Where to eat in central Mantua: restaurants we recommend

Golden Suites Italy editorial team · Updated on 27 October 2026 · 3 min read

You eat well almost everywhere in Mantua, but when our guests ask us for a sure bet we name two, both in the historic centre and both selected by the Michelin Guide: Sücar Brüsc, a Golden Suites partner restaurant, and Il Cigno, which we recommend with no arrangement in place, purely for its quality.

Sücar Brüsc

At via Cavour 49, a short walk from Piazza Sordello and Piazza delle Erbe, Sücar Brüsc serves local Mantuan cooking in the Gonzaga style, with an à la carte menu and tasting menus that change with the seasons, mixing great classics and new dishes. The cellar holds around 300 labels, and there is also a caviar list with caviar produced at Goito, in the Mantua area. It is selected by the Michelin Guide.

• For Golden Suites guests: 10% off the bill.
• Opening times: every day, lunch 12.15pm–2.30pm and dinner 7.15pm–9.45pm.
• Restaurant details and partner offer

Il Cigno

At piazza Carlo d'Arco 1, in a historic palazzo opposite the Palazzo d'Arco, Il Cigno is one of the historic addresses for high-level Mantuan cooking: an elegant dining room, attentive service and a kitchen that reinterprets the Gonzaga tradition, from the tortelli to the great classics of the area, with set menus and tasting journeys and a substantial wine list. It is selected by the Michelin Guide. We will be frank: it is an expensive restaurant, for a special dinner. We have no partnership or discounts with them: we recommend it because it is the right place to get to know Mantuan cooking at its highest level. Better to book directly.

• Restaurant details

How to get the discount at Sücar Brüsc

Just tell the restaurant that you are staying in a Golden Suites home and show your booking confirmation. The discount is offered and applied directly by the restaurant, which remains solely responsible for the service and the bill. All the partner offers are on the page for partner restaurants.

What to order in Mantua

• Pumpkin tortelli: the filling combines Mantuan pumpkin, amaretti, apple mostarda and Grana Padano; they are dressed with melted butter and sage.
• Risotto alla pilota: Vialone Nano rice cooked so that the grains stay separate (“sgranato”) and dressed with pistume, a garlicky minced pork mix.
• Agnoli in brodo (stuffed pasta in broth), the filled pasta of the festive season.
• Stracotto d'asino (braised donkey) with polenta.
• Luccio in salsa (pike in sauce) with polenta, the lake dish.
• Sbrisolona cake, which is not cut but broken up by hand.
• To drink, a Mantuan Lambrusco or a wine from the hills of the Alto Mincio.

We describe them one by one in traditional Mantuan dishes.

Practical tips

• Book at weekends and during Festivaletteratura, when the centre is full.
• For lunch after the visit to the Ducal Palace you are a short walk from Sücar Brüsc; Il Cigno is a few minutes' walk away, near the Palazzo d'Arco.
• If you have allergies or intolerances, say so when you book.