La Pergola - VENTIMIGLIA

We have been having lunch at La Pergola on Friday market days for over thirty years. It is a lovely place to sit and have lunch after spending the morning shopping the many booths in the markets. It has been owned and run by the same family for years. They have a three course tourist menu that gives you an appetizer, a main course and a dessert. There are sufficient choices for each course all excellent. The main course comes with a green salad and french fries. We try to get there early since service can be a little slow if the place is crowded. The clientele is comprised of both locals and tourists. We had Marie as our waitress time time and she took excellent care of us.

We found La Pergola thirty years ago when during the Friday market, my wife asked a chubby Italian policeman where we could find a nice restaurant to sit and have a good lunch. He sent us to La Pergola. Besides its a la carte menu, La Pergola has a fixed price Tourist menu which has three courses for 16 euros. You get a choice of four first course, four second courses and dessert. With the main course, you get salad and french fries. You get to sit at a table with a cloth tablecloth, The food is good. Service can be a little slow if the place is full. Crowd is a mixture of locals and tourists.

We had a quick lunch while visiting Ventimiglia. This looks like it could be a little starchy but once you're inside you quickly realise it's very simply run. The food was generous and authentic and the service good. The extra stuffed zucchini flowers were so welcome as was the complimentary ice cold limoncello to finish. Not fine dining but great value for home style cooking stepped up a notch.

A tradition of 57 years shows this restaurant to stand out among others especially on a busy market day with tasty food and attentive service. The interior seems to have remained almost the same from the seventies which makes it real vintage. Seating is also available outdoors covered from the sun.

My friends and I missed our train change from Nice, France to Portofino, Italy. We ended up having to stay in Ventimiglia for a few hours and we couldn’t have asked for a better place to have lunch! This is a family-owned restaurant with a very kind staff incredible food! Missing our train was the best thing that could’ve happened. We felt very at home and welcomed here.