere Arroganz vor Augen“ (#IJF17)
Looking back at International Journalism Festival 2017: #IJF17 stories galore (link list)
International Journalism Festival: Medienkonferenz mit Panorama (#IJF16) (plus Storify 1 & 2 in English)
The Top Tweets of Perugia’s International Journalism Festival 2015 (#IJF15)

Peter Jebsen