Como Restaurants: Where to Eat in the City

The lake's own preserve is the missoltino, which the ferry operator spells missultin. The Slow Food Foundation's Ark of Taste entry explains how it is made: shad are fished in the northernmost, deeper and cooler parts of the lake, then scaled and gutted, salted for 2 to 3 days, hung to dry in the sun for about 10 days, and finally pressed into metal containers in alternating layers with bay leaves. It is strongly flavoured, and the ferry operator's own article calls the dried shad a dish for a bold palate.

If you want to taste the lake rather than a generic Italian menu, this is the order.

The Rest of the Lake Table

The Navigazione Laghi article on typical dishes lists a short canon of Como and Lombardy plates worth knowing before you open a menu. Risotto with perch fillets is widely described on third-party pages, but the operator article does not list it, so treat it as a menu item rather than a documented speciality of this guide.

• Polenta uncia, polenta with butter and cheese
• Casoeula, pork and cabbage, a Lombardy classic the article names directly
• Local cheeses including Magro di Bellagio, Semuda, Zincarlin and Ricotta del Lario
• Bresaola IGP
• Lario DOP olive oil
• Miascia, a bread cake, and paradello con le mele, an apple pancake
• Pan de mej, a sweet focaccia with elderflower, and resta, the Easter cake
• Nocciolini di Canzo, hazelnut biscuits, with coffee

A Claim About Bread

The same Navigazione Laghi article states that ciabatta bread was first created in the Como area. It is the operator's claim, printed as the operator's claim. The desserts on the same list, from miascia to the nocciolini of Canzo, are what a Como bakery counter is likely to show you.

What does this mean in practice for Como restaurants? If you want a star without leaving the city, Kitchen is the only option. If you want the guide's list but not the guide's top price, Comi 107 and above all La Piazzetta Lake Como in Cernobbio are the entries marked with fewer signs.

The table sets it out in one view.

The guide's Como-area list carries two more stars outside the city, Il Sereno Al Lago in Torno and Il Cantuccio in Albavilla, plus Gnocchetto in Tavernerio, selected at two signs. They are named here so you know the map, but this page stays focused on the city and its nearest neighbour.

Inside the Walls

The old town between the cathedral and the lakefront is where a short trip does most of its eating. Feel Como on Via Diaz is the selected table in the centre, so a Michelin-listed dinner is genuinely walkable here. The food tour also starts from this zone, meeting on Piazza Duomo near Como Cathedral, which makes it an easy first-evening plan before you explore things to do on subsequent days.

Borgo Vico and the Road to Cernobbio

West of the centre, the lakefront road out of town holds two of the three city entries. Comi 107 stands at Via Borgo Vico 107, the small contemporary room the inspector places near the lake at the entrance to a street of shops. Kitchen is further along on Via per Cernobbio 41/a, in its private park.

If you want both within reach, compare the Borgo Vico base on where to stay in Como.

Cernobbio by Boat

Three Michelin entries, Materia, Casa Perrotta and La Piazzetta, sit in Cernobbio, and the boat is the pleasant way to reach them. The Como landing stage is on Piazza Cavour in the city centre, and Como to Cernobbio is band 1 on the Navigazione Laghi tariff at $3.46 (€3) one way. Check the evening timetable for the boat back before you book a late table, since this page does not print it.

More water-borne ideas are on Como ferry and day trips.

Up the Hill in Brunate

Brunate, the village on the mountain above Como, has no Michelin entry, so go up for the view rather than a starred dinner. The funicular makes the trip easy, running to midnight with the last departure at 24:00, and a one-way ticket costs $4.27 (€3.70). An evening ascent and a simple meal back down in the city is a perfectly good plan.

Practicalities are on Brunate funicular.

The rule is simple. A venue is named here only if it appears in a source that can be checked, and every name on this page comes from the MICHELIN Guide Italia 2026 selection, read from the guide's own Como list and each restaurant's page. Three other guides and lists were checked for the same research. Slow Food's own list of the 2026 Chiocciole shows 23 in Lombardy and none in the province of Como, the nearest being in Mandello del Lario on the eastern shore.

Gambero Rosso's 2026 pizzeria guide gave its top Lombard awards, the Tre Spicchi and Tre Rotelle, to no pizzeria in Como city or province. The regional DMO's where-to-eat page turned out to be a member directory of 24 venues across 5 lake zones, with no ranking and no published rules on reservations or dress, so it is a phone book rather than a guide and nothing from it is printed here.

This is why the answer to where to eat in Como is shorter than you might expect from other sites. If a blog lists a Bib Gourmand restaurant in the comune, the guide's own Como list did not show one when this page was checked. If a listing claims a Slow Food osteria in Como province, the 2026 Chiocciola count says otherwise.

Names without a checkable source are left out on purpose, so that everything printed here can be traced back to the guide or operator that said it.

The food tour is the choice if you want to eat widely rather than deeply, since it moves across 4 or more stops and finishes as a full meal. The pizza class is the most hands-on and the only one with a hard under-14 rule. The two Cesarine home classes are the quiet option, cooking at a local's table, rated 4.9 from 61 reviews for the ravioli and 4.7 from 71 for pasta and tiramisu.

The ravioli class includes hotel pickup and, per a reviewer, runs a 10-minute train ride outside Como. The terrace class costs the most and caps at six guests, which buys the view and the smallest group.

Every one of the five offers free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund, which makes it low-risk to lock a date early and adjust later. The tour includes wine with the meal, the pizza class ends with a limoncello toast, and the terrace class starts with an aperitivo of local cheeses and cold cuts.